WEBVTT FILE

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Downloaded from
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[Bob Odenkirk] Hey! Hi, hello,
Mike, it's Bob Odenkirk.

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Uh, I got the request, uh,

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to participate in a documentary
that you're making.

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Um, I-- Here's what, uh, I--

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My feelings. Um,
I will watch the documentary

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as a fan of Chicago comedy,

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and I look forward to it.

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Uh, however, I--
I don't really want to be

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in another documentary...

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now.

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At some point, I'll do more.

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But I've kind of
done a lot of 'em,

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and, uh, I feel like,
uh, I'm a bit of a blowhard

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when it comes to comedy
and commentary.

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So, um, I'm excusing myself

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from, uh, documentaries
for a while,

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maybe a couple years here.

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So thank you for
the request, uh,

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and kick-- kick ass,
do a great job,

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and I will be watching
your documentary

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and, uh, and cheering for it.

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So do a great job,
and thanks for asking. Bye.

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♪

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You ready?

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Who am I talking to?
You ready, Tony?

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I-- I know that.
I don't-- I don't know

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who I was talking to
when I said, "You ready?"

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Talking to myself
like an asshole.

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I fall asleep
watching the Masters,

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but I forgot about this.

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Should I set this here or what?

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[interviewer 1] Yeah, it's cool.

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-Yeah, just don't face it off--
-Or should I set it off-camera?

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[interviewer 1] No, you can
set it there, but just, uh,

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as long as that
we can't read the label.

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[interviewer 2] And just
make sure you look at the lens.

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You sure you can't read it?

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[interviewer 2]
You can't see anything. Yeah.

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Duh.

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Y'all didn't bring a tripod?

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[interviewer 2]
Yeah, you lookin' at it.

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Do you want me to say who I am?

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-[interviewer] You know who.
-Just in case!

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-[interviewer 2] A mark.
-[interviewer 3] Yeah, right.

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-[interviewer 2] B mark.
-[interviewer 3] All right, so,

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you know, no matter where I am,
you could look at the camera--

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-Look at camera?
-[interviewer 3] Yeah.

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-No, don't look at the camera.
-[interviewer 3] Yeah.

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-We've been shooting--
-Look-- look at you. Right?

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You look at the person
interviewing, not the camera.

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-[interviewer 2] Typically.
-What, what, what?

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[interviewer 3]
But we've been shooting

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at the camera the whole time.

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[interviewer 2] They've
been talking to the camera?

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-[interviewer 3] Yeah.
-[interviewer 2] Oh.

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That's insane.

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[interviewer 3]
Well, we started with that.

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Makes me have
great confidence in

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-how this project will turn out.
-[laughter]

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The documentary's
starting right now.

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Exactly.

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That's right! You better
buckle up, studpuppet!

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Oh! Hello, I'm Judy Tenuta.

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My name is
Milton "Lil Rel" Howery.

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Deon Cole.

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I just go, "My name is Godfrey"?

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-[interviewer] Yeah.
-Oh.

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My name is Godfrey.

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Megan Elizabeth Gailey.

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I am Marsha Warfield.
Hello. Who are you?

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Name's Chris Redd.

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And I started
doing comedy in Chicago.

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My plan was to move to New York.

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I-- I wasn't gonna
move to Chicago.

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But, uh, I didn't think
I could afford

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to live in New York.
You know, it scared me.

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And I had one aunt
who had some property

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really close to New York,
and I was excited.

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I asked her if I could
stay there and pay rent.

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I knew she was gonna say yes.

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She was like, "No." [chuckles]

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And so I moved to Chicago.

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♪

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[John Riggi] To me, going to
Chicago was like going to...

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Oz.

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It was more than
I could imagine.

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I didn't know what to expect.

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I really thought
it was the big-time.

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And it was! For me, it was.

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There's a reason why
there's so many great comedians

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that come out of Chicago.

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[John Caponera] We're in
the middle, and I think we have

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more of a barometer of
the country being in Chicago.

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That Midwestern honesty,

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you know, plain-spokenness.

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We got a little bit
of country in us,

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we got a little bit city life.

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[Kara Buller] A lot of us
come from farm stock.

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You know, from Iowa,
from, you know, the plains.

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And then we go to the city
to try to get an education,

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you know,
kind of better ourselves.

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So, yeah, there's definitely--

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even myself,
yes, a bit of insecurity.

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-[interviewer] Yeah.
-Yeah. And pride.

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[laughs] Like, there's also,
like, that incredible--

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"We got a work ethic.
We have integrity!"

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We have two seasons,
"swass" and "fritties."

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Sweaty ass and freezing titties.

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I wish we had a Weather Channel
that was like,

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"On the swass scale today,
we are at 400% humidity.

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So your titties will be
completely stuck to your body

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the whole bus ride."

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Everybody has
a different voice, man.

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Everybody's very
distinguishable.

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We don't have a certain

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standard way of telling jokes,
or writin', or whatever,

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and I think that's what
makes us unique and different.

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We're authentic.
Uh, we're great joke writers,

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but at the same time,
we're also great storytellers.

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Just lots of
great comics and writers

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and performers have,
uh, have come from here.

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Richard Pryor was from Peoria.

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Sam Kinison was from Peoria.

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And Arsenio Hall got his start

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at the Comedy Cottage
in Rosemont.

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The amount of guys
that are now showrunners

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or television writers,

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uh, television hosts,
acting, producing.

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It's a lot of Chicago influence

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on the national scene.
You know, Second City.

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Not stand-up,
but as far as improv goes,

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you know,
Colbert and all those people.

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When I started comedy, everybody
assumed I was doing Second City.

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"Oh, you're a comic?
You must be doing Second City."

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No, no, I'm doing--
I'm a stand-up.

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When I moved here,
it was very distinct.

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There was improv
and there was stand-up,

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and we didn't talk
to each other.

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I told myself
that stand-up was, like,

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a traveling salesman of jokes,
and improv was where it was at.

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I wanted to be a film star
and a television star,

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and I never thought of stand-up
comedy propelling me to that.

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I thought
"I need Second City for that."

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Second City gets all the credit!

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You can go to Europe and people
have heard of Second City.

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[speaking Spanish]

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[audience laughter]

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[Ella Galt] Improv exists all
over the world, and I think that

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historically what was going on
at Second City as kind of, like,

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the Big Bang of improv,
or at least one of them.

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Chicago!

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[Ella Galt] The ripples of
which are kind of, like,

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still echoing around the world,
and, you know,

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it's in our books,
it's a really strong

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and important part
of the history.

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And I suppose
what's happening now is,

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like, the aftereffects of that.

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And Zanies gets a, "Oh, yeah.
Oh, you're at Zanies?"

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And it deserves more than that.

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I didn't get into
the Second City classes.

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-I-- I failed the audition!
-Yeah.

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-The conservatory. So did I.
-For class.

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-So did I. I was not accepted...
-Into the class!

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[TJ] ...into the
Second City conservatory.

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[Pete] To learn
how to be better.

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Years later, I would be hired
to Second City Tour Co.,

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so I could work there,
but I could not learn there.

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[Pete cackles]

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Even though some of
the best improv classes

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come out of Chicago,
Second City,

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some the best improv people...

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Well, I have a little bit
of a weight problem!

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...I thought that
improv was corny.

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For a while we worked in,
like, the-- the improv sphere.

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[Dwayne]
The Mary Wong were brilliant.

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I loved them.
They were different.

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They were, you know, they were

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a Black sketch comedy team,
not improv.

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And they would tell you that.

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"We don't do improv,
we do sketches."

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We would occasionally
go into what seemed like

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an improv sort of format. Like,
"Hey! Give us an occupation,

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and give us
the first line of a speech!"

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And then we would go, "We're
not doing anything with that."

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And we wrote stuff. [chuckles]

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And the improv people were
on the side being pissed off,

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and the audience
would find it hilarious,

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'cause we just
deliberately would

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tear that kind of stuff apart.

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Yes, you guessed it!
This man is an asshole!

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-Oh, yeah!
-[audience laughter]

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♪

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Chicago's a really, really
strong sports city.

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We're very loyal,
we're very blue-collar,

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and we're very
racially polarizing.

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Chicago is the most segregated
city on planet Earth.

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Period.

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I was sort of
taken aback at the--

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at the level of polarization.

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It's not just
segregated race-wise.

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It's segregated economically.

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Gangs, culture.

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Everyone has their section.

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♪

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Which also taught me
to stay in my lane.

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Anything in Chicago
is also segregated.

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Yeah, a lot of extremes.

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Well, we got that very
controversial deep dish pizza.

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00:09:16.294 --> 00:09:20.342
I think that diversity in pizza
should be celebrated, okay?

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00:09:20.385 --> 00:09:23.998
We have thick pizza,
skinny bitch pizza.

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We have upside-down pizza.

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Comedy was no different.

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00:09:28.524 --> 00:09:31.222
[waves crashing]

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00:09:31.266 --> 00:09:33.573
I was with, uh, with my girl,

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00:09:33.616 --> 00:09:36.619
and we were in,
uh, at the beach,

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00:09:36.663 --> 00:09:38.578
somewhere between
Fullerton and Irving Park.

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We were just sitting
in the car, chillin',

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00:09:40.536 --> 00:09:41.972
and all of a sudden this, uh,

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00:09:42.016 --> 00:09:43.713
this white cop
pulls up to us, like...

223
00:09:44.671 --> 00:09:46.281
"What's the matter,

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00:09:46.324 --> 00:09:47.717
they ain't got no beaches
on the South Side?"

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00:09:47.761 --> 00:09:52.374
♪

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00:09:52.896 --> 00:09:56.552
I know there's racism,
I know there's, you know, um,

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00:09:56.596 --> 00:09:58.772
white, uh, privilege
and white supremacy.

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00:09:58.815 --> 00:10:02.645
So to me, that's just a mirror
of the dynamics of comedy.

229
00:10:02.689 --> 00:10:05.517
All those ethnic, uh,

230
00:10:05.561 --> 00:10:07.868
differences come into
contact with each other.

231
00:10:07.911 --> 00:10:09.870
It has to shape
people's points of view

232
00:10:09.913 --> 00:10:11.393
and their comedic sensibilities.

233
00:10:11.436 --> 00:10:13.047
I lived my whole life
here in Chicago.

234
00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:14.614
I think there's just
as many racists here.

235
00:10:14.657 --> 00:10:16.267
Just don't see 'em marchin'.

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00:10:16.311 --> 00:10:17.878
They're afraid
their sheets are gonna blow off.

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00:10:17.921 --> 00:10:19.706
-[audience laughter]
-[blows into microphone]

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00:10:19.749 --> 00:10:21.272
"Well, look, it's the mayor!"

239
00:10:21.316 --> 00:10:26.016
[audience laughing, cheering]

240
00:10:27.409 --> 00:10:29.324
I went on stage the very
first time here in Chicago

241
00:10:29.367 --> 00:10:31.326
in September 1969.

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00:10:31.369 --> 00:10:32.893
Tim Reid and I
were America's first

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00:10:32.936 --> 00:10:34.503
Black and white comedy team.

244
00:10:34.546 --> 00:10:36.636
History shows we were last.

245
00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.072
-We brothers.
-We brothers.

246
00:10:38.115 --> 00:10:39.334
-This is the ghetto.
-The ghetto?

247
00:10:39.377 --> 00:10:40.509
-Yeah.
-Where we at?

248
00:10:40.552 --> 00:10:42.076
Uh, South Side of Chicago.

249
00:10:42.119 --> 00:10:44.295
-The South Side?
-Corner of 47 and Drexel.

250
00:10:44.818 --> 00:10:46.210
Come on, bus!

251
00:10:46.254 --> 00:10:47.908
[audience laughter]

252
00:10:47.951 --> 00:10:49.474
Come on with that bus!

253
00:10:49.518 --> 00:10:53.522
[audience applause]

254
00:10:53.565 --> 00:10:55.089
When I set it out,

255
00:10:55.132 --> 00:10:56.612
there were no comedy clubs
in Chicago.

256
00:10:57.047 --> 00:10:59.354
In fact, there was only one
comedy club in the nation.

257
00:10:59.397 --> 00:11:01.138
It was the Improvisation
in New York.

258
00:11:01.182 --> 00:11:02.749
And it had a singer,
and then a comic,

259
00:11:02.792 --> 00:11:04.489
and then a singer,
and then a comic.

260
00:11:04.533 --> 00:11:07.536
We're standing in front of
what was the site

261
00:11:07.579 --> 00:11:10.060
of Budd Friedman's improv.

262
00:11:10.104 --> 00:11:12.454
If Tom Dreesen says
that this is the first

263
00:11:12.497 --> 00:11:15.022
stand-up comedy club in America?

264
00:11:15.065 --> 00:11:16.284
I-- I think
we gotta believe him.

265
00:11:16.327 --> 00:11:18.286
So we had no place to be bad.

266
00:11:18.329 --> 00:11:21.202
We had no place to-- to work on
our material night after night.

267
00:11:21.245 --> 00:11:24.074
So we would have to find jobs.
We would go to charities.

268
00:11:24.118 --> 00:11:25.728
We'd go to Provident Hospital

269
00:11:25.772 --> 00:11:27.295
and they were having
a charity, we'd say,

270
00:11:27.338 --> 00:11:28.557
"We'll get up
and we'll do a few minutes

271
00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:30.428
of stand-up comedy for you."

272
00:11:30.472 --> 00:11:32.343
We went to jazz clubs
on the South Side of Chicago,

273
00:11:32.387 --> 00:11:34.258
and when the jazz group
took a break,

274
00:11:34.302 --> 00:11:36.783
we'd ask if we could get up
and go on stage

275
00:11:36.826 --> 00:11:38.915
and do some material
for their audiences.

276
00:11:38.959 --> 00:11:41.918
Places that we played initially
were not comedy clubs.

277
00:11:41.962 --> 00:11:44.529
Like the High Chaparral
was a tavern

278
00:11:44.573 --> 00:11:47.750
with, you know,
alcohol and no comedy,

279
00:11:47.794 --> 00:11:49.360
and we kind of
just went in and said,

280
00:11:49.404 --> 00:11:51.885
"Hey, can we do comedy in here?"
[chuckles]

281
00:11:51.928 --> 00:11:53.887
And they were like "What
the hell are you talkin' about?"

282
00:11:53.930 --> 00:11:56.716
'Cause if it wasn't like, uh,
a wet t-shirt thing or whatever,

283
00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:58.500
they were like,
"I don't understand

284
00:11:58.543 --> 00:12:00.067
what you want, man." [laughs]

285
00:12:00.110 --> 00:12:02.809
I would go into these
blues clubs

286
00:12:02.852 --> 00:12:05.507
where Muddy Waters was
performing, and I'd go,

287
00:12:05.550 --> 00:12:07.204
"Well, you know, it's midnight.

288
00:12:07.248 --> 00:12:09.554
If Muddy's done,
can I go up on stage?"

289
00:12:09.598 --> 00:12:11.905
And I remem--
The emcee was Bob Zmuda.

290
00:12:11.948 --> 00:12:14.255
It was close to midnight,
Bob Zmuda goes,

291
00:12:14.298 --> 00:12:16.561
"Okay, I'm gonna bring you on,"
and I was, like,

292
00:12:16.605 --> 00:12:18.999
really frightened,
but everybody was laughing!

293
00:12:19.042 --> 00:12:21.915
After I got offstage,
I said, "I can't believe it,

294
00:12:21.958 --> 00:12:25.657
I didn't expect this kind of
response in a blues club!"

295
00:12:25.701 --> 00:12:28.617
He goes,
"Judy, they're all on heroin."

296
00:12:28.660 --> 00:12:31.359
♪

297
00:12:31.402 --> 00:12:36.146
Let's see. I started in,
uh, Chicago in 1974.

298
00:12:36.712 --> 00:12:38.801
I was 20 years old,

299
00:12:38.845 --> 00:12:42.196
and I had read about
an open mic night,

300
00:12:42.239 --> 00:12:46.113
which was in a-- an entirely
new concept at the time.

301
00:12:46.156 --> 00:12:50.030
And there was a feature
in the Sunday Sun-Times.

302
00:12:50.073 --> 00:12:52.728
[Judy] Tom Dreesen is hosting

303
00:12:52.772 --> 00:12:56.340
an open mic night
at the Pickle Barrel.

304
00:12:56.384 --> 00:12:58.647
[Marsha] Which was a deli.

305
00:12:59.213 --> 00:13:01.041
I was recently divorced,

306
00:13:01.084 --> 00:13:05.088
I was, uh, working,
I think, at the phone company,

307
00:13:05.132 --> 00:13:09.397
and I wanted to
try my hand at stand-up.

308
00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.704
So I told my friend I was goin',
and I never went.

309
00:13:12.748 --> 00:13:15.490
And one night she came
and picked me up and said,

310
00:13:15.533 --> 00:13:17.318
"Get in the car,
you're going down there."

311
00:13:17.361 --> 00:13:20.451
She went and introduced me
to, uh, Tom Dreesen,

312
00:13:20.495 --> 00:13:22.366
told him to put my name down.

313
00:13:22.410 --> 00:13:24.847
I think we got there
at five in the afternoon.

314
00:13:24.891 --> 00:13:26.849
Each act would do
maybe eight minutes,

315
00:13:26.893 --> 00:13:28.590
and I'd bring on another act,
and another eight minutes,

316
00:13:28.633 --> 00:13:30.853
and then I had one spot
called the "Virgin Spot."

317
00:13:30.897 --> 00:13:32.594
I would tell the audience,
I'd say,

318
00:13:32.637 --> 00:13:34.639
"Do you like Flip Wilson?
Do you like Jack Benny?"

319
00:13:34.683 --> 00:13:36.467
Whoever is your favorite
comedian, they had to

320
00:13:36.511 --> 00:13:38.730
go on stage somewhere
for their very first time.

321
00:13:38.774 --> 00:13:41.342
He said "Okay, you're a virgin,

322
00:13:41.385 --> 00:13:45.607
and I'll put you on, later on,
after the regular guys."

323
00:13:45.650 --> 00:13:48.784
So about two o'clock
in the morning, I went on

324
00:13:48.828 --> 00:13:52.527
to, uh, an audience
of six comedians,

325
00:13:52.570 --> 00:13:56.400
one bum, and three guys
puttin' tables on their chairs.

326
00:13:56.444 --> 00:13:58.185
Some of those nights,
those virgin spots,

327
00:13:58.228 --> 00:14:01.057
the poor kids did so bad
they never came back again.

328
00:14:01.101 --> 00:14:03.103
My opening line was, uh,

329
00:14:03.886 --> 00:14:05.714
"Good evening,
my name is Marsha Warfield,

330
00:14:05.757 --> 00:14:07.194
and I'm a virgin." [chuckles]

331
00:14:07.237 --> 00:14:09.065
That's the way it started.

332
00:14:10.066 --> 00:14:13.156
I think the first place I ever
went on stage was Who's On 1st?

333
00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.117
It was a warm environment,
but not a warm club.

334
00:14:17.160 --> 00:14:19.815
It was a lodge of some sort,

335
00:14:19.859 --> 00:14:23.297
some-- One of those
groups of racist people

336
00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.778
that meet up together regularly.

337
00:14:26.822 --> 00:14:29.477
My first time on stage,
it was like I--

338
00:14:29.520 --> 00:14:32.959
I, like, uh-- like
a little standing ovation,

339
00:14:33.002 --> 00:14:35.352
the very first time
I was on the stage.

340
00:14:37.180 --> 00:14:39.095
Couldn't sleep that night.

341
00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:42.882
I did it, oh, four, five times,
and then I stopped doin' it,

342
00:14:42.925 --> 00:14:44.492
'cause the last time
I had bombed.

343
00:14:44.535 --> 00:14:46.276
And I didn't go for,
like, a year and a half.

344
00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.105
And-- 'Cause I was
just psychologically fragile.

345
00:14:49.149 --> 00:14:50.454
I'm not much better now.

346
00:14:50.498 --> 00:14:52.239
I never drink, and, uh,

347
00:14:52.282 --> 00:14:54.023
it was about ten below zero.

348
00:14:54.067 --> 00:14:56.199
And I got so nervous,
I was drinkin'.

349
00:14:56.243 --> 00:14:57.984
I went outside
and I was runnin' around

350
00:14:58.027 --> 00:15:00.247
in, like,
ten below zero weather.

351
00:15:00.290 --> 00:15:03.511
Like, to-- to be,
you know, focused.

352
00:15:03.554 --> 00:15:05.643
And I was with a buddy of mine,

353
00:15:05.687 --> 00:15:08.951
and I didn't wanna bomb
in front of my friend,

354
00:15:08.995 --> 00:15:10.561
so I didn't go on that night.

355
00:15:10.605 --> 00:15:11.954
I was so nervous,
and I was literally--

356
00:15:11.998 --> 00:15:13.738
Because I'm like,

357
00:15:13.782 --> 00:15:16.437
"I'm about to go on stage
and fucking try comedy!"

358
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.917
Like, you know
how you shit yourself

359
00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:19.222
and it's sort of metaphoric? No.

360
00:15:19.266 --> 00:15:20.789
I was physically
shitting myself.

361
00:15:20.832 --> 00:15:22.660
Like,
"Yo, I can't stop shitting."

362
00:15:22.704 --> 00:15:26.012
I was so-- I was so--
I was so scared.

363
00:15:26.055 --> 00:15:27.665
And I came back the next night,

364
00:15:27.709 --> 00:15:30.451
and then I went on,
you know, by myself,

365
00:15:30.494 --> 00:15:32.061
and I did great.

366
00:15:32.105 --> 00:15:34.324
And it was like a drug.
It was like heroin.

367
00:15:34.368 --> 00:15:36.326
This was, uh,

368
00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:38.807
something better
than sex, money.

369
00:15:38.850 --> 00:15:40.504
Just that wall of laughter

370
00:15:41.114 --> 00:15:43.072
from something I created.

371
00:15:43.116 --> 00:15:44.944
I gotta do this again.

372
00:15:44.987 --> 00:15:47.120
I don't know if I did well,
don't know if I bombed.

373
00:15:47.163 --> 00:15:50.732
It just felt good to just say
whatever I thought was funny

374
00:15:50.775 --> 00:15:52.342
in front of people
I didn't know.

375
00:15:52.386 --> 00:15:54.518
The thing I most remember was

376
00:15:54.562 --> 00:15:57.826
how weird it felt, uh,

377
00:15:58.783 --> 00:16:01.134
to have the lights facing you.

378
00:16:02.135 --> 00:16:04.702
-My dad is, uh, Mr. T.
-[man] Yeah?

379
00:16:04.746 --> 00:16:07.749
Yeah. See, most people think
I'm lying when I say that,

380
00:16:07.792 --> 00:16:09.359
but I'm like,
"Why would I pick him?"

381
00:16:09.403 --> 00:16:11.187
Like, ugh!

382
00:16:11.231 --> 00:16:12.884
All the people
to lie about, like,

383
00:16:12.928 --> 00:16:14.843
I'm mad that my mom
picked him, you know?

384
00:16:14.886 --> 00:16:17.498
And, like, I was born
before The A-Teamcame out,

385
00:16:17.541 --> 00:16:19.152
so she did it for love,
not even money.

386
00:16:19.195 --> 00:16:20.980
-Like...
-[audience laughter]

387
00:16:21.023 --> 00:16:24.244
I had mistakenly texted
my father... [clears throat]

388
00:16:24.287 --> 00:16:26.898
...and I knew how to
make that into a joke,

389
00:16:26.942 --> 00:16:28.857
and that was
the only joke I had,

390
00:16:28.900 --> 00:16:31.033
so I thought I could
draw that joke out

391
00:16:31.077 --> 00:16:33.340
for three minutes,
and I did okay.

392
00:16:33.383 --> 00:16:35.603
They made me go first,
because I came late.

393
00:16:35.646 --> 00:16:38.693
[Paul Gilmartin] I remember
coming home from doing it,

394
00:16:38.736 --> 00:16:42.349
and, um, my parents were
watching The Tonight Show,

395
00:16:42.392 --> 00:16:45.743
and I just remember
just feeling really excited,

396
00:16:45.787 --> 00:16:48.703
really excited, because it--
it hadn't gone terribly,

397
00:16:48.746 --> 00:16:51.358
and that gave me--
that gave me hope.

398
00:16:51.401 --> 00:16:53.838
The only reason I didn't start
comedy as early as I wanted to,

399
00:16:53.882 --> 00:16:56.711
because you wanna please
your family, your parents.

400
00:16:56.754 --> 00:16:59.540
'Cause, you know, if nobody
in your family ever decided

401
00:16:59.583 --> 00:17:02.325
to be a comedian,
that's, like, the dumbest thing.

402
00:17:02.369 --> 00:17:05.589
If you're a Black guy in Chicago
living on the South Side,

403
00:17:05.633 --> 00:17:07.765
you might as well say
you were gonna be an alien.

404
00:17:07.809 --> 00:17:10.072
"Meaning what? Doing what?"
Stand-up!

405
00:17:10.116 --> 00:17:12.596
"No, you goin' to college."
So I went to Harold Washington,

406
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.424
even though
I didn't really wanna go,

407
00:17:14.468 --> 00:17:16.383
I just went just to
please them for a year, and...

408
00:17:17.253 --> 00:17:19.125
and but then comedy
just kept calling me.

409
00:17:19.168 --> 00:17:20.952
I walked by the Lion's Den,

410
00:17:20.996 --> 00:17:23.042
'cause that's where
the Irving Park Brown Line was,

411
00:17:23.085 --> 00:17:26.132
and it said "Monday Comedy,"
and I'd walk by it every day

412
00:17:26.175 --> 00:17:28.482
on my way to Bennigan's
on 150 South Michigan,

413
00:17:28.525 --> 00:17:30.266
-which is now CBS.
-[TJ] Where he worked.

414
00:17:30.310 --> 00:17:33.095
And, uh, and eventually
I got up the gall to go in.

415
00:17:33.139 --> 00:17:35.793
[Lil Rel] This little
hole in the wall bar,

416
00:17:35.837 --> 00:17:38.535
that at the time it looked like
the biggest place in the world,

417
00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:40.320
goin' up, and then,

418
00:17:40.363 --> 00:17:42.148
I remember recently,
maybe a couple of years ago,

419
00:17:42.191 --> 00:17:45.107
goin' back to the spot,
and it was tiny.

420
00:17:45.151 --> 00:17:47.936
Like, I-- I thought this was
like a theater to me one time!

421
00:17:47.979 --> 00:17:49.938
I tried to come there
when I was 19 or 20,

422
00:17:50.678 --> 00:17:52.201
and the guy wouldn't let me in.

423
00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:54.943
And, uh,

424
00:17:54.986 --> 00:17:56.292
one time I had a buddy

425
00:17:57.598 --> 00:18:01.689
that sorta--
sorta looked like me.

426
00:18:01.732 --> 00:18:04.996
We had similar features.
Dark-skinned dudes, little eyes.

427
00:18:05.736 --> 00:18:07.651
And I tried
to use his ID to get in.

428
00:18:07.695 --> 00:18:11.002
It would have worked on
most people at the door.

429
00:18:11.046 --> 00:18:13.309
But this dude,
he just looked at the ID,

430
00:18:13.353 --> 00:18:15.920
and he was like,
"You're not 6'1"."

431
00:18:15.964 --> 00:18:19.054
[laughs] Like,
who fuckin' looks at the height?

432
00:18:21.274 --> 00:18:25.843
♪

433
00:18:28.411 --> 00:18:31.588
The first mic that I did

434
00:18:31.632 --> 00:18:33.808
was Ink Up, Stand Up,

435
00:18:33.851 --> 00:18:37.116
which was a tattoo parlor/bar.

436
00:18:39.553 --> 00:18:41.163
[Megan] I love open mics,

437
00:18:41.207 --> 00:18:42.817
and that probably
makes me mentally ill,

438
00:18:42.860 --> 00:18:45.254
but I really love them,
I love being at them.

439
00:18:45.298 --> 00:18:46.908
I mean, I think it's sort of

440
00:18:46.951 --> 00:18:50.216
a good training ground
to prove yourself.

441
00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:52.043
And you'll hear people be like,
"Well,

442
00:18:52.087 --> 00:18:53.958
I don't wanna go and,
like, sit for five hours,"

443
00:18:54.002 --> 00:18:55.743
and then it's like, "Well,
if you don't wanna do that,

444
00:18:55.786 --> 00:18:57.397
then you don't wanna
do stand-up." Like, this is

445
00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.486
what the process is, and if you
don't wanna be a part of it,

446
00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:00.748
then, like,
it's not gonna get easier.

447
00:19:00.791 --> 00:19:02.184
Like, this is a tough thing,

448
00:19:02.228 --> 00:19:04.317
and I like that
it weeds people out.

449
00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:06.797
♪ Do I smoke? Do I drink?
How 'bout kids? Whatcha think? ♪

450
00:19:06.841 --> 00:19:08.669
♪ Are you gay?
Are you straight? ♪

451
00:19:08.712 --> 00:19:11.019
♪ It's like a bad first date

452
00:19:11.062 --> 00:19:14.196
♪ Favorite band, like The Who,
favorite nuts, like cashew ♪

453
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:18.026
♪ Like to meet Genghis Khan,
and my hero's my mom ♪

454
00:19:18.069 --> 00:19:22.117
♪ So this is my first date
with the world ♪

455
00:19:22.161 --> 00:19:25.033
♪ So this is my first date
with the world ♪

456
00:19:25.076 --> 00:19:27.383
-I don't use dildos...
-[audience laughs]

457
00:19:27.427 --> 00:19:29.516
...'cause I'm an artist, so.

458
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:31.387
I use found objects.

459
00:19:31.431 --> 00:19:32.867
[audience laughter]

460
00:19:32.910 --> 00:19:34.869
So Lincoln Lodge
had an open mic,

461
00:19:34.912 --> 00:19:38.481
but on that list,
you had Pete Holmes,

462
00:19:38.525 --> 00:19:40.614
TJ Miller, Kumail Nanjiani.

463
00:19:40.657 --> 00:19:41.789
Hannibal Buress!

464
00:19:41.832 --> 00:19:43.356
Rel Howery.

465
00:19:43.399 --> 00:19:45.184
I was up in
the West Side of Chicago.

466
00:19:45.227 --> 00:19:46.750
I grew up, you know, pretty much
in the hood,

467
00:19:46.794 --> 00:19:48.578
to be honest with you,
you know, so,

468
00:19:48.622 --> 00:19:50.928
I feel good now because
I'm meetin' different people,

469
00:19:50.972 --> 00:19:52.974
people who know how to
speak to me right, you know.

470
00:19:53.017 --> 00:19:55.019
That's one thing I love
about real women, right?

471
00:19:55.063 --> 00:19:57.108
Not no ghetto women. Real women.

472
00:19:57.152 --> 00:19:58.545
Like, when you try
to holla at a woman

473
00:19:58.588 --> 00:20:00.199
and she don't wanna talk to you,

474
00:20:00.242 --> 00:20:02.462
she turns you down nicely.
A real woman.

475
00:20:02.505 --> 00:20:04.115
"Baby, baby, how you doin'?"

476
00:20:04.159 --> 00:20:05.813
"I'm sorry,
I'm goin' out with my girls.

477
00:20:05.856 --> 00:20:07.206
We're having martinis,
we're fine, thank you. Bye!"

478
00:20:07.249 --> 00:20:08.729
[audience laughs]

479
00:20:08.772 --> 00:20:11.775
♪

480
00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:14.517
The mic that I started at,
it was called Seven Ten.

481
00:20:14.561 --> 00:20:17.259
It was a bowling alley
and bar at the same time.

482
00:20:17.303 --> 00:20:18.913
I never bowled there.

483
00:20:18.956 --> 00:20:21.132
I just sat in the back
nervously for weeks

484
00:20:21.176 --> 00:20:23.831
'til I actually built up
the courage to tell my jokes.

485
00:20:23.874 --> 00:20:25.528
I remember my first set.

486
00:20:25.572 --> 00:20:28.923
I read, like, it verbatim,
and it was awful.

487
00:20:28.966 --> 00:20:30.577
So you're performing
for these people

488
00:20:30.620 --> 00:20:32.796
that don't necessarily
wanna see you,

489
00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:35.495
might be drunk, and also
didn't probably even know

490
00:20:35.538 --> 00:20:37.018
there was gonna be
a comedy show.

491
00:20:37.061 --> 00:20:39.368
Theoretically,
the idea's not that bad.

492
00:20:39.412 --> 00:20:41.457
Like, you get drunk
with your friends, go bowling.

493
00:20:41.501 --> 00:20:44.547
That's a great idea! But it
just never seemed to work.

494
00:20:46.462 --> 00:20:48.464
Everybody in Chicago's,
like, pretty drunk.

495
00:20:48.508 --> 00:20:50.292
Even my, like, normal people
friends there who are,

496
00:20:50.336 --> 00:20:52.903
like, doctors
are still huge alcoholics.

497
00:20:52.947 --> 00:20:55.428
[audience laughter]

498
00:20:55.471 --> 00:20:58.518
Scotch. It does a body good.

499
00:20:58.561 --> 00:21:01.129
[audience laughter]

500
00:21:01.956 --> 00:21:07.091
♪

501
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.315
So when I went back into comedy,
I started really developin'

502
00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:17.319
my act at this place called
the Comedy Cottage in Rosemont.

503
00:21:17.363 --> 00:21:19.669
The Comedy Cottage
was a hot room.

504
00:21:19.713 --> 00:21:23.891
It was a room
that I did very well in.

505
00:21:23.934 --> 00:21:26.067
The crowds were great,
and they were waitin'

506
00:21:26.110 --> 00:21:27.764
all around the-- the building.

507
00:21:28.330 --> 00:21:29.766
It was like being a rock star.

508
00:21:29.810 --> 00:21:31.159
I thought I'd start off
my show tonight

509
00:21:31.202 --> 00:21:32.943
with a singalong!

510
00:21:32.987 --> 00:21:35.816
-What do you say? Yeah, Tim?
-[audience cheering]

511
00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:37.644
Sounds like fun.

512
00:21:37.687 --> 00:21:39.863
Here's a song everybody knows.

513
00:21:39.907 --> 00:21:42.083
Let's all join in, okay?

514
00:21:42.126 --> 00:21:44.564
-[audience member] Okay!
-Okay.

515
00:21:44.607 --> 00:21:47.654
I like this enthusiasm.
Here we go.

516
00:21:47.697 --> 00:21:49.917
[humming]

517
00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:51.875
Yeah, good voice. [humming]

518
00:21:51.919 --> 00:21:56.097
♪ A million bottles
of beer on the wall ♪

519
00:21:56.140 --> 00:21:59.666
♪ A million bottles of beer

520
00:21:59.709 --> 00:22:01.885
I went up and I did
my little 15 minutes of--

521
00:22:01.929 --> 00:22:03.800
of funny songs
and stuff like that.

522
00:22:03.844 --> 00:22:05.889
And then Arsenio came out,
he said "All right!

523
00:22:05.933 --> 00:22:08.109
Are you ready for
your first comedians?"

524
00:22:08.152 --> 00:22:10.111
It's just like, "Aww.

525
00:22:10.154 --> 00:22:12.331
They-- they still don't
get that I'm a comedian."

526
00:22:12.374 --> 00:22:16.291
♪ Take one down,
pass it around ♪

527
00:22:16.335 --> 00:22:21.862
♪ 999,999 bottles

528
00:22:21.905 --> 00:22:24.125
♪ Of beer on the wall

529
00:22:24.168 --> 00:22:26.083
I think we did
three shows on Saturdays,

530
00:22:26.127 --> 00:22:27.824
and the club was
packed to the point

531
00:22:27.868 --> 00:22:30.218
that people were violating
all kinds of fire rules.

532
00:22:30.261 --> 00:22:32.046
They were sitting in the aisles.

533
00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:33.743
Now, I wanna explain
something to you here.

534
00:22:33.787 --> 00:22:35.832
We have a group
of comedians here

535
00:22:35.876 --> 00:22:37.791
who work for almost nothing.

536
00:22:37.834 --> 00:22:40.968
And the comedians were getting--
The top act was getting $10.

537
00:22:41.011 --> 00:22:44.275
The reason he paid us such
a little, small amount of money,

538
00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:47.496
his exact quote was, "The less
money I pay you, the-- the less

539
00:22:47.540 --> 00:22:49.498
pressure's on you, and then
the better you're gonna do!

540
00:22:49.542 --> 00:22:51.761
So if I don't pay you a lot of
money, you're not gonna have

541
00:22:51.805 --> 00:22:53.415
a lot of pressure, and
you're gonna do a great show!"

542
00:22:53.459 --> 00:22:56.331
Not only was he barely
paying you anything,

543
00:22:56.375 --> 00:22:58.855
he wouldn't even
pay you after the show.

544
00:22:58.899 --> 00:23:02.729
You had to go out the following
Tuesday to get your money.

545
00:23:02.772 --> 00:23:05.166
Not cash. You have to dri--
have to drive to his house,

546
00:23:05.209 --> 00:23:06.776
and he would hand you
the check and go,

547
00:23:06.820 --> 00:23:08.865
"Listen, uh,
don't cash that 'til tomorrow."

548
00:23:08.909 --> 00:23:11.302
You're not even really
paying me enough to have

549
00:23:11.346 --> 00:23:13.392
car fare to get there.

550
00:23:13.435 --> 00:23:15.481
I think that was
his plan, you know?

551
00:23:15.524 --> 00:23:17.308
Just keep you broke enough
that you can't actually

552
00:23:17.352 --> 00:23:19.093
can't even get
out there to get the money.

553
00:23:19.136 --> 00:23:21.704
Fact, Jay probably owes me
about 40 or 50 bucks.

554
00:23:23.053 --> 00:23:26.840
Part of being a comedian
is not making a living.

555
00:23:26.883 --> 00:23:30.583
Part of being a comedian
is bombing on a regular basis.

556
00:23:30.626 --> 00:23:32.889
And if you're not comfortable
with those two things,

557
00:23:32.933 --> 00:23:34.891
don't become a comedian.

558
00:23:34.935 --> 00:23:36.327
The worst thing in the world
would be a comedian

559
00:23:36.371 --> 00:23:38.112
to open up for someone

560
00:23:38.155 --> 00:23:40.070
who just died that the audience
doesn't know it yet.

561
00:23:41.376 --> 00:23:43.160
[chuckles] Well, let's say
I open up for Ricky Nelson,

562
00:23:43.204 --> 00:23:44.945
you know, that night.

563
00:23:44.988 --> 00:23:47.469
Or Elvis. He's still
in the bathroom, stretched.

564
00:23:47.513 --> 00:23:50.124
Many a time,
I was broke at home,

565
00:23:50.167 --> 00:23:51.560
had no money for food,

566
00:23:51.604 --> 00:23:54.737
and had just
sucked it at a club.

567
00:23:54.781 --> 00:23:57.697
So it wasn't even, like, "Well,
at least I had a good set."

568
00:23:57.740 --> 00:24:00.308
Stunk. No money. Yeah.

569
00:24:00.351 --> 00:24:02.528
Can you have tribulations
by themselves?

570
00:24:03.659 --> 00:24:05.748
Or do they always
have to be with trials?

571
00:24:05.792 --> 00:24:07.707
[audience laughter]

572
00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:10.449
Nobody been like, "Man, I just
been having tribulations."

573
00:24:10.492 --> 00:24:13.495
-[audience laughter]
-"What about your trials?

574
00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:15.105
I think you're supposed to
have trials with your trib--"

575
00:24:15.149 --> 00:24:17.281
"Nah, man,
just tribulations, man.

576
00:24:17.325 --> 00:24:19.675
Life is rough,
I've been tribulatin' a lot."

577
00:24:19.719 --> 00:24:21.677
[audience laughter]

578
00:24:21.721 --> 00:24:25.507
♪

579
00:24:25.551 --> 00:24:29.468
My first paid gig, I got $20.

580
00:24:29.511 --> 00:24:32.383
It was really exciting.
[chuckles]

581
00:24:33.341 --> 00:24:35.038
I meant to frame the $20,

582
00:24:35.082 --> 00:24:37.040
but I was really broke,
so I had to buy something.

583
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.261
So I framed one dollar
from that $20. [chuckles]

584
00:24:42.568 --> 00:24:44.004
Yeah, I worked at a gas station,

585
00:24:44.047 --> 00:24:45.658
so I'd just read
all the newspapers,

586
00:24:45.701 --> 00:24:47.616
and, like, in the Daily Herald,
there was

587
00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.227
"Open Casting Call for Comedians
for HBO Aspen Comedy Festival."

588
00:24:50.271 --> 00:24:52.012
I was like, "Well,
this is the time to try it."

589
00:24:52.055 --> 00:24:55.363
And I went to, uh, Zanies
for a three-minute spot

590
00:24:55.406 --> 00:24:57.931
at, I think,
ten in the morning on a weekday.

591
00:24:58.409 --> 00:25:00.150
I was arrested for possession.

592
00:25:01.195 --> 00:25:04.067
-Not drugs, but demonic.
-[audience laughter]

593
00:25:04.111 --> 00:25:06.548
Yeah, apparently you can't
run around a park naked

594
00:25:06.592 --> 00:25:08.245
drenched in goat's blood

595
00:25:08.289 --> 00:25:09.638
like you used to be
able to in this town.

596
00:25:09.682 --> 00:25:11.858
[audience laughter]

597
00:25:11.901 --> 00:25:14.251
I'd drove in from the suburbs,
and I didn't think

598
00:25:14.295 --> 00:25:16.863
that they were that attentive
to the parking laws,

599
00:25:16.906 --> 00:25:18.560
so I wound up racking up...

600
00:25:18.604 --> 00:25:20.431
I think I got
five parking tickets that day.

601
00:25:20.475 --> 00:25:22.303
'Cause Chicago,
you just keep puttin' em

602
00:25:22.346 --> 00:25:23.957
on the car if you want to.

603
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:28.048
Zanies was started by
three partners in 1978,

604
00:25:28.091 --> 00:25:31.007
one of whom was
a cousin of Rick Uchwat,

605
00:25:31.051 --> 00:25:34.837
and Rick owns this building,
or he did prior to his passing.

606
00:25:34.881 --> 00:25:36.578
So they had a great idea,

607
00:25:36.622 --> 00:25:38.145
but they didn't know
how to execute it.

608
00:25:38.188 --> 00:25:39.886
So the club was
going out of business.

609
00:25:39.929 --> 00:25:43.933
So Rick took over in 1980,
and then that was really

610
00:25:43.977 --> 00:25:45.718
the beginning of
the history of Zanies.

611
00:25:45.761 --> 00:25:47.328
[Larry Reeb]
When we first started,

612
00:25:47.371 --> 00:25:49.112
we were makin' maybe
ten bucks a night

613
00:25:49.156 --> 00:25:51.027
doin' a card each in the womb.

614
00:25:51.071 --> 00:25:54.596
And then he made me
house emcee here in '82,

615
00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.642
when he started payin' me,
like, maybe,

616
00:25:56.685 --> 00:25:58.469
I don't know, 250 a week.

617
00:25:58.513 --> 00:26:00.210
So that was like, I--
I was like a millionaire.

618
00:26:00.254 --> 00:26:01.690
I hit the jackpot.

619
00:26:01.734 --> 00:26:05.128
Rick was like
a second father to me.

620
00:26:05.172 --> 00:26:06.739
We'd go to dinner
whenever I came to town

621
00:26:06.782 --> 00:26:08.305
throughout his life.

622
00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:10.612
He gave me money
to make my first movie.

623
00:26:10.656 --> 00:26:12.266
[laughing] I'm on stage,

624
00:26:12.309 --> 00:26:15.661
and all of a sudden,
a gun goes off!

625
00:26:15.704 --> 00:26:20.709
Rick Uchwat shot a rat
while I was on stage!

626
00:26:20.753 --> 00:26:24.757
[laughing] I just thought,
"Was that line that offensive?"

627
00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:27.281
Working Zanies was,
like, a huge goal of mine,

628
00:26:27.324 --> 00:26:30.806
so they would do that-- a Monday
showcase where you would go

629
00:26:30.850 --> 00:26:32.112
and then you would hear
this sort of, like,

630
00:26:32.155 --> 00:26:34.897
now world-famous
Bert Haas spiel.

631
00:26:34.941 --> 00:26:37.030
[Lil Rel] We couldn't talk
about sex, we couldn't curse,

632
00:26:37.073 --> 00:26:38.945
we couldn't do this,
we couldn't do that.

633
00:26:38.988 --> 00:26:41.687
And it was tough watching
the white comedians go on stage

634
00:26:41.730 --> 00:26:43.819
and just say whatever--
whatever the fuck they want.

635
00:26:43.863 --> 00:26:45.647
You know, we couldn't do that.

636
00:26:45.691 --> 00:26:48.476
The last of my showcase there,
I heard those rules,

637
00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:51.610
went on stage, but didn't follow
none of those fuckin' rules,

638
00:26:51.653 --> 00:26:54.656
said what I wanted to say,
ripped it, put my coat on,

639
00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:56.005
and got the fuck up
out of there.

640
00:26:56.571 --> 00:26:58.138
And never looked back.

641
00:26:58.181 --> 00:27:01.881
♪

642
00:27:01.924 --> 00:27:08.191
As a Black comedian
going into rooms that, uh,

643
00:27:10.150 --> 00:27:12.979
have a style of
performance and material

644
00:27:13.022 --> 00:27:15.895
that people have
grown accustomed to,

645
00:27:15.938 --> 00:27:17.853
let's call it that.

646
00:27:17.897 --> 00:27:21.509
Uh, you know, maybe you can
learn how to do that, you know?

647
00:27:21.552 --> 00:27:23.337
And-- and maybe
you look at comedians,

648
00:27:23.380 --> 00:27:24.947
and that's just, you know,

649
00:27:24.991 --> 00:27:26.993
television and the guys
that you're emulating,

650
00:27:27.036 --> 00:27:29.343
you know, are-- are great with
that style, and-- and you go,

651
00:27:29.386 --> 00:27:32.172
"Okay, I kind of get it.
This is how it works."

652
00:27:32.215 --> 00:27:34.043
I get to wear
anything I want to,

653
00:27:34.087 --> 00:27:36.611
and men just gotta deal with it.
Well, men can't do that.

654
00:27:36.655 --> 00:27:38.787
We don't have that right,
wear anything we want to,

655
00:27:38.831 --> 00:27:40.702
people just gotta
deal with it, you know?

656
00:27:40.746 --> 00:27:42.573
Like, sir right here.
You, white guy.

657
00:27:42.617 --> 00:27:44.314
You can't come walkin'
in a Black neighborhood

658
00:27:44.358 --> 00:27:45.881
with a Klan outfit on,
people just gonna deal with it.

659
00:27:45.925 --> 00:27:48.667
[audience laughter]

660
00:27:48.710 --> 00:27:51.147
"Bob, look over there,
a Klansman!"

661
00:27:51.191 --> 00:27:53.062
"You don't see those
around here much anymore."

662
00:27:53.106 --> 00:27:54.934
[audience laughter]

663
00:27:54.977 --> 00:27:56.675
"Hey, pal, I think
you're lookin' for Pekin!"

664
00:27:56.718 --> 00:27:59.329
[laughter]

665
00:27:59.373 --> 00:28:01.375
So I can do somethin',
did you ever notice, uh,

666
00:28:01.418 --> 00:28:03.116
the black box
on the plane jokes?

667
00:28:03.159 --> 00:28:05.205
And then maybe you could
pepper in some of your own

668
00:28:05.248 --> 00:28:07.773
personal experience jokes,
dependin' on the room.

669
00:28:07.816 --> 00:28:09.470
And you know, maybe Bert Haas

670
00:28:09.513 --> 00:28:11.298
is sittin' at the back
of the room, goin',

671
00:28:11.341 --> 00:28:12.952
"Yeah, that stuff about
beatin' your kid in the aisle

672
00:28:12.995 --> 00:28:14.910
at the grocery store
'cause they're too loud,

673
00:28:14.954 --> 00:28:17.696
that's not really kinda like
the thing that we do here."

674
00:28:18.479 --> 00:28:19.959
And it's like,
"Okay, it's nothin',

675
00:28:20.002 --> 00:28:21.787
where the fuck
are you gonna do it?"

676
00:28:21.830 --> 00:28:25.051
You know? So as a--
as a Black comedian, you know,

677
00:28:25.094 --> 00:28:27.749
there were just
fewer opportunities

678
00:28:27.793 --> 00:28:32.014
to find an audience that
embraced a style of comedy

679
00:28:32.058 --> 00:28:35.017
that was certainly viable, uh,

680
00:28:35.061 --> 00:28:36.453
like, where you do it.

681
00:28:36.497 --> 00:28:38.325
Uh, you know, enter Bernie Mac.

682
00:28:38.368 --> 00:28:40.370
They say, "Hey,
you need to go see Bernie Mac!"

683
00:28:40.414 --> 00:28:42.242
Bernie Mac?
Who is this Bernie Mac?

684
00:28:42.285 --> 00:28:45.158
So I go,
and I see this dude with--

685
00:28:45.201 --> 00:28:48.422
very dark-skinned dude
with round glasses and a towel,

686
00:28:48.465 --> 00:28:50.511
going "I'm tired of
this motherfuckin' shit!

687
00:28:50.554 --> 00:28:52.208
Y'all never gonna move, huh?

688
00:28:52.252 --> 00:28:54.471
I'm sick of this shit!
I'm tired! I'm weary!

689
00:28:54.515 --> 00:28:56.343
Motherfuckin' shit,
it was his, hmm!

690
00:28:56.386 --> 00:28:58.432
Your mother, summa my bitch!"

691
00:28:58.475 --> 00:29:00.564
I'm like, yo!

692
00:29:01.043 --> 00:29:03.611
Fuckin' yo!
This dude-- Bernie was,

693
00:29:03.654 --> 00:29:05.482
and I'm not even fuckin' lyin',

694
00:29:05.526 --> 00:29:08.311
he was crushing.

695
00:29:08.355 --> 00:29:09.922
You understand? Murder.

696
00:29:09.965 --> 00:29:11.793
You know when
you do Black rooms,

697
00:29:11.837 --> 00:29:13.360
and you make Black people laugh,
you get this...

698
00:29:13.403 --> 00:29:16.102
[imitates screaming laughter]

699
00:29:16.145 --> 00:29:17.973
That shit?
It was like church shit.

700
00:29:18.017 --> 00:29:21.324
♪

701
00:29:21.368 --> 00:29:22.761
Wow!

702
00:29:22.804 --> 00:29:24.806
Bernie Mac, to me, was the guy

703
00:29:24.850 --> 00:29:28.418
that really pushed the idea of,

704
00:29:28.462 --> 00:29:30.856
you know, the whole
South Side room concept.

705
00:29:30.899 --> 00:29:34.381
Because when I met Bernie,
he was trying to get time

706
00:29:34.424 --> 00:29:37.384
at the Comedy Cottage
out in Rosemont, Illinois,

707
00:29:37.427 --> 00:29:38.733
out by the airport.

708
00:29:38.777 --> 00:29:41.214
And Bernie's style was not...

709
00:29:41.257 --> 00:29:43.259
You know, he wasn't brick wall,
suit and tie guy.

710
00:29:43.303 --> 00:29:45.044
That's not what he did.

711
00:29:45.087 --> 00:29:47.133
At the time, a lot of,
you know, "mainstream..."

712
00:29:47.176 --> 00:29:48.961
Which is really
code for "white."

713
00:29:49.004 --> 00:29:51.093
...comedians,
they called him a hack.

714
00:29:51.137 --> 00:29:53.835
Because Bernie was a performer.

715
00:29:54.575 --> 00:29:56.533
Uh, but he did
not have a problem

716
00:29:56.577 --> 00:29:58.100
with doin' a joke book joke.

717
00:29:58.144 --> 00:29:59.275
[Shay Shay]
See, it's a lot of comics,

718
00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:01.103
they're the great writers.

719
00:30:01.147 --> 00:30:02.975
There's a lot of comics,
they're the great deliverers.

720
00:30:03.018 --> 00:30:06.848
But Bernie was
just funny bein' him.

721
00:30:06.892 --> 00:30:09.546
I could watch Bernie
just eatin' an egg sandwich

722
00:30:09.590 --> 00:30:10.939
and I probably would laugh.

723
00:30:10.983 --> 00:30:12.985
I-- I don't know
what the distinction is

724
00:30:13.028 --> 00:30:14.943
between a comic as a guy
who says things funnier

725
00:30:14.987 --> 00:30:16.510
than a comedian
who says funny things.

726
00:30:16.553 --> 00:30:18.425
I still don't.

727
00:30:18.468 --> 00:30:20.557
All I know is that he was
a guy that said things funny

728
00:30:20.601 --> 00:30:22.298
and said funny things.

729
00:30:22.342 --> 00:30:24.126
[Shay Shay] Then that's
when you really got goin',

730
00:30:24.170 --> 00:30:25.867
when it's just, it ain't even
about your material,

731
00:30:25.911 --> 00:30:27.651
it's just you.

732
00:30:27.695 --> 00:30:30.959
And that's what Bernie was.
He was just a funny guy.

733
00:30:31.003 --> 00:30:33.005
But that did not get
a lot of respect

734
00:30:33.048 --> 00:30:36.399
from brick wall, we're-trying-
to-get-on-Johnny-Carson club.

735
00:30:36.443 --> 00:30:39.925
It's ridiculous that--
that he wasn't a part of that.

736
00:30:39.968 --> 00:30:42.405
That it was so segregated,
but it was Chicago.

737
00:30:45.191 --> 00:30:47.584
As far as the divide
between North and South Side--

738
00:30:47.628 --> 00:30:51.153
Don't be fluffy and say
North Side versus South Side.

739
00:30:51.197 --> 00:30:55.288
Say Black or white audiences.
[laughs]

740
00:30:55.331 --> 00:30:57.551
I don't wanna get into,
like, racial stereotypes,

741
00:30:57.594 --> 00:30:59.335
you know what I mean? But...

742
00:30:59.379 --> 00:31:02.295
like, you could pull out
your ukulele on the North Side,

743
00:31:02.338 --> 00:31:04.906
or do avant-garde poetry,
you know?

744
00:31:04.950 --> 00:31:07.735
But I don't think you'd-- you'd
wanna do that on the South Side.

745
00:31:07.778 --> 00:31:09.519
There's no workin' out shit

746
00:31:10.520 --> 00:31:12.958
with a-- with a Black crowd.

747
00:31:13.001 --> 00:31:17.571
You gotta-- Your new
material has to be killer.

748
00:31:17.614 --> 00:31:19.878
You gotta bring a certain
confidence to the stage.

749
00:31:19.921 --> 00:31:23.577
If you're scared, people,
like, they kinda feed on that.

750
00:31:23.620 --> 00:31:26.319
When white people
don't like you, it's scary.

751
00:31:26.362 --> 00:31:28.321
They ain't tryin' to hear
no Woody Allen-type shit.

752
00:31:28.364 --> 00:31:30.366
You know, if you, like, a meek
motherfucker about to talk about

753
00:31:30.410 --> 00:31:32.238
how horrible your life is
because you're short,

754
00:31:32.281 --> 00:31:33.935
Black people are pretty much,
"Fuck you,

755
00:31:33.979 --> 00:31:35.241
all of our lives suck,
motherfucker.

756
00:31:35.284 --> 00:31:36.938
Make me laugh at something."

757
00:31:36.982 --> 00:31:38.635
If they're not entertained
on the South Side,

758
00:31:38.679 --> 00:31:40.376
they will let you know.

759
00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:42.509
By answering their phone
in the middle of your set,

760
00:31:42.552 --> 00:31:44.467
or just tellin' you,
"We don't like that!"

761
00:31:44.511 --> 00:31:47.122
You know, and then you gotta
be able to handle that shit.

762
00:31:47.731 --> 00:31:50.560
When I come to the comedy show,
it be like that.

763
00:31:50.604 --> 00:31:52.867
You might be at funerals...
[laughing]

764
00:31:52.911 --> 00:31:57.219
[audience laugher]

765
00:31:57.263 --> 00:31:59.047
I would hear stories, man,
and it'd be enough for me.

766
00:31:59.091 --> 00:32:02.094
Like, "Oh, no,
I don't think I can-- No, no."

767
00:32:02.137 --> 00:32:04.226
You know, "Yeah, man,
this cat was on stage,

768
00:32:04.270 --> 00:32:06.446
and brother just jumped up
and then clocked him.

769
00:32:06.489 --> 00:32:08.622
"Oh, no, no.
I don't-- I don't know."

770
00:32:08.665 --> 00:32:10.102
I'm not a fighter.

771
00:32:10.145 --> 00:32:11.364
I'm not a lover either,
but you know,

772
00:32:11.407 --> 00:32:13.105
I'm definitely not a fighter.

773
00:32:13.148 --> 00:32:15.281
And when they do like you,
it can be overwhelming,

774
00:32:15.324 --> 00:32:17.761
'cause they can start
repeating what you're saying

775
00:32:17.805 --> 00:32:19.676
and they like you a lot,

776
00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:21.809
and you're like,
"Oh, no, what do I do?"

777
00:32:21.852 --> 00:32:23.550
The North Side's
a lot more forgiving.

778
00:32:23.593 --> 00:32:26.988
White audiences give you
at least a courtesy laugh.

779
00:32:27.032 --> 00:32:28.990
Like, "Oh, she's trying."

780
00:32:29.034 --> 00:32:32.863
It's much easier to
really go in on white people.

781
00:32:32.907 --> 00:32:34.430
You can just say, like,
"Y'all are the worst!

782
00:32:34.474 --> 00:32:35.997
You're the white devils!"

783
00:32:36.041 --> 00:32:37.651
And they're like,
"Oh, my God, we so are.

784
00:32:37.694 --> 00:32:39.218
We should get
a selfie with her later."

785
00:32:39.261 --> 00:32:40.871
Although I've been
in some rooms where,

786
00:32:40.915 --> 00:32:42.308
hey, they'll start
talkin' too, you know.

787
00:32:42.351 --> 00:32:43.570
Can't stop drunk
white people from doin'

788
00:32:43.613 --> 00:32:44.788
what they wanna do either, so.

789
00:32:44.832 --> 00:32:46.399
You guys, whoever's talking,

790
00:32:46.442 --> 00:32:48.009
go ahead and do it louder,
if you could.

791
00:32:48.053 --> 00:32:49.228
-[audience laughter]
-I-- if you could be

792
00:32:49.271 --> 00:32:50.969
as distracting as possible,

793
00:32:51.012 --> 00:32:52.318
that's the best way to handle
a live performance.

794
00:32:52.361 --> 00:32:53.884
"What do you wanna do?"

795
00:32:53.928 --> 00:32:55.364
"Let's go see a live comedy
and talk loudly!"

796
00:32:55.408 --> 00:32:56.365
"Well,
that's what I'd like to do!"

797
00:32:56.409 --> 00:32:57.584
[audience laughter]

798
00:32:57.627 --> 00:32:59.107
"Won't that be distracting?"

799
00:32:59.151 --> 00:33:00.152
"Yes, it will,
but fuck those guys!"

800
00:33:00.195 --> 00:33:01.980
[audience laughter]

801
00:33:02.023 --> 00:33:03.633
"We're assholes, let's prove it
in public! Come on!"

802
00:33:03.677 --> 00:33:05.548
You have Black comedians
who are really nervous

803
00:33:05.592 --> 00:33:07.420
to do well in a white room,

804
00:33:07.463 --> 00:33:09.030
and then you have white people

805
00:33:09.074 --> 00:33:11.554
who are terrified
to go to Black rooms.

806
00:33:11.598 --> 00:33:13.382
And then you have,
uh, brown people

807
00:33:13.426 --> 00:33:15.689
who are living
in liminal spaces.

808
00:33:16.342 --> 00:33:19.432
I always thought that
a Black comic who was funny

809
00:33:19.475 --> 00:33:22.652
could probably easily
work an all-white room.

810
00:33:22.696 --> 00:33:25.046
They could figure out
how to tailor their jokes.

811
00:33:25.090 --> 00:33:28.136
Um, it's not necessarily
the truth vice-versa.

812
00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:30.095
And that's just how racism is.

813
00:33:30.138 --> 00:33:31.879
A white comic couldn't
necessarily go to

814
00:33:31.922 --> 00:33:33.707
an all-Black room
and-- and destroy the room.

815
00:33:33.750 --> 00:33:36.579
Just in terms of-- of race,

816
00:33:36.623 --> 00:33:38.059
it wasn't so much about...

817
00:33:39.452 --> 00:33:41.845
can you--
Are you welcome in this room,

818
00:33:41.889 --> 00:33:43.934
or are you welcome in that room?

819
00:33:43.978 --> 00:33:46.285
The-- the problem
a lot of times was basically,

820
00:33:46.328 --> 00:33:47.982
does-- does your style fit?

821
00:33:48.026 --> 00:33:49.505
So I-- I used to do a bit about

822
00:33:49.549 --> 00:33:51.333
Leave it to Beaver
selling crack.

823
00:33:51.377 --> 00:33:53.770
Now, here, I'ma give you
an example of what I'm sayin'.

824
00:33:53.814 --> 00:33:56.295
Now, the bit was funny 'cause
I'd do all the impressions

825
00:33:56.338 --> 00:33:58.862
of the Beaver
and Wally and all that.

826
00:33:58.906 --> 00:34:00.734
I'm dead on with that.

827
00:34:00.777 --> 00:34:03.171
But Black people don't watch
Leave it to Beaver.

828
00:34:03.215 --> 00:34:06.783
So they get the crack part,
but they-- they don't understand

829
00:34:06.827 --> 00:34:09.786
the characters,
so the magic is lost.

830
00:34:09.830 --> 00:34:11.658
Eventually, you're gonna
learn how to work it,

831
00:34:11.701 --> 00:34:14.095
which it dawned on me
that if I'm funny,

832
00:34:14.139 --> 00:34:16.532
then eventually if I do these,
you know,

833
00:34:16.576 --> 00:34:18.317
predominantly Black rooms,
I'm event--

834
00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:20.014
you know, it's goin'--
I'm gonna figure out--

835
00:34:20.058 --> 00:34:21.842
figure it out, you know?

836
00:34:21.885 --> 00:34:24.236
I just-- I just
didn't wanna figure it out

837
00:34:24.279 --> 00:34:26.107
at my teeth's expense.

838
00:34:26.716 --> 00:34:31.156
♪

839
00:34:32.853 --> 00:34:36.030
I thought,
"Memorial Day, I'm gonna go

840
00:34:36.074 --> 00:34:38.119
and do the open mic
at the Lions' Den."

841
00:34:38.163 --> 00:34:39.599
[Pete] Yup.

842
00:34:39.642 --> 00:34:41.340
[TJ] And so
I was working on the--

843
00:34:41.383 --> 00:34:42.819
I had written so much material.
Some of it's like,

844
00:34:42.863 --> 00:34:44.865
"What if advertisements
could cuss?"

845
00:34:44.908 --> 00:34:47.476
Right?
What if they could curse, huh?

846
00:34:47.520 --> 00:34:49.739
"Snickers.
Now that's fuckin' satisfying!"

847
00:34:49.783 --> 00:34:53.134
Ohh!
The three-point line, brick.

848
00:34:53.613 --> 00:34:56.094
So I had gotten
all this material together.

849
00:34:56.137 --> 00:34:58.792
Memorial Day came,
and so I called and said,

850
00:34:58.835 --> 00:35:01.142
"Hey, you know,
I-- I would love to know,

851
00:35:01.186 --> 00:35:02.883
like, when is the sign-up?"

852
00:35:02.926 --> 00:35:04.580
And the guy there said,

853
00:35:04.624 --> 00:35:06.060
"Oh, we're not having
the open mic tonight."

854
00:35:06.104 --> 00:35:07.757
-[Pete] No?
-[TJ] So I thought,

855
00:35:07.801 --> 00:35:09.107
"What the fuck
am I supposed to do?"

856
00:35:09.629 --> 00:35:12.327
You know, I-- I told myself
this was the day

857
00:35:12.371 --> 00:35:13.894
I was gonna do my first set.

858
00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:16.679
So I quickly looked up
all the other open mics

859
00:35:16.723 --> 00:35:19.117
in the Chicago Reader,
and I found one.

860
00:35:19.160 --> 00:35:20.596
It was called the Cotton Club.

861
00:35:20.640 --> 00:35:21.989
All you do is
get on the Red Line

862
00:35:22.032 --> 00:35:23.643
and go all the way south.

863
00:35:26.298 --> 00:35:28.909
So I get off the Red Line,
and I start walking.

864
00:35:31.433 --> 00:35:33.479
And I'm like, "Wow, this is--

865
00:35:33.522 --> 00:35:35.785
a lot of dilapidated
buildings here."

866
00:35:35.829 --> 00:35:39.006
And then I find myself
coming upon the Cotton Club,

867
00:35:39.049 --> 00:35:41.443
which had a red carpet
that went out front.

868
00:35:41.487 --> 00:35:43.228
It looked amazing. I walk in,
and there's no one there.

869
00:35:43.271 --> 00:35:44.925
It's Memorial Day.

870
00:35:44.968 --> 00:35:46.666
So I was like,
this will be a funny story.

871
00:35:46.709 --> 00:35:49.234
My first open mic,
I bomb in front of the bartender

872
00:35:49.277 --> 00:35:51.497
and three other people,
you know?

873
00:35:51.540 --> 00:35:53.412
'Cause I was the only
white person in the room.

874
00:35:53.455 --> 00:35:55.153
All right,
going to the bathroom,

875
00:35:55.196 --> 00:35:56.806
where I start running
my set over and over,

876
00:35:56.850 --> 00:35:59.026
as we are want to do
in the beginning.

877
00:35:59.069 --> 00:36:00.854
Finally go, "Okay, I'm ready."

878
00:36:00.897 --> 00:36:03.900
And I walk outside, and
the place was fucking packed.

879
00:36:03.944 --> 00:36:07.861
It was full to the-- There must
have been 400 people there.

880
00:36:07.904 --> 00:36:09.950
-Shut up.
-I am still the only

881
00:36:09.993 --> 00:36:11.821
-white person in the room.
-Oh, shit.

882
00:36:11.865 --> 00:36:15.042
Now, the Cotton Club was
a room full of gangsters

883
00:36:15.085 --> 00:36:17.131
and dope dealers,
I'ma be honest with you.

884
00:36:17.175 --> 00:36:20.743
You had pimps,
you had drug dealers.

885
00:36:20.787 --> 00:36:22.745
It was like New Jack City.

886
00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:25.879
It comes my time
to get up on stage.

887
00:36:25.922 --> 00:36:28.316
And, uh, Big Sugar,

888
00:36:28.882 --> 00:36:30.579
-was who was the--
-Suge?

889
00:36:30.623 --> 00:36:32.581
-Not Big Suge.
-Suge Knight's niece.

890
00:36:32.625 --> 00:36:34.975
Yes, Suge Knight's niece,
Big Sugare.

891
00:36:35.584 --> 00:36:37.325
-It's Big Suga.
-Uh-huh.

892
00:36:37.369 --> 00:36:39.719
And, uh, so he was so nice,
'cause I went up to him,

893
00:36:39.762 --> 00:36:41.634
and I said, "Look,
I've never done stand-up before,

894
00:36:41.677 --> 00:36:43.549
and do you think
I should not go up?"

895
00:36:43.592 --> 00:36:46.639
Basically implying, like,
"Hey, I'm a young white guy

896
00:36:46.682 --> 00:36:49.207
who's never done stand-up.
Please. Is this a good idea?"

897
00:36:49.250 --> 00:36:51.600
And he's like, "Yeah. Trust me,
I'll-- I'll make sure you,

898
00:36:51.644 --> 00:36:53.211
you know, you feel welcome."

899
00:36:53.254 --> 00:36:55.691
He gets on stage, and he goes,

900
00:36:55.735 --> 00:36:57.824
"I wanna hear a big,
big round of applause.

901
00:36:57.867 --> 00:36:59.347
Come on, give him some love.

902
00:36:59.391 --> 00:37:00.827
This is his first time
on stage ever.

903
00:37:00.870 --> 00:37:03.264
Please,
ladies and gentlemen, TJ Miller.

904
00:37:03.308 --> 00:37:06.006
Come on! Come on! Come on!"
Really got 'em going.

905
00:37:06.485 --> 00:37:08.138
It was amazing,
and I got on stage,

906
00:37:08.182 --> 00:37:09.966
and it felt like
this crazy thing,

907
00:37:10.010 --> 00:37:11.707
the lights, everything.

908
00:37:11.751 --> 00:37:13.579
And I grabbed the mic...

909
00:37:13.622 --> 00:37:16.625
You had to really, really
be able to make them laugh

910
00:37:16.669 --> 00:37:19.628
to get any kind of
traction at that room.

911
00:37:20.194 --> 00:37:23.328
"Hey, uh, thank you guys all for
comin' out to see me tonight.

912
00:37:23.371 --> 00:37:26.200
I, uh--"
Huge, explosive laughter.

913
00:37:26.809 --> 00:37:29.725
Because no one had
come to see me tonight.

914
00:37:29.769 --> 00:37:31.031
But you didn't mean it
as a joke.

915
00:37:31.074 --> 00:37:32.641
-Not at all.
-Ah.

916
00:37:32.685 --> 00:37:34.295
But a huge laugh.
In my mind, I'm like,

917
00:37:34.339 --> 00:37:36.297
"I'm a natural stand-up.
I mean, this is it.

918
00:37:36.341 --> 00:37:38.821
It's that easy! Let's do it!"

919
00:37:38.865 --> 00:37:42.477
And so, my entire upbringings,

920
00:37:42.521 --> 00:37:44.174
like, the beginnings
of my stand-up career,

921
00:37:44.218 --> 00:37:45.306
were all on the South Side.

922
00:37:45.350 --> 00:37:48.875
♪

923
00:37:48.918 --> 00:37:50.703
[Erica Nicole Clark]
I grew up in Lake Forest.

924
00:37:50.746 --> 00:37:52.444
I grew up making white people
laugh with the shit

925
00:37:52.487 --> 00:37:56.099
that my nigger parents
were saying to me.

926
00:37:56.143 --> 00:37:58.754
And I'm not saying Black.
I'm saying they straight niggas

927
00:37:58.798 --> 00:38:00.713
from fuckin' 63rd
and County Met.

928
00:38:00.756 --> 00:38:03.106
Like, in my head,
I always thought that, like,

929
00:38:03.150 --> 00:38:06.022
you can make white people laugh

930
00:38:06.066 --> 00:38:08.677
by just being yourself,
for being Black.

931
00:38:08.721 --> 00:38:12.464
I think Black people...
I-- I can't explain it.

932
00:38:12.507 --> 00:38:15.423
It's just, like,
my friends thought I was funny

933
00:38:15.467 --> 00:38:17.773
'cause I would repeat the stuff
that my mom said to them.

934
00:38:17.817 --> 00:38:19.645
You know? And, um...

935
00:38:19.688 --> 00:38:22.256
but it's like, can I repeat
the stuff my mom said

936
00:38:22.300 --> 00:38:24.127
to my Black friends and
still get that same reaction

937
00:38:24.171 --> 00:38:25.346
and still think they funny?

938
00:38:25.390 --> 00:38:27.696
Um, not all the time, not 100%.

939
00:38:27.740 --> 00:38:29.394
I think there's
different struggles in,

940
00:38:29.437 --> 00:38:31.657
uh, on both sides,
but funny is funny, and I--

941
00:38:31.700 --> 00:38:33.136
I've seen people who were funny

942
00:38:33.180 --> 00:38:35.443
go to both sides
and do their job.

943
00:38:35.487 --> 00:38:37.837
There are people who like
to say, "Funny is funny."

944
00:38:39.012 --> 00:38:40.753
That's bullshit. [chuckles]

945
00:38:40.796 --> 00:38:42.363
Funny is not funny.

946
00:38:42.407 --> 00:38:44.234
Funny is funny
depending who's listening.

947
00:38:44.278 --> 00:38:47.368
Right? You can't say
"Music is music." Right?

948
00:38:47.412 --> 00:38:49.457
If I'm a fuckin' classical
music lover and I walk into

949
00:38:49.501 --> 00:38:51.503
a rock and roll club, I'd go,
"What is this bullshit?"

950
00:38:51.546 --> 00:38:54.332
It's not what I was expecting
to hear. It's not what I like.

951
00:38:54.375 --> 00:38:57.247
And I don't see why comedians

952
00:38:57.291 --> 00:39:00.773
get pressured into
this space of, uh,

953
00:39:00.816 --> 00:39:04.167
we are supposed to be able
to appeal to everyone.

954
00:39:04.211 --> 00:39:05.908
We do not.

955
00:39:05.952 --> 00:39:08.258
That's just not
the fuckin' truth.

956
00:39:09.521 --> 00:39:12.524
One night-- and this is
before anybody was anybody,

957
00:39:12.567 --> 00:39:15.788
so, you know, I mean, this is
all in retrospect now, but--

958
00:39:15.831 --> 00:39:19.705
Bernie Mac came out
to the Comedy Cottage.

959
00:39:19.748 --> 00:39:21.402
And to his credit,

960
00:39:21.446 --> 00:39:23.926
'cause he's tryin' to do
and play other places.

961
00:39:23.970 --> 00:39:25.058
And...

962
00:39:25.841 --> 00:39:27.408
he didn't do well.

963
00:39:27.452 --> 00:39:28.975
I mean, they didn't
really laugh, you know?

964
00:39:29.018 --> 00:39:30.890
But again,
it's just people's diff--

965
00:39:30.933 --> 00:39:32.587
Just different sensibilities,

966
00:39:32.631 --> 00:39:34.589
and that's not an indictment
on your talent.

967
00:39:34.633 --> 00:39:36.591
It's just
different sensibilities.

968
00:39:36.635 --> 00:39:39.202
You know, there were a few local
guys who could play both rooms

969
00:39:39.246 --> 00:39:41.770
and not feel like
you were being disingenuous

970
00:39:41.814 --> 00:39:43.990
when you were in
one or the other.

971
00:39:44.033 --> 00:39:45.731
You have no idea
why they call you Spike.

972
00:39:45.774 --> 00:39:47.428
[audience member] No idea.

973
00:39:47.472 --> 00:39:48.995
It has never entered
your mind to ask them

974
00:39:49.038 --> 00:39:50.649
-why they call you that?
-[audience laughs]

975
00:39:52.259 --> 00:39:53.782
Like, if someone
called me Spike, I go,

976
00:39:53.826 --> 00:39:55.001
"Why'd you call me that?"

977
00:39:56.655 --> 00:39:58.352
I just wouldn't let it go. So
if I called you a motherfucker,

978
00:39:58.396 --> 00:40:00.920
-you'd say, "Well, yes."
-[audience laughs]

979
00:40:01.660 --> 00:40:03.966
The first person
I saw was Orlando Reyes.

980
00:40:04.445 --> 00:40:05.968
I was 16 years old,

981
00:40:06.012 --> 00:40:08.144
and his act was pretty,
you know, risqué.

982
00:40:08.188 --> 00:40:10.625
Came from the all-girls
Catholic boarding school

983
00:40:10.669 --> 00:40:13.585
and met Orlando, and it was
a whole new experience for me.

984
00:40:13.628 --> 00:40:16.414
I hadn't heard a lot
of the words before,

985
00:40:16.457 --> 00:40:18.807
and he was always very helpful

986
00:40:18.851 --> 00:40:21.114
in describing
what he had meant to say.

987
00:40:21.157 --> 00:40:23.769
"You ever look at, uh, your girl
while she's suckin' your dick?

988
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:26.119
Her eyes be lookin' at you

989
00:40:26.162 --> 00:40:27.425
like a crocodile
lookin' over a swamp."

990
00:40:28.164 --> 00:40:31.211
"Why don't Polish people
use paper plates?

991
00:40:31.254 --> 00:40:32.821
'Cause it fucks up
the dishwasher."

992
00:40:33.256 --> 00:40:36.956
He used to love to
introduce me as "Jeff Jizz."

993
00:40:37.435 --> 00:40:39.785
"Jeff Jizz, everybody!
Jeff Jizz."

994
00:40:39.828 --> 00:40:42.701
He had this, uh,
interesting way of dressing.

995
00:40:42.744 --> 00:40:44.442
Orlando looked like a pimp.

996
00:40:44.485 --> 00:40:46.705
Velvet jackets and have
the cigarette on stage,

997
00:40:46.748 --> 00:40:48.489
and he'd be like,
"Has anybody got a cigarette?

998
00:40:48.533 --> 00:40:50.012
I left mine in the machine."

999
00:40:50.622 --> 00:40:53.146
In terms of the history
of Chicago comedy,

1000
00:40:53.189 --> 00:40:55.453
the era that
we're talking about,

1001
00:40:55.496 --> 00:41:00.806
you're not legit unless you did
the Stay Out with Orlando.

1002
00:41:03.504 --> 00:41:06.812
That made-- that makes you,
like, the real deal,

1003
00:41:06.855 --> 00:41:09.902
to do the Stay Out All Night
Disco with Orlando.

1004
00:41:09.945 --> 00:41:11.773
Oh, God, yes!

1005
00:41:14.080 --> 00:41:16.343
He was dirty at Zanies.

1006
00:41:16.996 --> 00:41:19.215
You put him at four o'clock
in the morning

1007
00:41:19.259 --> 00:41:21.609
at a disco near the airport?

1008
00:41:21.653 --> 00:41:24.264
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

1009
00:41:24.307 --> 00:41:26.309
"By applause,
who likes to butt fuck?"

1010
00:41:26.353 --> 00:41:28.486
[laughing]

1011
00:41:29.443 --> 00:41:30.749
Yes.

1012
00:41:30.792 --> 00:41:32.794
[laughing]

1013
00:41:33.621 --> 00:41:35.405
[exhales]

1014
00:41:35.449 --> 00:41:37.233
He actually said that!

1015
00:41:37.277 --> 00:41:38.844
You were out at Sunday night
drinking at 4:00 a.m.,

1016
00:41:38.887 --> 00:41:40.802
you're an alcoholic.

1017
00:41:40.846 --> 00:41:42.804
So it's bunch of alcoholics
at a place that looks like--

1018
00:41:42.848 --> 00:41:45.241
looks like you walked off
the set of Saturday Night Fever.

1019
00:41:46.634 --> 00:41:48.418
It was kind of
a strip joint, uh,

1020
00:41:48.462 --> 00:41:50.943
and really, really
a bucket of blood.

1021
00:41:50.986 --> 00:41:53.206
I mean, the-- the men's rooms,

1022
00:41:53.249 --> 00:41:56.514
um, were plastered--
Every available surface

1023
00:41:56.557 --> 00:41:59.038
was a lacquered
female body part.

1024
00:41:59.081 --> 00:42:00.779
Um, you know,
pictures, cut-outs.

1025
00:42:00.822 --> 00:42:02.563
Some guy had cut out
Playboy magazines

1026
00:42:02.607 --> 00:42:04.173
and cut out Penthouse

1027
00:42:04.217 --> 00:42:07.046
and just put vaginas
and breasts everywhere,

1028
00:42:07.089 --> 00:42:10.484
and, uh, and you peed
into a urinal that was,

1029
00:42:10.528 --> 00:42:13.531
you know, also lacquered
with female body parts.

1030
00:42:13.574 --> 00:42:15.271
I-- I-- I don't know
what was going on.

1031
00:42:15.315 --> 00:42:16.882
But you could get
killed there pretty easily.

1032
00:42:16.925 --> 00:42:19.362
That was a gig
that I did for the money.

1033
00:42:19.406 --> 00:42:20.668
Fifty bucks.

1034
00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:24.193
That was a big--
That's big money back then.

1035
00:42:26.631 --> 00:42:30.243
Orlando, I believe,
was shot on stage.

1036
00:42:30.286 --> 00:42:32.419
Now, I'm not sure
they were shooting at him.

1037
00:42:32.462 --> 00:42:34.639
People in the audience
had some sort of a disagreement.

1038
00:42:34.682 --> 00:42:36.728
I guess it would be
an armed disagreement,

1039
00:42:36.771 --> 00:42:39.513
and, um,
he took a bullet somehow.

1040
00:42:39.557 --> 00:42:41.036
He was not killed, he was-- I--

1041
00:42:41.080 --> 00:42:42.951
I don't think
he was injured badly.

1042
00:42:42.995 --> 00:42:47.216
But Orlando was an amazing guy,
and he would do jokes.

1043
00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:48.348
He would do...

1044
00:42:48.957 --> 00:42:51.481
terribly racist jokes
that I can't say.

1045
00:42:51.525 --> 00:42:55.007
He was as funny off stage
as he was on stage.

1046
00:42:55.050 --> 00:42:57.096
One time
he came over to my house

1047
00:42:57.139 --> 00:42:59.228
and played Santa Claus
on Christmas Eve.

1048
00:42:59.272 --> 00:43:01.317
You know, they never
saw a Black Santa Claus,

1049
00:43:01.361 --> 00:43:03.102
Orlando was Black.

1050
00:43:03.145 --> 00:43:04.799
And, uh, you know,
they-- they were just amazed.

1051
00:43:04.843 --> 00:43:06.409
They were amazed.

1052
00:43:06.453 --> 00:43:08.498
Orlando booked me
at a women's prison,

1053
00:43:08.542 --> 00:43:10.370
and Orlando goes up,
and he does this--

1054
00:43:10.413 --> 00:43:12.981
Orlando, and they love him
'cause he's filthy,

1055
00:43:13.025 --> 00:43:15.027
and he's great,
and he's got this presence,

1056
00:43:15.070 --> 00:43:17.986
and he introduces me,
this 16-year-old little kid

1057
00:43:18.030 --> 00:43:20.423
who goes up in front
of these really hard women,

1058
00:43:20.467 --> 00:43:22.948
and I-- The first few jokes,
they were not going for me.

1059
00:43:22.991 --> 00:43:24.950
And then about
the third joke or so,

1060
00:43:24.993 --> 00:43:27.039
they finally gave it up, and
they-- And I had a good show,

1061
00:43:27.082 --> 00:43:29.302
and I remember
standing there with my dad

1062
00:43:29.345 --> 00:43:31.304
as they were filing out
to go back to their cells,

1063
00:43:31.347 --> 00:43:32.914
and my dad was laughing
'cause they were all like,

1064
00:43:32.958 --> 00:43:34.437
"Why don't you come back
to my cell with me,

1065
00:43:34.481 --> 00:43:35.613
I'll show you a good time!"

1066
00:43:37.484 --> 00:43:39.660
Lust knows no color, okay?

1067
00:43:39.704 --> 00:43:41.619
-[audience laughter]
-She can be purple.

1068
00:43:41.662 --> 00:43:43.882
When a man sees a woman,
we thinkin' one thought.

1069
00:43:43.925 --> 00:43:46.145
-We're like, "Damn!"
-[audience laughs]

1070
00:43:46.188 --> 00:43:49.365
-I'll hit that.
-[audience laughs]

1071
00:43:50.323 --> 00:43:51.977
"Never had purple before."

1072
00:43:53.718 --> 00:43:56.590
Black, white, blue,
I don't care who.

1073
00:43:56.634 --> 00:43:58.331
Had a comedy club,
there was nothing better

1074
00:43:58.374 --> 00:44:00.159
than All Jokes Aside
when it was at its height.

1075
00:44:00.202 --> 00:44:02.857
[Mary] It was gonna be
different from the white clubs,

1076
00:44:02.901 --> 00:44:05.425
only because, one,
they're Black comics

1077
00:44:05.468 --> 00:44:07.775
and the content
would be different,

1078
00:44:07.819 --> 00:44:11.605
and we're selling to
a predominantly Black audience.

1079
00:44:11.649 --> 00:44:13.520
All Jokes Aside was a big deal.

1080
00:44:13.563 --> 00:44:18.394
Was the premier Black comedy
club in the United States.

1081
00:44:18.438 --> 00:44:21.136
All the big Black
comedians came there.

1082
00:44:21.180 --> 00:44:24.270
Like Jamie Foxx,
Mark Curry, DL Hughley.

1083
00:44:24.313 --> 00:44:26.054
Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock.

1084
00:44:26.098 --> 00:44:27.839
Cedric the Entertainer,
and, you know, and Steve Harvey,

1085
00:44:27.882 --> 00:44:29.667
and of course
Bernie was a mainstay there.

1086
00:44:29.710 --> 00:44:33.018
I just thought that
that was our Black comedy club.

1087
00:44:33.061 --> 00:44:35.847
I didn't know we weren't
the only Black comedy club.

1088
00:44:35.890 --> 00:44:38.763
It was run so professionally,
and-- and it was, uh--

1089
00:44:38.806 --> 00:44:41.766
it was during the boom,
uh, for Black comedy.

1090
00:44:41.809 --> 00:44:44.029
Uh, Raymond Lambert
and Mary Lindsey

1091
00:44:44.072 --> 00:44:46.161
came from the business world,
and they ran that club

1092
00:44:46.205 --> 00:44:48.033
more so like a business
than a club.

1093
00:44:48.076 --> 00:44:49.991
The whole staff wore uniforms,

1094
00:44:50.035 --> 00:44:53.778
and they had to treat us
with a certain level of respect.

1095
00:44:53.821 --> 00:44:55.649
That's why all of us,
we had to treat the club

1096
00:44:55.693 --> 00:44:58.608
with a lot more respect.
We had to dress a certain way.

1097
00:44:58.652 --> 00:45:00.785
And I-- I did the same thing
with the audience.

1098
00:45:00.828 --> 00:45:04.049
You can't match
a hoodie with a jacket.

1099
00:45:04.092 --> 00:45:06.442
This is an old-school thing
my parents used to do.

1100
00:45:06.486 --> 00:45:09.097
You-- you usually don't get in
fights when you're dressed up.

1101
00:45:09.141 --> 00:45:11.665
Like, you-- you--
There's a certain behavior

1102
00:45:11.709 --> 00:45:13.493
that you have
when you look nice.

1103
00:45:13.536 --> 00:45:16.714
You're like, "I really
don't wanna get into an argument

1104
00:45:16.757 --> 00:45:18.193
when I'm dressed up like that."

1105
00:45:18.237 --> 00:45:21.457
There's a tight ship
that was ran.

1106
00:45:21.501 --> 00:45:23.938
We were there for eight years
and never had one incident,

1107
00:45:23.982 --> 00:45:27.681
which is unheard of
for a club or a bar

1108
00:45:27.725 --> 00:45:30.075
with a liquor license,
never to have any incidents,

1109
00:45:30.118 --> 00:45:31.772
but we were
very diligent about that.

1110
00:45:31.816 --> 00:45:34.122
I didn't realize at the time,
I probably was--

1111
00:45:34.166 --> 00:45:38.605
I was doin' myself a disservice
by not playin' more Black rooms,

1112
00:45:38.648 --> 00:45:41.434
because that was a whole
segment of-- of audience

1113
00:45:41.477 --> 00:45:42.827
that I was missing.

1114
00:45:42.870 --> 00:45:44.698
I want everybody
to laugh at this,

1115
00:45:44.742 --> 00:45:46.787
because I always thought
that more people that laughed,

1116
00:45:46.831 --> 00:45:50.660
the more people than I can
perform in front of, and...

1117
00:45:51.661 --> 00:45:53.446
if they get my audience bigger,

1118
00:45:53.489 --> 00:45:55.448
the more money
I could probably make.

1119
00:45:55.491 --> 00:45:58.320
As some people say,
the South Side makes you funny,

1120
00:45:58.364 --> 00:46:00.192
the North Side makes you money.

1121
00:46:00.235 --> 00:46:01.976
And-- and don't get me wrong,
I wasn't even thinkin'

1122
00:46:02.020 --> 00:46:04.544
about money in the end.
I'm just thinkin' about audience

1123
00:46:04.587 --> 00:46:08.069
at the time. I just wanted
my audience to be diverse.

1124
00:46:08.113 --> 00:46:10.811
[Godfrey] I started doin'
comedy at the Fallout, and then

1125
00:46:10.855 --> 00:46:14.510
from there, I said, okay,
I wanna go to the South Side

1126
00:46:14.554 --> 00:46:17.078
and perform. I wanna do
Black rooms too, you know.

1127
00:46:17.122 --> 00:46:18.558
I wanted to go both ways.

1128
00:46:18.601 --> 00:46:20.603
My ideal crowd
was a mixed crowd.

1129
00:46:20.647 --> 00:46:22.388
Black folks and white folks,

1130
00:46:22.431 --> 00:46:24.042
and older folks
and younger folks.

1131
00:46:24.085 --> 00:46:26.000
You know, I liked that,
because then people's--

1132
00:46:26.044 --> 00:46:29.177
people's, uh, sensibilities sort
of interact with each other.

1133
00:46:29.221 --> 00:46:31.136
So if somebody's
not gettin' a joke,

1134
00:46:31.179 --> 00:46:32.877
then somebody else
might get the joke,

1135
00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:34.704
and-- and it, and-- and
it just creates laughter,

1136
00:46:34.748 --> 00:46:35.967
almost everybody.

1137
00:46:38.621 --> 00:46:41.059
The only way you gon'
learn as a comedian

1138
00:46:41.102 --> 00:46:44.366
to make everybody
in the country laugh,

1139
00:46:44.410 --> 00:46:45.890
you have to travel the road.

1140
00:46:45.933 --> 00:46:52.157
♪

1141
00:46:52.810 --> 00:46:55.638
Because what's funny in Chicago

1142
00:46:55.682 --> 00:46:57.684
might not be funny in New York,

1143
00:46:57.727 --> 00:47:00.078
might not be funny in Miami,

1144
00:47:00.121 --> 00:47:01.906
might not be
funny in California.

1145
00:47:03.385 --> 00:47:05.866
I had never really done well

1146
00:47:05.910 --> 00:47:07.781
at the-- the Melrose improv.

1147
00:47:07.825 --> 00:47:10.044
And, finally,
you know, it was like

1148
00:47:10.088 --> 00:47:13.004
my fourth or fifth set.
I had a really good set,

1149
00:47:13.047 --> 00:47:14.788
and Budd Friedman
was in the audience.

1150
00:47:14.832 --> 00:47:16.529
And I remember
somebody else was emceeing,

1151
00:47:16.572 --> 00:47:19.532
but Budd came up
to take me off stage,

1152
00:47:19.575 --> 00:47:22.187
and he said to the audience,
"Very funny man,

1153
00:47:22.230 --> 00:47:24.537
Mr. Paul Gilmartin.
Look for him.

1154
00:47:24.580 --> 00:47:27.192
He will be on
Evening at the Improv."

1155
00:47:27.235 --> 00:47:30.325
And I was like, "Yeah,
I'm-- I'm fuckin' in now,

1156
00:47:30.369 --> 00:47:32.197
I'm in with the Improv!

1157
00:47:32.240 --> 00:47:35.156
And, uh, I'm gonna start
hangin' around here now!

1158
00:47:35.200 --> 00:47:37.071
'Cause I won't feel
like an outsider."

1159
00:47:37.115 --> 00:47:39.291
And so the next night,
I come in to the Improv,

1160
00:47:39.334 --> 00:47:41.119
and I'm standing
in the hallways.

1161
00:47:41.162 --> 00:47:43.904
People are kind of
filing in and filing out.

1162
00:47:43.948 --> 00:47:45.819
And he comes up to me
and he goes,

1163
00:47:45.863 --> 00:47:47.647
"Sir? Do you have a ticket?"

1164
00:47:49.910 --> 00:47:51.390
That is show business.

1165
00:47:52.173 --> 00:47:54.523
That is show business.

1166
00:47:56.264 --> 00:47:59.006
All these comedy clubs
started tryin' to save money.

1167
00:47:59.050 --> 00:48:02.053
They were spending so much money
on hotel rooms for comedians,

1168
00:48:02.096 --> 00:48:04.272
what they start doing
is buying condos.

1169
00:48:04.316 --> 00:48:09.974
So you would go check in there
and find leftover stuff from

1170
00:48:11.105 --> 00:48:14.413
the whole month of comedians
leaving condoms

1171
00:48:14.456 --> 00:48:17.459
and coke all on the countertop.

1172
00:48:17.503 --> 00:48:20.854
I think my worst comedy condo
experience is Painesville, Ohio.

1173
00:48:20.898 --> 00:48:23.683
And I'm guessing I'm not the
first person to tell you that.

1174
00:48:23.726 --> 00:48:28.644
Uh, you stayed at somebody's
house behind the comedy club,

1175
00:48:28.688 --> 00:48:31.952
and the shower-- You were not
allowed to use the shower!

1176
00:48:31.996 --> 00:48:34.346
Do not use the shower!
You can use the bathtub.

1177
00:48:34.955 --> 00:48:36.565
And the bathtub was, like,

1178
00:48:36.609 --> 00:48:38.524
in the middle of the kitchen
or something,

1179
00:48:38.567 --> 00:48:40.439
so you had to go-- you had to
walk downstairs awkwardly,

1180
00:48:40.482 --> 00:48:43.268
and then get
in this old-fashioned tub

1181
00:48:43.311 --> 00:48:45.052
with feet on it

1182
00:48:45.096 --> 00:48:47.141
and splash around
to get clean to go do comedy,

1183
00:48:47.185 --> 00:48:50.101
and, uh, you know, I don't--
you know, I'm not four.

1184
00:48:50.144 --> 00:48:51.232
Why am I takin' a bath?

1185
00:48:51.885 --> 00:48:53.452
The door was off the hinge.

1186
00:48:53.495 --> 00:48:56.150
Blood was on the sofa.

1187
00:48:56.194 --> 00:48:57.978
That's when I said,

1188
00:48:58.022 --> 00:49:01.503
"I can't stay here.
I can't stay here."

1189
00:49:01.547 --> 00:49:03.592
Tony, you wrote
the funniest thing on that wall!

1190
00:49:04.289 --> 00:49:06.813
"Great club, great staff,
and a place to sleep."

1191
00:49:08.119 --> 00:49:10.860
The one that was horrible,

1192
00:49:10.904 --> 00:49:12.993
but I didn't consider it
horrible at the time,

1193
00:49:13.037 --> 00:49:15.996
was Comedy Café, Milwaukee,

1194
00:49:16.040 --> 00:49:18.781
because I was living
with my parents at the time

1195
00:49:18.825 --> 00:49:21.001
when I first started
working there, so it was just--

1196
00:49:21.045 --> 00:49:24.004
in my mind, I'm like,
"This is mine. I got my place.

1197
00:49:24.048 --> 00:49:27.965
I'm doin' comedy,
I'm makin' $200 this weekend,

1198
00:49:28.008 --> 00:49:29.531
and I got this place.

1199
00:49:29.575 --> 00:49:31.185
One that I can fuck in."

1200
00:49:31.229 --> 00:49:32.708
And I--
and I never fucked there.

1201
00:49:32.752 --> 00:49:35.537
But it could have happened!

1202
00:49:36.799 --> 00:49:39.411
Jeff Garlin and I
were doing a one-nighter

1203
00:49:39.454 --> 00:49:41.543
in Lafayette, Indiana,

1204
00:49:41.587 --> 00:49:44.024
and it was in a restaurant,

1205
00:49:44.068 --> 00:49:46.026
and it was just one of those
gigs when you walked in,

1206
00:49:46.070 --> 00:49:47.985
you're-- you could
just feel your stomach sink.

1207
00:49:48.028 --> 00:49:50.335
You just--
Everything was set up wrong.

1208
00:49:50.378 --> 00:49:52.076
It-- The lighting was terrible,

1209
00:49:52.119 --> 00:49:54.208
the sound system was bad,
people were eating.

1210
00:49:54.252 --> 00:49:56.210
All the-- all the distractions,
that, you know,

1211
00:49:56.254 --> 00:49:59.126
that-- that can really hurt
a comedy-- comedy show.

1212
00:49:59.170 --> 00:50:02.434
And, um, and so,
they gave you dinner

1213
00:50:02.477 --> 00:50:05.480
before the show, and--
and we're sitting there eating,

1214
00:50:05.524 --> 00:50:07.221
and we can see
there's only, like, 12 people,

1215
00:50:07.265 --> 00:50:09.658
and they're drunk,
and they don't look very bright.

1216
00:50:10.398 --> 00:50:12.052
And so, um,

1217
00:50:12.096 --> 00:50:14.576
I can't remember who said it,

1218
00:50:14.620 --> 00:50:16.491
but I think I dared Jeff.

1219
00:50:16.535 --> 00:50:19.146
He was-- he was, uh,
eating a piece of cake,

1220
00:50:19.190 --> 00:50:22.976
and I dared him to go up,
uh, with cake on his face.

1221
00:50:23.020 --> 00:50:24.630
And we both kind of
laughed about it.

1222
00:50:24.673 --> 00:50:26.632
And so I went up
and I struggled, you know,

1223
00:50:26.675 --> 00:50:29.243
ate it for-- I was probably
supposed to do a half hour,

1224
00:50:29.287 --> 00:50:31.115
probably did about 15 minutes,

1225
00:50:31.158 --> 00:50:34.509
and came off stage,
and I think--

1226
00:50:34.553 --> 00:50:36.772
I think Jeff thought, "Oh,

1227
00:50:36.816 --> 00:50:38.774
you know, Paul just doesn't know
how to handle them, you know."

1228
00:50:38.818 --> 00:50:42.517
So he goes up there, and he's--
he's trying everything.

1229
00:50:42.561 --> 00:50:44.693
And you can see, it's--
He's getting frustrated,

1230
00:50:44.737 --> 00:50:46.260
and it's just not working.

1231
00:50:46.304 --> 00:50:47.914
I had been eating it. I died.

1232
00:50:47.957 --> 00:50:49.655
And at a certain point,

1233
00:50:49.698 --> 00:50:51.700
he just-- he knew
it wasn't gonna get any better.

1234
00:50:51.744 --> 00:50:54.442
And I remember the look in
his face, and he just stopped.

1235
00:50:54.486 --> 00:50:57.228
I took the cake,
and I wiped it all over my face,

1236
00:50:57.271 --> 00:50:59.099
and my face
has cake all over it,

1237
00:50:59.143 --> 00:51:01.710
and I said to the audience,
like, oh, "Hi, I'm Cakey!"

1238
00:51:01.754 --> 00:51:03.495
He finished his act.

1239
00:51:03.538 --> 00:51:05.932
And so when you would
go and bomb on the road

1240
00:51:05.975 --> 00:51:07.760
and come back and be like,
"It was so hard,"

1241
00:51:07.803 --> 00:51:09.675
people would be like,
"Don't worry about that, I mean,

1242
00:51:09.718 --> 00:51:11.198
-show at the Lion's Den."
-At least you knew you could

1243
00:51:11.242 --> 00:51:12.895
come to the Lion's Den
and tell them

1244
00:51:12.939 --> 00:51:14.462
that you ate your dick
in South Bend, Indiana.

1245
00:51:16.682 --> 00:51:20.164
I'm well aware that
it's like a white boys' club,

1246
00:51:20.207 --> 00:51:22.079
and I'm probably a member of it

1247
00:51:22.122 --> 00:51:24.124
because I have
this famous father.

1248
00:51:24.168 --> 00:51:27.736
For some reason,
it carries weight with certain--

1249
00:51:27.780 --> 00:51:30.174
I don't know, they think
he's gonna come to the show?

1250
00:51:30.217 --> 00:51:32.567
Or I'ma pass out gold chains

1251
00:51:32.611 --> 00:51:34.569
while I'm on the stage
or some shit?

1252
00:51:34.613 --> 00:51:36.136
I don't know
what the fuck they think,

1253
00:51:36.180 --> 00:51:39.531
but they always give me,
like, more leeway,

1254
00:51:39.574 --> 00:51:44.188
I think, because of that
than, um, other women.

1255
00:51:45.014 --> 00:51:46.929
That has to be it.

1256
00:51:46.973 --> 00:51:48.670
'Cause I don't think I'm any
better than anybody else, but...

1257
00:51:50.150 --> 00:51:53.371
Diane Alaimo brought me along
to Wiley's in Dayton, Ohio.

1258
00:51:53.414 --> 00:51:55.068
We road-tripped,
and I learned a lot from her.

1259
00:51:55.112 --> 00:51:56.809
She's one of my favorites,
and I miss her a lot.

1260
00:51:56.852 --> 00:51:58.724
We lost her in, uh, 2001.

1261
00:51:58.767 --> 00:52:01.161
Diane went out of her way
to make sure

1262
00:52:01.205 --> 00:52:03.859
I got work at clubs that might
not otherwise hire women.

1263
00:52:03.903 --> 00:52:05.600
She brought me along
as a feature act,

1264
00:52:05.644 --> 00:52:07.950
and at the time--
and even now, a lot of clubs

1265
00:52:07.994 --> 00:52:09.996
won't book two women
on the same show,

1266
00:52:10.039 --> 00:52:13.173
and that wasn't a rule that she
thought needed to be enforced.

1267
00:52:13.217 --> 00:52:17.090
I came up with mostly men,
so sometimes people,

1268
00:52:17.134 --> 00:52:18.744
if they're
giving me a compliment,

1269
00:52:18.787 --> 00:52:20.702
they'll say,
"You do stand-up like a man."

1270
00:52:20.746 --> 00:52:22.443
And to me,
sometimes I take offense to that

1271
00:52:22.487 --> 00:52:25.054
'cause it's like, I do stand-up
like me and I'm a woman,

1272
00:52:25.098 --> 00:52:26.926
so I'm not doing it like a man.

1273
00:52:26.969 --> 00:52:28.145
You're just saying it
because you think it's funny,

1274
00:52:28.188 --> 00:52:29.624
then it is like a man.

1275
00:52:29.668 --> 00:52:31.104
There's a lot of funny women.

1276
00:52:31.148 --> 00:52:32.627
I could,
just off the top of my head,

1277
00:52:32.671 --> 00:52:34.803
Sally Edwards,
you got Emily Galati.

1278
00:52:34.847 --> 00:52:37.806
You got Carla Filisha,
you've got Sonya White.

1279
00:52:37.850 --> 00:52:40.374
I mean, I could just
go on and on and on.

1280
00:52:40.418 --> 00:52:41.506
There's a million funny women.

1281
00:52:42.246 --> 00:52:47.860
♪

1282
00:52:47.903 --> 00:52:49.775
When I die,
I wanna become a cadaver,

1283
00:52:50.428 --> 00:52:52.473
so college boys
will touch me again.

1284
00:52:52.517 --> 00:52:56.173
-[audience laughs, cheers]
-Consensually this time.

1285
00:52:57.565 --> 00:53:00.873
Once the woman gets on stage,
they're as successful as men.

1286
00:53:00.916 --> 00:53:02.875
I think what makes it
so difficult for women

1287
00:53:02.918 --> 00:53:04.964
is what goes on off-stage.

1288
00:53:05.007 --> 00:53:07.227
Things that men
take for granted.

1289
00:53:07.271 --> 00:53:09.534
Driving to a strange nightclub,

1290
00:53:09.577 --> 00:53:11.492
parking in a dark parking lot.

1291
00:53:11.536 --> 00:53:13.755
These can be
life-threatening situations.

1292
00:53:14.365 --> 00:53:16.584
Well, that's a lot of
collateral damage

1293
00:53:16.628 --> 00:53:19.239
you have to overcome
in order to pursue the career.

1294
00:53:19.283 --> 00:53:23.243
I've had complete, like,
inappropriate shit said to me,

1295
00:53:23.287 --> 00:53:26.986
and, like-- Or, you know, texted
to me or things like that.

1296
00:53:27.029 --> 00:53:31.469
These guys are all pathetic
and thirsty,

1297
00:53:31.512 --> 00:53:36.343
and will really try to sneak in

1298
00:53:36.387 --> 00:53:39.607
in ways like, "Hey, why don't
I give you a ride home?"

1299
00:53:39.651 --> 00:53:43.829
Or, "Hey, um,
these other guys are creepy,

1300
00:53:43.872 --> 00:53:46.048
but I'm one of the good ones."
Huge red flag.

1301
00:53:46.092 --> 00:53:47.702
The guys were
very hard on girls.

1302
00:53:47.746 --> 00:53:50.531
Women are nice,
and we make eye contact,

1303
00:53:50.575 --> 00:53:53.360
and guys get confused by this.
They're like, "Oh, my God,

1304
00:53:53.404 --> 00:53:55.580
she's actually looking
at me while I speak?

1305
00:53:55.623 --> 00:53:57.451
And she laughed
at one of my jokes!

1306
00:53:57.495 --> 00:53:58.583
She wants to fuck me."

1307
00:53:59.323 --> 00:54:02.239
No. No. 100% no.

1308
00:54:02.282 --> 00:54:05.416
Okay, 99.9999999%
of the time, no.

1309
00:54:05.459 --> 00:54:07.592
I slept around.
You don't wanna do that.

1310
00:54:07.635 --> 00:54:09.246
I think I got a reputation.

1311
00:54:09.289 --> 00:54:11.030
I mean, honestly,
one of the best things

1312
00:54:11.073 --> 00:54:14.381
that you can do is just,
like, don't fuck each other.

1313
00:54:15.034 --> 00:54:17.950
You know?
Do not fuck where you work.

1314
00:54:17.993 --> 00:54:19.908
Or poop.

1315
00:54:19.952 --> 00:54:21.954
I think it's probably changed,
and, like, who-- who cares

1316
00:54:21.997 --> 00:54:24.609
that somebody's a slut now or
having a meltdown or whatever.

1317
00:54:24.652 --> 00:54:26.393
But, you know, it was like--

1318
00:54:26.437 --> 00:54:28.308
I had a reputation, you know?

1319
00:54:28.352 --> 00:54:29.831
And it's like, it's not fair.

1320
00:54:29.875 --> 00:54:31.572
There's a double standard,
you know?

1321
00:54:31.616 --> 00:54:33.661
A guy's having a meltdown,
they care about him.

1322
00:54:33.705 --> 00:54:35.663
A guy's a slut,
they care about him.

1323
00:54:35.707 --> 00:54:38.666
A woman's having a meltdown,
she's a slut, she's banished.

1324
00:54:38.710 --> 00:54:42.540
I went around the house
singing to my husband.

1325
00:54:42.583 --> 00:54:44.890
♪ All of me

1326
00:54:44.933 --> 00:54:48.110
♪ Why not take all of me?

1327
00:54:48.154 --> 00:54:49.938
He asked if he could
make two trips.

1328
00:54:49.982 --> 00:54:52.680
[audience laughs]

1329
00:54:52.724 --> 00:54:54.465
I did the Treehouse
with Steve Seagren,

1330
00:54:54.508 --> 00:54:57.555
and I kept on telling him
to picture Dee Staley

1331
00:54:57.598 --> 00:54:59.513
running around naked
around the car.

1332
00:54:59.557 --> 00:55:02.168
And he kept on laughing,
and she would-- kept on saying,

1333
00:55:02.211 --> 00:55:04.301
"What's so funny?" And I--
You know. But remember,

1334
00:55:04.344 --> 00:55:06.955
I'm in my twenties, so,
I would do rude, stupid shit.

1335
00:55:06.999 --> 00:55:09.088
There was an element
of high school to it, I think.

1336
00:55:09.131 --> 00:55:12.309
We were young. We were, like,
20, you know, 24, whatever.

1337
00:55:15.964 --> 00:55:19.272
[Erica Nicole Clark] All right.
So this is the un-PC thing.

1338
00:55:19.316 --> 00:55:22.057
There are some very
perverted-ass fuckin' men

1339
00:55:22.101 --> 00:55:24.364
in the business,
and there's not a lot of women,

1340
00:55:24.408 --> 00:55:26.758
so there's perverted men and
they're taking advantage of it.

1341
00:55:26.801 --> 00:55:32.590
And I hate that women always
have to go for the victim card.

1342
00:55:32.633 --> 00:55:36.333
Like, if Louis CK pulled
his dick out in front of me...

1343
00:55:36.376 --> 00:55:40.380
I would be on tour with
Louis CK right now. [laughs]

1344
00:55:40.424 --> 00:55:43.383
I don't know. Like,
I feel like a lot of women

1345
00:55:43.427 --> 00:55:47.692
don't see the advantage
to a powerful man

1346
00:55:47.735 --> 00:55:49.824
doing something fucked up
in front of you.

1347
00:55:49.868 --> 00:55:52.174
And I'm not saying that--
that crosses the border,

1348
00:55:52.218 --> 00:55:54.263
that every time, oh,
a woman gets raped, she should--

1349
00:55:54.307 --> 00:55:57.005
You know, whatever.
I-- I'm not that crazy.

1350
00:55:57.049 --> 00:55:59.834
I'm just saying
in that particular instance,

1351
00:55:59.878 --> 00:56:03.882
I'm gonna be opening
at Carnegie Hall for Louis CK.

1352
00:56:05.362 --> 00:56:07.364
It wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy at all.

1353
00:56:07.407 --> 00:56:09.278
There were some guys
that were so loving to me.

1354
00:56:09.322 --> 00:56:11.368
They were like,
"Kara, get a therapist,

1355
00:56:11.411 --> 00:56:14.066
make sure it's a--
it's an unattractive woman.

1356
00:56:14.109 --> 00:56:16.982
You don't try to sleep with her.
Get a good therapist."

1357
00:56:17.025 --> 00:56:19.680
You know, and other guys just,
like, told me I was crazy.

1358
00:56:21.508 --> 00:56:23.380
[Sonal] I mean, I don't know
who's gonna see this.

1359
00:56:23.423 --> 00:56:25.556
All the comedy clubs are great,
everyone's super nice,

1360
00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:28.559
I love everyone
running all of the clubs.

1361
00:56:29.168 --> 00:56:32.432
Great dudes, all of you.
All the men, super nice.

1362
00:56:32.476 --> 00:56:35.566
You look right into my eyes when
you talk to me, I love that.

1363
00:56:35.609 --> 00:56:37.742
Probably if I had
any discrimination,

1364
00:56:37.785 --> 00:56:41.180
it was probably because I was
Black before I was a woman.

1365
00:56:41.223 --> 00:56:43.791
Um, which is, like,
two strikes against you.

1366
00:56:43.835 --> 00:56:46.446
[Chris] I think it's harder to--
for women and minorities

1367
00:56:46.490 --> 00:56:49.406
in life, so, it's--
it's gonna harder than any,

1368
00:56:49.449 --> 00:56:51.712
anything you ever get into.

1369
00:56:51.756 --> 00:56:54.498
So I think, uh, using that
and-- and powering through

1370
00:56:54.541 --> 00:56:56.804
those obstacles is-- is what
makes you a better comic.

1371
00:56:56.848 --> 00:57:01.766
♪

1372
00:57:04.116 --> 00:57:07.032
I have three TV shows, a movie.

1373
00:57:07.075 --> 00:57:09.338
I have specials.

1374
00:57:09.991 --> 00:57:11.993
And to this day,

1375
00:57:12.037 --> 00:57:14.474
Zanies would not book me.

1376
00:57:15.083 --> 00:57:17.172
To this day.

1377
00:57:17.216 --> 00:57:19.697
There's a certain type
of Black person

1378
00:57:19.740 --> 00:57:21.829
I think Zanies is looking for.

1379
00:57:21.873 --> 00:57:26.181
It's not me. [laughs] 'Cause
I've never performed at Zanies.

1380
00:57:26.225 --> 00:57:27.835
A lot of places
want a Black face

1381
00:57:27.879 --> 00:57:29.620
but they don't want
a Black voice.

1382
00:57:29.663 --> 00:57:31.186
Early on,
I was kind of upset by it.

1383
00:57:31.230 --> 00:57:32.797
I used to think
it was a problem.

1384
00:57:32.840 --> 00:57:34.625
Um, then I-- I kind of
cracked the thing,

1385
00:57:34.668 --> 00:57:36.453
because what happened?

1386
00:57:36.496 --> 00:57:38.716
I cracked the circuit,
'cause I just kept comin'.

1387
00:57:38.759 --> 00:57:40.413
And then they would hear,
economically, you know,

1388
00:57:40.457 --> 00:57:42.720
you can draw people out,
that's really the key.

1389
00:57:42.763 --> 00:57:44.678
And a lot of times when
I thought I was ready

1390
00:57:44.722 --> 00:57:46.245
to do Zanies, I wouldn't
have booked me either,

1391
00:57:46.288 --> 00:57:48.029
looking back at myself,
that guy.

1392
00:57:48.073 --> 00:57:49.857
[Bert Haas] Every club
has its own identity.

1393
00:57:49.901 --> 00:57:52.730
All Jokes Aside's identity
was urban comedy.

1394
00:57:52.773 --> 00:57:54.296
Which is really
code for "Black."

1395
00:57:54.340 --> 00:57:57.343
What happens is,
a good club books talent.

1396
00:57:57.386 --> 00:57:59.040
It's almost like a-- a riddle.

1397
00:57:59.084 --> 00:58:00.825
Well, do you book the talent

1398
00:58:00.868 --> 00:58:02.783
because that's the type
of audience you get,

1399
00:58:02.827 --> 00:58:04.481
or do you get
that type of audience

1400
00:58:04.524 --> 00:58:06.265
because that's
the type of comic you book?

1401
00:58:06.308 --> 00:58:08.136
I don't know
what the answer to that is,

1402
00:58:08.180 --> 00:58:11.400
but part of what makes the club
special is its identity,

1403
00:58:11.444 --> 00:58:14.186
and the identity is established
by who gets booked.

1404
00:58:14.229 --> 00:58:15.970
Because otherwise,
you're just a venue.

1405
00:58:16.623 --> 00:58:19.539
And you can be anything!
Anybody can become a venue,

1406
00:58:19.583 --> 00:58:21.759
but to have a name
as a comedy club

1407
00:58:21.802 --> 00:58:23.412
is what makes you special.

1408
00:58:23.456 --> 00:58:25.545
And so at the same time
that All Jokes Aside

1409
00:58:25.589 --> 00:58:27.678
was booking
certain types of comedians--

1410
00:58:27.721 --> 00:58:30.550
uh, Bernie Mac and, uh,
Cedric the Entertainer,

1411
00:58:30.594 --> 00:58:34.032
et cetera-- uh, Zanies had
a different group of comedians.

1412
00:58:34.075 --> 00:58:36.556
I was on a blind date.
Friend of mine set me up,

1413
00:58:36.600 --> 00:58:38.558
told me this girl
had a Coke bottle figure.

1414
00:58:38.602 --> 00:58:39.994
She had a Coke bottle figure,

1415
00:58:40.038 --> 00:58:41.256
it was one of those
two liter bottles.

1416
00:58:41.300 --> 00:58:42.562
[audience laughs]

1417
00:58:42.606 --> 00:58:44.999
Big black bottom,
twist-off head.

1418
00:58:45.043 --> 00:58:47.306
We was gonna fuckin'
beat Larry Reid at Zanies

1419
00:58:47.349 --> 00:58:49.656
because he had sensibility
and a style of comedy

1420
00:58:49.700 --> 00:58:51.484
and a particular reach,

1421
00:58:51.528 --> 00:58:54.139
but you just gotta fuck
with that guy in that room.

1422
00:58:54.182 --> 00:58:58.099
Zanies was one of the first
clubs that let me headline.

1423
00:58:58.143 --> 00:59:00.537
This is the first place I really
started working as an emcee.

1424
00:59:00.580 --> 00:59:02.930
Did two weeks, back-to-back.

1425
00:59:03.757 --> 00:59:05.716
It was poorly negotiated,
looking back.

1426
00:59:05.759 --> 00:59:09.371
[laughs]

1427
00:59:10.111 --> 00:59:12.113
Definitely got lowballed
on that one.

1428
00:59:15.769 --> 00:59:18.511
We used to do comedy
right here at this joint

1429
00:59:18.555 --> 00:59:20.165
right off of Sheffield.

1430
00:59:20.208 --> 00:59:22.733
Uh, back then it was
called Heckler's Heaven.

1431
00:59:22.776 --> 00:59:24.561
And basically it was
an open mic show for comics

1432
00:59:24.604 --> 00:59:26.127
to kind of build their chop,

1433
00:59:26.171 --> 00:59:27.694
but you could also
make a little money.

1434
00:59:27.738 --> 00:59:29.043
Like the one I think got,
like, like, uh,

1435
00:59:29.087 --> 00:59:30.784
$50 if you won the show.

1436
00:59:30.828 --> 00:59:33.178
So one night, I went on stage,

1437
00:59:33.221 --> 00:59:36.007
and after the show,
this guy approaches me.

1438
00:59:36.050 --> 00:59:38.139
"I'm with
the David Letterman Show,

1439
00:59:38.183 --> 00:59:40.011
and I'd love to get you on David
Letterman  as soon as possible."

1440
00:59:40.054 --> 00:59:42.013
So he's like,
"Well, can you meet me out back

1441
00:59:42.056 --> 00:59:43.623
and can talk about it, I mean,
exchange numbers or something?"

1442
00:59:43.667 --> 00:59:45.494
I'm like, "Okay, cool."

1443
00:59:45.538 --> 00:59:47.279
So he went out back, and then
I went and got my buddy.

1444
00:59:47.322 --> 00:59:49.760
His name was James Hannah,
he was a-- a producer

1445
00:59:49.803 --> 00:59:51.500
for the Steve Harvey Show.

1446
00:59:51.544 --> 00:59:52.719
Stand-up comedian.
Look him up, James Hannah.

1447
00:59:52.763 --> 00:59:54.199
He was my man. He passed away.

1448
00:59:54.242 --> 00:59:56.027
But anyway,
I said "Hey, James, man,

1449
00:59:56.070 --> 00:59:58.159
you-- you ain't gonna
believe this.

1450
00:59:58.203 --> 00:59:59.770
There's this guy who said he's
from the David Letterman Show,

1451
00:59:59.813 --> 01:00:01.685
but really,
I think he's hittin' on me."

1452
01:00:01.728 --> 01:00:03.469
James was like, "Well, he might
be with David Letterman."

1453
01:00:03.512 --> 01:00:05.427
I was like, "Nah, I don't know."
I didn't think so.

1454
01:00:05.471 --> 01:00:07.647
It could be, but I-- I just
thought he had ulterior motive,

1455
01:00:07.691 --> 01:00:09.475
and I'll just leave it at that.

1456
01:00:09.518 --> 01:00:11.520
So James came with me,
we went out the back door,

1457
01:00:11.564 --> 01:00:13.479
and when we got out there,

1458
01:00:13.522 --> 01:00:16.656
it was like this dude just
disappeared in a puff of smoke.

1459
01:00:16.700 --> 01:00:18.876
So anyway,
I'm watchin' the news,

1460
01:00:18.919 --> 01:00:22.053
and I see this guy
in a jumpsuit,

1461
01:00:22.096 --> 01:00:23.620
an orange prison jumpsuit.

1462
01:00:23.663 --> 01:00:26.840
Lo and behold,
it was Jeffrey Dahmer!

1463
01:00:28.450 --> 01:00:30.931
Fortunately for me,
I didn't believe that he was

1464
01:00:30.975 --> 01:00:34.543
with David Letterman,
and I wasn't attracted to him.

1465
01:00:34.587 --> 01:00:37.503
Otherwise I'd-- Would have
ended up being a pot of soup.

1466
01:00:39.418 --> 01:00:41.725
[Lance Crouther] So I had got
booked at the Comedy Cottage,

1467
01:00:41.768 --> 01:00:44.684
which is, like, 20 miles away
from where I lived.

1468
01:00:44.728 --> 01:00:47.165
And so I didn't have
a car that day,

1469
01:00:47.208 --> 01:00:48.688
so I took this train.

1470
01:00:50.559 --> 01:00:52.649
Got off about two stops
before O'Hare,

1471
01:00:52.692 --> 01:00:55.173
and then from there
I had to walk

1472
01:00:55.216 --> 01:00:57.828
through this very
white neighborhood. [laughs]

1473
01:00:58.916 --> 01:01:01.092
And I'm drivin' down River Road,

1474
01:01:01.135 --> 01:01:03.398
because the Comedy Cottage
was on River Road.

1475
01:01:03.442 --> 01:01:06.358
I'm driving under this viaduct,
and I see this cat walkin'.

1476
01:01:06.401 --> 01:01:09.491
And as I was walkin'
under the underpass,

1477
01:01:09.535 --> 01:01:12.669
uh, I heard somebody
yell out the N-word.

1478
01:01:13.757 --> 01:01:16.107
And I turned, and I saw, like,

1479
01:01:16.150 --> 01:01:20.459
there was a pickup truck, and
rage flushed through my body.

1480
01:01:20.502 --> 01:01:23.244
The idiot got stopped
at a red light,

1481
01:01:23.288 --> 01:01:24.898
and I looked on the ground,
and there was like,

1482
01:01:24.942 --> 01:01:27.553
I guess a chunk of stone,

1483
01:01:27.596 --> 01:01:30.425
you know, like, magically there.

1484
01:01:30.469 --> 01:01:32.427
And I grabbed it,

1485
01:01:32.471 --> 01:01:36.127
and I started walkin' toward
the driver's side of the car.

1486
01:01:36.170 --> 01:01:37.606
And I look,

1487
01:01:37.650 --> 01:01:39.086
and I say "Hey, that's that--

1488
01:01:39.130 --> 01:01:40.827
that's that brother
from Mary Wong."

1489
01:01:40.871 --> 01:01:43.177
As I approached,
and my arm was...

1490
01:01:43.221 --> 01:01:45.614
[stammering]

1491
01:01:45.658 --> 01:01:48.182
...throw this big chunk of stone

1492
01:01:48.226 --> 01:01:50.489
through the windshield,
through the window.

1493
01:01:51.359 --> 01:01:52.970
I heard, "Lenny!"

1494
01:01:54.232 --> 01:01:55.973
Said, "Who? What?"

1495
01:01:56.016 --> 01:01:57.888
I turned around,
and it was Dwayne,

1496
01:01:57.931 --> 01:02:00.368
and he was grinning
from ear to ear.

1497
01:02:01.021 --> 01:02:04.764
And about at that point,
the pickup truck drove off.

1498
01:02:04.808 --> 01:02:07.811
And I'm standing there with
a big chunk of stone in my hand.

1499
01:02:07.854 --> 01:02:09.900
He's like,
"Man, what are you doin'?"

1500
01:02:09.943 --> 01:02:11.728
I said, "Aw, man,
I was just about to

1501
01:02:11.771 --> 01:02:13.555
hit a white boy in the head
with a brick, man."

1502
01:02:17.995 --> 01:02:19.910
[Kara Buller] My dad's
a very proud Midwesterner,

1503
01:02:19.953 --> 01:02:22.216
and he called me the other day.
He was very upset. He said,

1504
01:02:22.260 --> 01:02:24.523
you know, "In the paper,
they were calling somebody a--

1505
01:02:24.566 --> 01:02:26.786
They said he was wearing
a very Midwestern suit!"

1506
01:02:26.830 --> 01:02:28.309
And he's like, "Kara,
what-- what does this mean,

1507
01:02:28.353 --> 01:02:29.963
a Midwestern suit?"

1508
01:02:30.007 --> 01:02:32.444
I said, "Uh, well, Dad,
a-- a Midwestern suit,

1509
01:02:32.487 --> 01:02:34.576
I believe, is a suit
with a secret pocket

1510
01:02:34.620 --> 01:02:36.317
stitched into it
in which you place

1511
01:02:36.361 --> 01:02:38.145
your unspoken racial prejudices.

1512
01:02:38.189 --> 01:02:40.278
That's-- that's--
that's what it is, yeah.

1513
01:02:40.887 --> 01:02:43.847
Uh, I've got my own."
You know? [laughs]

1514
01:02:43.890 --> 01:02:47.502
A lot of my comedy
focused on race

1515
01:02:47.546 --> 01:02:50.331
and racism, and, you know,
and-- and those,

1516
01:02:50.375 --> 01:02:54.379
and-- and encounters with,
uh, various ethnic groups.

1517
01:02:54.422 --> 01:02:55.989
Primarily white folks.

1518
01:02:56.033 --> 01:02:57.686
I used to let
white folks have it, man,

1519
01:02:57.730 --> 01:02:59.471
just right out the gate.

1520
01:02:59.514 --> 01:03:01.299
Just, you know,
"Let me tell you something.

1521
01:03:01.342 --> 01:03:04.606
Your pathological greed
and compulsive need for control

1522
01:03:04.650 --> 01:03:07.348
has been the single
most source of pain and misery

1523
01:03:07.392 --> 01:03:10.525
for people of color throughout
this world for generations!"

1524
01:03:10.569 --> 01:03:13.398
But I try not to say
things like that anymore.

1525
01:03:13.441 --> 01:03:16.531
[audience laughs]

1526
01:03:16.575 --> 01:03:18.795
'Cause I have found
once you have said

1527
01:03:18.838 --> 01:03:20.797
something like that
to a white person,

1528
01:03:20.840 --> 01:03:22.973
you almost never
get a second date.

1529
01:03:23.016 --> 01:03:25.192
-You know what I mean?
-[audience laughs]

1530
01:03:25.236 --> 01:03:27.107
'Cause I was really
influenced by Richard Pryor

1531
01:03:27.151 --> 01:03:29.893
and all those things, so I--
I really like stuff about race,

1532
01:03:29.936 --> 01:03:32.591
and just, you know, um...

1533
01:03:32.634 --> 01:03:34.593
I don't know what the truth is,
but, you know,

1534
01:03:34.636 --> 01:03:36.160
things that were just more--

1535
01:03:37.204 --> 01:03:39.076
I don't know, confrontational.

1536
01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:41.513
[Lance Crouther] Somebody
I heard earlier mention Chica--

1537
01:03:41.556 --> 01:03:43.167
you know,
who's your favorite comedian,

1538
01:03:43.210 --> 01:03:45.299
and you mention somebody
nobody's ever heard of.

1539
01:03:45.865 --> 01:03:48.259
And that was me with Dwayne,
'cause I would say, you know,

1540
01:03:48.302 --> 01:03:49.869
someone-- "Who was the funniest
person you know outside?"

1541
01:03:49.913 --> 01:03:52.002
"Oh, Dwayne Kennedy." [laughs]

1542
01:03:52.045 --> 01:03:53.525
And people go,
"Who the hell is that?"

1543
01:03:53.568 --> 01:03:54.743
I don't know
who Dwayne Kennedy is.

1544
01:03:54.787 --> 01:03:56.093
Yeah, no.

1545
01:03:56.136 --> 01:03:57.268
Dwayne Kennedy?

1546
01:03:58.356 --> 01:03:59.879
No. Not off the top of my head.

1547
01:04:00.662 --> 01:04:02.447
Who is he?

1548
01:04:02.490 --> 01:04:04.405
Dwayne Kennedy's, like,
the Picasso of stand-up comedy.

1549
01:04:04.449 --> 01:04:07.017
But the Modigliani
of personal finances.

1550
01:04:08.235 --> 01:04:12.022
I remember Dwayne
having notebooks,

1551
01:04:12.065 --> 01:04:13.675
hundreds of notebooks.

1552
01:04:13.719 --> 01:04:15.199
I would look at these notebooks,
and I would just

1553
01:04:15.242 --> 01:04:17.941
start laughing
hysterically out loud.

1554
01:04:17.984 --> 01:04:19.899
Like,
tears rolling down my eyes.

1555
01:04:19.943 --> 01:04:22.423
In fact, I took one of these
notebooks to a Bulls game.

1556
01:04:22.467 --> 01:04:24.077
An early one with Jordan.

1557
01:04:24.817 --> 01:04:26.514
And I remember Jordan dunking,

1558
01:04:26.558 --> 01:04:28.865
and I wasn't even
paying attention to the game

1559
01:04:28.908 --> 01:04:31.606
'cause I was screaming laughing.
So I go to Dwayne,

1560
01:04:31.650 --> 01:04:33.434
I said "Dwayne, man,
you gotta do this!"

1561
01:04:33.478 --> 01:04:35.262
"Ah, man, I didn't--
I didn't-- That's not funny."

1562
01:04:36.350 --> 01:04:38.439
I go, "You--
you gotta be kiddin, man!"

1563
01:04:38.483 --> 01:04:41.181
He's like, "I-- It--
it's just not workin' for me."

1564
01:04:41.225 --> 01:04:44.097
So his-- What he considered
his worst material

1565
01:04:44.141 --> 01:04:45.794
would have been--

1566
01:04:45.838 --> 01:04:48.406
made four
other people's careers.

1567
01:04:50.060 --> 01:04:51.713
But Dwayne's a nut.

1568
01:04:51.757 --> 01:04:53.890
I'm thinkin' I gotta get
back into stand-up, man.

1569
01:04:54.499 --> 01:04:57.502
You know. I don't know
when the Rona's gonna die out,

1570
01:04:57.545 --> 01:05:00.809
but I'm gonna get-- I'm gonna
get boosted, re-boosted Monday.

1571
01:05:01.680 --> 01:05:04.770
Maybe I'll crawl back up
on the stage Tuesday.

1572
01:05:06.467 --> 01:05:08.687
[chuckles] And then Wednesday,

1573
01:05:08.730 --> 01:05:11.298
Wednesday morning,
regret that decision.

1574
01:05:11.342 --> 01:05:13.039
So Dwayne made a video tape--

1575
01:05:13.083 --> 01:05:15.041
You know, you shoot--
you work a club

1576
01:05:15.085 --> 01:05:17.087
and you get, like,
a little video tape of your--

1577
01:05:17.130 --> 01:05:19.393
your act,
about five minutes long.

1578
01:05:19.437 --> 01:05:22.092
Dwayne took that video,
he sent it to this guy in LA,

1579
01:05:22.135 --> 01:05:25.269
who showed the video to NBC.

1580
01:05:25.312 --> 01:05:27.097
They signed Dwayne.

1581
01:05:27.140 --> 01:05:31.014
So that year,
he was on Seinfeldvideo 227,

1582
01:05:31.057 --> 01:05:34.147
and he did the other one where
he was Halle Berry's boyfriend.

1583
01:05:34.191 --> 01:05:35.496
Nobody knew who Halle Berry was.

1584
01:05:35.540 --> 01:05:37.281
He was bigger than Halle Berry.

1585
01:05:37.803 --> 01:05:39.761
Oh, boy. Depressing.

1586
01:05:39.805 --> 01:05:41.807
Do you know how people
are really good at something,

1587
01:05:41.850 --> 01:05:45.637
so if you're just
a little not good at something,

1588
01:05:45.680 --> 01:05:49.293
you work harder, and it actually
probably helps you with success?

1589
01:05:49.336 --> 01:05:51.208
Like, if you're
perfect at something

1590
01:05:51.251 --> 01:05:54.951
where it just almost is--
it's like eating breakfast?

1591
01:05:55.734 --> 01:05:57.997
So you don't really think of it
as a gift or a skill.

1592
01:05:58.041 --> 01:05:59.477
You just think of,
I'm eating breakfast.

1593
01:05:59.520 --> 01:06:01.174
So Dwayne is that good,
where he just--

1594
01:06:01.218 --> 01:06:03.176
he's eating breakfast.

1595
01:06:03.220 --> 01:06:05.700
[Dwayne] I was eating it pretty
regularly up until last week.

1596
01:06:06.440 --> 01:06:07.615
I'm gettin' back on it.

1597
01:06:09.574 --> 01:06:10.967
I'll get some running shoes.

1598
01:06:12.751 --> 01:06:16.059
You know, plaid. [laughs]

1599
01:06:16.102 --> 01:06:17.625
It's not like
the end of Trainspotting.

1600
01:06:17.669 --> 01:06:19.627
[laughs]

1601
01:06:20.585 --> 01:06:23.457
Get running shoes, join a gym.

1602
01:06:23.501 --> 01:06:26.286
Hit a treadmill.
Lift some weights.

1603
01:06:26.330 --> 01:06:29.289
If he was
a little less good-- [laughs]

1604
01:06:29.333 --> 01:06:31.291
he probably would have
been successful,

1605
01:06:31.335 --> 01:06:33.902
'cause he would have had more
motivation to achieve something.

1606
01:06:36.079 --> 01:06:39.256
Lance and Ali wrote
on The Chris Rock Show.

1607
01:06:40.083 --> 01:06:42.302
Lance goes on
to become Pootie Tang.

1608
01:06:42.346 --> 01:06:43.956
And so I end up in a movie.

1609
01:06:44.000 --> 01:06:45.871
[laughs]

1610
01:06:45.914 --> 01:06:47.699
And it was crazy,
it was this weird movie

1611
01:06:47.742 --> 01:06:48.961
that everybody thought
was gonna be

1612
01:06:49.005 --> 01:06:51.007
like a Black Austin Powers,

1613
01:06:51.050 --> 01:06:53.357
and I was workin' on
On The Record with Bob Costas.

1614
01:06:53.966 --> 01:06:57.187
So I said,
"Bob, what if you introduce me

1615
01:06:57.230 --> 01:07:00.625
and say 'This is Pootie Tang,
blah, blah, blah'?"

1616
01:07:00.668 --> 01:07:02.670
And he goes,
"I'd love to do it!"

1617
01:07:02.714 --> 01:07:04.629
The movie comes out.

1618
01:07:04.672 --> 01:07:06.283
The New York Timesgives it
a really good review.

1619
01:07:06.326 --> 01:07:08.241
Everybody else,
"It's the worst movie ever."

1620
01:07:08.285 --> 01:07:10.983
Who do they single out?
Bob Costas.

1621
01:07:11.027 --> 01:07:13.464
Bob Costas is in every review.

1622
01:07:13.507 --> 01:07:15.553
"How dare you be in this trash!"

1623
01:07:15.596 --> 01:07:17.990
I get a call from Bob Costas.

1624
01:07:18.034 --> 01:07:20.993
"I try to do
favors for friends."

1625
01:07:21.037 --> 01:07:24.649
I go "Friends? I never heard
Bob say that I'm Bob's friend!

1626
01:07:24.692 --> 01:07:27.130
Never heard that one before.
Okay!"

1627
01:07:27.173 --> 01:07:31.047
But sometimes you get
burnt in the ass, okay?

1628
01:07:31.090 --> 01:07:32.744
I'm not Bob's friend anymore!

1629
01:07:32.787 --> 01:07:35.268
In the same sentence,
it happened. [chuckles]

1630
01:07:36.008 --> 01:07:38.054
"Gee,
I wish I had never done that!"

1631
01:07:38.097 --> 01:07:39.490
He actually said that to me.

1632
01:07:39.533 --> 01:07:42.101
I go, "Wow,
I couldn't feel worse."

1633
01:07:42.145 --> 01:07:43.929
[laughs]

1634
01:07:43.972 --> 01:07:47.498
But over time,
I would get a call from Bob

1635
01:07:47.541 --> 01:07:49.978
or run into him,
and he would go...

1636
01:07:51.110 --> 01:07:52.981
"That movie, I hate it."

1637
01:07:53.025 --> 01:07:54.635
And then next time I'd see him,
"That movie is all right."

1638
01:07:54.679 --> 01:07:56.594
Next time I'd see him,

1639
01:07:56.637 --> 01:07:58.248
"Me and my son went to see
that movie again. Wasn't bad."

1640
01:07:58.291 --> 01:07:59.466
And next I'd see him,
"I love the movie!"

1641
01:07:59.510 --> 01:08:01.207
And so based on Bob, I would go,

1642
01:08:01.251 --> 01:08:03.992
"Oh, that's where
the movie is, and the culture."

1643
01:08:04.036 --> 01:08:06.691
Because it's become
this cult thing,

1644
01:08:06.734 --> 01:08:10.129
that it went from
horrible, horrible, horrible

1645
01:08:10.173 --> 01:08:13.132
to "Oh, that's really
a kooky, crazy thing,"

1646
01:08:13.176 --> 01:08:17.310
and that performance
is Mary Wong in its essence.

1647
01:08:17.354 --> 01:08:20.705
Whatever you expect, let's try
to flip the expectation. What

1648
01:08:20.748 --> 01:08:22.533
can we do to help him?

1649
01:08:22.576 --> 01:08:25.188
We could send them
to a drug rehabilitation center.

1650
01:08:25.231 --> 01:08:28.887
This would all cost
the taxpayers 23.50 a day.

1651
01:08:28.930 --> 01:08:31.498
Eventually, he'd be through it
and he'd leave the center,

1652
01:08:31.542 --> 01:08:34.632
but knowing him, he'd probably
start drinking again,

1653
01:08:34.675 --> 01:08:37.896
-[indistinct]
-And before you know it,

1654
01:08:37.939 --> 01:08:39.898
he'd end up
right back here again,

1655
01:08:39.941 --> 01:08:43.641
a drunken asshole, once again
costing us 23.50 a day.

1656
01:08:43.684 --> 01:08:47.471
-So...
-[audience laughs]

1657
01:08:52.606 --> 01:08:54.869
There was a club
in Oak Lawn, Illinois,

1658
01:08:54.913 --> 01:08:57.002
which is right next to Chicago.

1659
01:08:57.045 --> 01:08:59.265
So basically, just Chicago club

1660
01:08:59.309 --> 01:09:01.267
called, the, uh,
the Barrel of Laughs.

1661
01:09:01.311 --> 01:09:03.400
And this was a club that, uh,

1662
01:09:03.443 --> 01:09:05.271
a cat named Bill Brady
used to run.

1663
01:09:05.315 --> 01:09:07.578
We had an entranceway
that looked like a barrel,

1664
01:09:07.621 --> 01:09:09.145
so we came through the barrel.

1665
01:09:09.188 --> 01:09:10.885
Our tables
were made out of barrels.

1666
01:09:10.929 --> 01:09:13.279
So it was natural
to call it the Barrel of Laughs.

1667
01:09:13.323 --> 01:09:16.456
[Dwayne]
And now that was a place

1668
01:09:16.500 --> 01:09:20.373
where you might
encounter some things.

1669
01:09:20.417 --> 01:09:23.071
I was a customer at a place
called Senese's Winery,

1670
01:09:23.115 --> 01:09:24.638
and it was a, uh, restaurant.

1671
01:09:24.682 --> 01:09:27.598
When I got into comedy
back in 1976,

1672
01:09:27.641 --> 01:09:30.688
I proposed the idea
to Tom and Terry Senese

1673
01:09:30.731 --> 01:09:32.342
about taking over
a Tuesday night,

1674
01:09:32.385 --> 01:09:34.257
which they had nothing
there on Tuesday nights,

1675
01:09:34.300 --> 01:09:36.041
to do a comedy show.

1676
01:09:36.084 --> 01:09:38.435
We used to go to Senese's
as a family for dinner!

1677
01:09:38.478 --> 01:09:39.958
Mother's Day, Father's Day.

1678
01:09:40.001 --> 01:09:42.221
And I would see
the signs as a kid,

1679
01:09:42.265 --> 01:09:44.484
so when I started doing
open mics, believe it or not,

1680
01:09:44.528 --> 01:09:47.922
it was one of my dreams
to work at the Barrel of Laughs.

1681
01:09:47.966 --> 01:09:52.536
Um, did I know that it was
a closed-minded, racist club?

1682
01:09:52.579 --> 01:09:54.015
Probably not.

1683
01:09:54.059 --> 01:09:56.017
I remember one time
I was on stage,

1684
01:09:56.061 --> 01:09:58.716
and I was, you know,
whatever I was doing...

1685
01:09:59.673 --> 01:10:01.675
and a woman...

1686
01:10:02.676 --> 01:10:05.679
kept just yellin' out,
"Are you Black?"

1687
01:10:06.680 --> 01:10:08.508
And, um...

1688
01:10:08.552 --> 01:10:11.250
uh, you know, I don't know
why, uh, she needed ver--

1689
01:10:11.294 --> 01:10:13.252
to have it verified to her.

1690
01:10:13.296 --> 01:10:15.254
I don't know what was goin' on,
I don't know if she was, like--

1691
01:10:15.298 --> 01:10:17.256
the-- that she was
the scout for the group.

1692
01:10:17.300 --> 01:10:19.824
Somebody in the audience said

1693
01:10:19.867 --> 01:10:22.043
something like
"rat-faced Jew..."

1694
01:10:22.087 --> 01:10:25.395
[laughs] ...to me
from the audience,

1695
01:10:25.438 --> 01:10:28.528
and I-- I was, uh,
pretty taken aback.

1696
01:10:29.312 --> 01:10:31.662
I don't remember
what I said, but I was--

1697
01:10:31.705 --> 01:10:33.838
The funny thing was,
I was having a good set.

1698
01:10:33.881 --> 01:10:35.796
I grew up in that neighborhood!
And it was just the way

1699
01:10:35.840 --> 01:10:37.668
that everybody thought,
except for my family, 'cause,

1700
01:10:37.711 --> 01:10:39.409
you know, we're smarter,
sharper.

1701
01:10:39.452 --> 01:10:41.454
I used to call that place
the "Barrel of Bigots."

1702
01:10:41.498 --> 01:10:43.587
And then Bill found out
I was callin' it that,

1703
01:10:43.630 --> 01:10:45.763
and he didn't think it was
as funny as I thought it was.

1704
01:10:45.806 --> 01:10:49.810
Now, comedy is-- is,
uh, um, very subjective,

1705
01:10:49.854 --> 01:10:51.986
because what one person
thinks is funny,

1706
01:10:52.030 --> 01:10:53.988
another person
doesn't think is funny.

1707
01:10:54.032 --> 01:10:57.427
I like Bill, and to his credit,
he gave me stage time.

1708
01:10:57.470 --> 01:11:01.169
But he would-- he would never
really put anybody in check.

1709
01:11:01.213 --> 01:11:03.171
You know,
he would never say, you know,

1710
01:11:03.215 --> 01:11:08.176
"Hey, listen, you, uh, gotta,
you know, tone down on the--

1711
01:11:08.220 --> 01:11:11.136
on the interrogation 'til
the brother's show is over.

1712
01:11:11.179 --> 01:11:12.964
You know, once the show is over,

1713
01:11:13.007 --> 01:11:15.183
you could ask him is he Black
all you want, you know?

1714
01:11:15.227 --> 01:11:17.011
I was wonderin' that myself."

1715
01:11:17.055 --> 01:11:19.405
Sometimes I'm questioned
about whether or not

1716
01:11:19.449 --> 01:11:23.061
it is our responsibility
as a booker or a club owner,

1717
01:11:23.104 --> 01:11:26.369
uh, as a host--
I hold all three hats--

1718
01:11:26.412 --> 01:11:28.936
uh, to educate
our audience to diversity.

1719
01:11:28.980 --> 01:11:32.200
Uh, I think, uh,
it is not really our job.

1720
01:11:32.244 --> 01:11:33.811
That should be done at home,

1721
01:11:33.854 --> 01:11:36.379
or in their church,
uh, or their schooling.

1722
01:11:36.422 --> 01:11:40.470
My job is to put on a--
a good, clean, funny show.

1723
01:11:40.513 --> 01:11:42.428
[Jimmy Pardo] He also had some
weird rule that you couldn't

1724
01:11:42.472 --> 01:11:44.604
say the F-word. You couldn't--
you couldn't say "fuck."

1725
01:11:44.648 --> 01:11:46.650
I don't know why I'm being clean
now. You couldn't say "fuck."

1726
01:11:46.693 --> 01:11:49.783
I kinda had the rule that if it
wasn't good enough for my mom

1727
01:11:49.827 --> 01:11:52.699
to hear, it wasn't good enough
for anybody's mom to hear.

1728
01:11:52.743 --> 01:11:55.006
But yet he could
put panties on his head.

1729
01:11:55.049 --> 01:11:57.835
He could dance around.
He said "leprecoon" once.

1730
01:11:57.878 --> 01:11:59.619
That's acceptable.

1731
01:11:59.663 --> 01:12:02.100
To be diplomatic,
I guess, he grew as a person.

1732
01:12:02.143 --> 01:12:04.407
I don't think he's done
that "leprecoon" bit in weeks.

1733
01:12:04.450 --> 01:12:06.234
-[interviewer laughs]
-And I like Bill!

1734
01:12:06.278 --> 01:12:08.106
I love Bill,
I think he's a good man.

1735
01:12:08.149 --> 01:12:09.934
He would turn a stool
upside-down and say,

1736
01:12:09.977 --> 01:12:11.936
"Seating for four on
the North Side, because--

1737
01:12:11.979 --> 01:12:14.504
You know, 'cause they're queers
up there, Jim! They're queers!

1738
01:12:14.547 --> 01:12:17.507
But don't say fuck! For the
love of God, don't say fuck!"

1739
01:12:18.203 --> 01:12:22.338
When he wasn't there?
Aw, man, the fucks would fly.

1740
01:12:22.381 --> 01:12:23.904
I hear they're
trying to quit swearing.

1741
01:12:23.948 --> 01:12:25.906
[audience laughs]

1742
01:12:25.950 --> 01:12:28.474
I think it's-- I think
it's easier to quit heroin.

1743
01:12:28.518 --> 01:12:30.650
I feel like eight hours
without swearin',

1744
01:12:30.694 --> 01:12:33.523
they all come out at once,
and obviously at the worst time.

1745
01:12:33.566 --> 01:12:35.699
I'd be talking to my mom
on the phone, and it's like,

1746
01:12:35.742 --> 01:12:37.483
"Steve, what'd you do
for your birthday?"

1747
01:12:37.527 --> 01:12:39.964
-"Well, I got fucked up!"
-[audience laughs]

1748
01:12:40.007 --> 01:12:42.401
"Oh, fuck! Oh! Shit!

1749
01:12:42.445 --> 01:12:45.404
Um, goddamn,
well, fuck me a bitch!

1750
01:12:45.448 --> 01:12:48.102
-[audience laughter]
-Happy Motherfucker's Day!"

1751
01:12:48.146 --> 01:12:52.063
[audience laughs]

1752
01:12:52.106 --> 01:12:54.935
So what I would do
to replace the word "fuck"

1753
01:12:54.979 --> 01:12:56.850
was I would say "goddamn,"

1754
01:12:56.894 --> 01:13:00.376
and I didn't realize that
was worse, uh, in his mind,

1755
01:13:00.419 --> 01:13:04.684
and I got a phone call after my
first-- uh, first night there,

1756
01:13:04.728 --> 01:13:06.556
saying, "We got-- we got
a lot of phone calls today.

1757
01:13:06.599 --> 01:13:08.427
A lot of calls today.

1758
01:13:08.471 --> 01:13:10.124
Uh, they're not happy
with you saying 'goddamn.'"

1759
01:13:10.168 --> 01:13:13.040
It's like, really?
What'd you get, no phone calls?

1760
01:13:13.084 --> 01:13:15.260
How many-- Zero. I'm gonna
guess zero phone calls.

1761
01:13:15.303 --> 01:13:18.437
Uh, but, you know, Bill
didn't wanna take the, uh,

1762
01:13:18.481 --> 01:13:20.439
didn't wanna take it
upon himself, so, you know,

1763
01:13:20.483 --> 01:13:22.920
a lot of people were calling in
complaining about this guy--

1764
01:13:22.963 --> 01:13:24.530
They should have been
complaining that I wasn't funny.

1765
01:13:24.574 --> 01:13:26.227
That would have been
a better complaint!

1766
01:13:26.271 --> 01:13:28.229
He basically--
They even started having, like,

1767
01:13:28.273 --> 01:13:31.189
a smattering of Black people
or non-whites in the audience,

1768
01:13:31.232 --> 01:13:32.973
so things changed.

1769
01:13:33.017 --> 01:13:35.019
And then it closed.
Maybe that's why it closed.

1770
01:13:35.062 --> 01:13:37.848
That--
It's one too many non-whites.

1771
01:13:37.891 --> 01:13:41.504
♪

1772
01:13:41.547 --> 01:13:46.683
At one time, Chicago had 17
full-time stand-up comedy clubs.

1773
01:13:46.726 --> 01:13:50.426
The jumping the shark
moment of comedy clubs was,

1774
01:13:50.469 --> 01:13:55.169
I worked at the Funny Firm one
week, and there was 13 shows.

1775
01:13:55.213 --> 01:13:56.910
There was too much supply
for the demand.

1776
01:13:56.954 --> 01:14:00.392
So Len Austrevich
did something which I think

1777
01:14:00.436 --> 01:14:04.222
was impressive
and insane. [laughs]

1778
01:14:04.265 --> 01:14:07.051
Uh, there was a process
called "papering the room."

1779
01:14:07.094 --> 01:14:09.967
I kind of took the idea of, um,

1780
01:14:10.010 --> 01:14:13.100
"drop your business card and
you could win a dinner for two,"

1781
01:14:13.144 --> 01:14:15.146
and kind of took it
to the next level.

1782
01:14:15.189 --> 01:14:16.930
You give away free tickets,

1783
01:14:16.974 --> 01:14:18.628
and then you make
all this money on the drinks.

1784
01:14:18.671 --> 01:14:20.151
Now we're able to
at least pay our payroll,

1785
01:14:20.194 --> 01:14:21.674
and we're-- can pay the rent.

1786
01:14:21.718 --> 01:14:23.502
And it worked great for a while.

1787
01:14:23.546 --> 01:14:25.330
Well, now the Improv
has nobody in their audience

1788
01:14:25.373 --> 01:14:26.853
because everybody's going to
the Funny Firm 'cause it's free.

1789
01:14:26.897 --> 01:14:28.507
Well, then what's the Improv do?

1790
01:14:28.551 --> 01:14:30.117
They start giving away
a bunch of free tickets too!

1791
01:14:30.161 --> 01:14:31.379
I remember all this
radio shows I would do,

1792
01:14:31.423 --> 01:14:33.251
and I'd be giving away tickets.

1793
01:14:33.294 --> 01:14:34.948
Like, it's probably easier
to get 'em for free than to pay.

1794
01:14:34.992 --> 01:14:36.254
[laughs]

1795
01:14:36.297 --> 01:14:39.170
In this reporter's opinion...

1796
01:14:40.606 --> 01:14:43.304
I think that the Funny Firm
starting to paper

1797
01:14:43.348 --> 01:14:45.829
was the demise of
the Chicago comedy scene.

1798
01:14:45.872 --> 01:14:50.224
♪

1799
01:14:50.268 --> 01:14:52.096
[Mike Siegel] I started comedy,
my first open mic in

1800
01:14:52.139 --> 01:14:56.230
May of 1990. And at that time,
it was the tail end

1801
01:14:56.274 --> 01:14:59.277
of the comedy boom, and
there was-- I think I counted,

1802
01:14:59.320 --> 01:15:01.148
between the Chicago
and the suburbs,

1803
01:15:01.192 --> 01:15:03.499
about 14 full-time comedy clubs.

1804
01:15:03.542 --> 01:15:07.720
Within six months to a year,
half of those places closed.

1805
01:15:07.764 --> 01:15:11.594
And within about two more years,
half of those places closed.

1806
01:15:12.769 --> 01:15:14.335
[Jimmy Pardo]
Do I wanna point directly

1807
01:15:14.379 --> 01:15:15.511
at the Funny Firm for that?

1808
01:15:15.554 --> 01:15:17.513
Yes.

1809
01:15:17.556 --> 01:15:19.166
Is it because that I didn't--
I didn't work there very often?

1810
01:15:19.210 --> 01:15:19.993
Probably.

1811
01:15:21.647 --> 01:15:25.085
♪

1812
01:15:25.129 --> 01:15:27.914
[Dwayne] This is
the old Barrel of Laughs,

1813
01:15:27.958 --> 01:15:31.265
and now it has become
a Family Dollar.

1814
01:15:32.571 --> 01:15:33.659
Oh, boy.

1815
01:15:33.703 --> 01:15:39.273
♪

1816
01:15:39.317 --> 01:15:42.189
And then like in the '90s,
when it hit the skids,

1817
01:15:42.233 --> 01:15:44.061
then the money
was cut back and they go,

1818
01:15:44.104 --> 01:15:46.977
"We don't pay air no more,"
and, you know,

1819
01:15:47.020 --> 01:15:50.197
I had four kids and
I was already both feet in...

1820
01:15:51.155 --> 01:15:53.200
and I didn't wanna go back
to drivin' a truck.

1821
01:15:58.075 --> 01:16:00.991
For me, it was really
funny because as I, uh,

1822
01:16:01.034 --> 01:16:04.124
as I progressed and-- and--
and became more successful

1823
01:16:04.168 --> 01:16:06.518
in the business, um,

1824
01:16:06.562 --> 01:16:09.390
the-- the-- the money
was goin' down.

1825
01:16:09.434 --> 01:16:13.264
So I didn't really notice
that I was going up

1826
01:16:13.307 --> 01:16:14.918
or that the money
was goin' down,

1827
01:16:14.961 --> 01:16:17.921
'cause for me,
it just stayed exactly the same

1828
01:16:17.964 --> 01:16:19.400
for 20 years.

1829
01:16:23.317 --> 01:16:27.017
Bob Odenkirk and I
sat outside Zanies,

1830
01:16:27.060 --> 01:16:28.975
sat outside Second City
many times,

1831
01:16:29.019 --> 01:16:32.631
talking about how
the comedy scene

1832
01:16:32.675 --> 01:16:34.546
in this city was ignoring us.

1833
01:16:35.068 --> 01:16:37.027
At least on the larger level,
I mean.

1834
01:16:37.070 --> 01:16:38.985
What we were gonna do.
Just failing.

1835
01:16:39.029 --> 01:16:40.900
You know,
feel like we were failures.

1836
01:16:40.944 --> 01:16:42.772
I think there are a lot of
successful comedians in Chicago.

1837
01:16:42.815 --> 01:16:44.382
It's more working class.

1838
01:16:44.425 --> 01:16:46.514
There's, uh,
hundreds of comedians

1839
01:16:46.558 --> 01:16:47.820
that actually make a living.

1840
01:16:51.215 --> 01:16:52.651
[Rocky LaPorte]
You tough it out, you know?

1841
01:16:52.695 --> 01:16:54.697
And you just--
you gotta work more.

1842
01:16:54.740 --> 01:16:56.960
As time went on, I became more
confident in what I was doing.

1843
01:16:57.003 --> 01:17:00.485
I did start to do-- Like,
Bernie Mac used to have a room

1844
01:17:00.528 --> 01:17:02.574
that we do when he was in town.

1845
01:17:02.618 --> 01:17:04.924
Uh, this place Milt Trenier's
that he would do

1846
01:17:04.968 --> 01:17:07.057
on every Tuesday
if he was in town.

1847
01:17:07.100 --> 01:17:09.799
And I did his room,
and it was fantastic.

1848
01:17:09.842 --> 01:17:11.409
But-- See,
but here's the thing...

1849
01:17:12.410 --> 01:17:16.632
Bernie trained
his audiences, you know?

1850
01:17:16.675 --> 01:17:18.503
He-- When you came in,
he would tell you,

1851
01:17:18.546 --> 01:17:21.724
"Look, you know,
you-- you take your hats off,

1852
01:17:21.767 --> 01:17:24.988
you-- there's no cell phones,
there's-- you know,

1853
01:17:25.031 --> 01:17:26.424
there's no heckling."

1854
01:17:26.467 --> 01:17:28.252
You know,
you respect the artist.

1855
01:17:28.295 --> 01:17:30.297
So that was cool.
So he groomed the audience,

1856
01:17:30.341 --> 01:17:33.692
and so anybody who was-- who was
inclined to do those things,

1857
01:17:33.736 --> 01:17:35.694
they didn't--
they didn't show up at his room.

1858
01:17:35.738 --> 01:17:38.131
Bernie was different from, um...

1859
01:17:39.306 --> 01:17:42.266
other Black, uh, comics.

1860
01:17:42.309 --> 01:17:45.182
Like, his shows
started at eight,

1861
01:17:45.225 --> 01:17:46.792
and I opened up.

1862
01:17:46.836 --> 01:17:49.099
I was on the stage at 8:01.

1863
01:17:49.142 --> 01:17:53.973
The audience wasn't there
until 8:15, 8:20,

1864
01:17:54.017 --> 01:17:58.151
so they're slowly straggling in.

1865
01:17:58.195 --> 01:18:01.241
Uh, they're, "Who was this--
who was this brother?"

1866
01:18:01.285 --> 01:18:04.505
And, uh, and they hated me
in the beginning.

1867
01:18:04.549 --> 01:18:06.333
They hated me with a passion.

1868
01:18:06.377 --> 01:18:08.205
And I knew
I was gonna get booed,

1869
01:18:08.248 --> 01:18:09.946
'cause I was
a clean Christian comic.

1870
01:18:09.989 --> 01:18:13.558
It was funny to me
that they hated me so much.

1871
01:18:13.601 --> 01:18:16.561
And they would,
uh, they would cuss me out,

1872
01:18:16.604 --> 01:18:19.695
and their veins
would be showing.

1873
01:18:19.738 --> 01:18:23.220
And but because I have been
doing comedy for so long,

1874
01:18:23.263 --> 01:18:25.875
they didn't scare me.
I'd just pause, and I--

1875
01:18:25.918 --> 01:18:30.314
I would say, "Hey,
if you're quiet, I could finish,

1876
01:18:30.357 --> 01:18:32.446
and then Bernie could come out."

1877
01:18:32.490 --> 01:18:35.145
-And silence.
-[crickets chirping]

1878
01:18:36.276 --> 01:18:38.931
And he told me,
he said, "Tony...

1879
01:18:39.715 --> 01:18:41.891
understand, if you were dirty,

1880
01:18:41.934 --> 01:18:44.154
I would have to be dirtier.

1881
01:18:44.763 --> 01:18:47.331
So it's cool that you're clean.

1882
01:18:47.940 --> 01:18:49.681
His first line was

1883
01:18:49.725 --> 01:18:52.031
"Church is over,
motherfuckers!"

1884
01:18:52.945 --> 01:18:55.165
That-- that would be
his first line.

1885
01:18:55.208 --> 01:18:57.776
'Cause I've been clean
for 30 minutes,

1886
01:18:57.820 --> 01:18:59.778
and then he would come out,

1887
01:18:59.822 --> 01:19:03.956
and people'd be rolling, "Yeah!
Church is over, motherfuckers!"

1888
01:19:04.000 --> 01:19:07.177
[audience applauding]

1889
01:19:07.220 --> 01:19:09.788
It's still really, really...

1890
01:19:09.832 --> 01:19:12.312
I've had the fortunate
experience of touring with him

1891
01:19:12.356 --> 01:19:15.576
for the Kings of Comedy Tour,
so we did 30 dates together,

1892
01:19:15.620 --> 01:19:17.274
and a lot of times
I would ride with him,

1893
01:19:17.317 --> 01:19:19.276
you know, same place,
same hotel, same limo,

1894
01:19:19.319 --> 01:19:20.930
so you got a lot of exposure.

1895
01:19:20.973 --> 01:19:23.628
But he told me earlier
in my career, he said--

1896
01:19:23.671 --> 01:19:26.109
Two things. He said, "That first
hour of material's gonna come,

1897
01:19:26.152 --> 01:19:28.285
that second hour's
gonna be difficult.

1898
01:19:28.328 --> 01:19:30.766
And pay your taxes, pimp!"

1899
01:19:30.809 --> 01:19:32.376
And he was right about both.

1900
01:19:32.419 --> 01:19:34.030
The first hour came,
and I fought to get

1901
01:19:34.073 --> 01:19:35.988
to the second hour,
and I still owe taxes.

1902
01:19:36.772 --> 01:19:38.817
He was very influential.

1903
01:19:38.861 --> 01:19:41.646
He just kind of was,
you know, like, hand-in-hand

1904
01:19:41.689 --> 01:19:43.039
with what eventually
would become

1905
01:19:43.082 --> 01:19:44.344
the Def Comedy Jam movement.

1906
01:19:44.388 --> 01:19:45.563
That whole thing.

1907
01:19:45.606 --> 01:19:47.217
He spoke to a certain audience,

1908
01:19:47.260 --> 01:19:49.654
but the thing
I appreciated most about it,

1909
01:19:49.697 --> 01:19:50.786
and it was brilliant.

1910
01:19:51.482 --> 01:19:52.570
He never changed.

1911
01:19:52.613 --> 01:19:54.702
He just never gave up.

1912
01:19:54.746 --> 01:19:57.575
I never seen someb--
someone work as hard

1913
01:19:57.618 --> 01:19:59.533
and stay focused,
and then he used to all be--

1914
01:19:59.577 --> 01:20:01.405
always would,
Bernie would talk about

1915
01:20:01.448 --> 01:20:03.929
was being disciplined,
stayin' focused.

1916
01:20:03.973 --> 01:20:05.365
Uh, there's room at the Cross.

1917
01:20:05.409 --> 01:20:06.627
He was,
"There's room at the Cross?

1918
01:20:06.671 --> 01:20:08.412
You gotta sell what you want.

1919
01:20:08.455 --> 01:20:10.022
If you stay focused,
ain't nothing wrong with it.

1920
01:20:10.066 --> 01:20:11.850
You know you're gonna
make it sometime."

1921
01:20:11.894 --> 01:20:13.896
He was who he was gonna be,
and that was his act,

1922
01:20:13.939 --> 01:20:17.029
and you either liked it
or you didn't,

1923
01:20:17.073 --> 01:20:18.944
which I think is why
it took him probably as long

1924
01:20:18.988 --> 01:20:22.600
as it took him,
quote unquote, to "hit it huge."

1925
01:20:22.643 --> 01:20:24.994
When he died, it was, um...

1926
01:20:42.185 --> 01:20:43.882
he was a friend. [crying]

1927
01:20:44.709 --> 01:20:45.841
That's all.

1928
01:20:47.190 --> 01:20:50.976
There were 7,000 people.

1929
01:20:51.020 --> 01:20:52.108
[sniffs]

1930
01:21:00.116 --> 01:21:01.204
Yeah.

1931
01:21:08.037 --> 01:21:10.082
Such is-- such is life.

1932
01:21:11.083 --> 01:21:13.172
Yeah. He was a good friend.

1933
01:21:19.613 --> 01:21:21.354
I led with the comics
that influenced me.

1934
01:21:22.355 --> 01:21:25.968
You know what I'm saying? Like,
Deon Cole influenced me to know

1935
01:21:26.011 --> 01:21:28.013
that I guess we all can.

1936
01:21:28.057 --> 01:21:30.624
'Cause if-- You know when you
meet somebody that close to you,

1937
01:21:30.668 --> 01:21:32.670
like, you've seen
their rise a little bit,

1938
01:21:32.713 --> 01:21:34.933
you know what I mean? You like,
"Oh, this shit can happen!"

1939
01:21:34.977 --> 01:21:37.022
You can break into
the mainstream and be yourself,

1940
01:21:37.066 --> 01:21:40.025
and be funny, and get these
jobs, and write on stuff.

1941
01:21:40.069 --> 01:21:41.809
So it's like,
I hope I'm the same thing

1942
01:21:41.853 --> 01:21:43.724
for a bunch of other people.

1943
01:21:43.768 --> 01:21:46.423
You know what I'm sayin'?
And Hannibal is that, TJ's that.

1944
01:21:46.466 --> 01:21:49.513
I was doing acting classes
on the weekends during the day,

1945
01:21:49.556 --> 01:21:52.559
working an 8:00
to 6:00 p.m. job,

1946
01:21:52.603 --> 01:21:54.257
performing every single night,

1947
01:21:54.300 --> 01:21:57.477
and doing sketch also,
and improv, and video,

1948
01:21:57.521 --> 01:21:59.653
and stand-up,
and those acting classes,

1949
01:21:59.697 --> 01:22:02.221
ideally would lead
to some sort of commercial work.

1950
01:22:02.265 --> 01:22:04.397
Which they eventually did,
but I found out very quickly

1951
01:22:04.441 --> 01:22:07.139
if you work harder
than anybody else,

1952
01:22:07.183 --> 01:22:09.228
no matter what your talent is,
look at me.

1953
01:22:09.272 --> 01:22:11.622
You know, a modicum of talent,
mediocre talent.

1954
01:22:11.665 --> 01:22:13.711
-Please.
-Work ethic that far exceeds

1955
01:22:13.754 --> 01:22:15.408
-any of my peers--
-Well.

1956
01:22:15.452 --> 01:22:17.410
And Yogi Bear 3D.

1957
01:22:17.454 --> 01:22:20.022
A few years ago, I remember
I walked down to the Sony lot,

1958
01:22:20.065 --> 01:22:22.372
and there's a giant billboard
of The Goldbergs,

1959
01:22:22.415 --> 01:22:25.462
right next to a giant billboard
of Better Call Saul.

1960
01:22:25.505 --> 01:22:27.551
I took a picture of it
and sent it to him.

1961
01:22:27.594 --> 01:22:30.032
Um, I said
"Look at us now." [laughs]

1962
01:22:30.075 --> 01:22:31.598
The Chi makes--

1963
01:22:32.730 --> 01:22:34.732
Man, it makes
some strong people, man.

1964
01:22:34.775 --> 01:22:36.734
Chicago's known
for its gangster city.

1965
01:22:36.777 --> 01:22:39.041
Well, the comics is
gangsters too, motherfucker!

1966
01:22:39.084 --> 01:22:40.694
I go out to lunch a lot.

1967
01:22:42.392 --> 01:22:44.002
I work out.

1968
01:22:44.046 --> 01:22:46.222
I got clean. You know,
I cleaned up my act.

1969
01:22:46.265 --> 01:22:48.050
I go on a lot of meetings.

1970
01:22:48.093 --> 01:22:50.008
People really like me.
[chuckles]

1971
01:22:50.052 --> 01:22:51.618
Do they give me anything? No.

1972
01:22:51.662 --> 01:22:53.142
But they're like,
"She's so fun."

1973
01:22:53.185 --> 01:22:55.796
I drink a lot,
I smoke a lot of weed.

1974
01:22:55.840 --> 01:22:57.146
I write jokes.

1975
01:22:57.189 --> 01:22:58.756
Um, I give a lot of hugs.

1976
01:22:58.799 --> 01:23:00.236
Even to people that are like,

1977
01:23:00.279 --> 01:23:01.933
"I didn't think
she was gonna hug me."

1978
01:23:01.977 --> 01:23:03.848
So, I'm nice,
I like bop around, you know.

1979
01:23:03.891 --> 01:23:06.285
Chicago is a great place
to get good.

1980
01:23:06.329 --> 01:23:08.548
Chicago's not the place
where you're gonna get famous.

1981
01:23:08.592 --> 01:23:11.029
A lot of people will think you
have to move there eventually,

1982
01:23:11.073 --> 01:23:12.726
uh, New York or LA,

1983
01:23:12.770 --> 01:23:14.554
um, but I think
there is something to be said

1984
01:23:14.598 --> 01:23:18.210
for making a success
out of your career in Chicago,

1985
01:23:18.254 --> 01:23:20.212
where you live,
where other people

1986
01:23:20.256 --> 01:23:21.735
can have access to it.

1987
01:23:21.779 --> 01:23:24.390
What would be cool is if that

1988
01:23:24.434 --> 01:23:26.349
those people
who develop in Chicago,

1989
01:23:26.392 --> 01:23:30.962
there was enough going on as
far as, uh, national media that

1990
01:23:31.006 --> 01:23:33.834
they didn't have to necessarily
leave Chicago, you know?

1991
01:23:33.878 --> 01:23:36.533
That you could-- If there
was a nightly talk show

1992
01:23:36.576 --> 01:23:40.058
in Chicago or something where
comedians could get exposure,

1993
01:23:40.102 --> 01:23:42.191
you know,
just like they go to New York

1994
01:23:42.234 --> 01:23:44.410
to do Jimmy Fallon
or you go to LA

1995
01:23:44.454 --> 01:23:46.238
to tape a Netflix special.

1996
01:23:46.282 --> 01:23:48.719
If there was some shows
like that happening in Chicago,

1997
01:23:48.762 --> 01:23:50.808
then that would make it,
you know, full circle.

1998
01:23:50.851 --> 01:23:54.333
So you could develop in Chicago,
you could get good in Chicago,

1999
01:23:54.377 --> 01:23:57.684
and you could stay in Chicago
to get some national exposure.

2000
01:23:58.120 --> 01:23:59.208
I think--

2001
01:24:00.687 --> 01:24:02.733
I don't know, I think there is
a comedy boom right now.

2002
01:24:03.690 --> 01:24:06.954
Seems like a lot of people
wanna come see shows,

2003
01:24:06.998 --> 01:24:10.697
and they-- and-- and--
and the scene is-- is thrivin'.

2004
01:24:10.741 --> 01:24:13.265
I don't think the industry
has any idea how red-hot

2005
01:24:13.309 --> 01:24:15.180
stand-up is in Chicago,
I think the rest of the country

2006
01:24:15.224 --> 01:24:16.921
is gonna figure this out.

2007
01:24:16.964 --> 01:24:19.271
I am just waiting
for everyone to be brown.

2008
01:24:19.315 --> 01:24:21.012
I don't know how many
generations it's gonna take,

2009
01:24:21.056 --> 01:24:23.493
I don't know how many
Black and white people

2010
01:24:23.536 --> 01:24:26.496
need to make sweet,
sweet love to each other.

2011
01:24:26.539 --> 01:24:29.064
[Dwayne] You find now
there are Black folks

2012
01:24:29.107 --> 01:24:31.501
who are more open
as an audience,

2013
01:24:31.544 --> 01:24:34.591
more open to things
then they may have been

2014
01:24:34.634 --> 01:24:36.854
years and years ago,
as far as accepting

2015
01:24:36.897 --> 01:24:39.030
a certain type of style,

2016
01:24:39.074 --> 01:24:41.989
or certain type of comedian,
or a certain presentation.

2017
01:24:42.033 --> 01:24:45.863
I think Black folks
might be more open to that now,

2018
01:24:45.906 --> 01:24:48.300
as they-- than maybe
they would have been

2019
01:24:48.344 --> 01:24:50.694
ten or 15 or 20 years ago.

2020
01:24:50.737 --> 01:24:53.566
No, like,
we all want to like each other.

2021
01:24:53.610 --> 01:24:56.308
It's easier
to like other people.

2022
01:24:56.352 --> 01:24:59.572
It's tiring to dislike,
it's tiring to be-- to be angry,

2023
01:24:59.616 --> 01:25:01.183
so you could
show them opportunities

2024
01:25:01.226 --> 01:25:03.010
to laugh at each other.

2025
01:25:03.054 --> 01:25:05.448
So, that might be something.

2026
01:25:05.491 --> 01:25:07.014
I don't wanna speak
for all Black people.

2027
01:25:07.058 --> 01:25:08.538
I can hardly speak for myself.

2028
01:25:08.581 --> 01:25:10.322
Period, the end.

2029
01:25:10.366 --> 01:25:11.976
-I'm done.
-[interviewer] Yeah, yeah.

2030
01:25:12.019 --> 01:25:13.804
I've had it with you
and your interview.

2031
01:25:13.847 --> 01:25:15.197
-[interviewer] Yeah.
-Oh, my God, I'm not done yet!

2032
01:25:15.240 --> 01:25:17.373
He's trying to make me leave!

2033
01:25:21.246 --> 01:25:22.726
You get the point.

2034
01:25:22.769 --> 01:25:24.031
Got some funny people
in Chicago.

2035
01:25:24.075 --> 01:25:25.337
Had no ending to that.

2036
01:25:25.859 --> 01:25:26.947
Cut!

2037
01:25:26.991 --> 01:25:32.431
♪

2038
01:25:49.927 --> 01:25:53.887
♪ When I see you,
I think anything, oh ♪

2039
01:25:53.931 --> 01:25:56.803
♪ To be with you,
I'd do anything ♪

2040
01:25:56.847 --> 01:26:03.201
♪ To get you back
in here with me, no way ♪

2041
01:26:03.245 --> 01:26:06.422
♪ It's meant to be
and I'm feeling lucky ♪

2042
01:26:06.465 --> 01:26:09.816
♪ I'd do anything, oh,
I'm taking chances ♪

2043
01:26:09.860 --> 01:26:13.255
♪ I hope for everything
to get in here ♪

2044
01:26:13.298 --> 01:26:18.260
♪ Get by my side,
the way it is that we know ♪

2045
01:26:18.303 --> 01:26:20.610
♪ Need to hike up,
it's so hard ♪

2046
01:26:20.653 --> 01:26:24.266
♪ When I'm not thinkin'
so well, oh well, it's hard ♪

2047
01:26:24.309 --> 01:26:27.138
♪ When I'm not
thinkin' so well ♪

2048
01:26:28.400 --> 01:26:30.881
♪ I'm not thinkin' so well

2049
01:26:30.924 --> 01:26:34.189
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well ♪

2050
01:26:34.232 --> 01:26:37.453
♪ I'm seeing faces
I could never place ♪

2051
01:26:37.496 --> 01:26:42.022
♪ And I missed the races, but
I take second place for you ♪

2052
01:26:42.066 --> 01:26:45.548
♪ Oh well, it has to be to you

2053
01:26:45.591 --> 01:26:49.029
♪ Oh well, oh well,
it's so plain to see that ♪

2054
01:26:49.073 --> 01:26:52.816
♪ I had it so hard, 'cause
I'm not thinkin' so well ♪

2055
01:26:52.859 --> 01:26:56.472
♪ Oh well, it's hard
when I'm not thinkin' so well ♪

2056
01:26:57.864 --> 01:27:00.127
♪ I'm not thinkin' so well

2057
01:27:00.171 --> 01:27:04.175
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well ♪

2058
01:27:04.219 --> 01:27:07.613
♪ It wouldn't be
the same to me ♪

2059
01:27:07.657 --> 01:27:11.269
♪ It couldn't be
the same to me ♪

2060
01:27:11.313 --> 01:27:15.012
♪ It shouldn't be
the same to me ♪

2061
01:27:15.055 --> 01:27:19.495
♪ To you and me

2062
01:27:19.538 --> 01:27:24.587
♪

2063
01:27:32.247 --> 01:27:35.380
♪ And when I see you,
I see everything ♪

2064
01:27:35.424 --> 01:27:39.036
♪ Oh, and to hear you
I hear everything ♪

2065
01:27:39.079 --> 01:27:42.561
♪ Oh, and to touch you,
I touch everything ♪

2066
01:27:42.605 --> 01:27:46.173
♪ And if I smell you,
I smell everything ♪

2067
01:27:46.217 --> 01:27:49.699
♪ Oh, and to taste you,
I taste everything ♪

2068
01:27:49.742 --> 01:27:53.833
♪ Oh, and to know you,
I know everything, oh ♪

2069
01:27:53.877 --> 01:27:56.880
♪ And to hold you,
I hold everything ♪

2070
01:27:56.923 --> 01:28:00.362
♪ And if I scold you,
I scold everything ♪

2071
01:28:00.405 --> 01:28:04.409
♪ God, it's so hard
when I'm not thinkin' so well ♪

2072
01:28:04.453 --> 01:28:08.326
♪ Oh well, it's hard
when I'm not thinkin' so well ♪

2073
01:28:08.370 --> 01:28:10.720
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well ♪

2074
01:28:10.763 --> 01:28:14.332
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well, oh well ♪

2075
01:28:14.376 --> 01:28:17.901
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well, oh well ♪

2076
01:28:17.944 --> 01:28:21.513
♪ Oh well, oh well,
oh well, oh well, oh well ♪

2077
01:28:27.606 --> 01:28:29.391
You know, you used to have to
hire a rock and roll band,

2078
01:28:29.434 --> 01:28:31.044
-and those guys, it was--
-[knocking at door]

2079
01:28:31.088 --> 01:28:32.263
You know, those guys
were ruining the place.

2080
01:28:32.307 --> 01:28:33.656
Comics were easier to deal with.

2081
01:28:33.699 --> 01:28:35.135
Hold on,
I have to enter the vids.

2082
01:28:35.179 --> 01:28:36.354
-It's Steve Rudnick!
-[Alan] Oh.

2083
01:28:36.398 --> 01:28:38.182
-No.
-No, it's not, no.

2084
01:28:38.225 --> 01:28:39.836
-[Alan] It's not Rudnick?
-No, it's Alan Alter.

2085
01:28:39.879 --> 01:28:41.490
-Yeah, it's Alan Alter.
-It's only Alan Alter.

2086
01:28:41.533 --> 01:28:42.969
[Alan] I didn't wanna
pull up the door to be--

2087
01:28:43.013 --> 01:28:44.188
[interviewer] Oh,
don't worry about it. I mean,

2088
01:28:44.231 --> 01:28:45.015
we're editing, so we're good.