Sam Beman - Live, Laugh, Beat Cancer

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:00

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Raven in Real Life Show. And today on the show we have a staple of our area. Staple, Mr. Sam Beeman. So Sam, thank you for being on here.

SPEAKER_06 0:13

Hey, thank you for having me on the show.

SPEAKER_08 0:16

So people, even if they don't know they know you. Come time for holidays, I bet they know you. But let's talk about you growing up. Where are you from? How'd you come to be?

SPEAKER_06 0:27

Well how did I come to be? Um well, believe it or not, I uh I was born in Columbus, started off my uh my first few years over in Opalica, then we moved to Phoenix City. So most of my life I was in Phoenix City. Um and then, you know, as I became an adult, I started working in Columbus. So I used to say that uh basically I I would play, work, like everything in Columbus, and then I would sleep in Phoenix City. That's what I used to say.

SPEAKER_08 0:57

That's how I feel right now, but Phoenix City, I promise. I'm coming to take care of my home city, okay? I'm coming to you. But what were you like when you were a kid?

SPEAKER_06 1:07

Oh, I was uh I was out there. I I really was out there. Um I was now keep in mind I was an only child for the first eight years of my life.

SPEAKER_07 1:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:17

And so I had to I had to do things, you know, because I didn't have any brothers or anybody to or sisters to play with, so I had to come up with I had to make up my own friends. And uh so, but actually what I would do is I would take my toys, like Transformers, G.I. Joe's, this is dating me.

SPEAKER_07 1:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:35

Uh He-Man figures and stuff like that, and I would give them voices. So that's kind of where because I do a lot of voices.

SPEAKER_07 1:42

Really?

SPEAKER_06 1:42

Um, and so that's where I think a lot of it came from was because I wanted to be able to give a voice to Megatron or Optimus Prime or, you know, these characters or Skeletor You know, and and so I would give them a voice and then, you know, take them into battle. And um, and so and I was that kid that would dance in the room by himself, you know, to whatever 80s song that was on at the time.

SPEAKER_08 2:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 2:06

Uh, and then uh I had so much courage, and I don't know if it was courage, but um, to where I would actually dance in a restaurant if I heard a song come on. And this happened in Panama City. Like there was a there was a George Michael song well wham song that came on on the jukebox, and I was like, I love this song. And I just started dancing right in the middle of the restaurant.

SPEAKER_08 2:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 2:31

It was it was crazy.

SPEAKER_08 2:32

I was gonna ask that that if you're like uh your creativity fell over into the classroom and if you were kind of a class clown, but I think that answers my question right there.

SPEAKER_06 2:42

Well, it r it really just depends. Um I've talked to people who I've graduated with who said we really or they really liked how I I had like some kind of style or I would do something that was all my own and I didn't care what anybody else thought.

SPEAKER_07 2:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:00

You know, so I there are things that I did and and ways that I dressed that I look back on and I'm like, and now it would be probably normal, but back then, like wearing a ninja ghee to school, like full on ninja gee with tabby boots in the eighth grade, like I just I don't know. I don't know. It's uh but I I did. I I did stuff like that. And uh but I wasn't I wasn't so eccentric, I wasn't so out there, I don't feel like, uh, that I would that would be the class clown, but then I I had the I had the ability if I wanted to.

SPEAKER_08 3:36

Okay, okay. So and by the time you're in high school, that's when you became DJ Smooth B. Smooth B.

SPEAKER_06 3:45

Yeah, um that's well people started calling me Smooth B, and really it wasn't even it wasn't even like that was a nickname. It was uh they would hear mixtapes that I would make, literally mixtapes. So I would I had a uh I had a mixer with two CD players and I was mixing stuff like Metallica with Janet Jackson. Like it you're probably like how?

SPEAKER_08 4:07

But it sounded good to you.

SPEAKER_06 4:09

But you know, yeah, I mean I I made it work and I was experimenting, I put it on a tape, and I have it in my system, and uh and I, you know, back in those days, like just about everybody had a system in their car.

SPEAKER_07 4:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:18

And uh and mine would shake the building, you know, the shop around the back of Central High School.

SPEAKER_07 4:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Um and we just had we had a good time with that. And so people that would hear the music, they'd be like, Man, that sounds smooth, B.

SPEAKER_08 4:31

I love it.

SPEAKER_06 4:32

And I was like, hmm.

SPEAKER_08 4:33

And remember, last name Beaman, that's where that B comes from. Yes, don't go with the friend, you're not smoothest. Yeah, no, you smooth B.

SPEAKER_06 4:41

No, no, that's right, yeah, because because my friend, he was uh his his name started with D, and his last name started with G, and so he was like, yeah. Like, I'll be smooth D, and I was like, no, it's smooth. No, smooth G is who you would be. Like the last, it it's the first letter of the last name.

SPEAKER_08 5:01

Uh-huh. So, okay, so what we've dropped. You're a comedian, you're an actor, you are a DJ. What's your favorite thing?

SPEAKER_06 5:12

Um I I love mixing music. I do. Um acting is probably my favorite. Yeah. That's something that I I love because I do voices. Uh, and because of that, I feel like that the voices are the core of what I do. So everything out from there comes from the voices.

SPEAKER_08 5:31

Really?

SPEAKER_06 5:32

Yeah, because I'm able to like create a character, whether it's on stage or film. Um of course, when we first met, it was that Crazy Dave's commercial.

SPEAKER_08 5:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 5:42

For Crazy Days Fireworks. And looking at uh looking at a lot of fun. Yeah um because my voice was like up in here, you know, Crazy Days Fireworks. This is crazy. Whose kid is this? You know, that was that was funny. And that was me just getting with uh Dave and saying, Okay, um, you know, what do you what would you like to see for your commercial? And then I just came up with this idea. I brought you know uh uh costume pieces, went to the store, walked around, and then thought, I've got a character.

SPEAKER_08 6:16

Is that is that commercial out there and easy to find?

SPEAKER_06 6:18

Yeah, um I believe you should be able to find it on my YouTube channel, Smooth B023.

SPEAKER_08 6:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 6:25

Uh it's somewhere buried in there.

SPEAKER_08 6:26

Now, you have time to stay here and talk some more? Sure. Okay. All right, you guys. We will be right back after a few words from our sponsors.

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SPEAKER_08 9:08

Okay, you guys, we are back now, Sam.

SPEAKER_06 9:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_08 9:11

Other than your acting and your DJing and all the things that you do, you also had a show Light Talk with Sam Beaman. So you know this world.

SPEAKER_06 9:21

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_08 9:22

Tell me about it. Tell me about your experiences.

SPEAKER_06 9:24

You know, I I absolutely love I say love. I could say loved past tense, but I still love um hosting, interviewing guests, doing skits. I mean, Light Talk is all about it's a mixture of skits and interviews.

SPEAKER_07 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:40

And uh and I had the greatest time with that. It was it started back in 2008, hard to believe. 2008. Um, I was I was with uh some friends at a a church doing an outreach. Yeah, and I got paired with some people who uh one of them worked at Cable TV Beast Alabama, and you know, we're just going door to door, inviting people to church, and and in between the houses, he asked what I do and what I like to do, and I told him about this idea for a show.

SPEAKER_07 10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:09

And he goes, Man, I'd love to do that at Cable TV Beast Alabama. Could you come over and like just let's let's talk.

SPEAKER_07 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:18

Um this ended up being it like a series of talks before it actually happened. Then we did a Christmas episode where I went and interviewed some people uh in Christmas Carol at the Springer Opera House.

SPEAKER_07 10:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:30

So it was just like one of those community, you know, interviews where like I'm showing up on the scene, you know, here we are with the actors on stage, and it was great for me because being a main stage actor at the Springer, like it was my second home, so it was very natural. Yeah, we shot the segment, and then they were like, we need more footage, so come back to the studio and like you know, open up and like let's build something around it. And so that's where it was birthed. And uh so I ended up doing it at the studio for a while, and then they took a break, then I went to go take improv classes at Whole World Improv in Atlanta for a year. Yeah, came back um and thought, you know, I'd love to be able to do this show again. And I was looking in my in my garage at the possibilities. Why don't I do it here? God, I don't even have a desk, I don't have lights, I don't have a camera, I have none of that. Within one week, I had everything.

SPEAKER_08 11:21

So wow.

SPEAKER_06 11:21

It was it was wild. Like uh the place that I worked at, the landlord said, Hey, we're gonna throw out a desk. You know, can you help me throw in the dumpster? I was like, a dumpster? You know, and I called a friend of mine, hey, can you help me pick this this desk up? Another guy owned a lighting company, he said, you know, what are you up to? And I told him, and he goes, Where do you live? He brought me lights and set up a rig in my garage. Uh and then there was a company that I did some work for at the time. It was a talent competition.

SPEAKER_07 11:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 11:49

And um, and so we were doing some trade out. They ended up giving my can me a camera and a tripod. And yeah, and so I had everything within one week, and I was like, you know what? Let's turn on the camera and see what happens. And then I end up producing 40 episodes for my house.

SPEAKER_08 12:06

That is so cool, man. And it never comes from where you expect it to come from. Oh my goodness, okay. Where you where you expect it to come from, does it?

SPEAKER_06 12:15

No, not at all. No, and in fact, uh, I did that for a while up until the point where I um I was you know getting to it was painful to step around my desk. Like a lot of times I would just step over it. Like I would just step in a chair and get over to my desk because it was a tight tight quarters.

SPEAKER_07 12:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:35

And uh but I was in so much pain and I didn't know why and uh it's because I was I had cancer and I didn't know it, you know. And um and so my my lower back was in a lot of pain, and then my I I was fatigued, I didn't have a lot of energy, and I thought, I need to take a break from this. And uh and you probably know the rest of the story, uh, but for those who are watching, basically in 2015, I uh I got married March 7th of uh 2015, and the very next month I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease lymphoma stage four. And um uh so through that experience I went through six months of chemo. I had to learn how to walk all over again. I really thought everything was over for me as an entertainer, but um the cancer center became my stage. So even though I couldn't be back on stage at the Springer Opera House or DJ anywhere or uh be on camera, I would do voices with the RNs. So they would come and give me an injection, a shot or something, and I'm like, all right, yes, this voice. You know, and I would literally play games with them. Hey there, guys, you know, gorge, like small blessed, you know.

SPEAKER_08 13:51

That was so perfect. Almost shocking how good those are. Go ahead, keep going, sorry.

SPEAKER_06 13:56

So I would I would do voices, yeah. I I do believe that I could use I'd have a high quality and and I would have the RNs guessing, you know, and I would give them points. Yeah, you know, and so that was how I had fun. Um and and what I the perspective I had and what I learned through that um experience was that uh I didn't take any day for granted.

SPEAKER_07 14:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:20

And even though I had stage four cancer, somebody else has it much worse.

SPEAKER_07 14:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:25

I always try to come in with that perspective. And so when I would walk into the cancer center, like with my walker, I would be thinking, okay, Lord, help me to be a blessing to others because somebody else needs joy.

SPEAKER_07 14:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:39

You know, like like I I was looking for joy too, because I mean there's a lot of pain and and suffering that that comes with it. I won't I won't sugarcoat it.

SPEAKER_07 14:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:48

But you have to you have to remain positive throughout all of it. Like look for that silver lining. And so for me, my hope, my strength came from Christ. And so that's where I completely leaned on, and and I would just ask the Lord to help me to be a blessing to other patients, uh, doctors, RNs, like anyone I came in contact with. Now there were some days where I probably was not a blessing. Yeah, get that needle away. Oh, please get away, you know.

SPEAKER_08 15:16

I don't even know. I don't know if I want to laugh or cry.

SPEAKER_06 15:19

Oh, it's okay. It's all right.

SPEAKER_08 15:20

I've got to go to break real quick, but I do want to continue this conversation when we come back.

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SPEAKER_08 17:10

I don't know if y'all noticed that little weird out, but sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches. But we are back and Sam, I wanted to ask you, so when you're on the days that were really good. Yes. Did people forget to check in on you because you're being the strong one and you're acting better than you feel to make other people feel better than they feel?

SPEAKER_06 17:33

Um, no, you know, there were well, okay, so like with people just checking in, um, there were a lot of people I did not hear from.

SPEAKER_07 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:42

You know, it's like the uh what do they call it, the cone of silence, you know. Where you're you're left alone. Like for me, I had a hospital bed in my house. And so I would be in my bed all day long, um, you know, uh d sleeping a lot of times, but um but I I would like play video games or watch movies or something to to bring or to give me joy because what I learned and I did a lot of research on this about laughter, the power of laughter, and how it can boost your immune system. And so I would try to watch programs that would give me joy. Yeah, you know, like Family Feud. I I love watching Family Feud, like that was my thing every night, you know. Um I would watch and just laugh and forget that I was in pain.

SPEAKER_07 18:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:32

And that was something that was was very special to me. So uh so there were people that that did not check in with me, that um, you know, were like friends or maybe even family members that um and and but I didn't take it personally by any means because the way I took that, not everybody knows how to deal with you know a an illness or uh if it looks like it's gonna be terminal, like they they don't know how to process that and like what do I say to the person?

SPEAKER_07 19:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:02

And and I I totally get it. So I was very grateful for every card, for every text message, for every visit. I mean, it was overwhelming. Um so for people that may not have checked in on me, I didn't I didn't look at that as, oh, they don't care about me.

SPEAKER_07 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:21

I just I took it as they really don't know how to deal with this right now, and that's okay. Uh and for those who did check on check in on me, it was it really just made me feel so loved and uh and appreciated. And and on the other side of uh and by the way, near the end of my chemo treatments, my doctor said that he saw no more pathogens. And I was like, what does that mean? He said, There is no more cancer. I was like, oh, okay. Well, can I stop the treatments? And he goes, Oh no, no, no, no. It is protocol, we must finish. I was like, oh so I had to finish it out. But on the other side of finishing my treatments, I still to this day I run into people who say, We were praying for you.

SPEAKER_07 20:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:08

Or our church was praying for you.

SPEAKER_07 20:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:10

And this is not just local either. I've gone to uh conferences where there are people from around the country who have told me we were praying for you. So you never know who's who's watching your YouTube videos or uh or seeing what you post on social media uh across the world, really.

SPEAKER_07 20:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:29

So it but it it means a lot when someone says that. Uh and I usually say, you know what, I felt every prayer because I did. But especially on some of the hardest days. I I would find strength where I felt like there was no way.

SPEAKER_08 20:42

Yeah. I love that. That is so nice. I have probably been that person when people that I love or people that I know have gone through things, have stayed away more than came around. Um what's your advice to us?

SPEAKER_06 20:56

Okay, um, I would say that even if even if you could, you know, like write a card with something simple.

SPEAKER_07 21:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:05

Um, and it doesn't have to be anything long, it could just be like, you know, thinking of you, praying for you.

SPEAKER_07 21:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:10

Here's a gift card.

SPEAKER_07 21:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:12

You know. And uh like there was somebody from my church who literally sent a gift card every month to Olive Garden.

SPEAKER_08 21:22

Really? Okay. Hi.

SPEAKER_06 21:24

I was like, this is amazing. And and my wife was so excited, she was like, we're gonna be able to go to Olive Garden. I was like, that's great, but I can't taste the food. You know, I couldn't taste anything because of the chemo. And so even when we went that first, that first time we actually got to go out and go to Olive Garden, I was I was eating, I think it was like chicken parmesan because it's my favorite. So I'm I'm eating, and my wife was like, so how does it taste? And I was like, Well, I can't taste it, but the texture is wonderful.

SPEAKER_08 21:53

That is funny. You need to send that person one and just remind them that you got through that because of God. chemo and carbs. It got you through. So what has life been like since then? And we we're running out of time here. So let's let's race through.

SPEAKER_06 22:11

Well ever since that uh so I I had my port taken out in 2017.

SPEAKER_09 22:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:16

And um and so after after everything was done with my treatments, I just uh put together my website, sandbeeman.com and I just put actor comedian DJ.

SPEAKER_09 22:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:27

And I was like, let's just see what sticks. So within a year I was getting work from like all three of these sources and I was like, I don't believe this. Like I just want to focus on one thing. And uh and so I I really DJing is what I do the most. Yeah. And uh and then 2020 when when everything shut down, um at the time where all of my DJ gigs shut down, I got a call from CTV Beam, which was Cable TV Vista Alabama saying, hey, uh we saw some old episodes here at the studio. Would you be willing to come over and do this again? So when everything was shut down, I had the studio to myself and I just went over there uh for 17 weeks straight and just produced shows like every week. And really one of the one of the reasons why I stopped was because I felt like I needed to uh take more time to focus on my family. Yeah and uh and also focus on my DJ business because that was important too. So for right now like I may not be doing light talk who knows what is in store for the show but uh I would definitely be open to doing it again if the you know opportunity presented itself.

SPEAKER_08 23:40

Here's what's crazy just they say that you will overestimate what you can get done in a year but you will underestimate what can happen in five. So who knows what's going to happen for either of us. Who knows?

SPEAKER_06 23:55

What's your last message to to the community Well I would say that for anyone who may be battling illness of any kind especially cancer just because that's what I went through tap into whatever joy you can one of the things that I learned was three things that if you're battling cancer um if you have a a relationship with God then there's strength and hope that comes through that it gives your body strength that you f you just don't possess on your own at least that's what I've learned. And then have a strong support system like a a friend, a family member someone who can take you to your visits someone who's going to encourage you and then have a positive attitude. Even though it looks bleak even though it looks like everything is falling apart you don't know how you're gonna make it out of this continue to focus on the positive tap into whatever joy you can whatever makes you happy for me like I I love comedy so I'm gonna watch comedy and then there were little things that that brought me joy like video games or reading a book so tap into whatever joy that you can and these things will that will help you with your journey okay next week will be Sam in real life.

SPEAKER_08 25:18

Alright you guys till next time this was Raven in real life show be kind to each other