Killin It
Comedians London Brown, Justin Hires, & BT Kingsley converse with top people in entertainment and culture that are killing it in their life and career.
Killin It
TONY ROCK
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Actor/Comedian, Tony Rock, discuss lessons learned from his big brother Chris Rock and mentor Tracy Morgan, turning down $200K TV development deal, using crowd work clips to increase stand-up ticket sales, wild house party stories, and more.
Hosted by @RealLondonBrown, @JustinHires, @BTKingsley
YouTube (Full Episodes): @KillinItPod
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Website: KillinItPod.com
Executive Produced by London Brown, Justin Hires, BT Kingsley
Engineer: Aaron Brungardt
For our friends who are the bigger names, I don't know how to phrase the question, because it's not like why would you do it? Why do you get it? Like, why do you see that this is important to do? Cause in our mind, there's been some reach outs and we've seen like if y'all help us build this, this only helps in the long run. You shooting a movie, that's dropping at the end of next summer, it all pays off as we're building this conglomerate of independence with us doing our own thing. If the NBA is happening, but ain't no ESPN to talk about it, this just some looping in the jail. Right. Why do you get it?
SPEAKER_00Uh okay, are we rolling?
unknownYeah, we're rolling.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so first and foremost, uh, I genuinely, genuinely f with all three of y'all. Yeah. Like, you know, you I don't like every comic. Yeah, it's a fact. As a person and sometimes as a comedian. So I don't rock with him. Like, but y'all three, I genuinely, genuinely f with. Like, I remember remember I saw you at the factory that night. Absolutely. And he hosted, and I was like, upstairs, like, yo, E.T. is on it tonight. Like, you was you was swish. Everything was all no back rim, nothing. Yeah. And it was so dope that night that the next time I saw you, I was like, I gotta make it my point to let him know that I saw that. Because that's just important for every comic. Absolutely. That somebody saw it and appreciated it. It could be another comic or just a person in the audience. When they come out the club and they go, Man, you was like, yo, you was really, really good. Right. That we all need to hear that. The biggest name needs to hear that. Absolutely. So I was like, I'm gonna make it my point to let you know that. You, I respect, just off the grind of I've got a TV show with no audition.
SPEAKER_02That's a fact, though.
SPEAKER_00Yo, to this day, I'm still like, yo, how the f you pull off? How you pull that's like you don't pull off every day. Ballers, yeah. No audition. And pulled it off.
SPEAKER_03You had the audition?
SPEAKER_04See, the main thing was not having an agent or a manager. Right. So being able to get into the room without reps was God doing what he's doing. Exactly. Absolutely, yeah. Exactly. But you remember, you remember that tip.
SPEAKER_00I remember him, he told he told the story on stage one night, and I was like, I wonder if he's joking about that. And then I asked him, he's like, nah, real talk. Well, dang, I gotta bring that back. Give me another five minutes. Yeah, you talking on stage one night, and I was like, Man, is that true? Yeah. Man, I want to tell you first of all, I genuinely with you as well. Like, you always seem like mad funny to me. Just just one of the keys to comedy, what my brother always said, one of the keys to comedy is you gotta look funny. Right. You just look funny. If you went on stage and I didn't say a word, I'd be like, yo, this is about to be funny. Right, right. Right. That's just how and you to back it up with actually being funny, I truly f with y'all three. That's number one reason, answer to your question. Number two, and I could go on and on, yeah. Uh, I'll give you two more. So my brother always says, I love stand-up. Which brother are you saying? Chris Chris. My brother Chris always says, I love stand-up. Nothing comes before stand-up. Stand-up's number one. But I do movies, so people will go see my movies and then come see me do stand-up. Right. So they will go see the movies, so they will come see me do stand-up. So they will go see the movies, so they come see me do stand-up. One feeds the other. Absolutely. That's why this is important, because when you say yo, or you say yo, come to the podcast, yo, yeah, I'm gonna show up, but it's gonna be four comics stalker. And it's not just me, it's four comics talking. Absolutely. And somebody's watching is gonna go, yo, I'm gonna go see that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy. And then they'll watch your podcast to come see you do stand up, or watch my podcast to come see me. It feeds the other. Absolutely. And lastly, when I was Tracy Morgan's opening act, Tracy gave me all the game in the world. And it was always, yo, you gotta help out other comics. When you in my seat, Tracy would always say, I'm in the big seat. I sit in the big motherfucking seat. But when you sit in the big seat, you do the same shit I'm doing for you. And that is bringing young comics on the road to feature. That is letting people open up when you in their city, like they stop by. That is get a phone call, go do a podcast, go do Man.
SPEAKER_03I was just telling them some of the people we've reached out to, some some pull up, you A Fion, is some kind of awesome, you know, go shit or whatever. But I was like, it's more than one way to give back. You could give back monetarily, or you could give back with your time. Yeah, and I think a lot of people forget that the higher up they go, they feel like if it ain't Cassinette stream, right, or if it ain't Shannon Shark, then it's like a while ago do they it's like, hey bro, you can still help out up and coming comics or newer comics or younger comics with your time. Man, let me tell you something about you, Tony. Not only are you one of my favorite comedies, I've always told you that you're one of my favorite comics. I know a lot of people say other people's names. I don't give a shit. I'll be like, damn it as funny as Tony. That's what I be, that's what I be. I want my Brooklyn. I was gonna say we should switch to leave a minute. Man, I'm gonna but let me tell you something, what you did for me.
SPEAKER_04And you don't even know you did it. And then I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go must run it.
SPEAKER_03We gotta get on your necks a little bit before pause on a plate. You know what I'm saying? You taught me about humility and you never said anything. And I'm gonna tell you how you taught me about being humble. I had booked a sprite commercial.
SPEAKER_02And we was upstairs in the when I was doing commercials.
SPEAKER_03It was an all-star weekend NBA Sprite commercial. And you approached me, you was like, yo, I just seen your Sprite commercial. And I was like, Yeah, yeah. And the way you looked at me, you didn't say nothing. You just almost like, relax. You didn't say it, but you looked at me like something like relax. And in that moment, I had to check myself. I was like, bruh, no matter what you book, you need to humble yourself and move accordingly. Because yeah, I booked the sprite commercial. I'm not the star or nothing. Right. You know what I'm saying? But just in that look, you told me everything I needed to know about being humble with whatever success that I get out here. So you don't even know that, but I appreciate that. I appreciate that, bro. Yeah, that's real talk. Now you, your time.
SPEAKER_04I don't know what a start. No, when I was uh younger in standup, the the short version of the story is basically uh I think I don't know if Ocean was hosting that show, but we did a show at the Ontario Improv, and I think that's why I was there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04And he was like, because I was supposed to do a show for him later on or something. He said, you come down and watch. And I was really was just there to, at the Ontario Improv, just to just I was already familiar with you. I was like, okay, well, sometimes you watch cats and it's just a nice class. You just go and you say, let me just let me just be a student in here, and that sort of thing. So, but what was cool about that of this story was that um you was cool enough to just say, hey man, you want you want to do some time? I was like, uh, who me? I was like, yeah, okay, I do a little bit of time. So you introduced me and um you gave me some some time. I think, I think, I think Ocean or someone brought you up. And then before you went up, you was like, yo, uh, let's have Lendon Brown come up, boom. And I went up there, I did my my little five minutes something. He goes, obviously destroyed. So I'm in the back and I'm I was like, wow, that must be cool up there. And then he was like, no, where's London at? I'm like, let me, you're talking about goofy. At least that's what I felt in my mind. I felt goofy in my mind. But he was like, yo, man, you got some more time? I was like, yeah, he's like, man, come on up here. And so I was brought up twice. Still haven't had that happen before. But the fact that you took that time to not know me, but just being on GP. And what you articulated for me was the fact that when comments go to a show, they're not really just there to be watching no show. They won't be wanting some time. And so when you was able to do that, man, I appreciate that. And that's something I've tried to do when I've been on the road. If I I know the bros in the city, because I get it. Yeah, right. You know, which is like, yo, man, come up. It's not crazy. It's not crazy to share seven minutes, five minutes, whatever, man. Because all that stuff, even a five-minute night, if you do what you're supposed to do, with it, you good for I'm good with that. So thank you, man. I appreciate that, bro. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And you know what? Like, as you're saying that, it's like people don't realize there are guys that are uh bigger is a is a weird word, but they're guys that I look up, like I look at like how you look at me, I look at them. Right. So when I go to their shows, they do that for me. I went to see DL one time, and I just was like, I'm gonna go in the green room and say hi. And I'm just like, hey man, just in the room, want to check out the show. He was like, all right, so we'll do this one and that one, then you rock, and then I'll go up. And I'm like, no, no, I'm just chilling. He was like, You came in the room, bro, you want to go up. You're a comic. When you walk in the room, you want to go up. You might not say it, but just being in here, you're gonna feel like, damn, I want to. I know he said, I know the feeling, man. So go up and do your time and then out. And I'm like, that's what I'm talking about, right? That's like you in the room, you want to go up. So just like he did it for me, I do it for the next person.
SPEAKER_04And I and also can appreciate uh, at least from the interview, I remember that that um Def Jam reunion when Tracy gave uh when Tracy Burning gave Martin his flowers and just said, yo, man, thank you for looking out. So it's nice to see that um comics still have that uh idea to continue. So that's that's dope, man.
SPEAKER_00You can I you wanna hear something crazy about that night, the Def Jam 25th anniversary? Yeah, absolutely. I don't I I might have told this before, but if I haven't told it before, this is an exclusive.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wait, hold on, wait. We're gonna do exclusive. Do the uh exclusive? Do the intro?
SPEAKER_00Okay. Intro.
SPEAKER_03Oh, the intro. Oh, wait, why do you call it the score? No, go, go, go, I get to it.
SPEAKER_00All right, so I uh Def Jam 25th uh anniversary show in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hills Hotel, right? I get a phone call. This is when I was working at Russell, when we was doing all deaf. Yeah. So Russell's like, yo, got an idea, running past you, see what you think. Because I have because now I remember I'm hosting Def Jam. I'm hosting All Def, the new version of Def Jam. And uh Russell goes, You're gonna come to the 25th anniversary, gonna bring Martin Lawrence out, we're gonna pay him, you know, all the homage in the world, we're gonna dig Martin up for the contribution to comedy. Martin is then gonna say, yo, Def Jam will continue through all Deaf comedy, and the new host will be Tony Rock, and he'll bring you out and pass the torch to you. Oh, wow. Martin will pass you the torch of the new host of Def Jam. Wow. I'm in the house, I let one go. I'm like calling home, telling my boys, like, yo, this is gonna be, bro, this is gonna, I'm out of here. This is gonna be epic. This is gonna be one of those moments where they be like, that's where Tone took off from there. And Martin says, I don't wanna do it. I don't wanna do it. They sent the car to pick me up. I'm in the car on my way there. Russell calls me old. Martin says, You don't wanna do it. I'm like, alright, so I'm gonna go back home. Russell's like, no, no, come, just come, just come anyway, we'll figure out something else to do. So I'm like, figure out something else to do. What does that mean, bro? Like, so I get there, and every comic and they mama's there. So I'm like, and I'm backstage, but I see like, you know, this one, that one, that one. I'm like, man, I'm happy to be around my peers and my idols, but I'm like, I'm I'm dejected, bro. I'm like, I just wanna go home. And then they go, All right, go out and bring out uh Adele Gibbons. No disrespect to Adele Gibbons. Sure. Pave the way, you know what I'm saying? Right. But from what I was gonna do to what they told me to do, I was like, so if you see it, you see it, ever see it, I'm on stage, like, all right, and coming out, this lady started, she, you know, revolutionized comedy and give it up for Adele Gibbons. And then she came out and did a set. I put the mic down, went back, jumped in the car, was like, nigga, take me home.
SPEAKER_03Did Martin, did they say why he didn't want to?
SPEAKER_00Never said why, I never got a word, why I never got a mention, why I never got a party. Did you go to the birthday party? I've never been to a Martin birthday party.
SPEAKER_04Because he don't go unless he's invited. I mean. Come on, man. Come on. We be doing the research right here, T.
SPEAKER_03Oh, well, let's let's let's let's get into it, man. Um uh welcome to another episode of Killin' It. Uh, we got one of the funniest comedians in the game. Um, all of us, the Tony Rock Project, uh thinking like a man. He got his own podcast called The Green Room, tours all over the world, the one and only Tony Rock, everybody. What's your name of the name? And by the way, thank you very much. And by the way, I've been excited. By the way, my name, where your host? Okay, I'm Justin Holly.
SPEAKER_04London Brown.
SPEAKER_03Vincent Kingdom. Hey man, Tony, dog, bruh. Thank you for pulling up, man. Thank you for sharing that story. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it. That's what I wanted to know, man. What was it like? And I know you get this question all the time, but it's like, what was the rock household growing up? Because it was a lot of y'all. The best. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00The best, the best childhood ever. Uh you know how the things you learn and things you go through during childhood shape your life going forward. Yeah. Uh, money has never been a deciding factor for me. You can't dangle a check in front of me and get me to do something because I never had money, money growing up. I'm so serious. I never had it growing up, so it never was a thing that was like, it's gonna, I'm gonna do it for the money. Right. I never had it. So, and I had a great childhood. I had a great childhood, I had a great life growing up in Bedstop, Brooklyn. So money was like, okay, I guess you don't need money. I had real great friends, I have great friendships that have lasted the test of time. I got friends that I had since three years old. You know, like my crew back in home is my mother's like, I raised all of these cats. My mother used to babysit all my friends. My mother, uh my father give you the short version. My father worked two full-time jobs my whole life. My father worked 80 hours a week. So I remember my dad coming in, eating a sandwich, taking a nap, back out the door to work. My father was also the block father because a lot of my friends didn't have a father. Yeah, oh. So my dad was their dad and their dad and their dad. And my dad took this one to the prom and took this one to the take his driver's test and took this one to sign up for the military and took this one to go shopping for clothes for college and took this one to pick this one up from prison and took that one, you know. So all my friends, my my dad was their dad. And we just didn't have much, but my friends, we had each other. And I think the relationships are the most important thing. And we never had m money, so it didn't make us act a certain way because of a dollar. And then when I got older, it was like, oh, they're gonna pay you this much to do it. And it was like, well, I mean, the money don't really it ain't it ain't gonna move me. I never had it, so and I had a great childhood. So our child our childhood was the best. Me and my brothers, if you don't know, my dad raised us to be one unit. So I realized like a lot of people, I realize now in in this climate that we live in, a lot of people didn't play organized sports and a lot of people don't have a strong family structure. Because if you played organized sports, the first thing they teach you is it's the collective. Yeah. The sacrifice fly is to advance the runner, not you. You won't get any props from it, but that teammate can advance. If you're not doing it for the team, how can you find enjoyment in winning or let learn a lesson from losing if you're not doing it for the collective? If it's only about you, if it's only well, I scored 10, we lost, but I scored 10. That's not a victory in the total sense. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So my brothers, we were raised like, yo, we a unit. So it's always been, it's always been the rock brothers. And it's only boys or no, I got sisters, but I mean, like my dad wasn't raising men. So it's always been look out for your baby sister, look out for your baby brother. If your brother's in a fight, you're in a fight. My dad would, he wouldn't get upset with us if we got in fights at school. If something happened. Because we went to all white public school, everyday kids like nigga, nigga, nigga, you know, so we had to fight sometimes. He was more concerned with if you tell him my dad about the fight you had, he would stop you and say, and then what did you do? And then what did you do? And if we all wasn't lumped up together, or if we all wasn't victorious together, we was in trouble. How many uh of it? Okay, good question. So I say, I say I have seven brothers and two sisters. Okay. I am one of ten. Okay. Because I count the siblings that my mother raised but did not birth. Got it. Another brother might tell you, I'm the oldest of six. Jordan will say I'm the youngest of five. My brother Kenny will say I'm a only child. Okay. Because he don't fuck with us.
SPEAKER_03So, like, depending on who you ask, you're gonna get a different number. I wanted to know is ten, ten, by your account is ten. By your account is ten, and it's ten wins in a fist fight. Who will be? Come on, that's easy. Let's easy. I heard Keenan back in the day, man.
SPEAKER_01That's a later. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Let's let's pay-per-view it. Let's get some let's let's let's do some uh Jack Paul chick.
SPEAKER_0120 million for that. Let's do it. I love to see that. Man, oh I don't even know where to start with you, bro. It's it's so much. So uh let's start here. You are a monster. Like you are a certified monster on the stage. Thank you. And there's in our uh in our business, there's different levels of the business. It's like if this was hip-hop, there's rappers who are Nelly, there's rappers who are Cassidy, and then there's your Ferramanches and your Kendricks and your your your hoves, your high-level MCs who are everybody understands, oh no, that's a that's another level. Right. Do you feel underrated?
SPEAKER_00Ah, that's a that's a good question. That's a good question. I get that a lot on social media. People uh send me messages on social media. That's because they see the truth. They yeah, they're like underrated, bro. Look, I this is my my my my stock response. People always say, like, when somebody on social media hits me, like, yo, bruh, just left your show, you super underrated. I always respond, but I'm underrated, bro, but never been underpaid. So that always gets like, oh, I appreciate that. That's cool, you know, just something to say back. Uh underrated. I don't I don't feel underrated because my peers know what it is. Right, right. You know what I mean? My peers will tell you I had Dion Cole say to me one time, hey man, we were supposed to go on a tour, but it was this big tour that they were putting together a couple years ago, and it was me, Dion, Quake, uh, D-Ray, mad names. And I was like, oh, I'm looking forward to this. And then dude was like, I want Tony to host. And I was like, hell yeah. Yeah. So I just go back out and come back out and go back, you know what I mean? And then I ran into Dion one night, I think, at the improv, and he was like, Yeah, Rock, you I'm excited to work with you, Rock, on that tour. And then he was like, yo, I'm so glad you host a nigga, because I don't I don't want to have to follow your ass.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just bring me the fuck out, Rock, and get the fuck off the stage. Like, I don't want to. And I was like, damn, that's such a compliment. Because I think the world of Dion. Absolutely. And he was like, yo, bro, like, and as long as my peers know, my peers are like telling their friends, like, nah, I'm telling you, bro. They might say, you're like, I don't, Tony Rock, I don't know. And they'll my peers will say, no, I'm telling you. As soon as you get there. You gotta see. You gotta see. So I underrated, I don't, I don't feel it. I don't think so. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Because even with right now with the crowd work clips, for me, you the true king of crowd work. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00You know what's crazy, bro?
SPEAKER_04Everybody, stop what you're doing right now. Make sure you subscribe to Killin It Pie. Boom. Okay, so let me give you an analogy.
SPEAKER_00It's like, let's say you had, let's say your crib, right? Your basement is full of diamonds. It's just diamonds all over your basement. Right. And you're like, yeah, I just got these diamonds, and I don't know what the fuck they are. They they I just have them. They're shiny. They just here. I just and then one day you you look on TV and like, oh wait, those are valuable?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Bro, I got these in mad supply. Right. Crowd work ain't even wasn't even a thing to me. It's like I do it so easily, it was like, I just do it in between when I'm before I bring another comic up. I'll just riff and make something funny. And then the room's like, yo. And I'm like, oh, that's oh, that people like that? Okay. It was was an afterthought to me. And then I saw social media go, oh, that's what we're doing now, social media uh clips? Crowd work clips? Nigga, I got a basement full of diamonds right now. Right, right, right, right, right. Like, that's what, bruh, I do that like it's not even a thought. Yeah. So now that's what y'all like? So, okay, let's clip them up and give it to the people if that's what they want. That's not even it's an afterthought, bro.
SPEAKER_03I feel like Afion and Chris Spencer are the other two people who got crowd work that's not utilizing that talent enough from a social media.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'm I'm like, if that's what y'all want, fine. And I wasn't playing in that space. Like, so it's it's it's literally a godsend for me. Because I wasn't playing enough in the social media space. Which every comic now we have to play in that space. It was a lane that they opened another lane for comedy. So whenever there's a new lane, you gotta play in it a little while.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. When okay, I'm sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00So I'm like, that's what that's where the the the industry is going, and that's what's selling tickets, bet, let's play in that space. So we start doing that. I start putting clips up. They start going crazy. My I think my third clip, two million. My fifth, my seventh clip, eight million. I'm like, bruh, this is so again, it goes back to I only do it so you can see the clip and come and see me do stand-up. That's it. That's all it is. Go see me do stand, watch the clips, go see me do stand-up.
SPEAKER_04That's the only reason why I do it. Uh I'm kidding. I remember one of the first times I saw um in fact, I think it was the first night we were together, which I have yet to see anyone do still, besides uh one of my battle rapper friends, DNA. Shout out to DNA. But what DNA did one time in a freestyle battle, he uh he did his verse, and then he decided to reverse the whole verse. Code. Oh yeah. I saw you do that, and you did your whole set, ripped, second show, reverse. Where did that idea I mean, because I know it's well what I've been told, I think you remember uh uh sharing something like not wanting to keep the same set. But how what even why did that even matter?
SPEAKER_00If you could do a set forward to backwards and then backwards to forwards, every bit is equal to the next bit, right? So if you do it one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and it gets better when One to ten, okay, ten will be great, but one is starting off weak. But if you get the one at the same level as the ten and you go through the set, imagine what the audience is getting. Right. They like, holy shit, he came out the gate with that shit, and it never went back down. Right. You know what I mean? Every joke should be a closer.
SPEAKER_03Like if you could get it to that if you could get it to that point where you could close on any joke in your arsenal.
SPEAKER_00Right. So that's why I did it that night, because it was like, okay, that shit flowed incredibly from beginning to end. And just to challenge, you have to challenge yourself every day. You just gotta pull up from half every now and then. Right, right. So sometimes you gotta take a monster bit out just to see if the set can live without it. You know?
SPEAKER_03I ain't did that.
SPEAKER_00Like I'm playing, I'm up there playing for the room, but I'm playing for me too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm trying to impress me. So, okay, let's do it backwards. Yeah. Let's do it backwards. Let's see if and then you come out and that 10-bit is now one. Can nine follow that shit? Can eight follow that? So either it's gonna be boom and then they're like, he started off good, but then the show just got or it's gonna be, yo, what the fuck did we just witness?
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? That might speak to the why, why you're so good. Because one, the the crowd work thing was something that always existed, but and anybody seen you host knows this. Like, you know, for everybody, all of us that was there for when you was running Chocolate Sundays, it was like this was uh good old days, boy. You talk about a good time. Yes. And it's like, and then to see the material, you're not lackadaisical when it comes to material. So it's like your pen's so dead nice that this is a thing you're not even thinking about because you're crafting this. Right. I'm wondering, do those two things feed each other on why you're so strong? Because your your material is like meticulously good. Like when I see comics nowadays, a lot of time the structure's all over the place. I see a lot of charisma, I see some stage presence, I see excitability and likability. I don't see no punchlines. I'm like, who are y'all watching? Like, what where are y'all at? You just explain me. But structurally, is is that is what caused you to write how you write?
SPEAKER_00Uh okay, look, can I go back a little bit? Yes, please. So, so uh, like I said, I was Tracy Morgan's opening act for for some time, right? Tracy gave me all the game. I will I will applaud Tracy every podcast, every interview. Tracy was Buddha to me. Damn. You know what I mean? Don't sleep with a bitch with stanky coop. He was all the game. Post-show, during show, after party, all of that. Uh so I was Tracy Morgan's opening act. I was Kim Cole's opening act for a very short time. I was John Withersmoon's opening act for a short time. And uh I I swear I wish I would have saved some of my original flyers from when I used to go out, because it would be appearing tonight, Tracy Morgan at, you know, whatever comedy club, featuring Chris Rock's little brother, Tony Rock. That was my fucking credit. Wow, yeah. That was my credit on the flyer. Like, yo, that's how they sold it, right? So, not with Tracy, because Tracy's Tracy, but with John and with Kim, show would be over, and I'd come back to the green room, and I'm like, it's their show, I'm the I'm the feature, so it's their show. They gotta go out and take pictures and sell merch and all that. And the manager would come in, like, hey, is the people want pictures, man? You gotta come in here, they want pictures. And I would go outside, and for Kim Kohl's it would like half the room wanted pictures with her, half the room-wanted pictures with me. Wow. So I was like, okay, that's pretty cool. Which led to me being removed from her tour. Too funny. And then comedy club owner bookers, comedy club bookers are just they just own a bar. They own a bar. Right. They don't cultivate stand-up comedy. They don't love stand-up comedy. It's just two drink minimum is what's important to them. Right. Ticket at the door and two drink minimum. I don't give a fuck who the comic is on stage. If they love the craft.
SPEAKER_01So give away 95% of the door. It's like you can add it. Yeah, that's an afterthought to them. Pay for that motherfucker as long as they're in here buying drinks and food.
SPEAKER_00So what happened was they see, oh shit, half the room was pictures with him. Let's bring him back to headline. So I got bumped up to headliner early. I didn't have an hour of material. How many years in five? Oh, wow, yeah. Four or five? Yeah. Bumped up the headliner. Didn't have the time. I will be brutally honest and tell the whole world I did not have the time. But I knew I could do crowd work. I knew that's how I that's how I knew I was funny sitting on the suit with my boys, just snapping on people. Somebody walked past, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like I could do that. Afterthought, right? So now I would go on stage. I might have had, let's say I might have had 30 of material. And if you say you got 30, you probably got 20. Right, right, right. So I got 30 that I believed in. Right. I would do a big bit to start the show, to get them like, okay. And then I would do five minutes, seven minutes crowd work. Right? Then I would do five minutes of material. Then I would do 10 minutes of crowd work. Then I would do, you know, I would do that back and forth until my last bit to close the show. Now here's the trick. When I did five minutes of crowd work, I literally had to find something that would sustain five minutes. Because if I had to go to written material early, I wouldn't be able to make it to the end. So every time I went in the room, it was like, nigga, you gotta find something, and it has to be five minutes long. Wow. So while I was good at crowd work, that shit made me ginsu sharp. Because when I went in the room, it was like, if I don't get something, many a night, I was like, they're not giving me nothing. All right, I gotta do the written bit. And then the lights on it fucking 45, and I'm like, shit, I got nothing. Right. So I'm good night, everybody. And they're like, yo, nigga, you didn't do your time. Right, right. We still pick it up checked. Yeah, we, so that was bad. So every time I went in the room, had to get it sharp. So that was one, that's how the crowd work got immaculate. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. And then it was like, okay, the crowd work can't be better than the material. So that also made me sit at night and just I would go into a city. The first thing I would do, I was going to a city. This is like brand new comic headline. I would go into a city, I would get the local newspaper. Whatever's going on in that city that they're writing about in their paper. Okay, let's write about that. So at least you endear yourself to the crowd. Like, oh, he knows about us. Yeah, yeah. So this bit is about you guys. I can't do it next week, but at least you guys are like, oh shit, he knows about the fucking break-in at the mall yesterday. The thing that happened. The truck that flipped over on the highway. Yo, they got fucking mayonnaise all over the highway. That's crazy. So they at least he knows about us. So that would endear me to the audience. Then I would go, crowd work, local, written bit. They both fed each other to answer your question. If the crowd was gonna be good, the written has to be just as good, if not better. So you don't want to go into crowd work and then it's like, oh, now he got funny, but then the written, it wasn't as funny. It has to be equal. It has to always be, to me, it has to always be equal.
SPEAKER_03When did you get into comedy? Because I know Chris started at like 18, I believe.
SPEAKER_00So when did you start? Bro, we my parents had every comedy album. My house, like again, my dad was the block dad, my mother was the hostess of everything. My mother was, you know, the neighbors are coming over Friday night, we're gonna have drinks and food, and you put your kids to bed, and they would play records and throw on comedy albums. And when my pops would take my mother to lunch, I would run downstairs and sit with those records and just listen, bruh. Like Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory, Red Fox, Bill Cosby, like, oh, this shit is incredible. This is incredible. Go to school, tell the jokes, get in trouble. So you're talking like elementary. Bruh, I'm talking school bus, back of the school bus, like cops will put a hurting on your ass. Like, like literally in school time. My mother was a teacher at the school I went to. Yeah. My mom was too, yeah. So teachers would tell my mother, I think he's doing Richard Pryor. I'm not like he's Anthony's very entertaining. He holds court like nobody else. But I think it's Richard Pryor. And my mother asked me one day, are you listening to these records? And I'm like, Well, the guy was funny, and I was listening, and she's like, You can't say the words he's saying because he's an adult and you know he gets paid to do this. So just imagine a kid. I listen to Richard Pryor album, then I've told the story several times. People watching, like, hey, nigga, tell a story all the time. Listen to Richard Pryor's album. My mother's like, don't say the curse words. He's an adult, he can say that. This is his job, he gets paid to do this. Then I see Richard Pryor on TV. Wait, that's the guy from the record. So now I'm like, this guy does records and he does TV. Then I see Richard Pryor on the silver screen. Yo, this is the greatest motherfucker in the world. He does that, that. Oh shit. He's this motherfucker's a god to me. But I didn't know Richard Pryor. It was just an ideal. Right? Years later, Eddie comes along. Now, now my love for comedy's right there, birth right there. Yeah. Then Eddie comes along. And Eddie looks like me and dresses kind of the way I would dress if I had money. And he's super cool. And I'm like, wow, this guy's fucking amazing. This guy, and he's young. Like Richard Pryor's an old older guy. This guy's young. He's like, wow, this dude is he's on TV. He's in movies. Whoa. So my love for comedy is growing. And then the nigga in the next room starts doing comedy. When you say it like that. Next door. That's crazy. The dude I just ate dinner with. The dude who said, pour me a cup of Kool-Aid. And the dude I had to, I wore the pants Monday, he wore him Tuesday. The dude that, you know, is letting me get a half of whatever he's eating, because we don't have a lot. The dude that's walking me to school and picking me up. Now he's doing comedy. So now Eddie and Richard were they were beyond life to me. Didn't know them, never had a word with them. I talk to this motherfucker every day. Yeah, yeah. Wait, so you mean to tell me a real person can do it? A person that I can touch is doing it. Oh shit. That means I can do it. Because this guy can do it. And we just talk to the same, we call the same lady and dad, mommy and daddy. Wait a minute. I can do that. And this guy that the world is saying is the funniest motherfucker in the world is saying, No, you're the funniest motherfucker in the world. Oh wow. No, I'm good. But wait till they see you. Yeah. Get the fuck out of here. You mean to tell me the guy that the world is saying is the best motherfucker in the world in every interview is saying, not tone. Not tone.
SPEAKER_03Right. Roast battle. Who wins? You and Chris.
SPEAKER_04Brother, you admire. But but you got your skill of what you do. Yeah. Roast battle. I want to know.
SPEAKER_00Let's pay-per-view it, man. Let's pay back it. Let's fight the wings being followed by the roast battle of Tony and Chris. This is 20 million right here. This is 20 million right here.
SPEAKER_03I'll call my name, but we'll set it up.
SPEAKER_01Damn, I don't know. Yeah, that's an honest answer. I think prep time is a question. It's Superman versus Batman. Yeah, he's more meticulous with prep.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. He's more mad scientist with prep.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00That nigga somewhere right now writing four hours of material. He's, yo, you go to that motherfucker house, man. It's a wall like this. Of like it looks like encyclopedia books. Yeah. And it's like journals. And you pull it out and it's just material. Wow. Material, material, material. And I'll like, yo, uh women, da da da. Oh man, I was looking for that. Damn. I was looking for that. Damn. Wow. Bruh, mad scientists, like you you wouldn't believe.
SPEAKER_04Was there something that uh let's cut you off? Was there something from being around him on the comedy side? Because you guys are brothers, but you're also, you also know the craft. Was there some sort of game that he gave you or something where you were able to really say he gave you a jewel to help you with your process of more specifically with the writing?
SPEAKER_00Writing, no. Right. Right. Everything I learned from my brother, you know, it's so weird. Like, we really don't talk comedy a lot because we are brothers. So when I don't I don't see him for a certain amount of time, I just want to talk to my brother. Sure. So it's like tomorrow if I see him tomorrow, yo, the Knicks won the fucking fucking cup. Like, what does that mean anything? Like, and he's he's gonna always be funny, like, eh, they gotta put that fucking banner up next to the banner from fucking 1973. That shit is what who gives a fuck about that? With the chip, you know, he's gonna go on and I'm just gonna laugh. And it's just me talking to my big bro. Like when I'm when we're together, I just wanna hang out with my big brother. So I don't we don't talk comedy a lot.
SPEAKER_04I love it, man.
SPEAKER_00And he'll say, like, you know, he'll say, like, hey, I see you did whatever, and yo, good shit. I saw the clip from whatever, yo, good, good stuff, man. But we really don't talk comedy a lot. What's your favorite uh childhood memory? With my brother or just as a family. For you. Too many, bro. Too many. Uh so many. The best, like I said, the best childhood ever. We would get a football every Christmas. Every Christmas we get a new football because we would play that with that shit until it was in shreds. So we would get a football every Christmas and we immediately outside. Sometimes it was snow on Christmas, we'd play in the snow. That was the best. Uh when we f when we got uh when we got Nintendo, that was super. Now again, my mother made our our house the block house. My mother wanted, she never wanted her children to be somewhere she couldn't get to easily. Like when we went to the park, she would like drive past and make sure we were there, you know. So my mother wanted us to have every toy, everything, so all the other kids could come to our house. Our house was the entertainment center. Right. So she could keep an eye on her kids. It wasn't like she was like ruining our childhood. She was like, I just want to keep my eye on my babies. So Nintendo Christmas, that was a great one. Football every every Christmas, outside, every uh one of the childhood memories that I just remember that stuck with me and that is still like still brings a tear to my eye every year is uh my father, like again, my father worked 80 hours a week. Uh he couldn't be at home for certain things, so he missed some games, he missed some practices, it was it was what it was. My birthday is June 30th. My father would have to work on my birthday. But every year he would say, Hey, listen, you can get all your presents, you can have your party on your birthday if you want it, but unfortunately, dad can't be there. I I gotta work. I could be there for maybe an hour or two, but then I gotta work. But if you wait until July 4th, you can have your party, your presents, all your cousins and uncles and aunts and everybody be there, and I'll be there the whole day out cooking everything. I would always wait till July 4th. I have always been the kid that will wait to get what I want as opposed to just taking something for now. Right. Now you couple that with never having any money and money not being a deciding factor. That's why this I don't trip over this shit, bro. I don't trip over if I gotta wait to get it, I'll wait. That's a great segue. But hold up, but hold up. So the story is I'm five, six years old. July 4th, we in the backyard having a cookout. Fireworks over there. Dad, what's that? My father says they over there celebrating your birthday. Fireworks in the distance. That's a cold line. They're celebrating your birthday over there. They celebrating my birthday? Yeah. Fireworks in the distance. That way. What's going on over there? They celebrating your birthday over there. Wait a minute. Everybody's celebrating my birthday? Yes. Everybody celebrates your birthday because you're that special. How about that? Yeah. And boy. So to this day, July 4th, bruh. July 4th. Last year, bruh. Cry like a fucking baby. Last year, sat my child in the window. Yeah. We opened the window, we opened it, and we could see downtown. We could see a little bit of like uh downtown's this way, so we could see a little bit of Hollywood. And we sat there and just watched the fireworks. And I stepped back and just looked at my kid, like I'm looking at my child, and he's like this, like and I'm looking at me, looking at the fireworks. Right. That day when my dad said, and I'm just like, bruh. I was I was gone.
SPEAKER_04What did your what did your father teach you, or what did your parents teach you about love?
SPEAKER_00Family. It starts with family. It starts with family. Love starts with family. And if someone if you love someone, they are your family. And I'll tell you another thing about love. Right? I told a chick this one time and she said, Yo, I never ever thought of that. Think of somebody that you love right now. Think of somebody you love right now. Immediately. Boom. That person. Now think about the time you guys, that you and that person have shared in uncontrollable laughter together.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Laughter is the first step in falling in love with someone. Whether it's it don't have to be a girl, but just think about a dude you love, like your brother or anybody. Think about that time y'all laughed until y'all cried. Laughter. You can't say you love somebody until you can reflect on a time y'all laughed until y'all cried together. That's the first step in loving someone is like, yo, we laughed like you would. Me and my brothers have had uncontrollable, unbelievable, can't breathe, fall out laughter. That's how I know I love those motherfuckers. Yeah. And I say my brothers all the time, but I mean my siblings, because it's way more brothers and I hang out with them more. But my sisters, yo, bruh, laughter's the step, the first start. You meet a girl, y'all go on dates, and you're trying to get to know her. Once y'all start laughing, that's when you get in somewhere. That's when it's like, that's when she's like this, like maybe it might be.
SPEAKER_03See, when that's why niggas be never sad bitches. Because it makes me laugh. Take the pennies off. When the last time you made me laugh, this bitch making me laugh.
SPEAKER_00I've said that. That's what they do. My my family, they taught me about love because that's my that's my hub of laughter. Yeah. Anything going on in the world, I can go home. I'm gonna eat good, I'm gonna talk, you know, I'm gonna tell them what's going on. But I know, I know I'm gonna laugh.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So, so in that, the the segue was beautiful. When you're talking about the fireworks, you have something very specific in this city that everybody does not get, and it doesn't matter how famous or I don't know, none of that even matters. You have lore. And when when when I moved to this city, there was like, oh no, like Tony Rock. Like, it was like a thing. We got the dog Tony Rock parties. Hey, nigga. Cause what I'm telling you, what? You didn't, yeah, no, the whole world does celebrate you, and not be one of them.
SPEAKER_03And wait a minute, my birthday on June 24th, so I used to hit him up, be like, hey, can I come to your pool party? He was always a real one. Let me come through.
SPEAKER_00But so, so comics was it was nothing. I would always tell like the one rule was like, yo, comics gotta get in, bro.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but that was that was specific. Like, if it would be a Tony Rock weekend has a bunch of stuff in it. It got a pool party at a mansion, it got a party at a club, it got it got a dinner, a basketball, it got all kinds of stuff in it. And comics was always good. And literally, you'd be at the door. No, comics is good. I don't know them. The comics is good. Like, like, like, it was like a it was a thing. So it was like, it was kind of black comedy celebration in there like excellence, bro. Yeah, I was like, I was like, it was uh it was such a thing, also because it was you though. This uh this has been tried and attempted, and it's not the same. You know, I I tried to keep the customer. It was not the same. I tried. It was it was okay, year one, and then you tour, we love you, BT, but that was that's it. How how did it how did it start? Right. Obviously your your birthday is a huge celebr, your a huge celebration coming from when you the how you perceive it just as a child, but how did this thing start in LA? Because you didn't take it to other places and been out of the country with it. How does this start?
SPEAKER_00Okay, uh it starts it's okay, it starts because I was literally working. Uh I was on TV, right? So when I was shooting, we would shoot three weeks on, one week off. That one week off, I would go on the road. So I literally was working every day almost. You know what I'm saying? Right. Whole year. One of my guys from back home was like, yo, son, you're gonna burn yourself out. You working, you don't take no breaks. There's no break, your whole calendar's full. You gotta take a break, son. You're gonna burn yourself out. And I'm talking about years. I was doing that for years. And he said, yo. This one I was single, so I was like, yo, take one of your chicks, whichever chick gives you the least headache, go somewhere, sit in some sand, go to a beach somewhere, and just relax for a week. Yo, we will hold it down while you're going. You're not gonna miss nothing. Nah, son, I can't do stand-up. I can't, I gotta get on stage, I gotta spot do my spots. All right, son, well then have a party in LA and do your spots, but do something during the day. Do a day party and then do your spot that night. Okay, I might be able to do that. Because I can't not do stand-up. Right. That's like People don't understand that. I can't, bro, can't relax. If I'm not on stage for three days straight, I'm like, what the fuck am I doing with my life?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Your inner self-self talking to you and say, oh, that's what we do.
SPEAKER_00And then I'm gonna write, I'm gonna be writing the whole time anyway. So it's like, yo, what you wrote it? Why you ain't you know, you gotta go get up. So it started out with like, yo, let's do a day party so you can do your spots that night. Then it was like, yo, son, let's just do a comedy show. Okay. Okay. That's a good idea. Combine them both. I'll just boom. Let's do a day party and on on C. Saturday and then try to get the factory for Saturday night. Yo, that's dope. Yo, let's do a pool party. Do the par okay. Then it's just morphed into this thing. Now here's the secret ingredient. My birthday weekend happened to always coincide with BET Award weekend. So while everybody's flying to LA for BET Award weekend, they land and like, what's poppin'? Yo, Tony Rock having a party. Yo, we fuck with Tony Rock. My people from East, my people from down south. Oh shit, I know Tone. Yo, I heard you doing something. So it turned into this thing, and we're like, now we gotta add dates. Yeah. Let's do the dinner Thursday night, the welcome to LA dinner. Friday will be the party, the club party. Saturday will be the pool party at the mansion. Yeah. Saturday night, we'll keep it light. We'll do like a little lounge or something like that. Sunday, we're gonna do a brunch. Then we'll do the comedy show. And Monday, everybody leaving anyway, because BET Award weekend is well.
SPEAKER_01So bet it's you also are a great host, though. Also, you also are freestyling the whole time. Yeah. You invite people on. It's like when Tony's on the mic, it's like, it's you know how uh sometimes people be on the mic during the DJ and he knows when to let the DJ do the DJ, you know what time it is? It's like it was like, uh.
SPEAKER_00But see, that my whole life is like in a in a cycle. So it goes back to sitting on the stoop with my boy snapping on people. Yeah. That's how I that was my first like seed of comedy, was that. So now I do I do the pool party and I grab the mic, and it's just me on the stoop snapping on people again. Uh-huh. But now this time it's at an all-white party with the baddest bitches. Oh my god, they were so bad! It's still just me snapping on people. Yo, Shorty got a big da-da-da-da. I mean, one year we had a party, and uh Naeem came. This was not Naeem was single at the time. And uh he was not married. I don't know if he was single, but he had a young lady with him, and she had a interesting hat on that had a big feather on the side. And I was like, yo, shout out to Naeem, yo, with the chick. She was in such a rush to get here that she didn't even care that the fucking pigeon flew into the side of her head. She still came to the party. I said the pigeon crashed into her head. She's like, bitch, I'm still going. And then we just started snapping and shit, and like other comics would grab the mic and go, and I was like, yo, that's what it's for. And it goes back to what? Love is family. Family is love.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna ask, do you have any other like memories from your party? It's like, what's your that you can share? Oh no. But in the level of the other than I'm sure the menagerie toise. But I'm just saying, any other memory.
SPEAKER_01It was so many, man.
SPEAKER_03You never had like no fights or nothing, then nothing.
SPEAKER_00Uh oh, everybody can't. It was all oh we had to kick up, what's my man? Boo? Boo, uh, boo capoe. Boo Capone, we had to kick that nigga out three times when party and then we rent the mansion. We rent the mansion out. So the mansion, the parties, and then uh we like the we had the buses taking. We had the buses coming to get people, yo. The buses is coming at a certain time, so you gotta go. If you don't leave, you're not gonna be able to get down the hill. Right. And Boo Capone, yo, I know Tony Rock, yo. He's drunk and shit. Yo, everybody knows Tom Fam like it's time to go. He leaves. We watched this motherfucker leave. Ten minutes later, this nigga came out of the room like with a drink in his hand. Yo, shoot like I was walking this nigga to the gate again, kick him out. Ten minutes later, he's coming down the stairs like, yeah, nigga show like I'm gonna say this nigga a magician? What is what is this dude? We had to kick the nigga out like three times. He keeps coming back with different stuff to do more stuff than a slice of cake. We didn't even cut the cake yet.
SPEAKER_01That's hilarious.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but no, never no fights, never no beef. Uh uh, we had a we had a fight party at my house one time. What? It was uh um no, it was actually a Super Bowl party. We had a rule. Now, this is at the house, at my house. We had a rule. We had a Super Bowl party every year, and every year it was, yo, we gotta be more girls than guys. That was the thing. Gotta be more girls than guys. And uh one year, and we wouldn't invite any dudes we didn't know. If we wasn't cool with you, we wasn't inviting you. So it was G and you know, Mike Larry would be there, and uh, you know, some of my homies from back home, and uh Naeem might have been there, uh, Ocean came one year. It was like niggas I I genuinely fuck with. And one year we invite this girl that was cool with us. She was just a homie. She was just a homie. She worked the door at a club at one of the clubs in LA. Gotcha. So I hear about the Super Bowl party. Why you invite me? All right, come through. Can I be my boyfriend? Yo, Shorty, we got a rule. We don't invite niggas we don't know. It's just to keep it, you know, because we don't, he's a wild card. We don't know. Please tone up. All right, bring him. But let him know he gotta be cool. Like, it's this is my crib, this is my actual house I live in. Right. Homie comes. All my dudes know her. Yo, what's up, baby? They all hugging her. Yo, my people's comics are like, yo, what's up, girl? She goes in the kitchen to make a plate, and he goes in the kitchen, grabs her arm, like, yo, how the fuck you know all these niggas? Why they all fucking hugging you and shit? And she's like, yo, I told you, like, tone's the homie. These are his friends. I know. I see them all the time. And I'm sitting there, like, and I hear the, I'm like, yo, are they allging? I go in the kitchen, like, yo, you gotta go, bro. You gotta go.
SPEAKER_01And yeah, remember Big Big D? Absolutely. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He'd be with you all the time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he he lives in Bahrain now. He moves out the country. But uh, they start fighting in the kitchen. And I'm like, yo, Big Dizzo, we call him Big Dizzo. Yo, Dizzo. And Big D goes in the kitchen, my man, you got, yo, I ain't going nowhere. And the motherfucker hits a glass and breaks the shit. And that motherfucker got put in a sleep a hole so fast. She had to watch her man get put to sleep and dragged out the house like a like a trash bag. You wonder, though. And we say, yo, that's why we don't let niggas come to see that. I told you. I'm so sorry, Tony. I'm like, don't, yeah, don't say sorry to me. Say sorry to that nigga when he wake up. Yeah, it was like, so we we just always try to keep it cool. That's why like birthday weekends was always cool. Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um how does uh how does all of us happen? Uh you you're on the show for a while. It it it you are killing. Because one of the things I I want to discuss is like every time I've seen you on screen, you have delivered. Every time when the lights are on, you have delivered. But this was one of those moments where you was on screen all the time. You were comic relief, you are literally there to hold this show down in a very specific way, which isn't a seat that a lot of people have even sat in. So how does this even come about?
SPEAKER_00I um I stole that you just said the lights on. I stole that from uh what's my man's name? Basketball player. What's his name? Damn. Uh went to prison, got out, and lived, moved back into projects. Oh. Why am I forgetting his name? Um they're doing a documentary on him right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Why am I thinking his name? I know exactly who you're talking about. I just can't I can't think of it.
SPEAKER_00Uh Stephon Marbury's cousin. What's his name? Why am I forgetting his name? Steph on my chat GPT, this shit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Actually, I'm interested in seeing a documentary. Me too. Um I know exactly who you're talking about. Why are we all having a brain freeze right now? God, the story.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're locked into your story. Okay, so anyway, he had he would say that too. His brother would say that to him before every game. Yo, the lights are on, and we are here. The lights are on. So that means nigga, when lights come on, it's time, it's time to perform. I I stole that saying. But anyway, so all of us, this is a great story. I'm gonna take my disdain for Will and Jada out of it and tell the story organically. Yes. So I'm in LA. I would come out for pilot season, run around, you know, you know the rigor moreau, audition for everything I could. Is it Sebastian? Sebastian Telfair. Oh, Telfair, yeah, yeah. Bassie, yeah. So he says that. When lights up, the lights are on, time to showtime. So anyway, I come out for pilot season. Okay, I'll go, I'll go back further. Uh I do Montreal Comedy Festival, right? When Montreal Comedy Festival mattered. Right. I do Montreal Comedy Festival. I was one of the breakout acts of that year. I was literally on an elevator going back to my hotel room, and it was some suits, and they were like, Yeah, I heard uh Tony Rock fucking was amazing today at uh New Faces. And I'm on the elevator like, oh shit, they don't even know who the fuck I am. I heard Tony Rock fucking. Yeah, we gotta call his people and see if we can meet with them. And uh and I'm on the elevator, like, oh shit, like this shit really happening. Like that that I did Thursday. If you do New Faces, you familiar with? Absolutely. Yeah, New Faces, you do Thursday and Saturday, or you do Friday and Sunday. You do two shows, six minutes to change your life. I did Thursday. Dom Herrera was the host of the show. Oh wow. The young lady on stage before me was bombing her ass off. I don't remember her name. And I'm sitting at the side of the stage, and that's making Bobby McBomerson. That's making me more nervous because I'm like, yo, if they're not giving it up, like I'm not thinking like she's just not funny, I'm thinking like she's here, she gotta be funny, right? Right. And I'm just like, oh my god, they're not laughing, and the suits are in the room, and oh, it's gonna be so bad. And Don Herrera comes by and he's like, Hey, uh, you're Richie's kid. Richie Tinken, Richie Tinken was my manager, the owner of the comic strip in New York. Richie Tinkin managed Eddie Murphy for his first 11, 12 years in the business. Okay. Made a shitload of money with Eddie, and he missed out on his two younger daughters growing up. And then he had two sons and said, I don't want to miss out on them growing up, so him and Eddie parted ways, but he made a shitload of money during that time. Wow. He still owned the comic strip. He would come in from time to time and check with the wait staff. The wait staff at comedy clubs know everything. They know everything. They know who's on drugs, who's fucking who, who's dope. So he would come in on Mondays to do the books and numbers and all that stuff, and he'd say, Who should I see? And the weight staff was always like, yo, this kid Tony Rock is coming in every week. Holy shit, he's fucking blowing the roof off the place. Tony Rock and Sherrod Small are coming in and they're destroying. That's my cousin. They're coming in, they sit in here all night. Because we didn't have spots, we wasn't in the rotation. So we would sit there and hope that somebody's late or somebody missed a spot. Yo, Patrice O'Neill is not gonna show up. Tone, do some time. Jump up. That was that's how we got in. Yeah. So Richie gets the word, he calls me, like, hey, it's Richie, you know. I knew of course I knew who he was. Uh, when are you on again? I'm like, I don't have any spots this week. It's like, well, come in Tuesday, I'll put you up. I want to see you. I come in, Richie puts me on, I go up and do a set. Okay, I'll be checking in from time to time. So Richie comes in. From time to time, he sees me on the lineup, he'll just pop up, watch my set. Good stuff, kid. Come in. Now I got somebody watching me, so now I want to show off. I'll do a whole different set the next time he goes. It's granted the seven minutes, but it's like, oh, I'm gonna show him a different seven. Okay, so he got material. He got more than just that seven. And this is like like a couple of months, Richie just goes, uh I managed Eddie for 12 years, made a lot of money with Eddie. I left the business. I feel like you making me feel like I want to get back in.
SPEAKER_03I feel like you're the reason.
SPEAKER_00I'm yeah, you got me feeling the you know, the hunger to be back in the business. What do you think about that? Hey man, I got nobody, I got no representation. I'm like, let's let's do something. And about a week later, I'm on stage and there's these two old guys in the back of the room, two old white guys sitting in the back of the club. And uh again, I'm gonna go back to my snapping at these two old dude, what y'all, pedophiles? Y'all here looking for a victim of what you fucking. I'm snapping on them and they're like, we're here scouting for a TV show. I'm like, where are you from? Like, we're from Amsterdam. What's the TV show? We do we do a TV show in Amsterdam, it's really fun. It's you we think you would be great for it. And I'm like, really? Okay, so I'll talk to you guys when I get off stage. I finished my set, I get off stage, I go on the back and talk to the guys. They're like, we do like the the European version of Def Jam. Oh, wow. It's it's set up, same stage, like the audience is right there up on you, real intimate. It's black. Wow. We love you. We we came to see you like two, three nights. You didn't know we were here. We we want to fly you to Amsterdam. I had never left the country. So I call Richie, like, yo, these guys, they they want to take me on the show and you know, talk to them and call them. And Richie calls them and they work the deal out. And nigga, I'm on a plane with Tony Woods, Godfrey, fucking Patrice O'Neill, and I'm on the plane. I'm on the plane looking at these niggas, like, yo, I'm on the plane with these motherfuckers. Right. I'm going to another country to do stand-up. Never left Brooklyn. I mean, left Brooklyn to South Carolina, but that's about it. Never left the East Coast. Never, certainly never left the country. So uh I'm telling you a very long story. Okay, sorry, sorry. So I go to Amsterdam, I have a great time with those guys. I I have a good time. Uh it's amazing. I come back with the money, I'm like, holy shit, this is what I was hoping for. So now Richie's like, we ready for Montreal. Right. We do Montreal. I get offered a holding deal from the UPN at the time. It was the UPN. Yeah. They offered me$150,000. Now this is all my story, you're gonna see how everything ties in. Yeah. They offer me$150,000. Richie says, yo, it's a holding deal. How that works is they give you$150,000. That's just for you to just sit tight and hopefully they can find a show to put you in or they could create a show for you, something like that. Will, but the money is just to hold you over. What that means is you can't meet with ABC, you can't meet with NBC, you can't meet with Fox, you can't meet with CBS. And I'm like, well, why would I do that? I want to meet with everybody, I want to meet with CBS, I want to meet with everybody. We came this far. Yeah, Pally, but it's$150.$150,000. Now I pass. You sure? Now I pass. And he's like, all right, well, let me know what you're thinking. Give me Richie was always the guy like everything is your decision, but let me know how you feel so I can understand you more. Right. And I said, So what is$150,000? I still do, I can still do my spots, I can still go to New York, I could fly back and forth to New York LA, I still, as long as I'm getting up, I'm gonna make some money. Like you said, money don't move you. Money don't move you. Right. So Richie's like, tell me what you're thinking right now. And I said, Richie, I'm from Bedsty, Brooklyn. I'm from the worst neighborhood in America. I never had money. It's not a motivating factor for me because I still had a great life without it. So it don't move me. Yeah. So we're gonna pass. Because I want to meet with everybody. And Richie's like, okay, kid. Okay, kid. And he calls him up and says, we're gonna pass. And they say 200,000. Oh. And Richie comes back. They say 200,000. Nah. Kid, listen to what I'm telling you. This is$200,000.
SPEAKER_03He's like, you're no fucking Eddie, but I'm gonna go back to the house.
SPEAKER_00You just said you don't have any money, you don't, you never had any money. Kid, this is$200,000. Yeah, but I can't meet with ABC and Fox and NBC. Like I came this far to play the game. Let's play the game. Let's play the whole game. Right. You sure, kid? I'm sure. He goes and tells them they come back$250. They say$250, but the offer's off the table by midnight. And I said one of the cockiest things I ever said in my life to this day. I said, Richie, we've seen the shows on the UPN. That offer will be there in the morning. And Richie goes, When you know you know. When you know you know. Richie says, Alright, kid. Alright, kid. And me and Sherrod, to this day, we joke around about that shit. We joke around, nigga, we left$250,000 on the store. We still joke about that shit to this day. So the next morning, we go party. Me, Sherrod, Mike Young. That's why Mike Young is my brother to this day. Mike Young. I had a great class. My uh New Faces year was like, what's the year Alan Iverson and Stefan all the people that yeah? But that year, New Faces was that me, Mike Young, Sam Tripoli, Corey Holcomb. Was that like 96? Shit, shit. No, that wasn't that. It's not the Kobe. It's not a Kobe.
SPEAKER_01No, you're talking about basketball.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that year was my New Faces. Gotcha. So we went and partied that night. Me, Mike Young, Corey Holcomb, Sam Tripley, Sherrod Small, we all, Rachel Feinstein, we all went and partied crazy that night. That's squad. We got drunk as shit in Montreal. Gate back to the room, passed the fuck out, woke up in the morning, Richie's at the door. Pally, the deal's still there. I said, I told you. I told you. But I still turned it down. So I was like, okay, now to answer your question, to finally get to your question, so now I go to LA to play the uh play the uh uh uh pilot season. The pilot season game. Yeah. And I meet with ABC, I meet with Fox, I meet with everybody, and no deal that comes out of it. Everybody's like, you like him, but nah, eh. We heard the nigga turn down 2000. So I get nothing. I get nothing. Whole pilot season, nothing. And I'm getting ready to fly back to New York just to go back home, and I'll come back next year for pilot season. And I'm at the lab factory and I do a set, and Chris Spencer comes upstairs. I do my set and I stay upstairs. And Chris Spencer comes upstairs and he says, Hey man, do you know Monica Swan? Nah. You don't know Monica Swan? No. Casting director. You never met her? No. She's downstairs, she wants to meet you. Oh shit, okay. Go downstairs, Monica Swan's there. Oh my god, you were so funny. That was incredible. What are you doing? And I'm like, I'm doing my spots and I'm you know out here. I'm gonna go back home and I'll come back for the next pilot season. Nothing really happened, and da da da da. No, no, no. Don't go home. I have a pilot that I think you are perfect for. Wow. And I'm like, oh shit, okay. And she's like, give me your info, I'll send it to whoever your people are, and I'll call Richie, and I'm like, uh, this lady, this Monica Swan lady, said she got a pilot she wanted me to audition for. And uh she said it's it's gonna be in the next couple of days, and she sends me the sides. And it was gonna it was the next couple of days. I had a few days between the audition. So I fly home and I go meet with my acting teacher and she reads the sides. Some shit, like you said, God is just doing what he does. She reads the sides and she says, Oh, this is you. This is you. You don't have to turn into anybody, you don't gotta be this is you. Play this like Tony Rock would play this. And we read for an hour, and she's like, You got it. And now I'm so like, oh, this is this could be big, so let's do another hour. She's like, No, no, no, don't, that'll be overkill. You got it. Do your thing. Go, be great. I go home that night, I eat, I chill. My brother, me and my brother Brian live together at the time. And I'm like, yo, I'm leaving in the morning. He's going to work. I'm like, I'll catch you when I get back. And I fly back to LA. And the audition's like the next day. And I know it's gonna be big because everybody's saying, yo, Will and Jada are producing this. So I know it's gonna be big. Right. And I know every young black comic's gonna audition for this part. And I know that there's no guarantee I'm gonna get it. I know that. But I'm gonna be the most prepared motherfucker they see in this audition.
SPEAKER_02Thanks.
SPEAKER_00Whether I get it or not, that's not up to me. That's not up to me. But I'm gonna be the most prepared. They're gonna be, they're gonna say, we don't like them for the part, but damn, that nigga was prepared. That's all I can control. And I get there and I go to Overbrook and that elevator door opens, and that long hallway is there, and every black actor, every nigga I saw on TV, in a commercial, in a bit part, every, every black is in that hallway. Right. And it's so funny because you see the different dynamics of auditions. You see the niggas that's nervous, so they want to be, or they want a whole court in the hallway. Yeah, nigga, once I go in there, it's over for y'all. I'm like, that's corny, okay. Yeah, and then you see the other niggas that's thesbians. No, I said I want to. And I just sit there and I'm like, I wait for my turn, and then the girl comes to opens the door, and she's like, uh, Tony Rock. And I'm like, I get up and go in, and it's cast and director, Monica Swan, her assistant, who became my homegirl later on. We became really good friends, and Mr. Will Smith. And I'm like, oh shit, Will Smith is in. Now, this is a time where Will Smith was that nigga to all of us. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, oh shit. The lights are on. Okay. The lights are fucking on, let's go. So now I'm like, I'm taking my shit up a notch now. All right, I'm about to show, I'm about to show the fuck out. Right. And I get my sides and he says, hold on, I'll read with him. And I'm like, let's go. Let's go. And we go back and forth. And he riffs, so I riff. And he goes off script and I go off script. And he's like, oh, okay, okay. And Monica's like, looks at him like, see? He's like, all right. And I'm like, thanks. And I'm walking out the room, and as I walk out the room, he's holding my head shot and saying he goes, Tony Rock. And I look back and I catch that and I'm like, yeah, nigga, let's go. Yeah, yeah. Let's go. And I leave. Everybody's like, yo, how was it? I'm like, I'm not talking to nobody. I'm tunnel vision, straight back to the elevator. I'm out. I call Richie, like, yo, we're gonna get a callback on that one. I'm I'm so honest on the audition. I'll go on the audition, I'm like, yo, don't even expect a callback on that. Like, I didn't hit up the city. Yeah, you know. That one I call Richie, like, yo, we're gonna get a callback. He's like, you feel good, uh, kid? I'm like, yeah, I feel good. And like an hour later, he hit me, like, yo, you got a call back, you gotta go back in the, you know, they said do the same thing, whatever you did. And you know auditions, y'all know the process. You go, the first one it's like three people, second one it's like eight people, ten people, fifteen people, you know, it gets bigger and bigger. Right. And uh the the room inside is more people, the hallway outside less people, right?
SPEAKER_03Right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he's talking about like network executives, network company people. Yeah, yeah. They all there. So that final audition. And it's it's it's sad, bro. It's it's really sad because we not, we never gonna be there again. We never gonna be there again. But that last audition, I got there like maybe 40 minutes early. And I get there early, and Will's there early. And that let me know, like, yo, nigga, you on the same frequency with this nigga. Like, he early for some shit he casting. Right. You early because this is an opportunity for you. And that motherfucker comes out the room and sits in the hallway with me and we just talk. We talk about cheesesteaks versus chopped cheese, we talk about the Knicks versus the Sixers, we talk about my brother, because they were good very good friends. And we talk about, you know, living in LA and how's how am I adjusting? And, you know, we talk about Montreal and all this stuff, and we just sit there and talk. Like two dudes just having a conversation. And then the suits come and they go in the room and they say, uh, I will when you're whenever you're ready. And he gets up to go in the room and he goes, You nervous? And I go a little bit. And he goes, uh, don't be nervous, because you're the only nigga we brought back for this part, so you would really have to fuck this up not to get this. I want to turn the whole table over.
SPEAKER_02He said, I want to turn it over, Tony!
SPEAKER_00He said, I don't know if that makes you more nervous or less nervous, but yeah, I told you. And I go, Oh shit. The lights are fucking. Yeah, I just gotta do me. And I go in the room and it's network and studio and testing and fucking wardrobe, and everybody's there. And there's a TV with a little camera on it, and Les Moonvez is watching from Russia. Les Moonvez is watching from, you know, his lair. And I audition, I read. He was the head of the head of CBS at one point. And I fucking home run. Grand Slam. I grand slammed that shit. And I know it. I know it. And I'm walking out the room and the phone rings and it's Les Moonvez. God damn. And Will goes, yeah, what's up, Les? Yeah. I told you. I told you. And I catch that as I walk out and I'm just like, yeah. I'm like, we out of here. We out of here.
SPEAKER_03Hold on. I got I only had one Will Smith question.
SPEAKER_00And that's why I said, we'll never be there again. We'll never be. Like, that was it's unfortunate. You heard his new album? No, I heard that he said something like, if you disrespect me, I'm gonna check you on the stage or some shit like that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, he got it, yeah, because he had a song that's called uh I Heard You Looking for Me. And I was, and when I heard it, I said, I wonder if that's like subbing Tony. Because at one point, you actually was on your like, I was I slapped shit at you too. If you know Tony, you know you did seriously. Yeah, I know Tony seriously. That's like it's it's the second song on the album, like, I heard you looking for me. And I was like, is he talking? So I didn't know if you heard that song. No, no, no. Okay, all right. That was all I had.
SPEAKER_01That was only so um speaking on that note, because you have two very unique perspectives, and and you acknowledged this earlier because these rooms are important. I want to talk about the podcast. Yes. And and I want to talk about, before even getting into that, because it's inside the green room, I want you to tell, because they won't hear from me. I've been saying it for years. You laid a very specific understanding for me and for a lot of comics for green room etiquette, for just comics performing. Before we get to the podcast, because it's inside the green room, it's like help them understand. Because I they they're not I've don't they understand they don't understand. Comics think that when they are at a club and they're getting a host or guest at that, they just get to hang out in the green room. And I've told them multiple times, the green room is for headliners. It is not, it is specifically for the headliner. If they want to allow you in, then that is up on that's up to them. But if they don't, you sit your ass outside and be grateful you're on the show. Right. So, so, but I know that from you. I I know that from you and Ali. It's like these are my two dogs that are like, no, listen, it ain't supposed to be 46 niggas in the green room with my shit, and if my if I got a girl here, it's not supposed to be like that. Yeah. So, so, but coming from me, it sounds like I'm hating.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so again, back to Tracy. All the game in the world. I was so honored to be invited to be on Tracy's show. Yeah. I know it's Tracy's show. For sure. I have no ego when it comes to stand-up comedy. Now, don't get me wrong. I think I'm a bad motherfucker with a microphone in my hand. Right. I think very, very few people can fuck with me with a mic in my hand. We, these are the facts. This is a fact. I agree. But if I'm on somebody's show, they have the utmost respect. Yo, it's your show. I'm honored to be on it. Right? I was taught that from my brother and Tracy. So when I was on Tracy's show, I would sit in the green room in that chair in the corner. I don't touch shit, I don't change no channels, I don't eat nothing, I don't open nothing, I don't eat a damn show. Don't eat the last of anything or drink the last of anything. No, it's all Tracy shit. And Tracy would extend the invitation. Yo, eat, drink. Okay, cool. Now we go. Right? I would get out of the room if he needed. If somebody came in, like, yo, you need the room. He would invite me. Yo, you can stay. It's all good. Tracy would invite me to stay. People don't get that, man. Yeah. Right? Yeah. So now, I that was the etiquette that Tracy established early on, and I was like, he's the man. My brother, same way. Well, that's the fucking rule. If they do it, it has to be the golden rule. Now, with me, it's different. If you on the show with me, it's our green room. Okay. Right? Host and feature. Yo, it's our space.
SPEAKER_01Now, mind you, these people are coming with you.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Right, right, right, right, right. Also, even if you're with me, it don't give you the right to open my shit or eat my shit something that was prepared for me. But you can hang out in the green room, of course. You can't bring your friend that you grew up with in that city. That's a fact. You can't bring some chick trying to you trying to impress. Yo, let us sit in the room, bro. This is our downtime. Yeah, this is us mentally preparing for what we got to go out there and do.
SPEAKER_04For sure.
SPEAKER_00This is our fortress of solitude on the road. Yeah. Right. So, yes, there is an etiquette. You can't. Atlanta Comedy Theater. Yeah. You go there, it's 30 niggas in there, your bottle's open, your fruit is eight, your fucking sandwiches bit. You're like, yo, what the f that's a wrong thing. And if you say something, yo, this nigga, oh, this nigga funny style. No, y'all don't understand just common etiquette for a green room.
SPEAKER_04I can't wait to reshare this clip.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because what'll happen is is like, one, if I come there with people I know, they know those little moments. Hey man, before the show, he needs about 10, 15 minutes before he gotta go up. But when you get up and say, hey man, y'all give him a second, everybody looking confused because you being cordial and in the conversation. But I know I've been on the road with you da da da da da da da years. He needs a second. He needs a second to calm before the storm type shit. Because then you gotta people the whole night. It's like after you gotta take pictures and all this other shit. It's like, so if you need that time, you need that time.
SPEAKER_00I'll I sometimes I have to send that text, like, hey yo, come on, son, what you doing? Yeah. Oh, oh, yo, yo, yo, let's get out. I'm like, you need that, you need that, bro. You gotta focus. You gotta be it's it's football, it's mental football, it's mental basketball. You gotta, before the game, you need that time to like lace them up, you know what I mean? Yeah. Go ahead. Uh, go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I didn't want to uh uh skip past because the Martin thing just just took me out for a second. But hosting uh the all-deaf all deaf comedy uh for HBO. The the return of Def Jab, a beautiful look, the right host, the the 95% of the right people on there. I should have been on, but that's neither here nor there. I was coming off a screen. 85%. What was it like getting that call and and going into that position knowing the magnitude of what it was?
SPEAKER_00All right, two things, two points I want to make. Because you just said the Martin thing. This business, you guys know, and I want young comics out there to know, this business is incredibly close to life-changing opportunities, and they just disappear. You never know what I don't know what you were very close to when it didn't happen, or you or you. Right. But you gotta keep going. You gotta get you can't like I was it was a Steven Segal movie I auditioned for years ago. Callback, callback, callback, call back, call back. Yo, I'm about to get the Steven Sigar movie. Yeah, they're going a different direction.
SPEAKER_04So close.
SPEAKER_00Not even real reasons on why. They just did a CB audition for CBS pilot one time, booked it, got it. They agreed to my fee and everything. Call a week later. Hey, they changed the character. But this is the shit you don't you guys don't know. Yo, Def Jam, all Deaf, we still call it Def Jam. You know what it was. We already had the green light for season two. We already had the green light for season two. And then the stuff happened with Russell. And they were like, scrap it. Yo, I was right there, bruh. I was right there to another season. I was a week away from like, yo, they're gonna announce it in the trades, like, yo, they bring it back. Season two, Tony Rock hosting. I was right there. But people don't know that. But you gotta keep going. You gotta keep going.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I tell people, man, uh, it's really like entertainment, but I'm really liking it too with um with this whole thing with acting and so forth, is that man, this acting thing is like uh or entertainment's really like an incredible temp job. Like you work when you work, and then you be like, man, it's a a drought can have you just don't know, man.
SPEAKER_03That's a fact. I wanted to ask, have you, because people don't, some people may not know that you have another brother that do stand-up, Jordan.
SPEAKER_00Oh, if you don't know Jordan Rock, you better know Jordan Rock. That's what I'm saying. Jordan Jordan.
SPEAKER_03Jordan funny as shit too, but uh have y'all ever That's my guy, man. Have y'all ever thought about going on like an official tour together or doing a TV show together? Or movie. Jordan and I? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Jordan and I, we just did West Nyack last weekend. Oh, okay. So y'all already doing dates together. Yeah, we do dates together. See, this is the thing. I got my team that I go on the road with, and Jordan knows he can make a phone call and cancel that shit at any time. Got it. Jordan could go, yo, who's doing Boston? All right, tell him to chill. I want I want that weekend. All right. It is what it is. It is. Jordan got it. Jordan. What do you want me to do? Or if like if it's close, if it's too close, if we somewhere, usually it happens when we home. If we're in the tri-state area, if I'm in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut somewhere, and Jordan might hit me a two a day, two, three days before the show. Yeah, I want that weekend. I'm like, yo, I'm not gonna put my guy on the on the sideline that close to the show. So just come and I'll let y'all split the time.
SPEAKER_03Got it. But no TV show. You never thought about doing a TV show? Uh no, we never.
SPEAKER_00The Rock Brothers? That would be I'm thinking, listen, I'm when I think touring together, I'm thinking all three of us. When I'm thinking TV show, I'm thinking all three of us. Got it. I'm and I'm not thinking TV show, I'm thinking movie. I want us to do something. I want us to do something that people be like, I didn't see that coming. I want us to do something dramatic. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Jordan's killing on screen also. Yeah, Jordan's dope. He's dope. He getting it in.
SPEAKER_00But there was a second part to your question. It was like, I want The Greenwood etiquette and the podcast.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay. So how it started, right? Yeah. How did you get into the uh well I I want to talk independence with you because as much industry success as you have, you also still got your independent grind because you independently shot the special. Yes. And and and it came out phenomenal. And and also jumping into podcast space, which is another independent venture, to get your voice out. Right. So uh just like what what put you on that path? And what kind of uh I what did you see that you identified that said this is these are good reasons for me to take on both these ventures?
SPEAKER_00Uh the special, I just felt like it was time, man. I just felt like I kept seeing people getting specials, and I'm like, I don't really, okay. And uh I watch everybody's special. My I my thing, my my my routine before I fly, like I gotta fly tonight, right? I go in the house, I, you know, I pack, I make sure I have everything charged up, my charges and everything, and I take my tablet out and I will download somebody's special. I will just scroll, this person has a special, download it. I get on the plane, I give it 10 minutes. I go, headphones on, especially at night when you fly at night. Right. Everybody's sleeping, headphones on, got my little snack. Okay, Nate Burgatz, let's see. Yeah. Holy shit, this dude is funny. Nate Burgotts is my new guy. Like, that's how I got on him. Like, just watched it. Fuck, this dude's funny. Other people, 10 minutes in, this ain't it. Delete, go on to the next one. So I just kept seeing that, and I'm like, I got the material. Like, I got the I I got the fan base, I got people, every city like, yo, what a special, what a special. I couldn't get the fucking deal. I couldn't get Netflix to bite, I couldn't get Hulu or Amazon. I I couldn't for some reason This is before you shot it. This is you just pitching the idea. You know? So I was at the Laugh Factory one night, and Quake was talking about he had just shot his first special. Yep. With Chappelle. That produced. He had just shot the first one.
SPEAKER_01I was sitting right there, get going.
SPEAKER_00And he said, it's like back in school, man. Remember when you was in school, and your teacher would be like, yo, show your work. Show your work. Show how you got that answer. Show your work. He's like, I'm putting my work. He said the date, like, you know, August 15th, y'all gonna see my work. Yeah. And he was like, show your work. You was there. I was sitting right there. And I was like, he said, yo, you gotta show your work. I sat with that shit all night. I went home that night and I was like, damn, I got the work. I got work. I got an hour. I got a solid fucking set that could go right now. And I went to the bank the next day and I looked at my account. And I said, if it costs this much, I could do it. If it costs this much, I could do it. If it costs this much, I could do it. And then I'm like, fuck it, yo. Let's do this shit. Because you're gonna make money, the money come and go. Like I see how everything ties in? Yeah. Yo, don't let the money be the thing that's like, I can't do it because of the money. Fuck this money. Yeah. You gonna make more? You've blown money in situations that you know. Let's do it. And I went and met with uh everything ties in, Sam Tripoli. Who was my brother from New Faces. Yeah, New Faces. Yo, I'm doing production, I got the production crew, these guys, boom, boom. I met with them. This is my vision, this is what I want to do. All right, let's try to make it cost-effective, uh, cost-efficient. I went to Jamie. Jamie, wanna shoot my special? I did not want to shoot it at the Long Beach Laugh Factory. I did not. But Jamie said, I'll give it to you for free. I guess we're shooting it at Long Beach. I guess we shoot it in Long Beach. Yeah. The only knock on that special, I put that special up against any fucking body special. I'm not saying it's better, but you will watch the special you think is holy shit, this is the best, and watch mine's and go, it ain't hey, man. I will agree with that. That ain't far from it. I'm not saying it's the best. Yeah. But I stand by it. I pay for your special. Yeah. That's how much of a. Thank you, my brother. That's how much of a long beach, bro. You was in Long Beach. I was there. So look, the only knock on that special is I shot it, I didn't shoot it, in a room full of Tony Rock fans. That's the only difference. If you watch anybody else's special, they sold tickets to shoot their special. Got it. And everybody is like, I'm here for the special. My special, it was half the room was like, yo, we came out for tone, and the other half was like, oh, they shooting something here. Got it. But if you watch it, you don't notice that. Yeah. But I knew it was like people just bought a ticket because it was a Saturday night. Yeah. So the next one, what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do it independently again. If I don't get the deal, I'm gonna shoot one of my weekends on the road. Yeah. So at least that way it's a room full of Tony Rock fans. I think sonically it will deliver differently. Oh, absolutely. I think the walkout will be, oh shit. Like, and I think if it's a room full of fans and it's one of your weekends, and you tell them you're shooting a special, they're gonna be even higher. They're gonna go, you know, take it through the roof. So that's how that happened. Uh and I love it. And now, the worst thing this industry could ever do is let me know I could do this shit without you. That's the worst thing. Back again. Y'all fucked up now. Y'all let me know I can do my special on my own without y'all motherfuckers. And saw the return on an investment. Yo, and put it up. I put it up on uh uh Royale Watkins, me and Royale were talking. Shout out to Royale. Shout out to Royale, big homie. Yeah. And Royale goes, yo, put it on uh uh what is it? Live stream? No, uh uh what is it? Is it live stream? No, no, it's it's a it's a streaming platform that Royale told me about. You send your material Momentum. Uh uh Moment? Moment House? No. Not Twitch. No. Okay. Something in those. You send it there, they clear it, of course, and they stream it on other streaming platforms for a fee. Got it, got it, got it. Right? So we did that. And it went up. And I was literally boarding a plane and I got an email like, yo, your special is up on this strap streaming platform, this one. Like we was like on seven platforms. Oh shit. Then Comedy Dynamics saw it and said, We will offer you this much money for it. Take it down and we'll stream it. I made all my money back, plus a nice little profit. Praise God. Made all my money back, plus a profit. You know, yeah, absolutely for that, man. It's for real talk.
SPEAKER_04Oh man. Um, it's not a new problem of the shop. Hey, man, we need some bells around here, some bells and whistles for these achievements, man. What's what's wild about this, and no, I think what we all appreciate about the guests that we have on the show, and there has been a common thread, which has, I mean, a good 98% of people who've been sitting there have all had a similar story, which is like either the suits are not understanding or they're not making the proper offers and people having to go that route with this independent thing and just make moves happen. So I think your whole story, man, people just don't know that, you know, I think as people watch the show and they listen to you, they're gonna really start to get the idea from all the guests, like there is something about why these folks are all on the in the in the couch or on the seat. Is that there's a a different kind of drive or inspiration beyond money that moves people to excel and be progressive in such a dope way.
SPEAKER_01Because when you've been in the business as like for a while, you are a um like a beacon. It's like, okay, this nigga's hilarious, this nigga knows his way around women, this nigga's a cool ass nigga who's fucking hysterical, and he got the he's clearly one of the best. And when they when they're like yes or no to you, I was like, oh, it's well, okay. It's definitely y'all. You know, it takes myself out of it. Oh, it's y'all just don't know what the fuck y'all doing. Yeah. Because if they miss, if they miss you, then y'all just missing it. Because I I saw the I saw the other shit y'all put up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. I saw what you what you chose. The the suits, it's interesting because the suits are in a tough position because they don't want to lose their jobs.
SPEAKER_04True.
SPEAKER_00So they take a chance on somebody and it don't hit, that finger's being pointed directly at them. So they just sit back, and this is why, this is why they go with the guys with the super incredible following on social media. Because to them, that looks like they're funny. Right. They got five million followers. They gotta be funny. They got three million likes on this post, excuse me. They gotta be funny. They go with the the the easiest, you know, common denominator, or the least the you know, the the lowest hanging fruit, so to speak, or whatever. This guy has five million followers. It has to be, he's funny. Yep. Let's give him a special. And then or let's put him on this show and then you watch it and go, yo, boy, we missed the mark on that one. Yeah. But they got five million followers. Well, how does that not, how does that not translate?
SPEAKER_03If you put out trash consistently every day, you will build a following. Like, it's about consistency. And so it's like a lot of these people have a following. They're putting out, if you you can put out some mediocrity every day, you will eventually still build a following. That don't mean you greatly.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. That's what made the earthquake conversation so interesting. Because that sticks in the back of my head too. It was like the conversation we were having was like everybody's complaining and criticizing of who's what and what's what. And stand up, it's like, hey man, fuck all that talking. Put it out. Right. Because now we got something to compare. Because if if you just saying this and you just saying that, ain't nothing to compare it to. But let me see. Uh my work exists. Now, now we know where I stand. Where's your shit?
SPEAKER_00He said, Show your work, and then I sat with that all night. And then I you know what else, other thing I sat with? Yo, that was fucking earthquake saying that. Absolutely. If they don't know that earthquake, yeah. Yo, that's earthquake that was saying that, bro. Living legend. Like, you just Tony Rock, nigga. Go, go, go for it. Go to the bank. I went to the bank, took that little fucking, you know, print the print the uh account amount. Okay. Kept looking at that shit. Had that shit in my house, like, all right, if we could do it for this much. And then like again, I met with Trip, Trip people, let's shoot it. They was like, this was gonna cost. Fuck it, let's go.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's uh Kev O'Stage does uh I got you. Kev O'Stage with uh every time he produced something, I see him put on tour dates. I say, oh, this nigga just paid somebody for some shit. You can put the money back. I'm watching every time I say, Coming to uh Tuscaloosa. I said, Yeah, that didn't spend that money, baby.
SPEAKER_03Go ahead, bro. We got a game on this show. Let's go. A right called Kill It or Let Live. Kill it or let live. Kill it. I'm gonna throw out a topic, you're gonna say whether we should kill it, you're not messing with it, or let it live. It's all good. Kill it or let live. Having a threesome with your girl, but the third person is a guy. Oh, kill it.
SPEAKER_00That's not a threesome, that's a train. I mean, you know, that's a threesome. Let's either call a train or that's called the devil's threesome.
SPEAKER_03Kill it or let live responding to negative comments on social media.
SPEAKER_00Oh, kill it. Kill it. Kill it. I have a rule. I have a rule. I never respond to the negativity on negativity on social media. Uh they try to get me every day. Every day they try to get me. Every day it's negative, negative, negative. I have a rule. You can send a negative comment. You can say, yo, you whack, or you just Chris Rock brother, you ain't shit, or whatever you want to say, you have your right to say whatever. I will respond to you when you post where you live. Post your car. Post the chick you are currently fucking. Post your bank account. I guarantee you. I guarantee you the chick you currently fucking can't touch the chick that I'm ghosting. I guarantee you, the place where you live can't fuck with my other house. Right. I guarantee you your bank account ain't nowhere near my spending money. I guarantee you, so it's no need to respond to you. Right. There's no need to respond to that. That's a real shit, right? That's real shit.
SPEAKER_03Kill it or let live. You get to headline stadiums for the arenas, whatever, for the rest of your life, instar movies, but you got to participate in a ditty party. Why this nigga?
SPEAKER_01Why does nigga said design in this fucking face, bro?
SPEAKER_00Wait, hold up, hold up, hold up. I've been to a fucking party before. You know the one I'm talking about. Labor Day party in the Hollywood Hills outside.
SPEAKER_03I'm looking for the closed door diddy in the corner with a mask on.
SPEAKER_01With a mask on. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it. So stupid, bro.
SPEAKER_03Diddy with a nothing but bottles of baby oil. Kill it or let live. Hooking up with a cast member. Oh, let it live, yo.
SPEAKER_00Let it live.
SPEAKER_03Have you seen some of my cast members? Let it live. Let that live. I have. Okay. This is the last one. I think it's the last one. You done gave us a lot. Kill it. I got two more. Kill it or let live. You get to experience time travel. You're known also as the founder of time travel. But the only time period you can explore is slavery. Hell no. Hell no.
SPEAKER_04Kill it. Fucking stupid. I just go through my card. I just shuffle through my card.
SPEAKER_03All right, this is the last one. Kill it or let live. You get to star uh in the next Madea Goes to Space movie. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it.
SPEAKER_02Let me finish. Let me finish.
SPEAKER_01But they got a weird drink. I hate this nigga so. Top five New York MCs. Bruh, this is the impossible question. Okay, New York, New York. Top five Brooklyn MCs in.
SPEAKER_00I was in New York. I was like, New York, let's go to New York first. New York, uh Rock Him. Nas J Big. D-Mex. Okay. Ooh, I like that. No, no, no. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Rock him. Nas J Big. You gotta go LL. Oh. I respect that. I'll mention DMX. Honorable mention DMX. Honorable mention Grand Poobah. Honorable mention so many people, but Kane, cool G rap, but LL gotta be top five. Gotcha.
SPEAKER_03His new album was fired. Everybody in L.
SPEAKER_00Everybody in a certain age range, LL was your favorite rapper at some point in your life. Absolutely. If you say no, you're lying. Yeah. At some point in your life, one summer, one month, whatever, he was LL. Yeah. Gotta be. Alright.
SPEAKER_01Have you ever considered music? Oh, that ain't even like it's just like I've seen the freestyle. It's just dumb.
SPEAKER_00You know what's funny? I I thought I I was very close to doing like an EP one time, like a five, six tracks just for the fun of it. But uh I want to do something musically. I want to do something fun. Yeah. I'm not shooting nothing in the club. I'm not I'm gonna do happy rap. Like just fun, something I could play in the background of one of my shows or play before at the end of my show, like, hey y'all, I did this song. Tell me what y'all think. No, something like that. Just just to just because I can. Yeah, absolutely. I think if you artistically, everything you can do, you should do. You should do.
SPEAKER_01Creatively uh freestyles be amazing. Um then my last question. You could career-wise, everything's the way that you want it to be. What does it look like? How are you killing it in your manifestation? Like what is it, what does it look like?
SPEAKER_00Is it TV, movies, uh, it is absolutely TV. It is a it is a T a strong TV show. It's like a a Cosby show, a a Martin, something like that. Okay, care. Yeah, something that like I'm talking about, but when it's over, it's still like lore. Gotcha. You know what I mean? Something like that. Definitely movies. You know why? So you will come and see me do stand-up. So you go see my movies, so you go see me do stand-up. Yeah, it's it's definitely that. It's uh it's being able to dictate you know what I want to do when I want to do it. Uh I'm literally busting my ass right now, working this hard just so I can take time off and be with my kid. It's all for my kid. Everything is for my kid. Everything is like, yo, let's go hard. So next time, next year I could go, hey, I'm gonna go out for three months and I don't want to go out for the next three. Just so I can be with my baby. That's beautiful. My my my manifestation is just me being able to call my own shots. You know, put other people on, uh produce other people's specials, you know. I think that's the and you didn't ask this question, but just because you said that, when I watched the Eddie Murphy documentary, I called a bunch of comments, like, what do you think? What you think, what you think? And I said, yo, it looks like he's bored, man. Looks like he's just in the house, like, what's next? Like, so I think stand-up should be the next thing to return to stand-up. Right. I said, or one, return to stand-up. Two, he said he didn't care about winning the Oscar, but I think he cares about winning the Oscar. So get with your team, find that script, and go for that shit, bro. Yeah, go for it. You Eddie Murphy, bro. Go for it. Like, let's let's be intentional. This one's for the Oscar. And third, put somebody on. You Eddie Murphy, bro. You could just be like, yo, Eddie Murphy presents, put a motherfucker on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's legacy. Right. He could do Eddie Murphy presents. That's legacy. Or Eddie Murphy sketch show or something.
SPEAKER_00Eddie Murphy presents and just sketch show. Like, you know, like that's the only thing that's like his resume, is like, he checked every box. And I mean like every box. Not out the park. Yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_03Yo, put somebody on.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03For real. Hey, you heard that Eddie Murphy, get your shit together. Um, man, let them know where they can find you out on social media.
SPEAKER_00Uh, Tony underscore rock on Instagram. Check me out. My YouTube is moving, it's doing some numbers. Again, go back to the posting uh clips. Consistently and I had 116 subscribers on my YouTube. 116, not thousand, 116. I started posting clips. Like, let's see what happened. I'm at like 36,000 now. Yeah. Be trying to tell people post, bro. But you have to play in that space. I know older comics, more established guys, like, yo, that's for young kids. It's for young kids. The young kids are doing what the young kids are doing. You don't have to do what the young kids are doing in that lane. You can do that lane for you. Absolutely. You can do you in that lane. Get your Jay-Z on and uh you're still rapping. Right. So 444 on. Check out my YouTube. Uh, uh, check out my Instagram. Come see the show, bro. Come see this, come see the show. The Born to Rock Tours Hard. The Born the Rock Tours is is is it's uh one of them joints, man. You gotta see it. I got tour dates crazy. I'm in Miami this weekend, Hartford next weekend. I got the holidays off. My January is Pleasanton, Addison, Houston, OKC, Virginia Beach, Milwaukee, Denver, Ontario, Toledo, Charlotte, Tampa, San Diego, Vegas, Buffalo, Cleveland, Syracuse, Austin, Detroit, Greenville, Richmond, Raleigh, Orlando. Bruh, we work in.
SPEAKER_03And I'm gonna let y'all coach this episode will air in 2027. Bro, hey, man, y'all make sure that we're gonna be. We working, we working, we working. In the green room. Make sure you check out his podcast.
SPEAKER_00Check out live from the green room. Myself, Joe Fox, Trey Elliott. That was birthed from I would do the shows on the weekend, and then I would invite the wait staff into the green room to just talk comedy. And I would do it live on my phone. I would just literally hold my phone out, like, yo, you ever see what's your favorite comedy special? Who's your favorite comic? Oh, wow. And we would talk about comics that were there like last week. So-and-so's an asshole. This guy didn't tip. And then one day one of my boys in Atlanta called me, my man Shah. Shah called me and was like, yo, son, I don't think you realize you be dropping gems on that joint. Like you should, those gems shouldn't just go away. Like you should post them so people could. And I was like, maybe a podcast. So the podcast started for two reasons. Just to drop gems for the for the next generation. And it's like a form of therapy for me just to be able to talk about shit that I was going through. Absolutely got it. That's how the podcast starts.
SPEAKER_01We got a basement full of diamonds, baby.
SPEAKER_03Hey man, um, appreciate y'all watching uh and tapping in with the culture. Um like, comment, subscribe. We appreciate everybody checking in. And we've been your host, Justin Hyus. London Brown. BT Kingsley. And the one and only Tony Robbins. Thank you so much, bro. We did it.