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
NA'IM LYNN
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Actor/Comedian, Na'im Lynn, discuss making a name for himself outside of Kevin Hart and the Plastic Cup Boyz, why Kevin doesn't put him in movies, working with Tyler Perry on the TV show 'Assisted Living', developing his own projects, and more.
Hosted by @RealLondonBrown, @JustinHires, @BTKingsley
YouTube (Full Episodes): @KillinItPod
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TikTok: @KillinItPod
Facebook: Killin It
Website: KillinItPod.com
Executive Produced by London Brown, Justin Hires, BT Kingsley
Engineer: Aaron Brungardt
I'm the type of person, if I think my homeboys are funny, I'm gonna put them in an acting position. I'm not finna just have them on the road with me doing stand-up. Right. And so just to put somebody on the road with you is cool, you put money in their pocket. But if you really want to see your homeboy win, I feel like you put them in your TV in your films. Even with Think Like a Man, that's what really catapulted his career to the next level. Shaq All-Star helped, but it was when he started thinking like a movie star, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Stand up, he was already right.
SPEAKER_03I know you, you do want to do acting. More acting. More acting. And so me personally, if I know this is my and I know this is his dream. Yeah. I'm gonna be like, man, get in this movie role real quick. The small role, yeah. The small role, because I know it's gonna help build the credits. So I I ask you, why don't you think Kevin don't put you in his films?
SPEAKER_02I don't feel entitled, and he's not obligated to do any of that stuff. I'm just grateful for what he has done. But honestly, I I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Man, we got one of my favorite comedians in the game. Um, I always tell this dude he's a star, bruh. Um, it ain't just about his stand-up comedy, it's about his comedic acting. And I'm gonna tell you when I knew how great your comedic acting was. This is why you haven't been in any Kevin stuff. But um, he did a special and y'all did a uh sketch or something before the bank robbery. Yeah, the bank robbery. Naeem was firing. I'm talking about on all cylinders in that sketch, bruh. And I was like, this incredible. Um and that's when I knew how great he was as a comedic actor. But from um Assistant Living with Tyler Perry, over 100 episodes. Over 150. Over 150. They shoot 30 in a day. Um over 150 episodes of Assistant Living, touring with Kevin Hart, um, one of the Plastic Cup boys, um, man, the one and only, Naeem Lin. Man? Yeah, man. How you doing, brother?
SPEAKER_02I'm I'm good, man. I'm good.
SPEAKER_03I wanted to I wanted to start it off like, man. So I guess I want to start it off with even before you got with Kevin and all that, like, what was your childhood and upbringing like? And where you from originally?
SPEAKER_02I'm from Hillside, New Jersey. It's a suburb of Newark. My family's from Newark, and like it was one of those like, if you made it to the town over, then you was doing good or doing better. Uh, you know, so grew up in Jersey. My childhood was cool. Uh, single-parent home, one brother. My father was, you know, in the picture emotionally. He wasn't there physically because he wasn't, he didn't live in New Jersey for most of my childhood. Um, but I went uh graduated from high school, went to school in Philadelphia, and uh started doing comedy like my junior year. Of high school. No, of college. Of college, okay. And then um that's when I met Kev like right away. But we didn't start working until together to like three years later.
SPEAKER_04Now before that, during what was the transition between because I was reading that you were into physical therapy, so what was that transition to say I'm gonna drop that and get into this comedy thing?
SPEAKER_02So first and foremost, I didn't realize that as a major, physical therapy is a graduate course. So you have to go to school, you have to major like in kinesiology as an undergrad. And when I first got to school, my um my advisor was like, yeah, she was very discouraging. She was like, Yeah, you know it, you know, it's very competitive, and this like I'm just getting here. Like, I already ain't got no confidence.
SPEAKER_05Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_02Uh it's very competitive, you know. A lot of people don't make it. And I'm like, damn, alright. So um, but I was doing okay in school. Uh just growing up being a fan of comedy. I was never that person like people's like, oh, you should be a comedian. Nobody never, as a matter of fact, when I said I was gonna do it, like people in my family's like, is that funny? Uh so it was just something that I had always been a fan of from uh Eddie Murphy Raw, and I had his comedy album, The Joint with the Flower, and the and the little small afro, and I had um I used to watch Partners in Crime with Robert Townsend till this day, Illen in Philly is one of my favorite comedy specials. Tommy Davidson. And then when Def Jam came in, it was just like I used to tape it every Friday. Like I and then I was like, yo, I I'm funny. When you watch a lot of comedy, you start trying to be funny at least. Right. And I was funny amongst my friends, back of the bus, funny, you know, going to games and shit, and I played sports. And um, to answer your question, it was something that was always just in my mind. Like, I wonder if I could do that. And one of my friends who work who I work with to this day, and we grew up together, Jonathan Martin, you know Jonathan? Yeah, absolutely. You know Jonathan. So we we'd known each other since kindergarten. Went to kindergarten together, and we graduated high school together. He started doing comedy in high school. And when he told me that, I was like blown away, like, like where? What'd you how'd you do it? I had mad questions. And then he uh he graduated and then he went to the Ringland Brothers Clown Circ Um Clown College, and he became a clown. Oh wow.
SPEAKER_05So what year was this?
SPEAKER_02This was 96.
SPEAKER_03It was too late. Yeah, I guess 96. I mean, Ringland Brothers was still popping in '96.
SPEAKER_02Nah, but he he ended up going to their college, and then the Universe Soul Circus recruited him from the college. Like, yo, come work with us. We a black circus, we're starting off, we're gonna pay you more. Yeah. So start Wow. So seeing him, he inspired me to feel like, yo, I can maybe really do this. And then when I was in college, um, I was just starting thinking, like, I want to get on stage and try this out, but I didn't really know comedy clubs existed. I didn't know what to do. So this guy that uh he was the same year as me, he used to do these talent shows called Baptism by Fire, which was like a spoken word type thing. And I was like, yo, next time you uh do a show, let me know like a month in advance. I want to prepare a routine and try to do stand-up. And I seen him one day, he's like, yo, we doing a show in a month. If you still want to do it, so I just started writing my shit out. First time on stage, I did like 20 minutes. Damn. Word. Which is, you know, people don't do that. I did like 20, and I wasn't that nervous about performing. I was more nervous about remembering my routine because it was so long. And uh was it though? I got a standing O my first time. That's probably one of my one of my only stand O's in my career. I probably haven't, you know, I'm not really a comic that gets standing O's like that. So, but I got a standing O. I think it was just the appreciation of like, yo, this is this dude's first time. He he came, he got a whole routine, it was somewhat funny, you know. Yeah. And um it was great. And I was I was like, oh yeah, I'm next. And then the next time I performed, which was at school again, about a month later, I bombed and I quit. Oh, for how long? Like six months. I was embarrassed. So when you perform in front of a con club as strangers, you know, you do bad, it don't matter. I performed in front of my peers, my classmates, and I had to see them n again the next day. And it was uncomfortable as hell. I st I came to school. I I didn't want to go to school, but I was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna go to school, I'm gonna stand, you know, I'm gonna sit in my shit. And uh people's like, yeah, I don't even know what to say, bro. I was like, I was like, no, I'm good, I'm good. I'm good, but I wasn't. I quit. I that was one of the worst feelings I ever had. I was like, I ain't never doing this again.
SPEAKER_01That's uh that's a really unique perspective from you because you read as extremely confident. Uh I I I've obviously now because of your skill set and how you know how it's gonna go down, so on and so forth. But to hear you ever had even moments like that where you were uncomfortable about anything, even the Synesology, what was it, what we say? Kinesiology? That's what it was. That's yeah, I was struggling with that. I was about to give myself a hernia.
SPEAKER_02So I was um I was very easily embarrassed in my younger years, right? I had bad skin, you know, I felt I was very insecure. So um, if I didn't do well the first time on stage, we wouldn't be here right now. I would have never done it again. So God prepared me that way by giving me some success and then taking it away to humble me. And then it took one of my friends to convince me to get on stage again like six months later, and I did. And I did okay, and then homecoming of that year, Michael Carrier came to my school to perform. And I begged the lady at student activities to let me open for him, let me do a set, and she took me to through the ringer, man. She made me find a tape, and I was able to get my hands on the tape from the first show. Oh, wow. And then she was like, if Mike says it's okay, you can go up. So Mike get there. He's like, Yeah, I don't care. Talent was hosting, and I did three minutes, and I killed that shit. And that's when I was like, all right. Redemption. Yeah, I I killed it in three minutes. And then I was like, it was one of them things, like, I gotta go, and then people like, oh, you know, like that type shit. But uh, once I started doing comedy in college and I got into it, then nothing else really mattered. Like it was going to school didn't even really matter. It's like, alright, I'm a my my mother has been paying for me to go to school, so I'm gonna try to finish, and then I ended up not finishing. But uh physical therapy was the thing that I decided I wanted to do because I had an injury in high school and I had to go through physical therapy. And I was like, this shit kind of cool. Like the the lady was mad cool that was helping me, right? That was got me back right. I was like, this is something I might want to do. You know, it's still kind of like in sports, I was uh athlete, so but then once the comedy set in, then I was like, nah, this is it.
SPEAKER_03You injured yourself playing sports?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I got I got ran over playing football. That's honest.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I got ran over on the last play of the game. They trucked the shit out of me.
SPEAKER_03Now it's mine. So, okay, and so you started doing stand-up in college, and then at what point did you run into Kevin and Spank?
SPEAKER_02So Spank went to college with me. Spank got kicked out of school. He went to Lincoln first, then he transferred to Temple, which is where I uh went, and Wayne went there as well. Wayne was on the football team. Uh Wow. So we all knew each other. Literally the same team. Wow. Yeah, we all we all knew each other from college, and Spank was just mad friendly. You know, he came and became popular right away. And I used to see him outside on the corner, like in front of the student activity center, and we started chopping it up. He saw me, I'm I'm probably the reason why he started doing comedy. One of the reasons, because he saw me bomb at school. And he was like, this nigga, because you know, people, it was a little buzz going on. And I hosted a step show and I was in there stinking it up. And he was just like, this nigga terrible, I can do this shit, you know. So uh that's how I met Spank. I met Kev probably like on one of the early shows that I did, he hosted at at my school. Like once I started doing stand-up, then they used to just throw comedy shows for the like it was other students trying to do it too at the school. And whenever comedians would come in and that were booked comedians, the promoter would always he knew I was gonna be there, he would always give me to host the show, you know, and I would do it for free because I just wanted to get on stage. Yeah. So uh I met Kev at one of the early shows, and then we just were in the same, you know, circuit. We was we was doing the Laugh House in Philly, and we would do, I would do the um Boston Comedy Club in New York. And one day we were on a show together, and I was driving back to Philly and asked for a ride. And that's a two-hour ride, so we just talked that whole ride, and um that's how we kind of like really we bonded and got cool at first. Then we started playing video games, you know. That's how men always bond. Right, right. And then he was like, yo, um, I got this show in Atlantic City, so if you ever want to host it when I'm out of town, you can. I was like, hell yeah. I started hosting that shit. It was a terrible show. It's called Sweet Cheeks. He talks about it all the time. He throw food at you and shit. And uh hilarious. It was terrible, but it paid like$200,$250. Hey. But then we're talking about two 2000, 2001. That's good money back then. And then you were at the casino right there, you make your little bit of money, go try to flip it. Man, that shit was that was damn near my rent back then.
SPEAKER_03Dang. So when you seen him perform back then, did you did you see it though? Was you like, yo, he he got something a little special compared to some of these other comics that I'm looking at?
SPEAKER_02Well, he was winning the local competitions. We did the Bud Light competition, he killed that shit. Um Me personally, I I thought he was okay, but he was he had like relationship jokes early. And I had never even really experienced a relationship like that, so I couldn't relate to that type of stuff. And um I knew that uh he had a buzz in the city, and then when he started fucking with Keith Robinson and going to New York and all that, he was really starting to he was starting to bubble real quick. But if nobody else saw it, he saw it. He he said that everything that he's doing, he said he was gonna do it. He's doing more than he said he was gonna do, actually.
SPEAKER_01What is the experience like for you when lightning strikes that that close to you? Because I'm kind of somewhat experiencing that now with Nate, because it's like, this is this my boy, we was roommates, we was all in the grind, everybody's funny with her, and then she's like, oh man, that's kind of great. Right. Like you know what I mean, that perspective of seeing it, especially when you're as good as you are. So it's like, oh, this is this it's like it's love and it's interesting, but it is a very unique perspective to be that close to it.
SPEAKER_02Well, first of all, I don't have no hate in me, so I was excited for his success. Yeah. You know, and he had he had waves. Like, you know, he came in um when we first started working together, Paper Soldiers had just came out, or was about to come out. And then he did um Soul Playing, and he had his his sitcom, which was my idea, and then it was just like him just doing a bunch of small parts. So it really was a long time before that lightning that you speak of came about, and that was really with the comedy specials. I think once um because he put out Grown Little Man, then he did the Shaq All-Star Show, and that got him more attention than Grown Little Man. And then he was selling out comedy clubs, and then he decided, like, yo, we're gonna try this theater thing. And then then the theater thing went good, and then he did seriously funny. And that's when like he really started to bubble. And then the movies came a couple years later. So, so let me ask you this. How was I I didn't really answer your question though. I'm sorry. Were you you asking how do I how did I feel about it?
SPEAKER_01Just how just how does your just uh that journey of perceiving it, because you you got to see it.
SPEAKER_02I saw it from yeah, its inception.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so just see it seeing it that up close gives you a very unique perspective.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was just I was excited for him. I was just like, and I mean I was excited for myself as well, like, yo, this is gonna change things for me uh in certain ways too. And and that was partially based off the promises he had made, you know. So I was like, oh shit, like we on. Right.
SPEAKER_00We on, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I have to ask this, your what is your writing process like? You are uh a tried and true tested comic. The the art form, you are like very pure toward. The way that you time out bits, the way that you craft new material, you it's always something new, it's always hilarious. I could I can see it hit you. Now I gotta work through it. Now I'm finding all the buttons I wanted, and now it's killing. And now that's here, and now it's into the new thing. I'm like, sheesh, like your processing is fast.
SPEAKER_02What's your so if you are a true comic, I feel like you're just always ready to receive. And if you're not, then you're missing out on tons of material. You always gotta be, you know, everything that happens, I'm I'm ready to receive. I'm like, oh, that and then even sometimes I'm having conversations with my friends, they're like, yo, that's a bit. And I'm like, you're right, and I'll write it down. So I just kind of jot things down in my notes on my phone, and then I just go try it. I don't sometimes I'll write the whole joke out, but it doesn't matter because I'm not gonna read it from my phone while I'm performing. So as long as I got the like the basis of it, then I get up and I just work it out. And sometimes you have jokes that you think are gonna be way funnier, and sometimes and they're not, and then you have jokes that you like, uh, this ain't that good, and it ends up being great.
SPEAKER_03That's what I wanted to know. Y'all done toured all over the world. What's some crazy story that's done happened while y'all been on tour?
SPEAKER_00Hmm.
SPEAKER_03That you can share. And and go back home. And go back home, still working, right? And keep your family together. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm definitely not incriminating nobody. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Y'all ain't like no crazy fans, nobody pop up, no heckler.
SPEAKER_02There's been a lot of fights at our shows.
SPEAKER_01Damn. What up, y'all? Thank you for uh watching, man. Listen, we appreciate you, but I need you to go ahead and hit that little subscribe. Don't hit the little subscribe button. Thank you. That didn't take but so long. Look at you. Harmless.
SPEAKER_02Really? Yeah, and a lot of times they happen while I'm on stage. And it's it's the worst because if you're in the arena, you you just hear commotion. You don't know what's going on, people not listening to you no more. So you kinda gotta like, you gotta stop for a second and let whatever the security address it or whatever. I dropped the ball so bad one time on a uh it was a fight, it was in Detroit, and I could have, I probably could have got off stairs. I thought about it after I got off stairs, like, why didn't I say that? Because a fight broke out and it was going crazy, and I was just like, you know, I said some hacky shit like hey can't take niggas nowhere, some some bullshit like that, right? But if I could if I'd have just simply like Ron Artes? If I hit him like, is that Ron Artes up there? Right. That shit, ah went crazy. Yeah, it hit me after. But as far as crazy stories, nah man, most of the funniest stories were when it was just me and Kev, like I don't know, we we've almost died before. What was that? We used to, I mean, we was driving um to do a show somewhere. It was just me and him, and we like in a Dodge and Neon, and it was one of those freeways where it's one lane each way, but it's like a you know 50-50 miles per hour. He doing something, whatever. And the car coming, this how this is how close the car was that it was coming from the other side. It knocked the mirror off. That's inches. Like if it was like two more inches, yeah, right, he'd have been fucked up. Right. That happened one time. Um, I always been really good with direction. I had a great sense of direction, and back then it wasn't no GPS, it was map quests. You had to print the shit out. Yeah. And I just was so good with my sense of direction. So we drove like, I don't know, four hours to some community college in Colorado. And we drive there, and I'm like, shit, I don't need that shit going back. I know the turns, you know. It was probably like five turns because most of it was freeway. Right. Man, I miss one of them turns. I miss one of them turns. And uh I got to the foot of a mountain. Oh, but a mountain. I was like, you remember this? Oh, we were like it was really like at the I I got to the bottom of a mountain and was like, yo, what the fuck are we? Then I had to, you know, pull this shit out. I drove like 30 minutes out the way. But I can't think of nothing off Nate, who was our roadman and just passed away recently. Um P Nate. Man, we had a lot of funny stories with him. But man, I can't think of nothing offhand. We just so we so private, and you know, something has to happen to where it triggers the memory.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But we had a lot of funny shit with Nate. Nate, you ever met Nate before?
SPEAKER_03One time, I think, probably backstage or something.
SPEAKER_02Nate was mean as fuck, bro. He was just a mean dude. You know, we loved him, but he was mean as hell. I mean, one time we were- Mean as into the camp or just the outside people? He was mean to everybody. He was mean to us. He was mean to like uh whoever else was working in production, they hated him. They hated him. So I mean one time we was running late to the show, we driving in the car with Nate. And he like yelling at some. He got like road rage trying to get to the loading dock. And this dude got the cussing at Nate, jumped out the carnum. Nate was like, You want some tickets? Nigga already going to the show. You want some tickets in the show? He was about to fuck Nate up. But Nate, yeah. I'm sorry, I don't have no good stories for you off the bat.
SPEAKER_04No, that was solid. Edge of the Mountain is we didn't know. I thought in my mind I saw a cliff. I don't know where you are. Um you talk about being receptive as a comedian. What did life teach you yesterday?
SPEAKER_02Yesterday. Literally yesterday?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Or I'll I'll I'll leave that open to you discussion.
SPEAKER_02Hmm. Man, we always going through stuff in life, and as entertainers, we have a lot of pressure on us to perform no matter what. People don't give a shit what's going on in our life. Um they pay their money, they want you to get up there and be funny. And it's actually one of my favorite parts of the job. It's like it shows true professionalism. But I every day that I procrastinate and I don't do the work, I'm missing out on what's destined for me. And that's a daily lesson. But I have to be in the right mind frame to and the work for me is just doing is doing the writing. Not so much the joke writing, because like I said, I'm always ready to receive the material. But when it comes to the script stuff, because I'm in that space in my career where I really gotta take things into my own hands. And I got something great that I'm working on that I feel like I procrastinate sometimes, but I know it's because of my mental. If I'm depressed and I just can't, I'm always, you know, the fatigue is setting in, I'm tired, and I know I can't really produce what I need to produce. And then on in the same note, I feel like what I'm doing is so good that I gotta take my time with it. And if I don't do it right, I'm gonna I'm gonna do it right. I'm gonna finish it and it's gonna be dope. But as a person who deals with depression, when you feel so confident about something and you see a glimmer of hope for you to have some happiness and you're vulnerable to that, yeah, when it doesn't happen, it spirals you into a deeper depression. Does that make sense? Yeah. So you like I know that this is something that can be great, and I feel good about it, and I'm putting everything into it, but then if it doesn't work, then I'm gonna be worse off than where I started. Do you think there's a fear because of that? Absolutely. I'm gonna do it anyway. Yeah. It's like I'm courageous to it all, like I'm still gonna do it. But a little bit of fear. Like when I when I did my my pilot that I did the other day, y'all, y'all saw it, right? Yeah, it's my screening, right? Yeah, so that was a passion project, and all through my career I've been able to say, when I did the work, I received the results. And whatever stuff that I'm not getting is because I'm not doing the work. And that was the first time where I did the work and I put my heart into it, I put my money where my mouth is, and nothing came out of it. So it didn't spiral me into a deeper depression, and more so because I feel so strong about the materials, like they don't get it. And what do I gotta do to get somebody to get it? And there's so many success stories. You got Squid Game where the guy heard no for 10 years, and then they finally gave it to him, and then it's boom, he's out of here. And I'm like, what do I gotta do to get that? But as far as my success and where I'm at now, and people look at me differently than I look at myself, which is probably surprising to some people because they look at me and they think that I'm I'm arrogant or I have this. I do have my confidence, it's there. But I don't really look at myself as a celebrity 150 episodes in. I don't look at myself as that. I look at myself as an entertainer, and I happen to be on TV. You know what I mean? And I feel like I'm just that one thing away from changing it all. And I feel like the reason why I haven't got it yet is because for whatever reason, I'm not ready. Who is they to you? When you say they they don't get it, who is they to you? The powers that be. The people with the networks, the whoever, whoever, whoever saw my show. The suits, right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04What's your so when you are feeling defeated, what's your coping mechanism? Like what are you comparing to?
SPEAKER_03That's my favorite. Crack cocaine.
SPEAKER_02Smoke a little crack. I'm thinking about that because right now, what I just described as far as a project I'm working on right now, I really shouldn't feel like that. Cause I don't be feeling defeated. I just feel like people don't don't get it. I feel like they're stupid and this is great. So what I do whenever I feel defeated with anything in life, I take my time to feel. You gotta feel you gotta feel. And then I accept that I can't change it. If it's something that I can't change, why am I dwelling on it? So you feel for a minute. I read this book, it's called uh The Miracle Morning, and in that book, the guy talks about how he was a knife salesman, and he he went all the way, drove like to the IE or some shit. Hour drive, yeah, and then you get there, and the woman has a sign on the win on her door that's like, I don't want the knives. So he's livid. You could have told me that shit before I came here. I just drove an hour for you to say, well, you could have just told me you don't want it. So a friend of his told him that when something happens that you cannot change, you take five minutes to feel and reflect. And if you want to cuss and yell or whatever, you do that. And then you say to yourself, can't change it, and you move on. And that's kind of how I am with things, you know. It's like, alright, that happened, okay, what's next?
SPEAKER_03I I always think about um Chappelle and how he did 13 pilots before he got Chappelle's show on the air. And so, you know, I think that's how we kind of always gotta like put things in perspective. It's like, you know, this we know this this business has a lot of no's. You gonna get a bunch of no's and you know, we just gotta keep pushing forward.
SPEAKER_02At least they believe at least the machine believed in him enough to keep trying, though.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, because I don't I don't want to leave this yet. Because the the reception from the pilot, do you love what happened in the room? Hell yeah. That was one of the best days of my life. Do you love the work? Did I did I like it? I haven't seen it. So yeah, did you like it?
SPEAKER_02When I watched it, yeah, I thought it I thought it was great. And I there was an energy in the room that was so it was so good, man. Like, I'm like, yo, regardless of what people may think about me or say about me, people are here to support. It was no hate in that room. Like everybody was there, like, let's see what this nigga did. Yeah, yeah. And I already liked it watching it by myself, but then when you watch something with some, people, it's hard to laugh by yourself. Right. Or enjoy something by itself. So when I saw everybody in the room just dying, laughing, and I felt like the acting was good, the story was good, and it was really just it was just a proof of concept to say, hey, this is what this could be, with the right money in production. And it was great, man. It was the and here in Hollywood, it was the best. Then I did it in New York, and I did it in Atlanta, and it was cool there, but out here was the best. That very first one where I was really amongst my peers and everything. Man, I was that was one of the best days of my life, bro.
SPEAKER_01Man, listen, man, you're not wrong. You deciding to do something on your own and and putting the energy and the efforts into it and loving what came out, you're not wrong. Right.
SPEAKER_02That's why I wasn't a complete failure. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Hey man, fuck them people, bro. Like, like, like I know Hollywood makes us be away because of how they move, but at today, I mean, it's slipping through their fingers, bro. The, the, the, the, whatever, I, whatever these ideas and concepts are, which allows them to not take no risk, to keep regurgitating the same thing over and over and over again, and they it's not working, you guys. Like YouTube just past Netflix and and subscribers and watch hours. It's like I think that we are the future. I think that scripted produced by the creatives is going to change everything. And we're very so you're not wrong, you just early.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And don't let they discourage you. You you're right. Fuck them. They ain't got no ideas, they ain't gonna do nothing but do goddamn.
SPEAKER_03That's a fact.
SPEAKER_01The same bullshit and shit that they've been doing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but out of that BB juice three. That's it, baby. That's what's coming. And while uh to that same thing, but it's it's so interesting dealing with people who just uh dealing with people who don't who don't get it sometimes, but that's how you birth the Tyler's and the and the other people in the holes, and they just be like, and then by the time people catch up, we like you have you had you you fumble.
SPEAKER_01It's it's hard, it's hard and I guess now it's so fresh in my mind because we're on the precipice of one building this out, because this is uh this idea is the is under the concept of like the idea that if when you do the when the new season of assisted living is coming out and it's time to go promote, the fact that in the perfect world you have to get on the plane, go to the East Coast, do the Breakfast Club, do I say the the whole idea was like there should be something in LA where you can come promote, do shit, yada yada yada. And on top of that, Kev was just in that seat, the other Kev. And it was like Kev on Stage. Kev on Stage was all and it's like, okay, he just he did these the projects because he felt this that same thing was like, man, I love Churchy. I feel like it's good. It's just like like there was kind of this hang up, and then fast forward to it does better than most of the shit on the thing. It's like, no, no, no, we're not wrong. We're not wrong. We know what funny is. You're working on funny every night. You got a way better handle than the days.
SPEAKER_03I wanted to know, yeah, do have you or like the plastic cup boys, do y'all ever take y'all projects too heartbeat and like pitch them ideas?
SPEAKER_02So with my pilot that I produced, um I was hoping they would get behind it. You know, uh I thought Peacock would be a great home for it. And I know um Kevin has a deal with them. He has a deal with them and everybody, you know, so I was hoping they would get behind it. And they didn't. So it just was what it was. That's the only thing that I've done really. I I've had ideas before. Where I'm like, yeah, I got an idea, but this is the first time where I actually did this shit.
SPEAKER_03Got it. But have y'all ever thought about like doing like a well, this two questions, this two-part question. Do you like being associated as a plastic cup boy? And if so, have y'all thought about doing like a movie, like a plastic cup boys movie, like whatever like y'all Friday is or don't be amazing, like something that's kind of low budget, it only takes like two to three million to shoot, and you know y'all write something and y'all come together and do something. Has that ever been a thought? Nah. No.
SPEAKER_02We we were gonna do uh we were trying to do like a little um reality type show before. Uh we had the producer from um what's the shit? The the prank show on True TV? Uh oh, like Prank Joker. So we had the producer, the he was a former producer of Impractical Jokers, and we was trying to figure out something like that to find something like kind of like loosely scripted type type show like that. And that was damn near ten years ago. Um as far as doing a movie together, if one of them wrote something that's like, yo, let's do this, then I would do it because those are my guys, but I never aspire to do anything like that because I'm always looking for separation from the crew. You know, I I really want to stand on my own. Let me tell you something about me, man. It's it's so crazy. My whole I have an older brother, right? So my whole life prior to college, I was his little brother. So I was left alone, I was somewhat cool or whatever, because of my brother laid that foundation in our town. And when I got to college, one of my friends, he was two years older than me, went to school together. He was he played uh on the football team. And I was so afraid of just live just being myself that I came to school and I was telling everybody that he was my cousin. So I'm trying to attach to somebody so that I get some sort of clout or something. Stand-up comedy was the first, and I refused to, once I got over that shit, I was like, I'm not joining no fraternity because I really want to be known for just Naeem. Yeah. And then when I started doing stand-up comedy, that was the first time where I was like, yo, this is just me. I'm making a name for myself. And then early into my career, I'm attached to this guy. So my whole life.
SPEAKER_03It's finally all about me. Oh, Kevin Hart, hey, how you doing?
SPEAKER_02My whole life I've been attached to someone else, and all I ever really wanted is to just be my own person, my own self, my own artist, and be respected as that versus that's such and such boy, or he's part of this. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like I respect that. But the but uh so that's a great segue. So then how good when it happened does the system living feel? When that opportunity comes, when you get to shoe, is you get is hey baby, it's me and Dali Pair, we work it.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02It feels great to have been casted for that show. Me, it's two ways to look at it. The the positive way is, hey, I'm on my own show. The negative way, which we we tend to do sometimes, like, if I wasn't at Kevin Hart's show, he would have never seen me. Yeah. Yeah, indirectly, indirectly, and still because of this motherfucker.
SPEAKER_03But uh But if you wasn't funny that night, you won't go on the show.
SPEAKER_02I I killed it, but he wasn't, he just was like, you know, told he was with Crystal Hastlet, and he just like, yeah, yo, he was funny as hell. And then she told me, like, yeah, TP loves you. And so I was like, well, tell that nigga to give me a show.
SPEAKER_04And then he ended up giving me a show. Well, so you, man. Let me ask you this, uh, what small decisions you've made do you feel has changed your life in a big way? Small decisions. Yeah, small, something small.
SPEAKER_02But very impactful. Maybe uh maybe when I cut my hair. 100%. I I I had locks and it was it was long, they was like down my back, they were long as hell. And I just felt like if I'm trying to cross over into this acting thing, I need to have uh a different look. I can't be just this guy with the locks, it's not gonna work.
SPEAKER_03For anyone that doesn't know what he's talking about, he's talking about being a non-threatening Negro. Um I just cut my hair damn near similar reasons.
SPEAKER_02But it it I didn't have a thugish look. I just felt like I could be typecast into a certain role with this hair. Um and I cut it, and then the first show I did after I cut it, I got booed off the stage.
SPEAKER_01It's like the power's in the hair back. Every time you get booed off stage, I feel like there's a blessing right behind that. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02There's been a lot of times. It just was what it was.
SPEAKER_01According to this rhythm, the love from the uh pilot was great, so that means some bullshit gonna happen, and then the next thing gonna get picked up. That's the rhythm of your life.
SPEAKER_03It's always some good stuff after the bullshit, though. Yeah, it's like this right after the bullshit. That's the key to life. Right after you go through the bullshit on the other side, it's gonna be something good. This one I want to ask you, though, about assisted living. Do you ever read Tyler Perry's scripts and say to him, I have some notes? Oh.
SPEAKER_02At least out loud and if I didn't, I wouldn't say that. That's what I'm saying. Out loud. What are you saying out loud? That's different. He only wrote the first season. Oh. And he only directed half of the first season. And then after that, they brought some writers on. And uh the last couple seasons, Mark Swinton, who's the director, he's wrote all of the episodes. So honestly, when he wrote that first season, it was very like he wasn't even, he wasn't done. Every season they're not done. We're filming and they're still writing the episodes. Yeah. But the very first episode, I think he had like 25 pages. I love it. So he was like, we're gonna figure it out while we're shooting. And he was just feeding us lines, and it was funny as hell. Okay. It was shit was funny as hell, and I was enjoying it, but as far as uh his writing style, he does what works. You can criticize it all you want. He started off this way, that's how he built his fan base. He's still doing it, and it works. Like the people that hate on this shit the most are the people that finish the the show. They finish the movie. Ah, they did they I gotta see what happens. Right. You know, you caught it in whatever it is, and that could be completely intentional.
SPEAKER_01I mean, in his defense, I just had a conversation with uh somebody who was filming something for Apple TV, and they're doing the same thing. They were running, they're writing day to day. Yeah. Literally coming in, switching it in the in the moment.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm. We I mean, you got a lot of Jews, man, of just experiences that from Jersey all the way to you being part of the team and you got your the sitcom and things, different things like that. And as you're figuring stuff out, like what's the question you wish you had the answer to?
SPEAKER_02I mean, the obvious one is why they don't then why they're not fucking with me like that. And I I come up with all type of different shit in my head. Like when you say they mean is it the same thing? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the the powers that be. Um The niggas that be. I remember at one point my agent, my agent was like, yo, they love you at ESPN, man. Um I'm like, Word, like somebody at ESPN that was important, they saw something that I did and they liked it. And then just nothing ever came from that. And I was like, and I thought about it one day. I'm like, I be posting some shit on Twitter. Like I might have said something fucked up that they was like, nah, we can't do nothing with this guy. And then of course, and over the years, my disdain for Stephen A. Smith, I I mean, I I trash him every chance I get. Um, but it's I think all the time, like, is it something I said? I mean, when Kev did the Mark Twain, he got the Mark Twain prize, uh, you know, I show up with a Palestine uh pen on my lapel. You know, like I'm I'm about that shit. You know, I'm not uh I'm not the person that's like on the front line, but I I use my platform to discuss social shit. Like, yo, this shit ain't cool, you know, and and I try to educate people, and I think that that's just as important, if not, I say just as important as the people that are out there marching and on the front line and all that. So I I think that whenever I'm thinking something, I'm like, yo, maybe I did something, maybe I said something, maybe it's my demeanor. People take me the wrong way all the time. I just don't have no fake in me. Like if I have to put on and be fake friendly and all that stuff, that shit like almost literally brings me pain. You know? Because I'm I I don't like doing that shit. Right.
SPEAKER_03So to piggyback on what London was asking, I have noticed that it seems like you're more comfortable being vulnerable on social media than in person. So, like, for instance, your video that you posted recently basically like closed mouths don't get fed. And you know, you like the way you got on safe space with Kev on stage is because you like, yo, I'm trying to, you know, I wanna get down. I want I'm trying to get down. You know, same thing with the Tyler Perry thing. Why do you feel like you're it at least appears that you're more comfortable on social media or what causes you to say, you know what, I'm gonna kind of say how I'm feeling on on IG?
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm pretty vulnerable when anybody asks the questions, just like right now. You know, anytime I do a podcast or interview, if they ask the questions, I'm gonna answer like one thing about me, I'm super honest. Uh so in person, I'm just not talking to anybody that I'm not cool with like that. And if me and you have a conversation, it's gonna be surface. You're not gonna you're not gonna ask me nothing that's deep. If you did, I'd I'd answer it. So it's not that I'm not. Vulnerable in person, I'm vulnerable on stage. It's just that uh these questions are not being asked, and when it comes to social media, it's just always me trying to develop some type of content. I'm still trying to figure out what my angle is gonna be for social media that that gets the engagement that I want. So I know that being vulnerable and not being vulnerable in a way to where it's like I'm not asking people to pity me is always gonna be like, oh, I respect that, or that's some good shit. And those are things that are that get shared and liked and commented on. Right. So that's why I'm like that on social media.
SPEAKER_01So so in that in that same vein for you know finding the thing that that works for you, how much do you did you enjoy like uh radio for I was calling straight from the heart radio? It was radio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. People think it was a pod, it was radio. Gotcha, gotcha.
SPEAKER_02I love that shit. And I didn't want to do it at first.
SPEAKER_01The reason I asked is because I feel like that was a a shining moment for you. I felt like you have a lot of different facets and a lot of different uh you're knowledgeable in a lot of different spaces. Right. And this allowed them to do shit. Yeah. So it allowed them to shine all at the same time, and it was it was like a a beautiful vehicle for you. Do you do you want to do more?
SPEAKER_02Man, I hate that this show was done. Um I never wanted to do radio because I always looked at it as a retirement job. And um, but the way it was Kev approaches with it, and it's like, yo, we we just doing this as something to do simultaneously with everything else that's going on. I was like, alright. And then I started to love it because it just gave me the freedom to talk about any and everything, and it got it gave me a chance to show people that like you said, the fastest. I I'm I could talk about anything. And some people liked me. That was the thing about the show. Everybody had their favorites. So some people might hate me, some people might love Wayne, or or vice versa, spank, whatever. So I was hoping that we would, once the show got cancelled, we would turn it into a podcast. Yes. But the guys were just not on the same page. We weren't even on the same page when we were doing the damn show. Like, people were not showing up or show when they want to and make other things a priority. And I'm like, bro, we got something good here. People fuck with us. And also, the money is not bad. Like, if I lived modestly, I could have lived off that shit, you know? But because I don't live modestly, that was like, that was my car money.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, I'm like, I can get whatever cars I want. This is my car money right here. Oh, the whole car. Yeah, the the monthly payments of the car.
SPEAKER_01Are you an enthusiast for cars? Uh I'm I've seen you at the uh let's the purple joint. No, no, no, no. Forget the purple shit. Let me tell you, let me tell you where it started for me. Okay. So don't forget the purple. Okay. I don't have no purple. I never had no purple car.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, like it was like a it was like it was almost like the color of uh it was some sort of it was some sort of blue, purple something, uh Ben something, I think. You never saw that joint? He pulled he got out of one.
SPEAKER_02I had a I had a a matte blue uh AMG G T four-door, which is what I got now, but I got a two-door play with me.
SPEAKER_01It was easy, but it was a limited finish. Oh, it was uh you gotta tell the story about having the the the Aston delivered to the barbershop. Oh that's that's that's that's big.
SPEAKER_04Was it Garrett's shop?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. I'm I show I'm gonna show off. You know. Like straight up, especially with cars. I've always been into cars. Um so yeah, I was like, uh, I bought the car and you know they had to wash it, whatever. I was like, yo, you know what? Just just deliver it to the barbershop. I'm gonna get my hair cut. Just stun on these niggas real quick. They came, oh shit.
SPEAKER_01It's Aston Martin outside, man. Oh, yeah. Next thing he's not in these other things.
SPEAKER_03So wait a minute, is it true? Then you, when Kev got all y'all those muscle cars, I gave it back. You gave it back. Why you gave it back?
SPEAKER_02Eventually, I get I didn't get back right away. Because see, I I didn't so this is how that all started. One day we were on a plane, and Harry asked everybody, if you could get an old school car, what would you get? And everybody named their car and it got to me, and I said, Nothing. I don't want that, I don't want no old school car. And um, because that was already the gift that they hadn't that Kevin came up with, we showed up, he's like, yo, come outside, I got y'all something, and and I had to get a car too. And it was cool, but I got some stuff done to it, like some put like speakers in it, whatever. Right. Radio says it's bullshit. And I just didn't like it. I didn't like it, so I wasn't driving it. He was like, I'll buy it back from you. So I said, Alright. And I kind of felt bad about that because he he gifted to me. But the truth is, I could have just sold it to somebody else and got the money, but I wouldn't do that because it was a gift. So he was like, I'll buy it from you. I'm like, alright. So he gave me like half the money, and he never gave me the rest, so I didn't trip about it.
SPEAKER_01What's considered an old?
SPEAKER_02An old car in general or had to be an old school muscle car? There was the old school muscle cars. I had an idea in my head for an old school car for you, and I was like I had a 69 GTO. Okay, gotcha. It was clean. You know, the paint job was nice. It was a nice car. It was a stick shift, which I, you know, I learned how to drive on a stick, so that was cool.
SPEAKER_01Um How would you feel about the the Ferrari, the red? Tessarosa? The the old one, the the Beverly Hills Cop one. The you mean Miami Vice? No, I mean Beverly Hills Cop.
SPEAKER_02Uh probably the same one, the Tessa Rosa. Yeah, the reason. It had the little black slits on the side. Yeah, the yeah. So I had a poster in my room when I was a kid that said decisions and had the Lamborghini Countage. I'm here, though. Yeah, it had the Ferrari Testerosa and had the Porsche 911 on it. And um at the time, yeah, I loved it. And I actually, Ferrari was probably my dream car until I did like one of those race joints on the track where you go drive. And I was like, I'm over that. But um, if I had got something like that, that would have been great. See? Fucking new. It's an old school, but that that's a car from the 80s. Yes. You know, but the upkeep on that shit would have been a bitch. Yeah, absolutely. The upkeep on the regular Osu car is a bitch. But you talking about an Italian sports car. Yeah, like mm-mm. That would have been it would have been a headache, but it would have been cool to have. But honestly, bro, I don't like nothing. If it ain't got no push start and the backup camera and all that shit, I don't want to drive it.
SPEAKER_01What's been your favorite? Because I've seen you go through cars. This is why we're having this conversation. I've had a lot. Yeah. What's what's been the the is there one that you gave back that you miss, or is there one that you've loved and it's like this is the I could be in these all the time.
SPEAKER_02I've loved most, like almost all of my cars, but when it was time to give them back, I was done with them. Uh you like Essence though. I've had two. Yeah. I've had two and they've had both of them had problems. Okay. So I probably won't get another one. But the last one I had, I had an orange DBX, which is the SUV. As far as look and drive, that was probably the best car I've ever had. Minus the problems. But it it was orange on the outside, orange on the inside. Uh had big ass factory wheels. I mean, they were I don't know if they were factory wheels, but the dealership put those wheels on it. But the vet. I still got that. Okay. But I don't drive it. I'm saving that for my daughter. Okay, that's what's up. I haven't driven that shit in years. So by the time she's of age, it'll be old, it'll be 20 years old. But that that Aston Martin, the DBX, it just had a crazy handle, especially for SUV. That was probably my best, my best car.
SPEAKER_03Hey, so you own a boxing gym, right? Aren't you part owner of a boxing gym?
SPEAKER_02I'm yeah, I'm I'm the owner. You the owner. Yeah, but we're um we're about to go out of business. Yeah. Sorry. Something else is on the way. Something else is on the right.
SPEAKER_04Something else was on the way.
SPEAKER_02We blurred.
SPEAKER_03Something breaking up bashing. Sorry, I apologize.
SPEAKER_02Don't bother me though. It doesn't bother me. Okay. The uh economy is fucked up right now. All most businesses are failing, especially boutique fitness.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, them my gym is uh boxing, it's circuit training. So people come in, they lose the weight, they get in shape. Now they want to start building muscle. We don't offer that. So people would get their goals and then they would leave. And really, it was like a we got prom real estate, we're right next to Whole Foods, but the um rent is high as hell. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? The membership is is kind of high. It did okay. We lasted for three years. We were the number one franchise in all of the the whole thing, the whole corporation, and we still go.
SPEAKER_01Is that the announcement? Not even finna buy uh a black comedy club in Hollywood, man. Y'all give it up for us, man. Finally, man, you know he loves comedy, man. We need one. Let me ask you, where uh as far as what do you have nicknames? Do I have a nickname? I mean I guess I guess.
SPEAKER_02What is your what's supposed to be?
SPEAKER_01Brian?
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_03It's a regular B name. Yeah, Braxton. It ain't no goddamn Braxton. Yeah, how you been? What your daddy named that name?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. What's the father?
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02What's the is a T your middle name? Yeah. Okay. I'd have been both. I'm about to keep hitting your name.
SPEAKER_04I done text his knee like three times. No, but don't put it over. It's my fucking. Uh I read your nickname. Is it name 4000? Is that true?
SPEAKER_02That's some shit I created. Where did it come from? Like Andre 3000. I was like, I'm I'm I'm further in the future than that. It never caught on. Somebody call me that shit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but the one and only. Not namely, baby. Uh uh uh I ask them. You know why I did it? No, we still rolling now. Because I'm gonna be honest with you, the the way uh YouTube popped off is because of that question, the the clips. Um because yeah, I did ask I asked Spank, you know, uh people were saying I was being messy, and I and I wasn't true.
SPEAKER_02You've been you just been messy.
SPEAKER_03A little bit, but but it it's it's not the intent. My thing is I fuck with y'all. You know what I'm saying? I've and I know I've seen y'all on tour with Kevin. I know how funny y'all are. I know personally, and this is just me, even when we was doing YouTube, I would always put my homeboys on. London was in my early YouTube shit.
SPEAKER_02By the way, I didn't know none of y'all niggas was friends.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This is a weird sentiment. Nah, that's my lad. So it's only because like I'm the type of person, if I think my homeboys are funny, I'm gonna put them in an acting position. I'm not finna just have them on the road with me doing stand-up. Right. I feel like to make it in Hollywood, you have to have some, well, it used to be this way. You have to have some type, you have to be some have some type of TV or film presence. Right. Um, and so just to put somebody on the road with you is cool, you put money in their pocket and you you helping that, you helping them to help pay their bills, that's that's phenomenal. But if you really want to see your homeboy win, I feel like you put them in your TV in your films. Because even with Think Like a Man, um, that's what really catapulted his career to the next level. The Shaq All-Star helped. But it was when he started thinking like a movie star, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Stand-up, he was already right.
SPEAKER_03That's what I'm saying. And so I know you, you do want to do acting as well. And so me personally. More acting. More acting. And so, me personally, if I know this is my this is my nigga nigga, and I know this is his dream, yeah, I'm gonna be like, man, get in this, get in this uh movie role request. Yeah, the small role, because I know it's gonna help build the credits, you know what I'm saying? So I know that's what that shit is about. So I I ask you, why don't you think Kevin don't put you in his films?
SPEAKER_02So you know I've been asked this question several times over the years, and I've had different answers, and usually my response is like I always show the appreciation of what he has done, which is the the road shit, the touring stuff. And I always say that I don't feel entitled, and he's not obligated to do any of that stuff. I'm just grateful for what he has done. But the question to why he doesn't, honestly, I I don't know. I really I don't know. You know, I've come up with different things in my mind, and it's never what other people think because people are like, oh, he don't want you to shine, or he's afraid you're gonna steal the spotlight, and I'm like, nah. That's never how I felt. Like, Kev is a a superstar. You know what I'm saying? And the the first time that he really started to get something to where I was like, um he can help. The only reason I even questioned him about it is because he created that in me before, without me even expecting anything, he said, we're gonna be like Adam Sandler and his crew. And so then I was like, I think it was probably like Real Husbands of Hollywood, and I won't get into the background of that shit, because it doesn't matter. But when I was like, yo, you know, whatever, whatever, he was like, What you doing for yourself? And I said, What the fuck was Arsenio doing when Eddie put him in coming to America? Right, right, exactly. And he could he had no comeback, he just laughed because he knew how to point. But when I think about when I saw you had a conversation with Spank, I start thinking about it again because I don't think about it that often. And I watch Arsenio and I'm like, outside of the Arsenio Hall show, which was huge, what has Arsenio done besides what Eddie's put him in? So, what has Adam Sandler's people done, minus the the Chris Rox and the David Spade, but those other guys that his friends that are just in the movies, what have they done besides that? So could him putting me in something potentially just uh once again keep me under the umbrella and not provide other opportunities? Is it just another check again? Is it just like uh that's just Kevin Hart's boy? And he put him in the movie. So the to answer your question, I don't know why, but after thinking about it, I have to say, would that really help me and put me where I truly want to be? I don't know. Because I can get into a part and and kill it, but because I'm already associated with him, it can still be like entourage. Entourage. Right. Like we look at somebody like Craig Robinson who got down with um Judd Apateau Apateau, he started off in knocked up, had the funniest part in the whole movie, the the cameo, the shit the the bouncer at the club, and then he started doing more stuff with them. Now if that was Kevin's movie and I get that part, am I gonna start doing other things or am I just gonna be around for the next Kevin Hart movie? So I don't know why somebody should ask him because the whole idea of when I asked him, the whole idea of what are you doing for yourself, I had to tell him, like, bro, I moved to LA, I'm taking acting classes, I'm doing this, I'm actually trying. So that's what I'm doing for myself. And then when I produce my own project and still nothing comes of it, you know, you see that I've done the work. Right. So it could be once again, I I I'm I'm just thinking about pulling shit out of out of my ass, Pause. So I don't I don't know what his thinking is, but it doesn't really matter at this point. And honestly, when I do get whatever that it is, and it has nothing to do with him, then it's gonna feel that much better.
SPEAKER_01So uh on on that note, because okay, the the Arsenio thing is really interesting because I was thinking about this the other day. When you think of coming to America, Arsenio's technically the comic relief, even though Eddie is Eddie, he's a comic relief in this film. And every time we've seen Arsenio show up. I think they both kind of like as as Simi and Hakeem, they kind of just whatever. I think as Sime and Akeem, I think Simi is for sure the comic relief. Now, as the characters, then you know what I mean? But but as those two characters, he's kind of he's kind of Simi is who we're going to for. Oh, like we're going to him for kind of the punches. Right. Um, but within Eddie lets people get off though.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. In in Boomerang, Martin was the comic relief. Eddie was the straight guy.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So so in that same world, so touring, right? It makes sense to have my dogs around me on touring because I know what's going to happen on the stage and killing it, and this feels great moving as a unit. In life, I feel most comfortable with these people around me moving and as a unit. Not for nothing. I don't know if it probably enhances or helps on screen as well. The biggest I almost uh well to shit. Possibly the biggest Kevin Hart film might just be in that same world. It might be with you as bank and and and and whoever has the aspirations within this space because I feel like um I don't under I I really get I get highly irritated when I see the vitriol that comes from people towards Kev because I've never seen a nigga do battle stage. Like I was like, I don't know what you guys are watching, but in the room, this nigga is consistently destroying. So I don't understand that that narrative. But he's a beast, bro. So so when you're watching real husbands, this is one of those things where it's like all you could see all the synapses fire. It's it's a place for him to feel very, very comfortable. I feel like that would be the same thing in a movie with y'all. I don't know what that script is, I don't know what it looks like. Uh I have a definitely just uh uh plastic boy script popped in my idea, popped in my head like that. Yeah. But uh, but for for that world, I feel like that amazing film might be that too.
SPEAKER_02I don't doubt that, but then that's once again the plastic cupboys, which is what I'm trying to ultimately separate myself from and just be like an individual talent. Yeah in Kevin's defense, um he offered me a role in Fight Knight, and I told him prior to that, because the whole thing, for a while, the discussion had become Y'all think I can do this, y'all think I can do that, and I know that he could, but he was like, once I start doing you know heartbeat projects, then we can have that discussion. And so Fight Fight Night came about, which was not the first heartbeat project, but it came about, and um as an afterthought, he was like, Oh yeah, I'm gonna get y'all in it. And I don't take the afterthought personally because he has so much going on. I don't take most shit personally with him because I I know how busy he is. Absolutely, his mind is everywhere. So with that, he's like, uh, I got something. And I'm like, alright, cool, let's do it. And then the call that I got was hey Naeem, uh so we're gonna put you, Joey, and Spank uh in the opening scene. And uh, you know, it's not part of the script. You guys just gonna figure out something that's gonna show you a camaraderie, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, this ain't no fucking reality show. What do you mean a camaraderie?
SPEAKER_01Right. Give me a roll that I can sink my teeth into, give me some lines and let my DB credit.
SPEAKER_02Right, give me like give me something to where I can show my chops. I don't want to be in a scene as the plastic cup boy. Right. And we had a really big fight about that, and at the end of the day, I had to tell him, like, yo, I didn't ask you for this shit, and you can't get mad if I don't want to do it. This is my career. Right. If I don't want to do something, you have to respect that. I'm because it'd be one thing if I'm begging you back, please, please, please. But it wasn't on that type of time.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02So you're offering me something that's not even that could possibly be cut out of the fucking movie. Right. And this is not what you pitched to me. You said, you know, we're gonna find something for you guys, you know, it might be in multiple episodes, blah, blah, blah. And then the call that I received was the complete opposite of what he had just told me. Right. So we had a big fight about it. I love how y'all communicate. Oh, yeah, we talked, we talked about it. Yes. We had a big fight about it. But honestly, when we talked about it, actually, him and Spank had a big fight about it because Spank was defending how I my take on it, and I wasn't there. So when him and I finally had a conversation about it, It was one of the best conversations we ever had. It was beautiful. Yeah, so I mean, you know, all that to say, he did end up finally putting me in something. Okay. We decided, you know, I'm in 72 hours. I got a small part that's going to come out next year. Uh, and you got to start somewhere. Absolutely. You gotta start somewhere.
SPEAKER_03And spank you next. Okay. Spanking it too. He and the stuff. Oh, spanking it too. I'm a hater. Okay. Shout out to Tim Story. We'll pack it. Yeah, Tim Story. We'll pick it up. Appreciate it. All right, nah. So we got a game on here. Okay. We call Kill It or Let Live. Alright? Kill It or Let Live. I'm going to throw out some topics. You're going to say whether we should kill it. You know, like you ain't cool with it or let it live. It's all good. Kill it or let live. All right. A man's wife goes on vacation, but she says she not taking her cell phone. What you think?
SPEAKER_02Kill it or let it live? You gotta kill her.
SPEAKER_03She can't go without the cell phone. She can't have a girl's trip.
SPEAKER_02Nah. If a man did that shit, they showing up. They showing up on the vacation.
SPEAKER_01Hell nah. And technically, if you my gal, it's my job to protect you. I need to know where you're at. I need to know where you're at. Nah.
SPEAKER_02You out there with Eddie Murphy say Dexter St. Jacques?
SPEAKER_03Nah. Kill it. All right. Kill it or let live. Stephen A. Smith for president.
SPEAKER_02Man, next question. Fuck him. Kill it. Where did that come from? What was it? He's a coon. He's a coon. Okay, okay. It started. I used to like Stephen A. Smith. It started with the Colin Kaepernick shit. He was on Colin Kaepernick neck, and I didn't understand why he just why he was coming at him so hard like bro stuff or something. And he'd be like, well, what but what's your end goal? What are you doing? Like he's supposed to come to you and tell you about that shit. Who the fuck are you? It started with that, and then it just it just got worse from there. Kill it.
SPEAKER_03Alright. Stephen A. Smith, you're always invited. No, I'm joking. Nah, I'm a cool. Kill it or let live. Tyler Perry says he wants you to come over to his crib late night to discuss a movie role.
SPEAKER_00Come on, man.
SPEAKER_03To discuss a movie roll.
SPEAKER_04You know what?
SPEAKER_01Trying to start some trouble. This is just as ridiculous.
SPEAKER_03Let me rephrase it. Let me rephrase it. Okay. Kill it or let live. A high-powered producer says, come over to my house late night so we can discuss a movie role.
SPEAKER_02I'm going to say let live, let it live. And even if it's Tyler Perry, let it live. Because whatever's been said about him are allegations. And I've never had any problems with him. And even if the allegations are true, and if that's what he's into, he knows. I believe that people know who they can test that shit on. And I'm not the one. So if you ask me to come over to talk about movies, that's what I'm expecting to do. And if it goes somewhere else, I'm the fuck out of there. I'm not about to uh let some things happen and build up a case so that I can sue you. I'm gone. I'm all right.
SPEAKER_03Let it live. Kill it or let live. Oh I feel like, all right. Kill it or let live. Eating a girl's ass. I added on a toy.
SPEAKER_04A remix version of the gym.
SPEAKER_03Eating that version of the toilet. Kill it or let live. Eating a girl's ass right after she just left the gym.
SPEAKER_02Come on, man. You gotta kill it, bro. Wait a minute, wait, wait. That could be taken the wrong way. Kill it like you like you killing the eating. Nah, the answer's no. No? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The answer's no.
SPEAKER_02Hey man, I like the who would do that, though.
SPEAKER_03I like the D some nasty. That's some nasty.
SPEAKER_02Go to the gym, get it nice and sweaty, and then I'm gonna eat it. I'm not gonna eat your ass after the gym.
SPEAKER_01Why are you eating anything after the gym? Anything after the gym, BT? No, I'm just saying we can go look up in the air. Smoothie. We can go have a smoothie. Oh smoothie? No, I'm saying we can go eat. We can go eat together, you guys.
SPEAKER_04Come on. You know, it's no judgment here. I'm sorry, Bt. I shouldn't have made you feel that way about that, BT. You eat what you want to eat out, BT.
SPEAKER_02I'll suck titties after she got out the gym. I ain't gonna hold you. But why? Why not just say, hey, take a shower real quick? Like, I don't know. That means like it's an asking.
SPEAKER_01That's right. I gotta get back to the game. Okay. My friend's waiting for me on Call of Duty. I'm sucking two titties, I'm going back to the role.
SPEAKER_03All right. This is the last one. This is the last one. Kill it or let live. Starring in a movie, but making Kevin Hart audition for a role.
SPEAKER_01Why you setting him up like that? Why is that the face every time? That is what's been killing me, bro. Let it live. You gotta earn your part of this, bruh. That's funny. I'm dead. I I have to ask about the uh uh the special. Special was was great. You you I know you want to do another one. Which one which one? The last one you just did. On YouTube? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, it was. I feel like you always writing for a special. Well, I have uh so with that special, I we it was the end of our tour. And I told the you know, we were doing arenas, so they have a live feed of the show on the screen. So I was like, yo, just film that for me, and I'm gonna use it as a special. Just put it on YouTube. So I did that again on at the end of this tour, but I haven't gotten it yet. And when I was doing it, I was like, This is okay. I don't know how special it is. It was an outdoor venue, um, it was in like somewhere in Nevada, some weird place. So I'm not sure I'm gonna want to use that, but part of me wants to just shoot one again. I mean, even since then I've I've got some more jokes, so it's like I keep putting out these half hours, and I think half hour is cool because people's attention span is so low. I agree. But if I could do something to where it's like 40 to 45 minutes and then add some um BTS shit along with it, or you know, just some extra footage, I would do that. But do I want to spend the money where I could just take this footage and just put it on YouTube is the question.
SPEAKER_03Well, I was gonna say what's equally as important nowadays are the clips. So even even if the one that you already got shot, I would say cut that. Matt Rife, I always tell people, Matt Reif told me that before he popped, he was like, he was just shooting his special for the clips. He was like, I'm doing an hour and I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02But his shit is all crowd work though.
SPEAKER_03Right, but I'm saying fans.
SPEAKER_01OnlyFans was the first one, but it was all it was material. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was material. Yep, it was material. And so that's what I'm saying. Like, even if you put it on YouTube, you still have an editor cut up and put the clips out on YouTube shorts and Instagram. Because that shit that'll do a lot.
SPEAKER_02I was talking to somebody the other day, I saw Malik S. He's like, yo, you got all this footage out there. You should cut all your specials up over the years. Yep. Clips and put them out. I agree. I'm like, damn, that's true. I got I got a Comedy Central special. I did Live of Gotham at Comedy Central, I got the Plastic Cup Boys special, the two of those. Um I got then I got the last one I did was on YouTube, and then I just got like random shit from like all deaf comedy and bad boys of comedy. I probably could like, yeah, set all that up. I love your bad boys of comedy.
SPEAKER_04You got the Rose, I think Arsenio.
SPEAKER_03All you need is an editor. People people think they need assistance nowadays. Yo, number one thing is an editor to get an editor on your team. Absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The uh I gotta ask you, you started my uh my burger journey. Top five burgers, bro. In the world or like another. That you've had.
SPEAKER_02I told you I went to that spot you told me about, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Who spot is it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Bill's Bills burgers on this in Oxnard. Oxnard and Van Eyes, yeah. They like close to like three or four.
SPEAKER_03But it's fire, huh?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's good.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Man, it's shit, man. It's hard to say, bro. The most consistent burger is five guys. Five guys. Uh huh. Yeah, I like five guys. It tastes the same all the time. They got good ass cheese. Make it the way you want. Uh, easy street burger is a really solid smash burger. You been there? Keith Lee went there. It's um, you know, in Lancashire in North Hollywood, like by the the BMW dealership. Yeah. It's right there. Yeah. It's next to us restaurant called Ann Waffles. Um, oh, oh my God. Um, I had this burger, it was incredible. It's this place in Montclair, New Jersey called Far Far Ball. It's a um French restaurant. Okay. And they it's a seasonal thing. They just do it whenever they feel like doing it. It's a burger, a Wagyu burger with an oxtail marmalade. Truffle. Wagyu truffle burger with an oxtail marmalade and caramelized onions. Yeah. That shit was$75 and it was worth every dollar. Say word. Yeah. It was incredible. I've only had it one time. Every time I call it, like, nah, we don't have it right now. I'm like, man, just a seasonal.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that sucks.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I really can't give you a top five, but uh, if I want to, that was three. Yeah. But you put me on a stout. That was my. They closed though. I know. Yeah, style burger was was definitely solid. I like stout burger. I tell you, uh, you want to make a make a good burger by yourself? There's uh Private Sleep Go to Ralph's uh company called Private Selection. They make all types of shit. They got a prime rib burger. It's in a black box. That should've be better than better than any burger you can buy. And it's always on sale. It's always on sale. Prime Red Burger, though, like a just a you barely need any season. Tiny bit of season. Fire.
SPEAKER_01There it is. Uh I and and I this is my last question. Career-wise, you're you killing it, you are you're touring, you got the show. If you can have it career-wise, and when it's all said and done, what does it look like to you? How are you killing it in overall? Is it director, is it producer, is it starting in a movie, a TV show? What is it, what does it look like?
SPEAKER_02I can't see myself ever wanting to be behind the camera. Now, if I start doing a lot of films and shit, then maybe I could find an interest in it. But I don't think I don't think I want to do that. Like I see Lil'Re doing that shit already. I'm like, um If I could have the perfect career, it would be somewhere between and this is how I feel right now. We always we evolve into feeling different ways. It would be somewhere between Anthony Anderson and Samuel Jackson. I love it. Anthony Anderson always works. He's famous, but he's not too, too famous. Ain't nobody about to chase him down the fucking mall. But he's a respected actor, he's a comedic actor, he does everything. He stays, he always working. Samuel L. Jackson is the guy you don't get tired of. You know, I like people who are they get tired of certain people. A lot of people are tired of Kev because every time you turn the TV on, he's on a commercial or he's doing something. Nobody gets tired of that. That's a good point.
SPEAKER_04Sam is work a lot. You don't feel overwhelmed like that. You know, like, man, this nigga again.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's true. In commercials and all that too. That's a good point.
SPEAKER_02Nobody gets tired of Sam, and he's done every type of role you could think of. Everybody loves Sam Jackson. So somewhere between, that's how I feel right now. Like I just want to, if I could do two movies a year, if I could tour when I want to, not because I have to, right, then that's a great place to be. And when I when it's when I die, I don't, or when I, if I decide I want to retire, I don't gotta, I don't gotta work until I'm dead if I don't want to. You know what I'm saying? John Witherspoon, and I don't know if he had to, but he worked until the end. And I don't want to be that, I want to be like, alright, I'm done. Let me sit down somewhere. Do I I I don't think I'll ever be that way though. Because as a comic, you know, you're creative. You always like, I gotta get on stage and get this shit out. Right, right. So, but I just wanted to be because I feel like it. If I I I never want to win a lottery, because if I do, that means I have nothing to strive for, at least financially. Like I could have anything. I I like saying I want something and then working for it. But if I did win the lottery, I would still do everything I'm doing. I would still perform. Because for me, it's not about the money. The money's important, but it's never been about the money.
SPEAKER_03It is. Hey man, before we get out of here, man, you know, we be forgetting, make sure y'all subscribe. You know what I'm saying? Hit the like button. Get in them comments. We be forgetting to say that. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01Make sure you subscribe.
SPEAKER_03Hey, the numbers going up too, man. So we appreciate everybody that's subscribing. Uh leaving comments. Uh, we appreciate you. Uh I've been Justin Hyas.
SPEAKER_04London Brown. BT Kingsley.
SPEAKER_03In the one and only Naeem Lin, everybody. Yeah.