The George Willborn Episode

Chicago comedy legend George Willborn joins Promise for a candid conversation about the golden era of Black comedy, the legacy of Chicago's iconic All Jokes Aside comedy club, working alongside legends like Bernie Mac and Steve Harvey, and his experiences in radio, film, and stand-up. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Yo, you know who it is and what it is, the one they call Promise, the Yapper of the Year. Appreciate you tuning in to another episode of Straight from the Yap with Promise. Today, I got a very special guest in the building. Excited to sit down and talk with this brother. He's a Chi Town legend. You'd have seen him on the stage doing his thing on Comedy Central, BET's Comic View, Showtime at the Apollo, and so many others. He's been in Chi Rack. And man, listen, he is highly respected in this game. When you bring his name up in comedy circles, he gets that love. I got the one and only George Wilbur in the building. George.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

My man, what up, bro? What's good, man? What's up? Promise love, baby. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Man, thank you for coming through to the app house.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

I promised you I would.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yes. You did, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Yeah, that's what's up, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Let's get right into it, man. All jokes aside, for people who remember that era, that was like a, I say like a golden, a golden era, if you will, of comedy, especially for black comics. In the 90s, so many people were coming out in that era, and you had a very pivotal role. You were an MC, you were a host. Talk about what it was like in that time frame of holding that host, hosting role down to some of those names that came through that room.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

Well, all the names came through the room, you know, all the kings, all the queens, you know, the um, all of the ones of Def Jam and BT, you know, all of that. Uh all jokes aside, you know, that came before all of uh all of those shows. So that's what one of the dynamics that was was really incredible because in that era, it was just about the comedy and the audience. It wasn't no TV shows that you really uh was getting your exposure or your uh learning your craft from. But all jokes aside, was also the third black-owned comedy club in the country. So it was a place where black comedians were getting paid the right way. They was getting paid on time, they was getting paid a good wager, you know. So that that created a whole different dynamic. People came dressed up to the club, the club was sold out.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

And the best comedians in the country, and and some say in the world, were performing, you know, every week. So for me to be the House MC, you know, it was uh obviously a chance to first hone my craft, but also to befriend a lot of these cats and then end up being brothers and have brother and sisterhood that lasts to this day and and obviously um spreads well beyond comedy. You know, so all jokes aside, was that was a time where, you know, comedians, man, they, you know, they was really honing their craft and and audiences was getting a chance to see them, you know, um in their rawest, rawest form.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yeah. Man, like, I mean, you were there, man, the late great Bernie Mack, you know, Dale Given, Steve Harvey, said, you know, you said so many people.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Oh man, there's so many names, brother. You know, the owners, James Alex, uh James Alexander, Mary Lindsay, and Raymond Lambert, they uh the three of them, three black, you know, business people decided to, you know, that it was a void, which it was, especially when it comes to black comedy in Chicago. And and, you know, Chicago has got such a rich uh history of comics. Absolutely. We, you know, I think we hold the uh the crown when it comes to uh the level of comedy and the number of hitters. Y'all have some of the greatest comedians. Y'all have a hell of a roster. Yeah, well, we got a we got you know, we got a hell of a roster, but there was a a standard set. Yeah. And there's a camaraderie and uh uh and a, you know, and a bond and an expectation uh from Chicago audiences that you know that I believe created and helped create uh the bond that that Chicago comedians have for the most part with each other.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yeah, and and talk about that too, because you know, obviously comedy can be competitive, right? People trying to get opportunities, people trying to get looks. So especially in that era where chances and opportunities were slim. How was it to navigate, you know, in that time frame, coming up in Chicago with so many people on the cusp of becoming great, you know, in that in those early stages? How were you able to navigate in that era?

SPEAKER_03 4:54

For me, it was it was no problem because I was I had a place to work every week. You know, so I I had a paycheck and I was on, I was on radio, you know, and I was on the road. So for me, I was just truly blessed in that I had many opportunities uh that the average comedian may not have had, you know, in my city and other cities. But, you know, just having a comedy club there, you know, that presents a lot of opportunities for all those comedians that that were there. You know, you got Wednesday night, you got the open mic, you know, Cash was coming down on open mic and and getting opportunities um uh that way, you know. Um but um but for me, I was really, like I said, I was really, I was really blessed because I was being able to hone my craft, you know, every week. Yeah. And that and I was getting sharp. But then, you know, I had people like Bernie Mack and Adele Givens and Cheryl Underwood. We were all going up, you know, going to open mics together, you know. So we was that was iron shopping and iron.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

And like I said earlier, in its rawest form, and we was just learning and and uh and honing together and and bouncing stuff off of each other. And it's just those, those, those type of environments where you have though that level of of talent. Yeah, you know, and and it's other cities that, you know, that mirrored what we have in Chicago, obviously, maybe not to the same level or or the multitude.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Uh, but it does create, you know, it creates uh something special, I think, and for that city and for the comedians that that serve that city. I mean, we got everything, we got people that do TV, we got people that do commercials, you got, you know, if I start naming names, yeah, I mean, I'm gonna forget so many names, but you name the top comedians, you know, most, you know, many of them that you're seeing right now are are from Chicago. And some that you didn't even know was from Chicago or from Chicago.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah, no, like I said, from the from the past to present, y'all have a hell of a roster, you know.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

Chicago itself creates a level of funny. Just like New York comedians, they have, they have those boroughs that create all of that energy and all of those different cultures and that style. And that's why the New Yorkers have that style, you know. They owns and they and they and the and I lived in New York, so you know, I I've done, I performed there as well. So what it, you know, every the the South has that, you know, Atlanta has that, you know, somebody they got some hitters in Atlanta, yeah, you know, and always have. And that that culture, DC comedy, you know, just phenomenal audience already trained and expectation high. Yeah. So when you got expectations that are high from the audience, you got expectations that are high from your peers, and then from the people who came before you, that creates motivation for comedians, you know, in certain areas to step their game up.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah. Well, let me ask you this, because I don't think off the record, on the record, I don't think I've ever asked you this before, and it might be hard for you to do it, but Chicago does have so many hitters. We always do these lists off the top of your head, like you got a top five, shot town.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

I don't, I don't, I mean, listen, man, let me tell you this. Comedy is subjective, and everybody knows that.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

You know, so they want to say that, but you don't want to really dive into what that means. That means this is it's funny to me, it's funny to you, or it's funny to this person. You could be dying laughing at somebody, and the person sitting right next to you listens to the exact same joke. Straight faced. Just doesn't rock it. So, and I I have a uh, like I'm in a gang with you guys that are comics. I'm a I'm an OG in this thing, you know, that we call comedy, you know. So I don't see comics as unfunny or list them here or there, you know, and none of you niggas funnier than me. So, yeah, I mean, what what do you want to what do you want me to what do you want me to listen to? George, George, George, George, George, by Latin. So, you know, you know, so and but and and many people feel that way. A lot of people think I'm the funniest person in the world. A lot of people think the kings of command are the kings and they're the funniest person. People think Bernie is the funniest person they ever heard. Some people think that the man ain't nobody funnier than promise. And that's what our job is, is to get as many people who feel that way about us as possible and not feel some type of way for those who don't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Get people to buy into what you what you're selling.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Yeah, and if they don't, that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yeah. You know? Yeah. Now, we were talking a little bit now. Now you just said something in conversation that you told me you don't do on stage no more.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Um, the N-word.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_03 9:50

I said on stage. I know y'all heard me. I don't know if you gotta bleep it out or whatever, but I know you heard it. I I said I don't say the N-word on stage anymore. Yeah, I stopped saying it, man. Um How long ago? About two years ago, maybe two and a half years ago. Um, so I just decided I didn't want to say the word anymore on stage, and a lot had happened, you know, obviously in our in our society and in our world. And I'm sure to whatever degree that that might have had a uh um an effect on my decision not to do it, but that wasn't solely it. And none of my agents was like, hey, George, you'll be uh better received. I just didn't want to say it anymore. I'm I'm well versed. My vocabulary skill is is is well extended enough where I I can express myself without using the word. Yeah. And so I didn't want to use it. And so last year, I'm uh the year before last, I decided uh make a resolution. I wasn't gonna say it no more on stage. Okay. And I only said it 72 times that that year, which was good for me, which was good for me. And as of last year, I only said it 32 times last year. Oh, that's growth.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Absolutely, growth and development.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

This year. Thank you very much. This year, I have only said the word seven times. My nigga.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

My nigga, my nigga. Yo, yo. This show is not sponsored by this word.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

I said on stage, I'll stop using the word when I don't know no more.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

When I don't know no more niggas, I'll stop using the word nigga. I'll stop saying the word nigga when no more normal niggas owe me money. How about that?

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yo.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

I'll be saying it to the day I'm I have oxygen on my nose. You gotta put a yeah, but I just don't, I just don't, I I don't want to say the word, so I I I decided not to do that. It's and I always want to continue to challenge myself as an artist as well.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

So I you it's funny you say that because obviously you are a veteran in this game, you're somebody I respect, somebody I look up to. And me in my young stages, I have made it a a uh a thing where I try to intentionally not use it.

unknown 12:06

Good.

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Which is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

You know what I'm saying? There's that's not crazy, that's smart. Okay, yeah, because there's times where I'm like, nah, how can I do that?

SPEAKER_03 12:12

Because when you're doing auditions or when you're in Hollywood, or when you're doing certain TVs, or you're doing television, when you're doing church events, when you're doing uh corporate events, we we we don't we don't do that when you do um press for your shows on on morning news and uh on morning uh talk shows. Yeah you don't do that when you go on radio. We both do radio, been doing radio for years. You don't you don't curse on the radio, yeah. You don't curse at church, you don't curse around your mother and your and your grandmother.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

I don't know, I just seen that video of that pastor.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Some of these pastors do they do.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

I don't know what church he was at. Y'all mean he he was he was on one.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

I went to one church, he talked about look here now. Turn to the book of enthusiastics.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Enthusiastic. I said, Fan, that ain't flipping out through the Bible and see enthusiastic.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

That's one of the lost chapters, huh? You better stop playing with the Lord and get a little warm in here.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Oh, man, that is too funny, y'all. Uh, but on a side note, um, if you're at a comedy show, or if you're anywhere, and you find yourself in an unfortunate situation where you need an injury attorney, there's only one name you need to know. That's Nicola. Hit up my team from Nicolaw, N-I-C-L-O-L-E-T. Nicola Law, they make insurance companies pay, you get the beer, you get the win. I know you can see the billboards all over southeastern Wisconsin. Sunglasses, bald head beer, yeah, that's my dude Russ. Holla at Nicola Law, they will make insurance companies pay and get you the money you need. Nicolaw.com for more.

SPEAKER_03 13:47

Now you gotta call them, you gotta call them first, too. Call me for the police. Make sure you call Nick and them boys first. All right, and don't move. Don't move. Nick don't like when you move. Just try to try to put it on voicemail and be like, Nicola, Nick, I'm here. Call the police and then don't move. Say, I can't move my neck, and Nick can be right there for you.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Jordan said, call Nickel A first.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

He said, Don't call the police before you call them. Let them get there first.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Man, you a damn fool, bro. Um, we talked a little bit about radio. Yeah. Obviously, you have had success in multiple arenas, man. You've been blessed to do it on the stage. Yeah. And you also have been on nationally successful syndicated radio shows. At least four of them. Um did you always have an interest in radio? Yeah. Because of stand-up, did that just happen.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

I had no interest. I didn't send no demo tapes. I didn't have this air check. I didn't uh see what stations was. Yeah. Uh I was doing comedy at all jokes aside, and one night, uh, no, I actually did a, I got hired to do a show for uh uh Diane Reeves.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

And the radio station B-103 sponsored, I think, her show. I did the show, and whatever the sales guy that was was responsible for that show saw me and he went back and he told the programmer director at B-103. Okay. And then they brought their whole sales team down to All Jokes Aside, including this one of the uh sales managers, white boy named Kirby.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

And uh, you know, All Jokes Aside was packed, man. All of the Bears and the Bulls, you know, their wives would all come, all the who's who would come. People put their best on and just, you know, and so it was a big deal. And um, his whole team came out there and I and I had a great time. You know, I I do a lot, y'all call it uh crowd work now, the young comic shop call it crowd work. I call it worker without a net. I've been doing it for longer than some of y'all have been alive. But I was doing some of that and I did some of that stuff with the salespeople.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

And the next day, uh Max Myrick, he came back to my next show the next night by herself. And uh and he watched my show again. I didn't know he was there. And I came in the bathroom, go to the bathroom in the hallway, and he offered me a job. He said, Hey, man, you you uh, what do you think about coming on morning radio? I said, Well, as long as it doesn't affect and it doesn't uh interfere with my desires and my aberrations to do stand-up and television and film, I don't have a problem with it. So uh about two weeks later, you know, I moved into the building that the radio station was in, so I could try to be on time and and um and started doing radio. Just it was a natural fit, and I didn't have I don't have a persona with none of this, with stand up with with comedy, unless I'm acting and I have a character that I have to portray. You just you know, it's just what you see and what you hear is what you get. And so that's what I bring to radio. That's what I bring to stand up. Uh that's what I bring to, you know, a person that I uh see at Chick-fil-A.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Yeah, my pleasure. I try to catch them when they don't say that shit. I caught them one day. Oh, they have to say my pleasure? I don't know about the ones in Atlanta or in Chicago, but the ones that no, no, the ones in Atlanta definitely don't say my pleasure.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

They be like, What? Man, you better hurry up, bro.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

The ones over here, boy, after the little. So you try to catch them. In case they don't say all the one that I said, hey, hey, man, say man. Yes, sir. I said, you ain't saying my he said, Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Sorry about that, sir. Y'all black folks are really y'all acting up down here.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Well, I had to, I wanted to I wanna see where he was at with it. I said, hey, you you ain't on script, buddy. Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Now you talked a little bit about acting, and you got a chance to work with one of my favorite directors, um, man, Spike Lee, um, on the project Shire Chirac.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

What was that experience like of working with a guy like Spike Lee, who a lot of us look at, you know, as a legendary, you know, director in mind in film?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Um, that was uh that was a really cool experience. Uh, the way it all happened and unfolded, because I had auditioned for another part, you know, and uh many people in Chicago, you know, some of the local Chicago uh actors and comedians had an opportunity because they cast, you know, um some of the parts locally, obviously, some of the major parts. When you look at that film, it was just so many stars in it. Just to be a part of that, yeah, you know, was incredible. But the process was um was even extra uh ordinary in that I was uh um going after a different role. And then I came uh to do the audition and uh I met Spike. I was like, hey, what's up, man? How you doing? George, he's like, man, I know exactly who you are. Wow. And he said, um, he said, give me that. He took those sides, he said, read this. So he had a totally different role for you. Different role for you. So you got, you know, he said, I'll give you five, ten minutes. And and so cold reads uh are are very difficult. Now explain what a cold read is. That's just you're just on the spot, you know. And you know, no no real time. I had a couple of days with the character that I had auditioning for. I had 10 minutes for the the thing that he handed me, you know. And so, um, but I went in and I and I and I changed one of the lines, which you're never supposed to do either.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

And I changed one of the lines. I went and I did it, uh I did the audition, and he was like, man, me, he was like, man, that's a great lion. Is that how you use that? I was like, no, you can have that, you know. So, you know, he he used it, he used me. He, you know, you know, ended up being telling me he was a fan of mine, who knew about my work. So that experience was a bit surreal. But then to be able to learn and be able to be on a set and see someone as meticulous uh and and such uh um such a master at what he does was also a blessing. Not to mention, you know, to be on uh on the set with uh Angela Bassett and and and Harry Lennox and you know, and Wesley Snipes and John Kuzak and the list just went on and on on that cast, and everybody was so kind and just a um that was a good experience, even though none of you Negroes went to go see the movie, you know, so it don't really matter, man. People like that. But I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the style, I think, and then ended up um uh keeping the relationship with Spike. So that was absolutely so you know, we still you know, we still keep in contact. I wouldn't be surprised if I pop up on something else, you know, before he gets done. I hope so. That was a great experience.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Let's speak down to us, this and that's dope. Now, of course, we know Spike is Mr. New York Knicks, like he is the ultimate Knicks. No, no, no doubt. No doubt. And the Knicks obviously are, you know, about to be in the in the finals. Um, we were talking a little bit earlier. Man, you have a dope experience at at the garden with your son, man.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Yeah, my oldest son, George III. Yeah, we we um he played D1 basketball, um, played for UTSA and transferred to UC Riverside and uh had a had a great um college career. Yeah. Um and um years ago, you know, good friend of ours, Mike Woodson, who when he was a uh coach for the New York Knicks, he had us come down and I got a chance to, you know, play ball with my son on the garden floor. And you know, he was got a chance to meet his his his mentor, uh Camelo Anthony. And just yeah, that was a that you know, for moments like that, you know, you know, for a dad, you know, and for a guy that really, you know, my father was gone. So all those experiences I had with my older son and my younger son, Mason, you know, um, I cherish those more more than any of the things. I've done professionally for sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Because what you do for a living don't define who you are. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 22:06

No. No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

No. Yeah. You being a dope dad is gonna mean way more than being an amazing company.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

I man, I I hope so. I hope to be able to do two. I hope to do both. You know, I hope to be able to do both. But I certainly rather be successful uh um in in their lives opposed to um being successful to uh you guys. But hey, that don't mean I want y'all to do what y'all gotta do.

unknown 22:30

Right.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Come on. Let's let's keep it 100.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

But the crazy thing is, um you had me tripping out though, like you said there's a very well-known former Nick player who you you say you ran into in the gym uh that day. Um God. Uh J.R. Oh yeah. You said J.R. Smith. So if you if you don't mind sharing with the audience, what was it?

SPEAKER_03 22:56

It was years ago, years ago when I was we was at the visiting and we were playing, and J.R. Smith walked through um um the cafeteria, and I was like, hey, what's up? And he spoke and everything. Uh got he got him some snacks or some yogurt or whatever the hell they know he he was getting in and he left out. And it was just me and my son, George, and he dropped dropped the envelope. Um, and and he and he walked on out. And so I grabbed it and and and I was just going to get him, and it's an envelope full of money.

unknown 23:28

Shh.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

Just just hundred dollars, just stacks, stacks on stacks. And you know, I ran down the hall and you know, ran on past him and got on out of there. No, no, no. Them bulls kicked that ass a couple years ago, too. No, I just gave the man his money and um and obviously he was appreciative. But like I told you, anytime you're in a space like that, or someone uh invited you in some uh something as sacred as a locker room or someone that's you know somewhere that you know you have people that you know are established and and you know, you wanna you wanna act accordingly, obviously, and you just obviously want to do the right thing. Are you uh I I've I'm I'm surprised at that many things. I'm sure you would have done the exact same thing, promise. Absolutely. After I took a few dollars off.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

Let me stop, man. Hey, let me stop. I still gotta go back to Pfizer. Let me chill out. Um now, you know, I wanted to ask you this too, because you have come from a lineage of great years in comedy, but you still going now. Like you're still funny as hell now. Yes. George, what what motivates you to continue doing this crazy?

SPEAKER_03 24:43

I'm a student of the game. Um I'm honing my craft every chance I get. I'm incredibly grateful and blessed to be able to have a talent and to do something that I absolutely would pay to do myself. And um, and I want to be the absolute best that I can be at it.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Because I'm I'm I'm helping people too. See, I'm helping myself, but you know, comedy is so healing, and when you really do it on a high level and you continue, the you know, the better you get, the more you can heal, and and the the better the medicine, the the you know, and and I like that aspect of it. Uh you know, uh a lot of people that come to my show, I know that they come because they know I I do hard laughter. Stressful now. I'm not a giggler.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

I'm gonna have your stomach hurting, y'all have you slapping on people, you sweating your beijing out and all of that. And I've always enjoyed that because I have people and fans and and supporters that come who they want that kind of comedy. They want to laugh hard. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because they they're there for the laughs. But I'm also there for the people who you had to drag there. People who then had a bad medical report, or uh they, you know, going through a real tough time mentally, or your family had to drag their ass out, or because they wouldn't, they wouldn't open up their shades, or they wouldn't get out the bed.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

Those people, when I get them, it's really important because everybody ain't there because they want to laugh. Some people there because they need to laugh.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

Facts, that part.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

So me working hard and honing my craft, that'll be able to allow me to touch the people that not only there that want to laugh, but those who there that really, really need to laugh, then I can be able to assist them.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

But also, too, George, you know how like you're speaking on what that audience needs. Can you speak a little bit about like how it's also therapeutic for us up there on stage as well?

SPEAKER_03 26:37

Well, only if you're brave enough.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Only if you're brave enough to open up to talk about those uncomfortable things. To talk about things. It's easy to get on stage and talk about, oh, look at this guy, he got a double chin, he got he ain't got no neck, and he got one crack eye and all that. Yeah, but what's wrong with you? And how do you turn that into something that, you know, is relatable? Because, you know, what about your alcoholism and the time that you almost peed on yourself, you know, you was at church or whatever that story is, yeah, that may be funny when you're telling it to about somebody else. Well, how funny is it when you're telling it about you? Yeah. And some of the, you know, the greatest of comedians have always been able to take some of our own tragedies and some of the things that we are not so proud of, you know, and um and turn that into comedy and and um and heal from that, and then consequently heal somebody else who might be going through the exact same thing. Yeah. So if a comic has the courage to get out there and and really tap into, you know, you know, that part of comedy. Yeah. I mean, the great Richard Pryor was one of the one of the best and one of the most courageous when it came to talking about things that he had gone through. Yeah. And and most great comedians do that. You know, so I wanna I wanna mimic that. And I wanna I wanna go to that, that's a whole nother level. Uh, and it's many levels to this, but that's a whole nother level when you're gonna uh put the microscope on yourself opposed to everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

And I I I referenced you a lot. Um you may or may not remember, but you gave me some advice. Um, one of the first times I ever got a chance to be around you and rock and open for you. Um I remember like the first night I performed, you basically came to me and would tell me, like, yo, like you funny. Like what you did was funny, but in so many words, you told me I was surface. Like, like you like, that's low-hanging fruit. I remember you telling me.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Well, if somebody like you, because you're a thinker, and I had already saw, you know, you was uh you was, you know, if if your person that is uh uh a student on the craft like you, then why fool around with stuff that you know, I mean, uh an audience that's a well-trained and and that's wanting a lot or wanting more from that, that's not gonna feed them anyway. Yeah. You know, you can't eat and they can't eat off of that. Yeah. You know, that's if you learn, if you just learn and you learn, you know, you gotta crawl before you walk. You know, I get that. Yeah. But I believe at that time I had met you, you know, I just saw a little bit more than you told me basically I was better than that. Yeah, yeah. I thought I thought you were.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Yeah, you was like, bro, like you was like, go deep, you know, and I and that, George, that resonated with me. Like I never forgot you telling me that. So every year I kept going. Like you said.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Don't worry, in one year you will get better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Blame me on my own shit. He like, one day you're gonna learn how to find everybody without the training wheel. Just not tonight.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

No, you're doing a great job, man. Thank you. On the air, radio, comedy, you're doing it the right way, man.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

So I like to appreciate, like I said, I don't forget those tips. When I get to around, get to be around people like yourself and some of the other legends, OGs, I've been blessed to be around. I never take it for granted and I listen more than I talk when I'm around y'all.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

I fuck it up. Well, that's debatable, but what I want you to do is to continue to do what you do, create your own space promise, create your own lanes, create your own shows, do comedy shows, do podcasts, create your own stuff, and and you don't have to ask somebody, you know, can you sit at their table when you built your own table?

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Respect. No, I appreciate that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

No problem.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

George, before I get you out of here, you know we got to play our game first and last. I'm gonna ask you a first, I'm gonna make sure last. They may or may not be connected. All right. We got first and last with the one and only stress reliever. All right. George, what's the first thing you do when you wake up?

SPEAKER_03 30:36

I thank God for waking up. Respect that. Likewise.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Amen. Usually, usually before my eyes open, but definitely before my feet hit the ground.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

Yeah. No, I totally respect that. George, this is one of the first times I saw you kill it. This is one of my favorite things I've seen you do over the years. You murdered it on Shaq's All-Star Comedy Jam. When's the last time you watched that performance?

SPEAKER_03 31:07

Oh my God. Years. It's been years. Years. Maybe when how when was that? But that 10. Like 2010? Oh, it's been it's been well over a decade.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Well over a decade. I'm trying to create new moments. Right. You know.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

But you know, people still talk about that performance.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

I mean, still repost clips, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 31:32

Look, hey, hey, keep keep doing it, keep reposting. But yeah, it's been well over 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

I'm not a uh a consumer of my own material.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Is it tough for you to watch yourself?

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Not not in, you know, I'm a I'm a tough critic and all of that, like any, like most artists, but but I'm just trying to create, man, and do it. So I don't get too much into it. I'll if I got a joke or something or a perform performance that I want to see something, then yeah, uh I'll go back and I'll check it out. But I I don't do a lot of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Yo, shout out to my producer can be.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

The beard, the beard shit.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

No, but yeah, that like I said, that that clip, you know what I mean, sometimes on YouTube and you know, social media, those clips still rang off. And I'd be happy because I'm like, I know, bro. Like, not just that it's funny, but like the comments on social media though, they laughing, but they be wild, George. Because the, you know, it was a different time period. You don't dress like that no more. But they was talking about the boots. They said you had on constitution boots. They were saying constitution, but it sounded like you said.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

George, it was not the shit.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

That's what it sounded like. It sounded like you're talking about vase. Who the fuck the bank? All of a sudden, they didn't say that. They didn't ask one question all today. All of a sudden, now they said something about the boots. I didn't say anything else.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

You said anything else, but they said something about the I would I didn't say nothing about the declaration of they said you got a little bit of ass beard.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

That's what they said. They say it ain't a real goatee. That's what they say. They say your hairline is going back a little bit there.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

I didn't say that. They said that. Now we didn't turn it to the roast, Joey. We're gonna do that. Yeah. They said they made you a real teeth.

SPEAKER_03 33:17

I said they are.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

We ain't doing the veneer, doing the hey, you all you know all about all that. They all down there with that.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Oh, I don't know. I don't I wouldn't know. I brush mine 32 times a day. And my and my mother got me braces. She loved me.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Oh man, man. When what is the first like what's the first big purchase? Like when you got a certain check or a bag in this industry, what's like the first purchase you was like, I gotta buy? One of the first things you bought.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

I don't know if it was the first.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

Because I had a family, you know, when I was really making, you know, big purchase type of you know. Um probably my Bentley was the the first big purchase that was for me. But I knew I wanted one when um I was 10. I said I wanted I wanted a Bentley.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

What color?

SPEAKER_03 34:20

I it was a blue azura.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Bentley Azura, okay.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

Yeah, a blue azura drop top. Ooh. And but I and I was 10, I wanted that car. I not that car, but I wanted a Bentley. I didn't even know what the, you know, which model it was. I know that. I wanted a uh Black Panther. I wanted two Black Panthers in a mansion. Actual. Actual pet Black Panthers. Damn. And I wanted to um have a house in in Barbados. Okay. So I've never been to Barbados. I don't have the Black Panthers, but I did have uh two black shihsuits, and that's cool stuff. And um, and I got the Bentley. So I got a couple things off my my 10-year-old bucket list that I still have, but the Bentley was probably the one of the first big purchases that I made.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

And I was blessed to have a couple more after that. A couple more purchases.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Hey, we got a thing on this show, George, called Pop Your Shit. Last one. What is the last thing you do before you go to sleep?

SPEAKER_03 35:19

I pray. I thank God for waking me up, starting me on my way. And I thank him for all that he was done. And I brush my teeth before I pray.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Gotta have a clean mouth when you talk to the Lord, huh?

SPEAKER_03 35:34

Well, not all of us. Not all of us.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

George, if they not follow you, man, make sure you give them out the social media so they can.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

Y'all follow me at the stress reliever or the stress reliever. It's the same damn word, depending on what school you went to. Follow me at the stress reliever or uh G Wilborn, Wilburne, W-I-L-L-B-O-R-N. Uh my cash app is Dallas. Oh no. Damn. Lock the doors. No. I'm like the preachers. Y'all get the preachers all the money. You can't get a comedian, son.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

You know, I said something on stage one day, like, strippers get tipped, the dude on the corner singing songs get tipped. Why comedians don't? The DC.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

They never tip us. Even the promoters. Promoters out here. Let me tell you something. What's wrong with y'all giving the tip to, you know, especially when you have your milk bath? You know, promoters, they have two types of bath. They have a milk bath and a blood bath. All right? Break it down. But when they but when they had that bloodbath, they ain't got no problem coming to you. Hey man. It was light tonight. Man, it was light, man. Can I pay the rest of that next week, man? Hey, man.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Hey, when they go, hey man.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

Man, man. I'm man, I took a killing. But when they had that milk bath, you don't never see them come say, hey man, man, I did so good, you know. You love.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

Please bless you. No, no.

SPEAKER_03 37:01

So keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

It don't it'll never happen. And you know, again, Straight from the Yahweh Promise is sponsored by Nicolay Law, Wisconsin, and the Midwest, number one injury attorney. So if you find yourself where you are in need of one of those, you know what to do. How out my man Russ and Nicolay Law. Go to Nicolaw.com for more or call 185-N-I-C-O-L-E-T. It's been another episode of Straight from the Yahweh Promise. I appreciate George Wilburne coming through. No problem. Kicking with me in the Yap house also blessing us for funny on Sunday for the three-year anniversary. No doubt. No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

It's gonna be a great time, man.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Yes, man. Much love and continue successful.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

If you get hit by the car, lay there. Don't move. To Nick and the boys get there. Don't move. Just lay there.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

We out here to the next time. Make sure you follow us, subscribe, like, comment. We out of here. You already know. It's not a threat. It's a promise. Yeah it is.