| Interviews |
| Terms | FAQ | Staff | About Us | Contact Us ©2005-2007 STAGE TIME - The Magazine That Stands Up For Comedy. All rights reserved. |
BACK ISSUES INTERVIEWS Stand-Up Comedians Jim Norton Robert Kelly Donnell Rawlings Brad Stine Tammy Pescatelli Leighann Lord George Sarris Nick DiPaolo Russ Meneve Shang and more By Tasha A. Harris, NYC Comedy Journalist STAGE TIME The Magazine That Stands Up For Comedy |
That's why black people - we protected. We always trying to keep up: "What you been up to?
Nothing man. I'm just trying to get a honest dollar. I'm trying to make a dollar out of
15 cents." If you go to another black comic and ask them:"What you been up to?" Oh yeah,
I got a reality show, a TV show, a radio show. See how long that conversation last. Alright,
nigga. I'll talk to you later." They want to hear you doing bad.
How did you get the opportunity to do the Chappelle's Show?
My relationship with Chappelle - everybody thinks that because me and Dave are from D.C.;
we're both black that he was the one who put me on, but his co-creator Neal Brennan saw me
at an In Living Color audition. He had like a low level job, maybe like a cameraman; he thought
I was funny.
Some time had passed and he had a writing relationship with Dave. They wrote Half Baked and
Half Baked got them like a three-picture writing deal with some other film houses, but none of
the movies were making it the theater. They were buying them, but they weren't being
produced.
He wrote this one-man short and he reached out to my people six years after I met him and
said, "I always thought Donnell was funny. I want him to do this." So I shot it with him. I didn't
know this guy was already rich. I told him, "If you're ever in a position where you can pay me
or throw me a bone, do it." A month later, he said he was working on something but he didn't
divulge too much information. I'm thinking nothing of it. A month later he says, "I got the
Chappelle's Show and I want you to be down."
A lot of people talk about "you gotta look out" but he's one of the only guys in my career who
said they were going to do something and really did it. And I have nothing but the utmost
respect for him.
How much input did you have in creating the characters like "Ashy Larry?"
I think I was funny enough that Dave just trusted me. Time on that show was valuable; they
didn't want to commit to anyone and say that anyone was the cast, so you didn't have the
luxury to say, "I don't have to do anything because they have to write for me." They were
like, "You're only as good as your last sketch."
So whatever they gave me, I tried to multiply that times ten. Like the "Ashy Larry" character;
he was just "Larry" and I saw the outfit he was going to wear. I was like, "I want to be ashy.
I want to write how much money people owe me on the side of my leg." And Dave loved it.
I brought the ash to him and he put the ash on top of "Larry." So, I've always pushed it.
Like the character "Beautiful," he wasn't on the script. I asked, "What's the next sketch?
I want to be on it. "Player Hater's Ball." I look at the breakdown one day and I didn't see my
name, so I stepped to him. "I thought the next thing I was supposed to be in was 'Player
Hater's Ball'" He was like, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You want to do it?" "Yeah!" He says, "What are
you going to do?" I'm like, "I don't know."
So literally for a 16-hour period, it went from me not being on the pages to like - I chose that
outfit. I went to hair and make-up. I got the wig, the props, the jeri curl bottle. Maybe, two
minutes before we went to shoot it, I didn't have a name and no dialogue. Everybody on the
set is laughing at me. I'm doing Michael Jackson moves with a jeri curl wig. And I walked past
the mirror and went, "Damn, I feel beautiful." "Beautiful!" And that's what his name was.
I went to Dave and told him, "I got the name." He was like, "What?" "Beautiful!" And then
he fell out.
They had got so comfortable with me that they really wouldn't even write dialogue; they knew
I was going to add something. Anytime you work with people that give you that much room,
you have to take advantage of it. I advise anybody to always go over the top and let them
bring you down. You never want to go home and say, "I wish I would have said that."
Who coined the phrase "I'm rich bitch?"
It was a punch line in one of Dave’s jokes. He wrote it and I just gave it a voice.
What effect did the show have on your career?
I think the show enhanced my career. I was on a path where I think I was good enough where
the right people were going to notice it.
Nothing man. I'm just trying to get a honest dollar. I'm trying to make a dollar out of
15 cents." If you go to another black comic and ask them:"What you been up to?" Oh yeah,
I got a reality show, a TV show, a radio show. See how long that conversation last. Alright,
nigga. I'll talk to you later." They want to hear you doing bad.
How did you get the opportunity to do the Chappelle's Show?
My relationship with Chappelle - everybody thinks that because me and Dave are from D.C.;
we're both black that he was the one who put me on, but his co-creator Neal Brennan saw me
at an In Living Color audition. He had like a low level job, maybe like a cameraman; he thought
I was funny.
Some time had passed and he had a writing relationship with Dave. They wrote Half Baked and
Half Baked got them like a three-picture writing deal with some other film houses, but none of
the movies were making it the theater. They were buying them, but they weren't being
produced.
He wrote this one-man short and he reached out to my people six years after I met him and
said, "I always thought Donnell was funny. I want him to do this." So I shot it with him. I didn't
know this guy was already rich. I told him, "If you're ever in a position where you can pay me
or throw me a bone, do it." A month later, he said he was working on something but he didn't
divulge too much information. I'm thinking nothing of it. A month later he says, "I got the
Chappelle's Show and I want you to be down."
A lot of people talk about "you gotta look out" but he's one of the only guys in my career who
said they were going to do something and really did it. And I have nothing but the utmost
respect for him.
How much input did you have in creating the characters like "Ashy Larry?"
I think I was funny enough that Dave just trusted me. Time on that show was valuable; they
didn't want to commit to anyone and say that anyone was the cast, so you didn't have the
luxury to say, "I don't have to do anything because they have to write for me." They were
like, "You're only as good as your last sketch."
So whatever they gave me, I tried to multiply that times ten. Like the "Ashy Larry" character;
he was just "Larry" and I saw the outfit he was going to wear. I was like, "I want to be ashy.
I want to write how much money people owe me on the side of my leg." And Dave loved it.
I brought the ash to him and he put the ash on top of "Larry." So, I've always pushed it.
Like the character "Beautiful," he wasn't on the script. I asked, "What's the next sketch?
I want to be on it. "Player Hater's Ball." I look at the breakdown one day and I didn't see my
name, so I stepped to him. "I thought the next thing I was supposed to be in was 'Player
Hater's Ball'" He was like, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You want to do it?" "Yeah!" He says, "What are
you going to do?" I'm like, "I don't know."
So literally for a 16-hour period, it went from me not being on the pages to like - I chose that
outfit. I went to hair and make-up. I got the wig, the props, the jeri curl bottle. Maybe, two
minutes before we went to shoot it, I didn't have a name and no dialogue. Everybody on the
set is laughing at me. I'm doing Michael Jackson moves with a jeri curl wig. And I walked past
the mirror and went, "Damn, I feel beautiful." "Beautiful!" And that's what his name was.
I went to Dave and told him, "I got the name." He was like, "What?" "Beautiful!" And then
he fell out.
They had got so comfortable with me that they really wouldn't even write dialogue; they knew
I was going to add something. Anytime you work with people that give you that much room,
you have to take advantage of it. I advise anybody to always go over the top and let them
bring you down. You never want to go home and say, "I wish I would have said that."
Who coined the phrase "I'm rich bitch?"
It was a punch line in one of Dave’s jokes. He wrote it and I just gave it a voice.
What effect did the show have on your career?
I think the show enhanced my career. I was on a path where I think I was good enough where
the right people were going to notice it.
| Home | News | Features | Interviews | Reviews | Essays | Columns | Archives | Feedback | Tell a Friend |