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Rikki Hughes Full Interview · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:00
Speaker 1: My next guest has a content creating production company called
0:03
Speaker 1: Magic Lemonade. I love that name. The production company specializes
0:08
Speaker 1: in television, film, and new media, with offices in Hollywood, California,
0:13
Speaker 1: and Atlanta, Georgia. Her company, Magic Lemonade, creates and produces
0:16
Speaker 1: content from pre to post production for networks and studios.
0:20
Speaker 1: Known as the Woman behind the Labs, I've known her
0:23
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of years, so I know
0:24
Speaker 1: for a fact she's been associated with me on many
0:27
Speaker 1: comedy productions. She made history last year is the first
0:30
Speaker 1: African American female recipient of an Emmy for Outstanding Variety
0:34
Speaker 1: Special for her role as producer of a Dave Chappelle
0:38
Speaker 1: comedy special and also want a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
0:42
Speaker 1: Please Welcome to money making Conversation and fantastic and brilliant
0:46
Speaker 1: producer Ricky Hughes. Hey, how are you? I have to
0:52
Speaker 1: put it out there? Girl? You know you're out there
0:54
Speaker 1: doing it. You know you know I saw your photos
0:56
Speaker 1: holding the Grammy and holding the Emmy. I love it.
0:58
Speaker 1: I love shared us. You know, thank you, you know,
1:02
Speaker 1: because I don't like to, you know, because I got
1:04
Speaker 1: a couple of Grammage, I got some image awards, and
1:06
Speaker 1: I you know, you can find him in my house.
1:08
Speaker 1: You know they're not They're not somewhere right there, right there.
1:11
Speaker 1: Either you're blind or you just don't want to look.
1:13
Speaker 1: My mom. You can see my stuff when you walk
1:15
Speaker 1: in my house. So because because you know, as a
1:18
Speaker 1: as a producer, you know, it's kind of like the
1:21
Speaker 1: crown jewel of people recognizing what you do. Because we
1:24
Speaker 1: operate behind the scenes. You know, the talent always gets recognized,
1:28
Speaker 1: gets recognizing in the streets, generally gets recognized with a
1:30
Speaker 1: bigger paycheck. But as a producer, talked to us about
1:34
Speaker 1: winning those awards, I mean, you know these awards. One,
1:39
Speaker 1: you know, working with Dave Chappelle is always a joy,
1:43
Speaker 1: a pleasure and honor um. And then to be recognized Dave,
1:47
Speaker 1: as you said, it is always front and center, which
1:49
Speaker 1: as he should be. And you know, these awards were
1:53
Speaker 1: really about our peers recognizing us for especially to Emmy,
1:57
Speaker 1: was you know for stand Laton and I to be
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Speaker 1: recoge nice, you know, as a producers who really you know,
2:02
Speaker 1: put the show together and protected the voice for Dave.
2:05
Speaker 1: So you know, when we sat there and you know,
2:09
Speaker 1: we were up against some really big names and you know,
2:13
Speaker 1: some comeback, Carl Burnett to come back, you know, and
2:16
Speaker 1: speaking the room Martin Short, you know, carful karaoke like,
2:21
Speaker 1: there was some really big names there. So we were
2:23
Speaker 1: really in the place, We're excited to be in this
2:25
Speaker 1: building at this moment, you know, sharing the moment. And
2:28
Speaker 1: then they started playing killing Me Softly and we heard
2:31
Speaker 1: the song We're like, wait, that's Day's favorite song. And
2:33
Speaker 1: then they said saying Latey Ricky Hughes a Chappelle and
2:37
Speaker 1: we kind of looked these other were like, yet up,
2:39
Speaker 1: So you know, you know, finally got up because we
2:42
Speaker 1: just didn't really anticipate that um but we still stood
2:46
Speaker 1: in a lot of gratitude and had a great time
2:49
Speaker 1: sharing that moment. And it's always great to feel like
2:51
Speaker 1: you're recognized by your peers, you know, you know, it's
2:53
Speaker 1: really special because stan Lathan, you know that that that's
2:56
Speaker 1: a legendary name that needs a documentary attached to his name, Okay,
3:00
Speaker 1: because I tell him all the time he is, you know,
3:03
Speaker 1: he is what if you want to say, the King
3:05
Speaker 1: of comedy, I would call staying the king or the Emperor,
3:11
Speaker 1: you know, because and he's so humble and you know
3:14
Speaker 1: in his approach, but in the end, he's definitely one
3:16
Speaker 1: of my favorite people. On the surface. You know, Standing
3:18
Speaker 1: and I you know, did Deaf Comedy Jam together, Standing,
3:21
Speaker 1: did Steve Harvey's sitcom that was on the w B
3:24
Speaker 1: Staying did Uh the Kevin hart Uh improv show on
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Speaker 1: a bt UM. You know, he's he's he's he's constantly
3:34
Speaker 1: staying current. He's constantly stays revel and I apologize I
3:38
Speaker 1: forgot Deaf Comedy Jam, which changed the face of standing
3:42
Speaker 1: up comedy today. That's staying late and that's that's just
3:45
Speaker 1: part of that's why she says he's the king of
3:47
Speaker 1: comedy from a producer jack the producer, from a director standpoint,
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Speaker 1: you know, he like I said, I I consider him
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Speaker 1: a friend, I consider a person mentor because I've been
3:58
Speaker 1: in the position to stand back and watch what he does.
4:01
Speaker 1: But the key words that you say very humble. Oh
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Speaker 1: my god, he's so humble. It's it's it's almost ridiculous.
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Speaker 1: I mean the fact that he goes back to sestme
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Speaker 1: Street of Mom's navely like that, such a breast of
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Speaker 1: work that stands you know between it's just you know,
4:21
Speaker 1: right now, you're the Queen of Queen of Comedy producer.
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Speaker 1: That's my girl here, Mrs Ricky Hughes. So you know,
4:28
Speaker 1: let's let's talk about some of the times I met you. Okay, uh,
4:31
Speaker 1: just to show you the journey. I like to say,
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Speaker 1: the first and only BT comedy special We Might Win
4:38
Speaker 1: the Steve Harvey Holts and I was fortunate to be
4:41
Speaker 1: a producer on the show along with you, and then
4:44
Speaker 1: several times on Rip the Runway, uh, which I thought
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Speaker 1: was a cool concept of of being even making making
4:53
Speaker 1: a fashion our version of Victoria's Secrets Runway and um,
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Speaker 1: and those those moments of meeting you. What I always
5:00
Speaker 1: encountered was professionalism. You knew your job and you stayed
5:05
Speaker 1: on top of the game. Of course I talked about
5:06
Speaker 1: the Monique Talk Show, just other projects that wouldn't personally involved.
5:10
Speaker 1: I would walking in and see you. They're always smiling,
5:13
Speaker 1: always on top of your game. What motivates you to
5:16
Speaker 1: be successful? Just you know, my motivation is really just
5:22
Speaker 1: to be great and and everything that I do and
5:25
Speaker 1: make sure that I'm impeccable with my words. A lot
5:27
Speaker 1: of times that keeps me with kind of with my
5:29
Speaker 1: head down and just moving quickly through things. Um, I know,
5:32
Speaker 1: as a leader of the ship, it's always important. I
5:34
Speaker 1: know that every eye is always on me, So it's
5:36
Speaker 1: always important to be calm, cool and collective. Like never
5:39
Speaker 1: no one ever hears me speak above this voice, no
5:41
Speaker 1: matter what's going on. And I know that there's a
5:44
Speaker 1: responsibility in that, and I just you know, I own that.
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Speaker 1: And you know, it's really important for me that everything
5:52
Speaker 1: that we put onto that screen is really reflective of
5:54
Speaker 1: what our intentions were. Now, it is really interesting when
5:58
Speaker 1: I talk because just true you this is her tone
6:01
Speaker 1: when she's uh if she if she is upset, she
6:04
Speaker 1: never I say, brings it out. She she would have
6:08
Speaker 1: the conversations, let you know if you're doing your job
6:10
Speaker 1: right or wrong. But the thing about is that consistency.
6:13
Speaker 1: But let's talk about before we get into the how
6:16
Speaker 1: you started in music and the transition of the name
6:18
Speaker 1: of your company, Magic Lemonade. Give us that back story.
6:23
Speaker 1: So Magic Lemonade one, I just want to do about
6:27
Speaker 1: that Magic Lemonade. Where does that come from? Well, Magic
6:31
Speaker 1: Lemonade came from a place, you know, at the point
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Speaker 1: where I wanted to you know, I'd worked for with
6:36
Speaker 1: so many other people and I realized it was time
6:39
Speaker 1: for me to hang out my own shingle. And I say,
6:41
Speaker 1: you know what happens no matter no matter what happens
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Speaker 1: with any projects that are brought to me or that
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Speaker 1: I create, I always have to add a little magic
6:49
Speaker 1: to it to make it the sweetest lemonade possible. And
6:52
Speaker 1: the biggest thing is you can't say it without smiling,
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Speaker 1: absolutely though. It's just it's a reminder that we can't
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Speaker 1: take the so serious, you know, we really need to
7:02
Speaker 1: just enjoy ourselves. To me, the journey is just as
7:06
Speaker 1: just as important as the final product. So I like
7:09
Speaker 1: to make sure that you know, I created a place
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Speaker 1: where everyone that comes there feels heard, everyone that works
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Speaker 1: with me feels like we're working together and not for me,
7:19
Speaker 1: and that they understand that this is all just a
7:21
Speaker 1: magical experience and let's just get on the ride have
7:23
Speaker 1: a good time. We know that. Really. First of all,
7:26
Speaker 1: you're right, because when you said magic lemonade, I immediately
7:29
Speaker 1: went to my you know, Chick fil A lemonade. I
7:31
Speaker 1: love their lem you know, I went right there, you
7:34
Speaker 1: know my favorite lemonades. I'm already smiling thinking about where
7:38
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stop when I finished this bought podcast to
7:40
Speaker 1: the radio show today. You know when I when I
7:43
Speaker 1: think about the way we develop our relationships, it's always
7:46
Speaker 1: a journey, like I finishes to be a producer, the writers,
7:49
Speaker 1: shitcome and all the things I've done in my life
7:51
Speaker 1: and a manager. I started out as a stand up comedian,
7:55
Speaker 1: and I thought I was going to be the next
7:57
Speaker 1: Richard Pryor. At the time when I started, Murphy was everywhere,
8:01
Speaker 1: so I was competing with his world. And then deaf
8:03
Speaker 1: Jam came along and that gave me a comedic opportunity.
8:06
Speaker 1: But you didn't start out being the queen of comedy
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Speaker 1: from a producing standpoint, talk about the start of your
8:11
Speaker 1: career in music, not at all. You know, I started
8:15
Speaker 1: off in music. UM. I worked with UM. We had
8:19
Speaker 1: a soundtrack that was I don't know, George Jackson, Doug mckenry,
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Speaker 1: I did, you know. And at this point soundtracks were
8:30
Speaker 1: really big and I had UM and so they had
8:34
Speaker 1: needed a soundtrack and I brought in I brought in
8:40
Speaker 1: Warrengey and his crew for the Jason's lyric soundtrack. So
8:44
Speaker 1: UM coming from there, Warren's manager said, Hey, I got
8:47
Speaker 1: these kids. They've never been on the road, Can you
8:51
Speaker 1: help me with them? So I started managing with Ronchy
8:54
Speaker 1: with Warrengy and started taking all the guys on the
8:56
Speaker 1: road and that was the start of my music career.
8:58
Speaker 1: I ended up working in Priority Records for some years
9:02
Speaker 1: and then when we did the final bio for E. M.
9:04
Speaker 1: I I said I'm out. I would rather go to
9:06
Speaker 1: film and TV moved over. I started working with Carl
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Speaker 1: Craig and Ralph Farquhar and so we started producing shows
9:14
Speaker 1: from there. So my entry from music into TV was
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Speaker 1: through comedy. So that's why all my projects you see,
9:21
Speaker 1: always have a music and a comedic base. Somehow it's
9:25
Speaker 1: infused and I kind of worked back and forth and
9:27
Speaker 1: it goes, you know, in the live world as well.
9:30
Speaker 1: So um, and then I started working with stan Leyson.
9:34
Speaker 1: And you know, throughout my career, I didn't start off
9:37
Speaker 1: as a p A or any of the traditional route.
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Speaker 1: When I started off, I came in, I said I'm
9:43
Speaker 1: a producer. I went into my research on what it took,
9:46
Speaker 1: and you know, I stuck my chest up hi still
9:48
Speaker 1: with my head high, and walked in and said, I'm
9:50
Speaker 1: a producer. Let's produce some shows together. And then I
9:53
Speaker 1: realized I needed to bring something to the table. What
9:55
Speaker 1: I did have was great relationships with talent, so I
9:58
Speaker 1: was able to leverage those relationships and with my newfound
10:02
Speaker 1: knowledge of what it takes to produce and put those
10:05
Speaker 1: things together and really, you know, started to dig in.
10:08
Speaker 1: It's really when you started going down memory lane. Carl Craig,
10:12
Speaker 1: which I did there. I worked with him on HBO
10:14
Speaker 1: or the Iced t Uh Project or HBO back in
10:18
Speaker 1: the day. And then Ralph Harquar uh like a big brother,
10:21
Speaker 1: a little brother uh to me. You know, he's right
10:24
Speaker 1: up there with U, with Staying Lathan. You know I
10:28
Speaker 1: do you look a look at them as mentors to you. Oh? Absolutely,
10:32
Speaker 1: I mean I've learned something. Yeah. I probed myself on
10:35
Speaker 1: learning something from everyone that had come in contact with,
10:37
Speaker 1: you know, from whatever position they hold um. But definitely Carl.
10:42
Speaker 1: You know, Carl was one who just said because he
10:44
Speaker 1: came from music with the music video world, and he
10:47
Speaker 1: was you know constantly like, hey, Ricky, if we do this,
10:51
Speaker 1: we could do that. You know, he would constantly had
10:53
Speaker 1: a plan for us together, which was you know, really
10:57
Speaker 1: great because you can just stepping in next to someone.
10:59
Speaker 1: I always say, always stand next to a w and
11:01
Speaker 1: everyone says, what does that mean? That's an always stand
11:03
Speaker 1: next to a winner. And if you can stand next
11:06
Speaker 1: to a winner and then still have your own mindset
11:09
Speaker 1: that you're choosing to be a winner as well, you
11:12
Speaker 1: make yourself a great company and you can move effortlessly
11:15
Speaker 1: through the process. So, you know, we always had a
11:18
Speaker 1: kind of winning mentality no matter what task we were
11:21
Speaker 1: up against, you know, and Ralph has always been I
11:23
Speaker 1: learned so much from Ralph. No one is I think
11:25
Speaker 1: bolder than Ralph and committed, you know, uh to this
11:30
Speaker 1: creative So we fought, we've loved, We've done all that
11:34
Speaker 1: stuff between all of us, and we at the end
11:37
Speaker 1: we finally get to them of the project, and it's
11:38
Speaker 1: usually a really great work. I tell you the names
11:42
Speaker 1: that you're talking about, the work ethic that they allow
11:45
Speaker 1: you to see. You know, this is a journey with everybody.
11:47
Speaker 1: I can you know, you can understand the tone. None
11:50
Speaker 1: of these people you've mentioned, our screamers. One of these
11:52
Speaker 1: people I want want to be noticed on the set.
11:55
Speaker 1: They just want to be direct and pull out the
11:57
Speaker 1: best talent that that individual, all that best script of
12:01
Speaker 1: the best UH read from that script the biggest production
12:04
Speaker 1: that they're involved in, and that really sets the tone
12:07
Speaker 1: for what we're trying to do and what we're trying
12:08
Speaker 1: to deliver. On Money Making Conversation, I'm talking to Ricky Hughes,
12:11
Speaker 1: she had called the Queen of Comedy from a producer
12:15
Speaker 1: standpoint as an amazing production company located in Hollywood, California
12:19
Speaker 1: and Atlanta, Georgia called Magic Lemonade. When we get back,
12:23
Speaker 1: we want to find out what hole for her company. Also,
12:29
Speaker 1: how did she meet j Jappel. I'm telling you how
12:31
Speaker 1: I met Dasabel, But she gets just a story too,
12:33
Speaker 1: because you know, I've learned with her our stories kind
12:35
Speaker 1: of entwined. She busted out with Jason's lyrics. She's a
12:37
Speaker 1: lyric only we we've ever started with Jason lipp Fast
12:41
Speaker 1: Freddy How. This is Sean McDonald and you're listening to
12:44
Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation, a show I created to UH give
12:48
Speaker 1: you information, information about winning, and an opportunity to understand
12:52
Speaker 1: the world that you're trying to win in. That is
12:54
Speaker 1: the world of entertainment and the world of being an entrepreneur.
12:58
Speaker 1: Being an entrepreneur is UH is definitely taking a lot
13:01
Speaker 1: of a stronger foothold into what we're doing because of
13:04
Speaker 1: social media. Social media allows us to brand our vision,
13:07
Speaker 1: brand our ideas, and promote our dreams with a plan
13:11
Speaker 1: and allows us to go out there and not reach
13:13
Speaker 1: I always tell people who live in the Muhammadali era,
13:15
Speaker 1: I am the greatest uh that he promoted that he
13:18
Speaker 1: said that, and now we understand that was a brand
13:21
Speaker 1: that he put out there. They would live throughout our
13:24
Speaker 1: times that we live. But Corporation has been bragging like
13:27
Speaker 1: that all their lives forward McDonald's, talking about their products,
13:31
Speaker 1: talking about their hamburgers, talking about their cars, talking about
13:33
Speaker 1: their computers. Now, in the area that we live in,
13:35
Speaker 1: you could do the same with social media. On the
13:38
Speaker 1: on the phone, I have a guess, you know, I
13:40
Speaker 1: know many times you know she's talking about she did
13:42
Speaker 1: the music soundtrack for Jason's lyric, you know, the JA lyrics.
13:46
Speaker 1: Like I said, one of the movies I started in
13:47
Speaker 1: as fast Freddick. You know all I say, Ricky, you
13:50
Speaker 1: know for some reason, you have we gotta work together.
13:54
Speaker 1: That's all I gotta say. Let's do it, you know.
13:57
Speaker 1: She that's how she did. Wasn't no hesitation. That's remember
14:00
Speaker 1: she said she didn't come in doing mail room. She
14:03
Speaker 1: didn't come in doing p a word. She said, I'm coming,
14:05
Speaker 1: I'm a producer. I said, let's work together. She said,
14:08
Speaker 1: let's do it. And you know, it's really funny because
14:12
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the shell little story. As a writer.
14:14
Speaker 1: I came in as a you know, you have different
14:17
Speaker 1: levels of writing and sitcom. You know you have a
14:19
Speaker 1: staff right, executive story. I came in as an executive story.
14:23
Speaker 1: Yet I skilled the staff right because of the fact
14:27
Speaker 1: that it's how you prepare and what I presented, and
14:31
Speaker 1: I felt that why why why do I need to
14:33
Speaker 1: start there? And so when you said the story about
14:35
Speaker 1: being a producer, shee. A lot of people don't want
14:38
Speaker 1: to do the homework or the legwork because once you
14:40
Speaker 1: commit to something, you can't lay back on your laurels.
14:44
Speaker 1: In other words, you have to do it five times
14:45
Speaker 1: harder because you know you have to play catch up,
14:47
Speaker 1: you have to learn on the job, and people expect
14:50
Speaker 1: certain things from you when you were being hired for
14:52
Speaker 1: that title, and those are the challenges that a lot
14:54
Speaker 1: of people don't step up for. And that's what annoyed
14:57
Speaker 1: me the most. In our business that we call entertainment
15:00
Speaker 1: because there are no guarantees. As you know, Ricky is like,
15:04
Speaker 1: you know, you think that check is coming and all
15:06
Speaker 1: of a sudden it doesn't comments fast as you want
15:09
Speaker 1: it might be. And you know in our business as well,
15:11
Speaker 1: you know money comments can come in large lump songs
15:15
Speaker 1: and then it can get off. So you have to
15:17
Speaker 1: have an accounting in your head too. You know this
15:20
Speaker 1: check coming in, it got to go all the way
15:22
Speaker 1: through decembers. So let's talk about that, talk about that
15:29
Speaker 1: whole process. So of of running the production company, you know,
15:34
Speaker 1: you you're seeking our jobs and opportunities, you're being recommended
15:37
Speaker 1: for jobs and opportunities. How what is a real production company?
15:42
Speaker 1: I know I've had a couple of people on and
15:44
Speaker 1: I've never asked that question. What is a production company
15:47
Speaker 1: in the media of television and film? So you have
15:51
Speaker 1: a couple of different production companies. You have some that
15:53
Speaker 1: are just kind of a loan out production company that
15:55
Speaker 1: they're really kind of a name only and they're a
15:58
Speaker 1: name for maybe the talent. Then you have a production
16:01
Speaker 1: company like our is. It's a full service production company.
16:04
Speaker 1: So we take everything from concept all the way until
16:07
Speaker 1: we deliver it to the air. So from the moment
16:09
Speaker 1: there's an idea about a show, then we immediately start
16:13
Speaker 1: to idate about the idea, whether we're working with a
16:15
Speaker 1: network or a studio. Then we get to the process
16:18
Speaker 1: of making sure that we had we've had a creative
16:21
Speaker 1: meetings of the mind that yes, this is the exact
16:23
Speaker 1: project that we like to create. Then we start to
16:26
Speaker 1: create you know, budgets. How much does this cost? Can
16:29
Speaker 1: we stay within can we create this vision within the
16:32
Speaker 1: limits of this budget number? And then who are the
16:35
Speaker 1: proper staffing who can help us bring this vision alive
16:38
Speaker 1: and making sure that we curate that crew that truly
16:41
Speaker 1: makes sense for our in game or in product. And
16:44
Speaker 1: then it's a process of making it happen and knowing
16:47
Speaker 1: that every single production, I don't care how prepared you are,
16:52
Speaker 1: They're going to be some little fires. So I always
16:55
Speaker 1: say the best thing I can do is is have
16:58
Speaker 1: the best preproduction process as possible, so that I'm prepared
17:01
Speaker 1: that any fire comes, I can quickly pivot to the
17:03
Speaker 1: next and keep moving so that we can still make
17:06
Speaker 1: our goal. And after we finished our production, then we
17:09
Speaker 1: get ready to go into the edit bay, our post
17:12
Speaker 1: production music, everything that comes along with it, making the
17:15
Speaker 1: edit to satisfy whether it's the the studio or the network,
17:21
Speaker 1: and then get it out there to the world. So
17:22
Speaker 1: that's kind of a snapshot of what our production company does.
17:26
Speaker 1: And we come in a different stages. Usually we come
17:28
Speaker 1: in at the beginning, at the ideation point, where it's
17:31
Speaker 1: just just an idea, whether we've pitched it or someone
17:33
Speaker 1: has pitched it to us or um. Sometimes we come
17:37
Speaker 1: in and I have to really put some magic on.
17:39
Speaker 1: This is where the eliminate is. Sometimes I get limits
17:42
Speaker 1: and people say, ky, we need help, help we got
17:44
Speaker 1: you know, the people that started this got got in
17:47
Speaker 1: under their head, over their head. They didn't you know,
17:50
Speaker 1: didn't quite know how to get us to the finish line.
17:52
Speaker 1: Can you come in and do that? And so I've
17:54
Speaker 1: done that too. I don't like to do too much
17:55
Speaker 1: of that because it's you know, it's you kind of
17:58
Speaker 1: walking down from a deficit. You know, it's really because
18:02
Speaker 1: that means your voice is important. And from a female
18:05
Speaker 1: standpoint of being an African American, you know you have
18:08
Speaker 1: to you have to that's your brand. How do you
18:10
Speaker 1: protect that? And uh and and make sure you put
18:13
Speaker 1: our quality content. I think my biggest, my biggest litmus
18:19
Speaker 1: test is is this something that I would want to watch?
18:22
Speaker 1: Is this something that I'm engaged in? A lot of
18:24
Speaker 1: projects come my way and I have to have discernment,
18:27
Speaker 1: and I say no a lot, and you know, the
18:31
Speaker 1: agent and managers like, oh my gosh, Ricky White saying no,
18:33
Speaker 1: this is the greatest project, this is working with this person.
18:35
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, but it's not aligned with my core
18:37
Speaker 1: belief And at this point in my career, I know
18:41
Speaker 1: that when it gets tough, I have to be a
18:43
Speaker 1: hundred in tintos down, willing to spend my own money
18:46
Speaker 1: if necessary, to make sure that this is corrected. If
18:49
Speaker 1: I can't say that about this project or feel like
18:52
Speaker 1: I can get to that point that I have to
18:54
Speaker 1: walk away because then there's somebody else better suited for
18:56
Speaker 1: this project, right, And that's that's then that's really being
19:00
Speaker 1: honest with yourself. I have to be and that a
19:04
Speaker 1: lot of people, they do know a lot of people.
19:06
Speaker 1: They look at them, they look at the check opportunity,
19:09
Speaker 1: but also you know that that check can, can, can can,
19:13
Speaker 1: but taking the wrong project can affect other opportunities. And
19:16
Speaker 1: that's what you're saying right now. Make sure, you stay
19:19
Speaker 1: in the lane that presents what you want to represent
19:22
Speaker 1: and what you're trying and your ability to create not
19:25
Speaker 1: so much that check correct absolutely, you know. It's as
19:30
Speaker 1: we talked about them. Weave actually just mentioned and they
19:32
Speaker 1: were talking about Dave Chappelle. I met Dave Chappelle and
19:35
Speaker 1: uh two we both did hbo dea comedy jam together,
19:39
Speaker 1: and uh it was funny. I you know, we meet
19:41
Speaker 1: each other and saw Dave and like ten years and
19:44
Speaker 1: like a year and a half ago. I was two
19:46
Speaker 1: years ago. I was coming I wasn't going walking into
19:49
Speaker 1: the Four Seasons Hotel and this young man came running
19:53
Speaker 1: behind me going hey, He said, are you a Sean McGough.
19:56
Speaker 1: I go, um yeah, and he away, excuse me, why
20:04
Speaker 1: are you asking them by Roshan McDonald? He said, because
20:06
Speaker 1: Dave Chappelle is in the car. And he wasn't sheery
20:08
Speaker 1: and saw a long time. I said, Dave Chappelle is
20:10
Speaker 1: in the car. That tell us behind to get on it.
20:13
Speaker 1: And we saw each other because I say that because
20:16
Speaker 1: he's that type of guy. He's a likable, approachable guy,
20:20
Speaker 1: you know, a creative genius. Please understand this is the
20:25
Speaker 1: guy works in his craft like on his on his
20:27
Speaker 1: upcoming special. He was just in Houston working at a
20:30
Speaker 1: very small venue that you know, like see two hundreds
20:32
Speaker 1: to work on his material. And so you and so
20:35
Speaker 1: that's how he doesn't go out to ad livel if
20:37
Speaker 1: you give him a check, he's going to come back
20:39
Speaker 1: with the ability to with the material. And so so
20:42
Speaker 1: I say that story because the fact that most people
20:45
Speaker 1: would just have let me walk in the hotel and whatever,
20:47
Speaker 1: because I saw David and years and for him to
20:50
Speaker 1: want to know that was me, and then we hugged
20:52
Speaker 1: and we took some photos and all that good stuff.
20:55
Speaker 1: But tell us about your your relationship with him and
20:57
Speaker 1: how because you have to meet a person to be
21:00
Speaker 1: to work with those with the day, because Dave's a
21:02
Speaker 1: created person and he wants he's want people around him
21:04
Speaker 1: there has that that same energy. Correct, absolutely absolutely, And
21:09
Speaker 1: you know I first met Dave actually on Deef Comedy
21:11
Speaker 1: Jam as well. I was working with stand It was
21:14
Speaker 1: the last season of Jeff Comedy Jam and I went
21:19
Speaker 1: to go they said Dave just arrived. I went to
21:20
Speaker 1: go meet him at the car. Came in by himself, bear,
21:25
Speaker 1: no one else was with him. He walked in and
21:28
Speaker 1: he said, you know, I'm here for Stand. Is the
21:31
Speaker 1: only reason why I would do this is for Stand,
21:33
Speaker 1: I said, and we appreciate you. We had great conversation,
21:36
Speaker 1: and you know, he went on and this was one
21:38
Speaker 1: of the first time he really told the whole story
21:42
Speaker 1: of what happened, and UM, it was such you know,
21:46
Speaker 1: a moment there and we've always connected. And then when
21:51
Speaker 1: you know, fast forward to when Dave decided I think
21:54
Speaker 1: I'm ready to come back, you know and kind of
21:57
Speaker 1: share some of the stuff with the world. Uh, Stand
22:00
Speaker 1: called and said, Ricky, you know, Dave's readyus has got
22:02
Speaker 1: to be a really you know, we've got to really
22:04
Speaker 1: dial this in. It's really important, you know. We so
22:08
Speaker 1: we really understood the gravity of the situation, and we
22:10
Speaker 1: had a very very small crew. We shot this with
22:13
Speaker 1: Dave's own money. Like one thing I love is he
22:15
Speaker 1: just bets on himself and we um, we just created
22:21
Speaker 1: the most intimate environment for him to create and UM
22:25
Speaker 1: and just respect the genius of it all. And you know,
22:29
Speaker 1: it's a process working with Dave that I absolutely love
22:31
Speaker 1: and respect from the beginning all the way to the end.
22:35
Speaker 1: And we're just happy that everything that we've done thus far,
22:39
Speaker 1: I've shot every special with Dave since he's come back,
22:43
Speaker 1: and each one has gotten has been just better than
22:45
Speaker 1: the last. And you know, I think we really have
22:48
Speaker 1: a magical family together that works together, and we all
22:51
Speaker 1: know and understand our role and respect everyone everyone's position
22:55
Speaker 1: in which I think is you know, you know I'll
22:59
Speaker 1: be in a end up comic and watching these specials
23:02
Speaker 1: because you know, because you look at him, is he
23:04
Speaker 1: gonna do the same thing the same style that he
23:07
Speaker 1: did the previous special. Because that's how comics. That's how
23:10
Speaker 1: you can see people work out, you know, out the
23:12
Speaker 1: while you see the same hook, the same angle. This
23:15
Speaker 1: is how they get their laughs out. You know, everyone
23:17
Speaker 1: has been they've been Dave Chappelle, but they have told
23:20
Speaker 1: a different story. And that's that's comedic genius. I know,
23:24
Speaker 1: you guys have to be sitting around going wow wow constantly,
23:29
Speaker 1: you know. And another thing that we're always and uh,
23:33
Speaker 1: you know, Dave reinvent himself. I believe on every special,
23:35
Speaker 1: every special, I can tell he's a conversation that had
23:38
Speaker 1: that was had before we shot the special, and he
23:42
Speaker 1: everything was very deliberate. He was really clear about what
23:46
Speaker 1: his intentions were for every single show, and I'm always
23:51
Speaker 1: excited to see it all comes to fruitions because look,
23:54
Speaker 1: we go. When he says he's ready, we go. We
23:56
Speaker 1: watched the workout, you know, see where he is. No
23:59
Speaker 1: one tells day of what to say, because but we definitely,
24:02
Speaker 1: you know, weigh in and you know in the end,
24:05
Speaker 1: Dave knows that he has to stand head and shoulders.
24:08
Speaker 1: And the biggest thing, he's a comics comic, Like he
24:10
Speaker 1: loves this art form of comedy, so he doesn't take
24:12
Speaker 1: it for granted. Definitely make sure everyone else around really
24:17
Speaker 1: really you're telling the absolute truth. It is really is. Uh,
24:21
Speaker 1: he is a comics comic. Is coming up? What what what? What?
24:25
Speaker 1: What do we look for for magic lemonade? And you're
24:27
Speaker 1: producing talents in um such exciting things were starting. You know,
24:32
Speaker 1: I just finished the Trumpet Awards shooting Trumpet Awards with
24:36
Speaker 1: that will air in January, which magically May is really
24:39
Speaker 1: excited about. You know, we came in to elevate the show.
24:41
Speaker 1: We brought us to the Adobe Theater and we had
24:44
Speaker 1: the most amazing talent Martin Lawrence such as the entertainer
24:47
Speaker 1: wanted the psychs like it was amazing and it was
24:50
Speaker 1: such an effortless production. You just pulled on your little comedy.
24:54
Speaker 1: You just pulled on your little comedy connection right there.
24:56
Speaker 1: You just threw out those names. Y see, I'm just
25:00
Speaker 1: what you had not gonna come on my show and
25:01
Speaker 1: act like you regular? Okay, what You're not gonna come
25:04
Speaker 1: on my show and act like you can just throw
25:06
Speaker 1: out Martin Lawrence, throw out Cedric, Cedric the entertainer, and
25:10
Speaker 1: throw out wanted the Psyche and just keep moving on.
25:12
Speaker 1: We know that they brought me into elevate it, so
25:15
Speaker 1: I stepped in and brought in a few people through people. Now,
25:21
Speaker 1: it was an awesome event. I mean, for those who
25:24
Speaker 1: don't know, we saw Martin guifts speech that went on
25:28
Speaker 1: for about virus six menses, which is unheard of in
25:31
Speaker 1: the history. I had Mike Epps who was there, who
25:35
Speaker 1: did an amazing job. Mike sucks of the script, which
25:38
Speaker 1: in fifteen years and working with it, I've never seen.
25:40
Speaker 1: You know. Anthony Anderson came in and loved the word
25:43
Speaker 1: that we're on the page, you know, So it was just, um,
25:46
Speaker 1: you know, it was a moment where you feel like, oh,
25:48
Speaker 1: we did this right. Well, you know that what I
25:51
Speaker 1: what I hear is this. I hear trust because talent
25:54
Speaker 1: has to trust you. I hear credibility because your brand
25:58
Speaker 1: has to say something for people. Because the trump Reate
26:00
Speaker 1: Awards has been around forever. It's a good job, but
26:03
Speaker 1: never have they had the names that you radle off
26:05
Speaker 1: in a group like this. That red carpet was on fire.
26:09
Speaker 1: That okay, and you know to throw our Anthony, I know,
26:13
Speaker 1: Anthony an you know these these opinionated people will change
26:17
Speaker 1: the script on you in a heartbeat. Okay. Same thing
26:21
Speaker 1: with Mike Epps. These are opinionated people, okay. And and
26:24
Speaker 1: you know when you're dealing with a person who's here's
26:28
Speaker 1: the whole thing is that not one of those personalities
26:31
Speaker 1: you said was similar. So you had to treat everyone unique,
26:35
Speaker 1: had to greet everyone unique and make sure they valued
26:39
Speaker 1: their purpose on the show. That is what a great
26:42
Speaker 1: producer does, Ricky. And I'm glad, I'm glad you brought
26:47
Speaker 1: this up because for me to be able to say
26:49
Speaker 1: this to you and from a producer to another producer
26:54
Speaker 1: and be able to say, that's a gift, young lady.
26:56
Speaker 1: That's why magic eliminated successful and that's why you continue
27:00
Speaker 1: to be successful. But I'm sure you have some more projects,
27:02
Speaker 1: please get them out there. I know January Magic Time
27:05
Speaker 1: and you know, you know you tying in the bad
27:08
Speaker 1: bars released with the Trumpet Award appears. I know what
27:10
Speaker 1: he's doing. I know it's all coming together in a
27:14
Speaker 1: wonderful way. You know. I think it should be a
27:16
Speaker 1: sylbiotic relationship with cross Promote. I'm doing a BFF Awards February,
27:21
Speaker 1: which always an event that I absolutely love and I've
27:25
Speaker 1: been doing with Jeff for the last four years Jeff Friday. Um,
27:30
Speaker 1: so that's something really important for the community and really
27:32
Speaker 1: important for you know, for the world, and I love
27:34
Speaker 1: the things that have always spring out of that event. Um.
27:38
Speaker 1: I also, uh, you know, I managed Carlos Miller and
27:41
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Husson and Carlos I will put my stake, my
27:45
Speaker 1: reputation on this will be the next one to blow
27:48
Speaker 1: amazing comic. I can watch Carlos do Time for you know,
27:51
Speaker 1: two hours and never repeat the same joke and do
27:54
Speaker 1: it in a whole week, which is something I see
27:56
Speaker 1: that Davies all the time. Um. He's never afraid of
27:59
Speaker 1: someone's feeling this material because he's got much more of it.
28:03
Speaker 1: So I love that. Um. I also, you know I
28:06
Speaker 1: worked with the guys at eighty five South. I executive
28:08
Speaker 1: produce those guys. What you know very well you're making
28:13
Speaker 1: me mad. We actually should be doing lunch because you know,
28:16
Speaker 1: you keep going hit it out of my life youth
28:20
Speaker 1: like that either, My guys, I've been working with DC
28:23
Speaker 1: of those guys for six years, you know, and and
28:26
Speaker 1: I've watched and your the Steve Harvey platform, and you
28:30
Speaker 1: in particular were the road map for Chad and Joe
28:36
Speaker 1: and they will always give it back to you. I
28:39
Speaker 1: will always give it up to you. But what these
28:41
Speaker 1: young men have created on their own, being their own bosses,
28:45
Speaker 1: is a story that's meant to be told, and it's
28:48
Speaker 1: meant to be told because it's at the level where
28:51
Speaker 1: every person can meet them. These are, to me, I
28:54
Speaker 1: called the Kings with the Common Touch, because these guys
28:58
Speaker 1: are nothing short of amazing. They're fearless and now with
29:02
Speaker 1: the business are built around them, like, we're in such
29:05
Speaker 1: an amazing place. And the biggest thing is that I love.
29:09
Speaker 1: The first thing I said when I first started working,
29:11
Speaker 1: I said, you guys, the first thing I want you
29:12
Speaker 1: guys to do is no one to be hungry at
29:14
Speaker 1: this table. I don't want to take any deal until
29:17
Speaker 1: everyone is fed. So when everyone was fed, then we
29:21
Speaker 1: started having meetings. And once we started having meetings, we
29:24
Speaker 1: had the power of no and the world right now,
29:29
Speaker 1: every agency, every management company, every studio wants to be involved.
29:34
Speaker 1: But now we have the power of not to tell
29:36
Speaker 1: the story the way we want the story to be told.
29:39
Speaker 1: And I think it's the most beautiful, powerful position that
29:43
Speaker 1: these guys can ever be in. And I'm so happy
29:45
Speaker 1: that they trust me and that we've built this together,
29:49
Speaker 1: you know. So, I mean, these guys are just amazing.
29:52
Speaker 1: So people are detail give a little bit more detail
29:56
Speaker 1: about what eight is and what they're doing with MS
29:59
Speaker 1: and eighty five. I started off as a podcast and
30:02
Speaker 1: as a podcast. Carlo's Miller had the idea for the podcast,
30:06
Speaker 1: and he had been working with d c um On
30:09
Speaker 1: while they're working on Wild and Out, And they also
30:11
Speaker 1: had um Chico Beans who was working on Wild and
30:14
Speaker 1: Out at the time too. They all came together and
30:17
Speaker 1: did a podcast with also Clayton Thomas also comes in
30:19
Speaker 1: from time to time and does and does some time
30:22
Speaker 1: on a podcast. But then it started to grow through
30:25
Speaker 1: social media and as it started to grow. Then we
30:29
Speaker 1: started to take it out on the road and starting
30:32
Speaker 1: just doing show dates. They started selling out. And there's
30:36
Speaker 1: a couple of people that are really important I have
30:37
Speaker 1: to say at this point. You know, Chad was like, Hey,
30:40
Speaker 1: can I get through space? Is Steve Harvey Studio? Can
30:42
Speaker 1: I do whatever whatever favors could happen to make this happen.
30:47
Speaker 1: They all made it happen. Joe would shoot everything, edit everything,
30:51
Speaker 1: but he's also like a savant when it comes to
30:52
Speaker 1: social media, so he was really clear to be able
30:55
Speaker 1: to say this is where we need to go next.
30:59
Speaker 1: And that was the to success because it didn't shows
31:01
Speaker 1: sold out shows. The next kid is that because it's
31:05
Speaker 1: improv there's never the same show. So this gives us
31:09
Speaker 1: the ability that most shows don't have, and that is
31:11
Speaker 1: to walk into the same market over and over again
31:14
Speaker 1: and the same audience to show up and show out
31:16
Speaker 1: for them. So, but it takes a special group of people.
31:20
Speaker 1: So when you put DC Young Flyer, Carlos Miller and
31:23
Speaker 1: Chico Beans and the forefront and allow them to be
31:27
Speaker 1: who they are authentically and the rest of the machine
31:30
Speaker 1: behind them supported, it's a really beautiful thing and it's
31:34
Speaker 1: definitely some magic that's created on that stage every day
31:37
Speaker 1: that the guys go out. Well, my friend, that's so
31:41
Speaker 1: thankful you called it on my show. So thankful that
31:44
Speaker 1: the past that I've walked in and then still walking
31:47
Speaker 1: in you dancing and making them bigger. Uh. The note
31:51
Speaker 1: that you're developing and mentoring and doing business with people
31:54
Speaker 1: that I know, Chad and Joe. I should be so
31:58
Speaker 1: hard on them, young man. You know he in fact,
32:01
Speaker 1: Chack he called me two weeks ago and said thank you,
32:04
Speaker 1: said thank you, he said, we know that. He said,
32:07
Speaker 1: we give you credit up front on why we're successful
32:11
Speaker 1: because we didn't understand the discipline that they took. The
32:14
Speaker 1: discipline of being able to grind means something that people
32:17
Speaker 1: around you just can't be your friends. They have to
32:19
Speaker 1: be understanding work work hard for you the same dream
32:22
Speaker 1: you're trying to work hard for. And that's what that's
32:24
Speaker 1: the that's the corp Woarth Magic. Lemonade is correct. It
32:27
Speaker 1: is absolutely absolutely with my friend. We're gonna talk soon.
32:33
Speaker 1: I'd love to bring you back on when we know
32:35
Speaker 1: the Uh, Jeff Fry the show comes out, just to
32:38
Speaker 1: talk about it, just to talk about it, you know,
32:40
Speaker 1: that's that's gonna be the first quarter, because I know
32:42
Speaker 1: you're gonna have something the second quarter, the third quarter,
32:44
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, uh you know you'll be throwing
32:48
Speaker 1: out some sitcom talk, some tour talk, all kind of
32:51
Speaker 1: good stuff. But that's what you do. And congratulations on
32:53
Speaker 1: starting your production company. I know it's up being up
32:56
Speaker 1: for a while, but working with people that I admire,
33:00
Speaker 1: uh Rap Farquar, uh Stan Lathan called Craig. I went
33:04
Speaker 1: out to say those three young men had an effect
33:06
Speaker 1: on who ras Sean McDonald lives today. Absolutely, Thank you
33:11
Speaker 1: so much, thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you talking
33:14
Speaker 1: about