Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Gary Owen Full Interview

Transcript

Gary Owen Full Interview · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to Money Making Conversation. I am your host, ra
0:04
Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. Is important to understand that everybody travels a
0:07
Speaker 1: different path to success. That's because your brand is different.
0:11
Speaker 1: The challenges you face in your life are different. So
0:13
Speaker 1: stop reading other people's success stories and start writing your own.
0:17
Speaker 1: My Money Making Conversation interviews will encourage you to leave
0:20
Speaker 1: with your gifts and never use age as an excuse
0:22
Speaker 1: when planning your goals. My next guest is Gary One.
0:26
Speaker 1: He's one of the top touring comedians today. He's performed
0:29
Speaker 1: and he performs regular and sold like comedy clubs and
0:31
Speaker 1: arenas around this country. His big break came in eighteen
0:34
Speaker 1: and eighty seven on BT Stand Up Showcase Comic View.
0:38
Speaker 1: Now as an actor, you've seen him and think like
0:40
Speaker 1: a man Movies, Daddy Day Care, A Little Man Ride Alonge.
0:43
Speaker 1: He is on the show to talk about his comedy
0:45
Speaker 1: career because he's back on tour. COVID. He back out
0:48
Speaker 1: there now, COVID shut us die for that. But the
0:51
Speaker 1: back out there it's popular, gets on podcast and he's
0:54
Speaker 1: starting a new action thriller movie called Welcome to Sudden
0:57
Speaker 1: Death with Michael job White. Please welcome to money making
1:00
Speaker 1: conversation my man, Gary on how are you doing? Gary?
1:04
Speaker 1: What's up? Man? Well, I mean we we kind of
1:06
Speaker 1: we kind of kind of popped up right there. Man.
1:08
Speaker 1: The COVID came in and everybody at live event performances
1:12
Speaker 1: shut down. Talk tell us about that moment when there
1:15
Speaker 1: was a realization that that this pandemic was gonna take
1:19
Speaker 1: away a portion your income and how did you deal
1:21
Speaker 1: with it. We took away a huge part of the
1:25
Speaker 1: income there for a while. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I
1:29
Speaker 1: understated it, Gary, I understated it. Yeah, we gotta realized.
1:33
Speaker 1: I I kind of lived my life and we budget. Um,
1:38
Speaker 1: like everything around my stand up money, like TV and
1:41
Speaker 1: film money is always just like extra to me when
1:44
Speaker 1: those when those texts come in, I'm always like, oh great,
1:47
Speaker 1: extra money. But as far as my day to day living,
1:50
Speaker 1: we based it off stand up. So when that came
1:52
Speaker 1: to a halt, um, I was just like, WHOA, Okay.
1:56
Speaker 1: I I thought it was gonna be like two or
1:58
Speaker 1: three months. I didn't know we'd still be going right right.
2:03
Speaker 1: You know that that was a scary part about it
2:05
Speaker 1: because of the fact that you know, you know, were
2:08
Speaker 1: people have to admit that that's you're just an entrepreneur.
2:11
Speaker 1: If you're a stand up comic, you're successful. You're a
2:13
Speaker 1: small business. You're walking talking small business. You just having
2:16
Speaker 1: to be going on stage performing. And when that when
2:19
Speaker 1: when the kovid hit me, I admit I was, I
2:21
Speaker 1: couldn't really grasp how I would go out in public.
2:25
Speaker 1: I have my perrel, I have my I have my
2:28
Speaker 1: wife's I had my mask. You know, I have some
2:31
Speaker 1: some some tissues. And I didn't know I even had
2:35
Speaker 1: plastic gloves. How did that affect you? You know, not
2:38
Speaker 1: just from a comedic standpoint, just a real life standpoint.
2:40
Speaker 1: You have your your family to deal with, and you
2:43
Speaker 1: you in your professional life being shut down. Now you're
2:46
Speaker 1: at home. How did that all play out? Gary? Well,
2:49
Speaker 1: I mean a couple of things I did. I called
2:52
Speaker 1: everyone that I know, um that's healthier than me, which
2:56
Speaker 1: is uh Romney Malco, who isn't man probably the healthiest
3:01
Speaker 1: man I've ever met. I just want to got that
3:04
Speaker 1: guy is seventy five years old and looks thirty. That's
3:08
Speaker 1: my favorite man. He's one of my favorite people. Yeah,
3:11
Speaker 1: And I called him, I said, Rominy, what should I
3:14
Speaker 1: be taking like to boost my immune system? Just in
3:18
Speaker 1: case I caught it, or and if I did catch it,
3:21
Speaker 1: I'd be equipped to deal with it. Um, So I
3:25
Speaker 1: called him. I called a couple of doctors that I know.
3:27
Speaker 1: I just called everyone healthier than me to find out
3:29
Speaker 1: what I should be taken, uh, in case I called it.
3:33
Speaker 1: And then you know, I'm going back to what you
3:36
Speaker 1: said earlier. How um, when the COVID hit, how did
3:40
Speaker 1: I deal with it? One thing I did that I
3:43
Speaker 1: would encourage any comic to do is I really amped
3:47
Speaker 1: up my YouTube and Facebook videos because um uh, you know,
3:52
Speaker 1: once you get a sound of subscribers, you can get
3:54
Speaker 1: monetized on you. And so I actually hired a company
3:59
Speaker 1: to take all my old jokes because I own all
4:02
Speaker 1: my my comedy specials. I did it myself. So I
4:06
Speaker 1: was like, cut these up, put them on YouTube, and
4:09
Speaker 1: it kind of supplemented my income. I mean, it wasn't
4:12
Speaker 1: as much as stand up, but it was more money
4:14
Speaker 1: than I had had in the past of social media.
4:17
Speaker 1: So you that's the money I could have made. I
4:19
Speaker 1: made without leaving my house. Now, let me ask you this.
4:22
Speaker 1: So so and every time a lot of people don't
4:24
Speaker 1: notice every time you when you have subscribers, and every
4:26
Speaker 1: time you upload the video, it notifies your current subscribers
4:30
Speaker 1: and that's how you get more subscribers. And so did
4:33
Speaker 1: you did you just like, uh, you know, because a
4:35
Speaker 1: lot of people understand that social media really is is
4:38
Speaker 1: a is a blessing And this is what you said. Look,
4:41
Speaker 1: hey man, I own my material, I copyright this stuff.
4:44
Speaker 1: Let me go on YouTube and make more money using
4:46
Speaker 1: my material. And that enabled you to see things from
4:49
Speaker 1: a different perspective. Now that the pandemic is allowing you
4:53
Speaker 1: to go back to work, aren't you looking at a
4:54
Speaker 1: different financial model? I am. And it's also building your
5:00
Speaker 1: fan base. You're you're bringing in fans that you didn't
5:03
Speaker 1: have before the pandemic because more people are at home
5:07
Speaker 1: watching this stuff, right, And now you get back on
5:11
Speaker 1: the road and you know, I got back on the
5:13
Speaker 1: road a few times in the last couple of months,
5:16
Speaker 1: and with YouTube, Facebook and the podcast, it's like I'm
5:22
Speaker 1: bringing in new fans that I didn't know I have
5:24
Speaker 1: before the pandemic. Well, now you become what they say,
5:27
Speaker 1: multiple streams of income, and that's that's when we all
5:29
Speaker 1: try to achieve. There's not and you know, also achieving
5:32
Speaker 1: a level where you're not waiting on somebody to give
5:35
Speaker 1: you an opportunity, especially with the podcast and especially with
5:38
Speaker 1: the YouTube challenge. So when I when I when I
5:40
Speaker 1: look at what you're doing with your career. Gary, First
5:43
Speaker 1: of all, I'm proud of you. You know always, you know,
5:46
Speaker 1: backstage watching you perform. I've I've watched you on TV.
5:49
Speaker 1: I've watched at least two of your your comedy special.
5:52
Speaker 1: You know, you built a brand, and you built a
5:54
Speaker 1: brand as a white guy in a black with a
5:57
Speaker 1: black audience. How did all that start? You know, because
5:59
Speaker 1: I just stand up. I started out performing in front
6:02
Speaker 1: of all white audience and then Deaf Jam hit ninety two,
6:05
Speaker 1: and suddenly I saw a black audience out there, and
6:07
Speaker 1: I shifted my gear and I went over there and say,
6:09
Speaker 1: this is a bigger opportunity to pays a bigger check.
6:11
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I'm gonna live my dream through this. And
6:13
Speaker 1: then I became a talent manager and the rest is history.
6:16
Speaker 1: So how did you start out your's your stand up
6:18
Speaker 1: career and your focal point. Well, I always knew I
6:23
Speaker 1: wanted to be a stand up I just didn't know
6:25
Speaker 1: how do you do it? You know, you grew up
6:26
Speaker 1: in a small town in Ohio. I'm like, how do
6:28
Speaker 1: I how do you even start? Because even when I
6:32
Speaker 1: was a teenager, I would We had a local comedy club.
6:34
Speaker 1: We had a Funny Bone in Cincinnati. Ray Comb used
6:38
Speaker 1: to own. He used to be the host Family Feud
6:41
Speaker 1: and uh he uh. I'd always sit outside and listen
6:45
Speaker 1: to the comics. I was too young to get in,
6:48
Speaker 1: but I said at the front door. And it was
6:50
Speaker 1: funny because I actually got cool with the door guy
6:52
Speaker 1: there and he started to be like, hey, I mean
6:55
Speaker 1: you always hanging out here and I was like, I
6:57
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, I'm I'm a comedian. I never do.
7:01
Speaker 1: I was tell him you I'm a comedian. And then uh.
7:04
Speaker 1: He started to let me sit in the back. He
7:05
Speaker 1: had his own little back, high top table, and me
7:08
Speaker 1: and this guy would sit in the back and we'd
7:10
Speaker 1: watch stand ups come in and literally never being on stage,
7:14
Speaker 1: I'd be in the back critique and stand ups going
7:17
Speaker 1: oh I'm better than him, Well yeah, I'm funny him.
7:19
Speaker 1: But then there'd be some comics. I'm like, oh, that
7:21
Speaker 1: guy's pretty good. I never thought of that. I never
7:25
Speaker 1: thought of that. That's that's crazy. It really does become
7:29
Speaker 1: a sace. That's that's that's important that you say that,
7:31
Speaker 1: because you get to see some people that you know
7:34
Speaker 1: the musical act. You can see all of them. And
7:36
Speaker 1: that was the beauty of your education, being able to
7:39
Speaker 1: sit back and see all these different levels. Yeah, and
7:43
Speaker 1: then I joined the military after high school. And the
7:47
Speaker 1: only reason I joined the military is always say I
7:50
Speaker 1: didn't know. I didn't know where exactly wanted to go.
7:53
Speaker 1: I just know I didn't want to be I didn't
7:55
Speaker 1: want to be stuck in that trailer park in that
7:58
Speaker 1: small town the rest of my life. So the Navy
8:02
Speaker 1: was an opportunity to basically get an airline ticket and
8:06
Speaker 1: fly me to another part of the country. I got
8:10
Speaker 1: to meet different types of people. And but the whole goal,
8:14
Speaker 1: and it sounds crazy from like I can remember junior high,
8:18
Speaker 1: was to be a stand up and I thought I
8:20
Speaker 1: saw it. You had to start in l A. I
8:24
Speaker 1: didn't know you could start doing stand up in any
8:27
Speaker 1: city you live in. I thought you had to start
8:30
Speaker 1: in l A. I also thought the whole state of
8:32
Speaker 1: California was Los Angeles. Because I'm I'm looking at day
8:36
Speaker 1: to the Ross video. I wish y'all could be California girls.
8:39
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, that's the whole state. I didn't know
8:42
Speaker 1: there was a Fresno in a baker's field. Well that's
8:49
Speaker 1: where I got stationed. I finally got stationed after two
8:52
Speaker 1: years in San Diego, and my first day there, I
8:55
Speaker 1: got in the phone book and I started looking up
8:57
Speaker 1: comedy club and it was funny. I called this place
9:01
Speaker 1: called the Comic Castle, and I said, hey, man, what's up.
9:04
Speaker 1: I getting a phone book? I go, you got open mic?
9:06
Speaker 1: He said, let me check. He goes, he gets off
9:09
Speaker 1: the phone, it comes back and I can't find him.
9:11
Speaker 1: I said, women can't find him. It was a comic
9:13
Speaker 1: book store. I thought I was called a comedy club.
9:16
Speaker 1: Was looking for a super here. You're trying so hard.
9:28
Speaker 1: You're trying so hard. This is funny, man, continue continue, man,
9:32
Speaker 1: this is funny. I'm glad to talked to you about
9:33
Speaker 1: this stuff. Come on, man. But the dude was so
9:36
Speaker 1: helpful with the comic book store. He goes, oh, man,
9:39
Speaker 1: we're a complic store. But here's the phone number to
9:41
Speaker 1: the comedy store in La Hoya, this other comedy club.
9:44
Speaker 1: So I went and I signed up for open mic.
9:47
Speaker 1: After about a month, I finally got on and in
9:50
Speaker 1: my mind that was it. I'm about I'm about to
9:53
Speaker 1: be a star, my first open mic. I'm like, I've
9:55
Speaker 1: waited for this, I'm ready for this. I think I
9:58
Speaker 1: got I got Are you still in the military, Yeah,
10:02
Speaker 1: I'm still in the Navy. I'm still in the Navy.
10:04
Speaker 1: And I'm like, because open mic nights with Sunday Night
10:06
Speaker 1: at the Comedy Store. And I went up there and
10:09
Speaker 1: I got on stage. It was probably midnight, one in
10:12
Speaker 1: the morning. There's like ten people in the audience, but
10:15
Speaker 1: there's like twenty comics in the back of the room.
10:18
Speaker 1: So the comics were heckling me, and I was like,
10:22
Speaker 1: you know, when you open mic, I got this five minutes.
10:25
Speaker 1: I don't have anything else. I didn't get out of it.
10:28
Speaker 1: So I told the comics in the back, I go, hey,
10:32
Speaker 1: why don't you guys keep heckling because I'm nineteen. And
10:35
Speaker 1: I had a beer in my hand, and I said,
10:36
Speaker 1: I've been drinking this club all night. I want to
10:38
Speaker 1: call the cups and shut this plate down. They threw
10:42
Speaker 1: me out so fast, yo, it was like out of
10:49
Speaker 1: a movie. The power went out on the mic. Some
10:53
Speaker 1: bouncer came up and grabbed me by the back of
10:55
Speaker 1: my shirt and threw me like I did a front
10:57
Speaker 1: roll in front of the comedy store. And then the
11:00
Speaker 1: guys don't have a come back. Great. So I go
11:06
Speaker 1: to my ship the next day and I'm telling people
11:09
Speaker 1: about the night before, and like you, everybody's laughing, and
11:12
Speaker 1: a couple of brothers um that I was stationed with,
11:15
Speaker 1: they said, joe Gee, you can go here, here, and here.
11:18
Speaker 1: They told me about all the quote unquote hood hood spots,
11:21
Speaker 1: black spots that they have comedy shows. So that's really
11:25
Speaker 1: why I started doing all the quote unquote black comedies
11:29
Speaker 1: because it was an I could get on stage. I
11:32
Speaker 1: could stage at the mainstream room. And then fast forward,
11:36
Speaker 1: I started trying to go to l A. Now, so
11:38
Speaker 1: now I'm I'm driving up to l A all the
11:40
Speaker 1: time from San Diego, and the same thing happened. I
11:43
Speaker 1: went to the comedy store. I waited in line three
11:46
Speaker 1: or four hours, three different times to be a paid
11:48
Speaker 1: regular at the comedy store, and I finally got the
11:51
Speaker 1: showcase from Minty Shore and I didn't get picked, so
11:55
Speaker 1: I was just like, as it's whatever, and but at
11:59
Speaker 1: I UM, I got to meet guy Tory and then
12:03
Speaker 1: got you know, guy got me on a Fat Tuesday again.
12:07
Speaker 1: All all the black comics started saying, hey man, you
12:10
Speaker 1: come here, here here. So I started doing all the
12:12
Speaker 1: black night in Hollywood and that's basically what led everything.
12:17
Speaker 1: And then I got on b ET became the host,
12:20
Speaker 1: and then the rest is kind of history. Well, you know,
12:22
Speaker 1: it's really interesting and just hearing that story because like
12:25
Speaker 1: I said, you just took advantage of the opportunity that
12:28
Speaker 1: were presented to you. Okay, and uh and and but
12:31
Speaker 1: more importantly, you took advantage of that you were not
12:35
Speaker 1: You did not see an opportunity to say, well, well
12:37
Speaker 1: you know, I'm still trying to get over here to
12:39
Speaker 1: be successful. I'm gonna be successful where I'm allowed the
12:41
Speaker 1: opportunity to be successful. When you got on b T
12:45
Speaker 1: you became the host. Was that how much that changed
12:48
Speaker 1: your touring money? As they say, your ability to be booked? Well,
12:53
Speaker 1: here's that's crazy. When I people that remember the old
12:57
Speaker 1: comicy days, it was a context you know I were yeah,
13:02
Speaker 1: I know, you remember, but it was a contest. And
13:05
Speaker 1: so the first year I did it, I just you know,
13:08
Speaker 1: they filmed the whole season in a week. They do
13:10
Speaker 1: like three year five. It was three or five episodes
13:12
Speaker 1: every day, Monday through Friday, so the whole season was
13:14
Speaker 1: done in a week. So I was still active duty military.
13:18
Speaker 1: I was still in the Navy. I took a week's leave,
13:21
Speaker 1: drove up to l A and recorded my whole season
13:24
Speaker 1: right there. So now so you're and you recorded B
13:29
Speaker 1: comic view. Yeah, here's where it gets crazy. I'm still
13:34
Speaker 1: active duty. I I go up to l A film comic.
13:41
Speaker 1: You come back to my base. So now I start
13:44
Speaker 1: to air on TV. I'm a cop in the Navy
13:47
Speaker 1: of massive Arms. So we on the gate waving cars in. Dude,
13:50
Speaker 1: I'm on the gate waving cars in and some of
13:52
Speaker 1: the brothers was like, hey, but then I see you
13:54
Speaker 1: on TV last night, so I've bet there. And then
14:02
Speaker 1: um and BT doesn't know him in the Navy, and
14:05
Speaker 1: the Navy itself doesn't really know. I'm, you know, doing
14:08
Speaker 1: the stand up thing. And Curtis Gasson, who was the
14:11
Speaker 1: head of BAT at the time, called me and said, hey,
14:16
Speaker 1: it was assistant called Mint that Curtis wants to me
14:17
Speaker 1: with you. I drive up to l A and he
14:21
Speaker 1: Curtis goes, we want to make you the host, and
14:23
Speaker 1: I was like whoa. So I'm like whoa. I had
14:26
Speaker 1: to go back to my base and I still had
14:28
Speaker 1: six months left on my enlistment, and I was like, um,
14:32
Speaker 1: I gotta get out early. I got offered a TV
14:34
Speaker 1: show and literally they were like, we've heard of some lies,
14:37
Speaker 1: but this one is a great one. And so basically,
14:42
Speaker 1: long story short is, um BT wasn't. They weren't going
14:46
Speaker 1: to start filming for another three months. I had six
14:49
Speaker 1: months left to my listening. So my command worked with
14:52
Speaker 1: me and they I finished out that three months working
14:55
Speaker 1: and then I drove up to l A. And that's
14:57
Speaker 1: when I just moved up there. So they're you know
15:00
Speaker 1: when you say to our money, there really wasn't to
15:03
Speaker 1: our money. I wasn't on the road. I was basically
15:06
Speaker 1: just San Diego, going up, you know, four or five
15:09
Speaker 1: times a week. And then I get out of the Navy.
15:13
Speaker 1: I am me going to hosting b ET and now
15:17
Speaker 1: I'm on the road as a stand up. It was
15:19
Speaker 1: like it was crazy. I didn't have the the years
15:22
Speaker 1: of being on the road, Uh, you know, opening up
15:27
Speaker 1: for people for no money. I don't. I don't have
15:28
Speaker 1: that story. But my grind is was driving to l
15:32
Speaker 1: a three or four times a week at a San
15:35
Speaker 1: Diego like I get off work at four in the
15:37
Speaker 1: Navy drive up to l A for like a ten
15:39
Speaker 1: o'clock spot at the Comedy Act Theater, and then drive
15:42
Speaker 1: right back because I gotta be at work at six
15:44
Speaker 1: in the morning. Yo, Grant was serving your country, you
15:48
Speaker 1: know that country, and you know, driving four hours, two
15:53
Speaker 1: hours up, two hours back, four or five days a
15:56
Speaker 1: week and my STM pick up um just so I
15:59
Speaker 1: could get five minutes on stage because I felt like,
16:01
Speaker 1: you know, I was get my name out there, I
16:03
Speaker 1: was meeting people. I was just so excited to meet
16:05
Speaker 1: people I saw on TV. You know what I mean.
16:08
Speaker 1: You know, it's really really cool because first of all,
16:11
Speaker 1: you know, my laughter is natural because the fact you're
16:15
Speaker 1: just naturally funny. I'm just hear you talk and you
16:17
Speaker 1: just naturally just you know, I always tell people when
16:20
Speaker 1: you become a real comic, you just know how to
16:23
Speaker 1: say certain words that we generate a laugh. You just know,
16:26
Speaker 1: you know two plus two its four, and and that
16:28
Speaker 1: that ability to be just naturally funny has always paid
16:32
Speaker 1: your way to the next opportunity. Now we say you're
16:36
Speaker 1: on the road. Now you're getting popular, people showing up
16:38
Speaker 1: to see Gary. How did that feel? Gary? Uh? You
16:44
Speaker 1: know what I always I always knew it was going
16:47
Speaker 1: to happen. And it sounds cocky, but there was never
16:51
Speaker 1: any doubt. It was like I would I would sit
16:54
Speaker 1: in class and like high school and literally this sounds
16:58
Speaker 1: so cocky. I would look at around, like you guys,
17:00
Speaker 1: don't know who's in your class? Here, take pictures, get
17:09
Speaker 1: my autograph. Don't be safe if you don't do it.
17:14
Speaker 1: I would tell girls you should date me, you should.
17:20
Speaker 1: You know. This is why, this is why I found
17:23
Speaker 1: it so incredible when I talked to people who get
17:25
Speaker 1: it early on, So you got it. You know. I
17:27
Speaker 1: went to college, took me seven years to graduate. Then
17:30
Speaker 1: I went to work for IBM, and then I started
17:33
Speaker 1: doing stand up. You know, I wasted seven valuable years
17:37
Speaker 1: when I could have just at a team. Knew this
17:39
Speaker 1: is what I wanted to do. You know, followed my
17:42
Speaker 1: natural instinct, followed my blessings, and when it did it
17:45
Speaker 1: And that's why when I look at when I listened
17:46
Speaker 1: to your story, it's all it's so it's so single focus. Okay,
17:51
Speaker 1: I gotta get out of Ohio. I'm gonna use the military.
17:54
Speaker 1: You said that I'm gonna use the military to get
17:56
Speaker 1: out of here, take me to a city that I
17:57
Speaker 1: can do stand up. Once you realize you can do
17:59
Speaker 1: stand up anywhere, then you guess what you pursue that opportunity.
18:02
Speaker 1: Then you say, I gotta get to l A. Okay,
18:04
Speaker 1: I'm gonna drive. I'm not gonna let somebody stop. I'm
18:06
Speaker 1: not gonna party, I'm not gonna be dating. I gotta
18:09
Speaker 1: I gotta fulfill my dream. You always had a single
18:12
Speaker 1: minded focus man. That that's that's that's a passion that
18:15
Speaker 1: is still carrying through today for you. Correct, oh, without question.
18:20
Speaker 1: Because you never reach your goals. I always say, like,
18:22
Speaker 1: if you sell ten thousand tickets, you want to sell
18:24
Speaker 1: eleven thousand next time, Um, you went to you wanna
18:28
Speaker 1: win another You're getting the movie. You wanna do another movie.
18:30
Speaker 1: You never reach your goals. The goal change, you know,
18:35
Speaker 1: because you first get in the business, you just want
18:37
Speaker 1: to be on the road of the headliner. And then
18:39
Speaker 1: you want to sell tickets, and then you want to
18:40
Speaker 1: get the door deal and you want to move to theaters,
18:43
Speaker 1: and it always changes. But you know you're you never
18:47
Speaker 1: reach your goal. I guess my goal would be to
18:49
Speaker 1: sell out Earth. You get past COVID, you get there,
18:54
Speaker 1: my brother. Now let's let's let's let's talk about let's
18:57
Speaker 1: talk about these specials now, because you know, doing a
18:59
Speaker 1: special is what you want to do. You want to
19:02
Speaker 1: get that special. But did it get it? Takes a
19:04
Speaker 1: home a lot of your key material when you do it.
19:08
Speaker 1: Because you gotta get your special, you get it. You
19:10
Speaker 1: gotta get on the road to take advantage of all
19:12
Speaker 1: that extra exposure to get those cell outs and those
19:16
Speaker 1: door deals. How do you write your material? I don't
19:21
Speaker 1: really write my jokes down. I mean, I'll get on
19:24
Speaker 1: my phone and on my notes, I'll have like a word,
19:27
Speaker 1: but I don't only write my jokes down. It's just
19:30
Speaker 1: I'm on the road to so much that, uh, they're
19:34
Speaker 1: just always in my brain. But I don't really write
19:37
Speaker 1: my jokes down. It's and then, you know, I just
19:39
Speaker 1: think your comedy kind of grows with you, uh, with
19:44
Speaker 1: you know. I used to talk about Dayton and I
19:45
Speaker 1: got married, and then kids, we're young, and now they're teenagers,
19:49
Speaker 1: now they just graduated. It's just I think it's just
19:51
Speaker 1: I just really talk about my life a lot, a
19:54
Speaker 1: lot as they say a whole lot. I do know, Gary,
20:00
Speaker 1: I know Garret reality show. Gary. You you talking about
20:03
Speaker 1: somebody you made as a TV show. That's how much
20:05
Speaker 1: you talk about it. An open book, You're an open book.
20:08
Speaker 1: Open now. You know, let's take a look into the
20:12
Speaker 1: movies now, because I know you have the movie. We're
20:14
Speaker 1: welcome to Southern Death for Michael Joy. Universal four Team
20:17
Speaker 1: for the Entertainment is the production of Universal Home Entertainment.
20:20
Speaker 1: Now go back in our relationship and think like a man.
20:23
Speaker 1: Think like a man too. I remember Will Packer was
20:25
Speaker 1: sitting down Steve Harvey I and we was going through
20:27
Speaker 1: the casting and then uh, and your name popped up.
20:30
Speaker 1: It was not even a question that you know what
20:36
Speaker 1: you just it was just you was just perfectly made
20:39
Speaker 1: for the movie. And you um, now, just seriously, you
20:43
Speaker 1: was perfectly made for the movie. And when it became
20:46
Speaker 1: a instant hit? How did that affect your touring dollars?
20:50
Speaker 1: The first thing? Like a man movie? Gary, Well, that
20:53
Speaker 1: that was that was the time of my career. It
20:56
Speaker 1: was like the perfect storm my career. I It's gone
21:00
Speaker 1: in like three segments. It was like I got the
21:02
Speaker 1: wholesting job on b ET and then and then I,
21:07
Speaker 1: you know, I had a couple of specials come out,
21:09
Speaker 1: and you know, but when things like A Man came
21:12
Speaker 1: out in two twelve and we recorded in two thousand eleven, Um,
21:17
Speaker 1: my career was kind of on a hamster wheel. I
21:19
Speaker 1: was doing fine, but it wasn't really going where the
21:23
Speaker 1: money was the same. You know. I kind of knew
21:26
Speaker 1: when I went into a city how much money I
21:28
Speaker 1: was pulling out. And then um, I knew I made
21:30
Speaker 1: tickets I would sell and it was like this, it's crazy,
21:33
Speaker 1: how this I would say. From two thousand ten to
21:36
Speaker 1: two thousand it was a huge jump in my career.
21:41
Speaker 1: There was three things that happened. One UH, Mike Epps
21:45
Speaker 1: had this uh comic show called Live from the Nokia,
21:49
Speaker 1: and he asked me to be on it, and I
21:51
Speaker 1: got on it and I said, I just had a feeling,
21:55
Speaker 1: um that set was going to do something for me.
21:58
Speaker 1: I don't know why. And it did. And then then
22:01
Speaker 1: the next year, um, Will Packer called No. Six months
22:06
Speaker 1: after I recorded it, Will Packer called me and was like,
22:09
Speaker 1: you know, I got this movie, g Um. He's this
22:12
Speaker 1: white guy that can hang out with black guys but
22:14
Speaker 1: not act black and really be able to give and take,
22:19
Speaker 1: like give them ship and then they give and take
22:21
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh that's perfect, and then uh
22:26
Speaker 1: and then like and then I did another special and
22:30
Speaker 1: then it just all that was a big jump in
22:33
Speaker 1: my career as far as like tickets going up and
22:36
Speaker 1: people recognizing me and getting more opportunities like in front
22:40
Speaker 1: of the camera. Yeah, I always say will Packer especially
22:44
Speaker 1: going to bat for me and you guys and think
22:47
Speaker 1: like me and franchise. It just came at the time
22:49
Speaker 1: of my career where it just went, you know, the
22:52
Speaker 1: I R S was happy. I would just telling you know,
22:57
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, you know, you have to
22:59
Speaker 1: be ready for those moments, Gary, and you was ready
23:01
Speaker 1: for those moments. And that's why that's why I appreciating
23:04
Speaker 1: the storytelling that you're doing and doing this interview. Everything
23:07
Speaker 1: is like so fresh and so vivid in your mind
23:11
Speaker 1: because you still you live in your what you wanted
23:13
Speaker 1: to do all your life, and so it's not even
23:16
Speaker 1: like another thought. You know, I didn't want to be
23:18
Speaker 1: a scientist. You know, I was in the Navy, but
23:20
Speaker 1: that wasn't a career move for me. Okay, that wasn't
23:23
Speaker 1: That was just an opportunity to get to my dream.
23:26
Speaker 1: And I think that's really impressive. And when I when
23:28
Speaker 1: I look at the movie that I saw, Welcome to
23:31
Speaker 1: Southern Death with Michael joh White. Okay, now you're you're
23:35
Speaker 1: the comedy relief in this movie. Okay. So when people
23:38
Speaker 1: tell you that and you're given a script, what runs
23:41
Speaker 1: through your mind? The additional pressure that you because you
23:44
Speaker 1: know it's a serious, you know, terrorists driven movie where
23:48
Speaker 1: this basketball arena and the owner of the arena is
23:52
Speaker 1: captured and people are being bludgend and killed backstage and
23:56
Speaker 1: nobody knows about it. Out of all this, you gotta
23:58
Speaker 1: be funny? Is that pressure? Yeah? Well, let me tell
24:02
Speaker 1: you what's crazy about this whole movie and how I
24:04
Speaker 1: got it. And you always hear the notion there's no
24:07
Speaker 1: small part um in your whole career on this interview
24:13
Speaker 1: have been crazy and so you can use the word crazy,
24:16
Speaker 1: but it really kind of like kind of like it's
24:18
Speaker 1: the exclamation mark of everything that happened in your life.
24:21
Speaker 1: My thing about you is that when you give an
24:23
Speaker 1: opportunity to dude, you go for it. That's what I
24:27
Speaker 1: give you, and I give you credit for that. Man.
24:28
Speaker 1: That's following your passion with credibility and and and an
24:33
Speaker 1: absolute focus. You're amazing, dude. I gotta give your love
24:35
Speaker 1: on that one. Brother. Yeah, I appreciate it. But this
24:39
Speaker 1: is how this is how Welcome the Sun Death came
24:40
Speaker 1: about for me. I did a movie called Undercover Brother Too. Yes,
24:46
Speaker 1: I saw that absolutely, Yeah, it's on Netflix now. Me
24:51
Speaker 1: and Michael Guy White we only had one day together shooting,
24:54
Speaker 1: like one day, and I didn't really have any lines.
24:58
Speaker 1: I just I just had to of Mike a face
25:01
Speaker 1: in the movie. And he kept cracking while we're filming.
25:04
Speaker 1: He kept going, I can't look at this guy without laughing.
25:08
Speaker 1: And so so we you know, mat small talk, nothing crazy.
25:13
Speaker 1: All of a sudden he d MS me like four
25:17
Speaker 1: or five months later and said, hey, man, I'm getting
25:19
Speaker 1: ready to this movie. Um, can I send you the
25:22
Speaker 1: script or can you call me to discuss it? So
25:24
Speaker 1: I called him and he was He pictures the movie
25:27
Speaker 1: to me, and he goes, dude, I really I really
25:30
Speaker 1: want you on this movie. And here I am. I'm like, okay,
25:34
Speaker 1: he calling you telling you he really want you on
25:37
Speaker 1: this movie, right, Michael J. White is So, what time
25:42
Speaker 1: attitude do you have garyl you kind of like, is
25:44
Speaker 1: he kidding me? You know, Mike, Mike can want to
25:48
Speaker 1: be fight, you want to be s you know. And
25:51
Speaker 1: I'm glad it was on the phone because you can't
25:53
Speaker 1: say no to Mike. But I knew I was gonna
26:01
Speaker 1: I didn't have to read the script. He was, I'm
26:02
Speaker 1: gonna say to the script and let me know if
26:03
Speaker 1: you want to do it. I already knew I was
26:04
Speaker 1: gonna say yes. I already knew it. Um So I
26:08
Speaker 1: read it and then, like I said, it wasn't a
26:10
Speaker 1: lot of funny parts in it like that, and he
26:14
Speaker 1: just said, you know, I just want you to be
26:16
Speaker 1: you making yours. I called, I talked to the director.
26:19
Speaker 1: We had lunch. He gave me, you know, he gave
26:21
Speaker 1: me his blessing, Like, dude, make it yours, make it funny.
26:25
Speaker 1: We'll do We'll do it take according to the script,
26:28
Speaker 1: but we're gonna do takes where you can just do
26:29
Speaker 1: what you want. And the cool part about this movie
26:32
Speaker 1: is every day when you sit in the makeup trailer,
26:36
Speaker 1: and usually when you're in the makeup trailer it's early,
26:39
Speaker 1: you know your energy is low and you're just trying
26:42
Speaker 1: to you know, you're kind of reading the script by yourself.
26:44
Speaker 1: Every time me and Michael had a scene together, which
26:47
Speaker 1: most of our scenes were together, because it's like it's
26:48
Speaker 1: like a buddy, it's like a rush out, and and
26:52
Speaker 1: he always would like sit back and we read lines
26:55
Speaker 1: together and we go over the scene. And so by
26:59
Speaker 1: the time we went to shoot and block, we had
27:02
Speaker 1: our own version. And give all credit to Dallas Jackson,
27:04
Speaker 1: the director. He was like, yeah, let's do it. And
27:08
Speaker 1: even Mike said, he goes, I'm telling him. I go,
27:10
Speaker 1: I go, hey, I thank them, like, dude, thanks for him,
27:13
Speaker 1: thanks for giving me some leeway and and doing this,
27:15
Speaker 1: and he goes, he's not because I'm just happy I can.
27:17
Speaker 1: I'm giving you suggestions on jokes and you're using them.
27:20
Speaker 1: I'm like, I didn't think about that. It was crazy
27:26
Speaker 1: because Mike's mind, he was like, yo, I can't believe
27:29
Speaker 1: Gary Oe just used one of my jokes. It was
27:34
Speaker 1: it was his movie. So I was like, yeah, let me.
27:36
Speaker 1: I like to be collaborative, so I was like, yeah,
27:39
Speaker 1: you know, the character and everything. So it was just
27:42
Speaker 1: it was so fun work with him, and and you know,
27:45
Speaker 1: to to just to be wanted like that. I never
27:48
Speaker 1: had that experience to be a lead. I mean, yeah,
27:51
Speaker 1: I think like the Man was great, but that was
27:53
Speaker 1: such a big ensemble and there were so many of it.
27:56
Speaker 1: But just the fact that everyone in the business, Mike
27:59
Speaker 1: was like, yo, I want Gary, and he really fought
28:01
Speaker 1: for me to be in the movie. Well, you know,
28:03
Speaker 1: and everybody know, first of all, it's a really good movie,
28:06
Speaker 1: and you're very funny, and Michael's very athletic and he kicks.
28:09
Speaker 1: But I'm trying to figure out how this guy is
28:11
Speaker 1: killed kicking but looking the way he's looking at his age,
28:15
Speaker 1: but he looks amazing. He looks very limber, as they say.
28:18
Speaker 1: But it really is a starring role for you, and
28:20
Speaker 1: this because of the fact that you're more than just
28:23
Speaker 1: the commedy relief. They come to you and strategic moments
28:26
Speaker 1: in the movie to move the story along, and that's
28:28
Speaker 1: what that's that's when it becomes they've really given me
28:31
Speaker 1: an opportunity because you blow that movie the story alone
28:34
Speaker 1: part doesn't have credibility. Then guess what, the story doesn't flow,
28:37
Speaker 1: and the story does flow. It's a really really good movie. Yeah, yeah,
28:41
Speaker 1: I'm excited, man, I'm excited. What's coming out on September
28:45
Speaker 1: twenty nine, available on digital and DVD and Blu Ray.
28:48
Speaker 1: Welcome to Southern Death, Gary and Netflix as well. You
28:54
Speaker 1: know Dallas Jackson's director starting my man, Michael John Wright. Uh, Gary,
28:58
Speaker 1: thank you for the time, man, This is really hopefully
29:00
Speaker 1: on mind coming back on the show again. The first
29:02
Speaker 1: time I've talked to you in personal. I've seen you
29:04
Speaker 1: and we met each other many times. To the side
29:06
Speaker 1: of your hand. Adapt but you're really special man, and
29:09
Speaker 1: I really respect what you've accomplished and will accomplished in
29:12
Speaker 1: this business and keep winning. Anytime you want to promote
29:14
Speaker 1: anything your podcast, I got a million social media follows,
29:17
Speaker 1: I got a a fan email, fan list of every
29:20
Speaker 1: Wench that's send out like ninety thousand social media I
29:23
Speaker 1: mean fan club followers. I'll promote your brother t shirts,
29:26
Speaker 1: face mask, whatever you got when you come to time,
29:28
Speaker 1: let me know, Okay, I appreciate you, man, Thank you
29:33
Speaker 1: all right. Hi, This ras Sean McDonald. If you want
29:35
Speaker 1: to listen to any Money Making Conversation interviews, please go
29:38
Speaker 1: to money Making Conversation dot com. I'm Rashean McDonald. I'm
29:41
Speaker 1: your host. Thank you. Bye,