I got into standup because I wanted to be an actor, and then I ended up loving standup for the next eleven years.
Dave Chappelle - he's one of my favorite icons. I can't think of anyone who's funnier.
I've always navigated my way around the comedy writing rooms because I didn't want to cater to this side and that side; I just wanted to be liked by everybody.
I felt so contained at home. I always really felt like I couldn't be myself at home, so I was always quiet. I remember I used to sit in my room and listen to Bone Thugs and close the door.
Humor and comedy have always been the best way to deal with real life issues and just reality.
Broadcast TV has a very classy but old-fashioned way of doing television. That's what it's always going to be. But you've still got to introduce young talent and ideas and shows to the masses. That's the way you build a bigger and younger audience, introducing younger writers, comics, TV shows to viewers.
I don't know what the secret to doing standup well is, but I do know the goal is to be yourself as much as possible. And working harder than everyone else.
I love comedy, but more than that, I love comedy that has a message and that has some stakes.
I speak from experience, and I speak from the heart, and I speak only what I know and what I understand; and on what I don't know and what I don't understand, I'm a good listener.
I worked check-to-check, worked in dead-end jobs my whole life before I got into stand-up, and even during stand-up, I was working at a retail job and Starbucks, all those places.
I grew up watching shows like 'Martin' and 'Fresh Prince' and 'Moesha,' and I was inspired by all these shows. When I was growing up, there were so many black people in TV. That's just the world I was around.
I've never been the guy to sit back and wait until someone approved something I was passionate about.
I'm pretty much a comic that dwells on what happened to me instead of what's happening to me.
I've been poor most of my life.
I like whatever I'm doing to have depth.
You don't expect to be touched by comedy. But when it happens, it's beautiful.
I'd been writing sketches since high school, but 'Friends of the People' really taught me about structure - how to wait out a joke, how to stick with it for a while. It also made me more confident onstage as a performer.
Society, they look down on teenage moms and dads, but I think those people are just jealous because they'll never know what it's like to be raised by someone who's still being raised.
I see myself touring internationally - everywhere, every theater, every arena - and putting out stand-up comedy specials until I can't even stand no more. Even then, I'll probably do my comedy special in a hospital bed.
I was always causing trouble in school. Doing impressions of Bart Simpson, interrupting class - I liked the attention and entertaining people.
