TCB Infomercial: Rickey Smiley

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by 5-Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade with what they call tasty caffeine, 17 bold flavors that actually taste good.

Speaker 1 You know that midday moment when your brain just stalls out, but you still have a full list of things to do? Well, that's when I reach for a 5-Hour Energy shot.

Speaker 1 Each tiny two-ounce shot has about as much caffeine as a 12-ounce premium cup of coffee, but with zero sugar and zero crash.

Speaker 1 It's big flavor, packed into the smallest, easiest bottle, perfect for tossing in your bag, in your car, really anywhere.

Speaker 1 And since it's still fall, they've brought back the ultimate seasonal favorite, pumpkin spice. Ah, yes, pumpkin spice.

Speaker 1 A little cinnamon, a little swagger, sweet, rich, and totally cozy without being heavy.

Speaker 1 Fuel your day with tasty caffeine, available in store and online at 5hourenergy.com or get it delivered by Amazon. Give yourself a caffeine flavor upgrade with 5-Hour Energy Shots.

Speaker 1 Get yours in store and online, 5HourEnergy.com or on Amazon today.

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by Jack Archer. As a man, finding a good pair of pants can feel impossible.
Jack Archer's Jet Setter tech pants make that easy. These are the one pair you need.

Speaker 1 They're built with advanced fabric sourced from Japan that resists wrinkles, stains, and odors. Whether it's a long flight, a workday, or a night out, these pants do it all.

Speaker 1 With customizable fit options and thousands of five-star reviews, trust us, these are the one pair of pants you'll actually want to wear every day.

Speaker 1 And they just launched a matching blazer in the same unbelievable fabric, all for an amazing price of $249 for the suit. It's a no-brainer.

Speaker 1 For a limited time, get 15% off using the code getjack at jackarcher.com. Again, that's the promo code getjack at jackarcher.com for that 15% off, your entire order.

Speaker 1 And thanks to Jack Archer for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

Speaker 4 Next year, I'm having Thanksgiving with some white people.

Speaker 4 Hey, hey, hey, hey, I need a break. We be doing too damn much.
White people keep Thanksgiving simple.

Speaker 4 Here's their man. Give me, give us some white people Thanksgiving music.
Here we go.

Speaker 3 Turkey

Speaker 6 stuffed with stovetop stuffing.

Speaker 5 Honey baked ham.

Speaker 4 Libby's cranberry sauce in the can.

Speaker 4 Mashed potatoes.

Speaker 4 Green bean casserole.

Speaker 4 Pumpkin pie dinner rolls. Tab and fresco to drink.
Four to eight people. Dinner start at four o'clock.
That's it.

Speaker 4 Why we can't do that?

Speaker 4 Why we be doing the most on Thanksgiving? Can I get some Black Most Thanksgiving music? Can I get some...

Speaker 4 Say what?

Speaker 4 Fried turkey, baked turkey, roasted turkey, royal turkey, barbecue turkey, smoked turkey wings, honey glazed ham, baked ham, cushion ham, green eggs and ham, fried chicken, baked chicken, barbecue chicken, lemon pepper chicken, smothered chicken, rotisserie chicken, funky chicken, chicken gizzards, chicken tenders, chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, cornish ham,

Speaker 4 British ham, roast beef, stew meat, beef stew, turkey and gravy, beef gravy, chicken gravy, pork gravy, onion gravy, shepherd's pie, macaroni with yellow cheese,

Speaker 4 macaroni with white cheese,

Speaker 4 candy yams, candy birds, sweet potato soup,

Speaker 4 oxtails, pigtails,

Speaker 4 ducktails,

Speaker 4 chillins, catfish nuggets, whitey, salmon patties, flamber, snapper, trout,

Speaker 4 baked tilabia, black and tilabia, fried tilabia, deer meat, barbecue ribs, meat loaf, turkey meat loaf, country fried steak, smothered pork chops, fried pork chops,

Speaker 4 Bucky beans, green beans, butter beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pork and beans, nigger jelly beans,

Speaker 4 tarot greens, collard greens, mushroom greens, baked cabbage, boiled cabbage, raw cabbage, brussels sprouts, asparagus juice,

Speaker 4 fried squash,

Speaker 4 mini spaghetti, baked potato,

Speaker 4 sweet tea, Kool-Aid, Minimae, Fruit Punch, Dr. Thunder.

Speaker 3 Somebody had to go to the Dollar Tree.

Speaker 7 On this episode of the Commercial Break.

Speaker 3 I watched 20 minutes of it, and I watched that part. That part of it was part of the 20 minutes.
It is so fucking funny, and it is so fucking true. Stovetop stuffing, that's what we like.

Speaker 3 We don't want any oysters or old bay seasoning. We just want stove, bland stovetop stuffing.
Come on, now.

Speaker 3 Man, when I tell you that, that, that about white people out, I talk about my 600-pound life TV show. That's my favorite show.
That's his favorite show. That's my favorite show.
Bro, yeah.

Speaker 3 That's his favorite show.

Speaker 3 All the women, all the women that's on that, they all got a man. Yes,

Speaker 3 everyone, but all the men over there don't got a woman. None of them, not one of them has a woman.
It's weird. It's It's so strange.

Speaker 7 The next episode of the Commercial Break starts now.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, Cats and Kittens. Welcome back to the Commercial Break.
I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and the co-host of this show, Chris Joyhodley.
Best to you, Chris. Best to you, Brian.

Speaker 3 Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us.
It is a TCB Infomercial Tuesday.

Speaker 3 We are very excited to have radio legend, local hero, and overall good guy, Ricky Smiley, here in the studio with us. Two, well, three, radio legends meeting together for the very first time.

Speaker 3 Me, of course, WWLG the Legend. Chrissy, of course, one episode of WWWG the Legend, and some Simcoe Scam Cole FM, if you don't mind.
That's right, I was on there a little bit. Yes, you were.

Speaker 3 And then Ricky Smiley, who has been in 162 radio stations for 30 years.

Speaker 3 But let's not talk about details because it's just legend to legend to legend, having a conversation about what it's like in the world of radio. He is a biz.
The biz, as they say. The radio biz.

Speaker 3 We would call it Hollywood, but it's more like Hollywood, Florida than Hollywood, California. But you get the point.
No knock on Hollywood, Florida. Lovely place.

Speaker 3 I can't wait to talk to Ricky. If you're looking for Crystal Mell.
Okay, I can't wait to talk to Ricky either. And here's why.

Speaker 3 Well, you share why. Why are you excited? Well, I mean, exactly.
Local radio legend. He's just, he's been around forever, has deep ties to Atlanta.

Speaker 3 I know he's originally from Birmingham, but just, I can't wait to pick his brain and just see what made Ricky Ricky. Yeah, absolutely.
So Ricky Smiley has done a syndicated morning show forever.

Speaker 3 I think for like 24 years. I don't know.
I don't know.

Speaker 3 I think 2000 is when he started a station out of Dallas, and then he took off. And I think, I believe, and we can ask him, he's syndicated in almost 100 radio stations currently in the morning show.

Speaker 3 And he's been just like a solid foundation of Atlanta radio for a long time, including when Chrissy and I worked in radio.

Speaker 3 And one of the things I want to share with him is, even when we worked at Clear Channel, he was not on Clear Channel. I think he was on maybe V103 at the time.
I think so. I think so.
Radio 1.

Speaker 3 Is that V103, Radio 1?

Speaker 3 Okay, we'll ask him.

Speaker 3 I don't want to get it wrong.

Speaker 3 So it's Odyssey now, right? That is Odyssey now. That's right.
Is he on Odyssey?

Speaker 3 No, I don't think he is. I think he switched to a different station here in Atlanta.
I don't think it's V103 anymore. Yeah, it's not the same company throughout the whole country, right?

Speaker 3 That he's syndicated on the street. No, he's syndicated on a bunch of different radio stations.
Yeah, I mean, with 100 and some odd radio stations, there's no way it's just one company. But

Speaker 3 he was talked about in our building,

Speaker 3 even though he didn't work at our company. And when you kind of...
get that kind of cachet, you know that it's a big deal. Like the syndicated big, big boys and girls of radio, Ricky is one of them.

Speaker 3 So it's exciting to talk to him. He's also a very funny human being.
He's got a brand new book out.

Speaker 3 Not brand new. It's been around for a while, actually.
I'd say brand new. It's brand new to you, the listener who hasn't heard of him.
It's about grief and life being Ricky Smiley.

Speaker 3 He lost his son at 32 years old from an overdose. He was an addict.

Speaker 3 He was struck with the terrible sickness of addiction. As many people in this country, unfortunately,

Speaker 3 have relatives that that happens to. Yes.

Speaker 3 And one of the things that I've read about Ricky, and that's part of the reason why I'm grateful to have him here, is that he's been very transparent about his grief, about his son's passing, about the circumstances and the addiction that his son had gone through.

Speaker 3 He's also gone to NA with family members. He talks about that in his book.
That's spoken about. He's just one of these people who likes to

Speaker 3 shower the world with his own perspective, regardless of how easy or tough those conversations might be.

Speaker 3 Has a connection to people. I think that's why he's got an audience that

Speaker 3 is huge and stuck around for a long time. He's also on tour.
I think he does a number of shows a month or a year. We'll ask him more about that, but you can go to the links in the show notes below.

Speaker 3 We have a link to all of Ricky's information where you can find the book. He's got a special on Hulu.
Which looks really funny. I watched the trailer.
I'm going to watch it because it looks hilarious.

Speaker 3 I watched 20 minutes of it. So I just kind of, I didn't have enough time to watch the whole thing.
So I just kind of and jumped in.

Speaker 3 And at some point, he starts talking about the differences between white people Thanksgiving and black people Thanksgiving.

Speaker 3 And he says that he likes white people Thanksgiving because they come in, no must, no fuss, you know, turkey, stovetop tough

Speaker 3 stovetop stuffing,

Speaker 3 cranberry in a, in a can,

Speaker 3 and just get on with life, say your hallelujahs, and leave. And then black people, there's 75,000 different versions of food.
It lasts all day. There's three different feedings.

Speaker 3 People carry on and drama. And he said, I kind of like the white people Thanksgiving.
Get in, get out. Real simple, straightforward.
Everyone does it. And I,

Speaker 3 having been to both black Thanksgiving and a white Thanksgiving, he's right.

Speaker 3 And I think really more than white and black Thanksgiving, it should be Thanksgiving for most people and then like a deep South.

Speaker 3 I was going to say that it's something about the South. Something about the South.

Speaker 3 Because I have to say, growing up, I remember us having a ton of different dishes too.

Speaker 3 And it being an all-day affair, you're watching football, you're eating, you're watching more stuff at the parade. You're eating.

Speaker 3 When you put mussels or oysters in the turkey stuffing, it's a different kind of Thanksgiving. Do you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 And I have been to those versions of Thanksgiving, and then I have had my own, what I grew up with, very bland Irish Catholic Thanksgiving.

Speaker 3 You know, amen, holy shit, let's eat the dinner and hit it and quit it.

Speaker 3 Amen. Holy shit.
Eat the dinner and get the fuck out.

Speaker 3 So anyway, it was really, really funny. And I look forward to seeing the rest of it.
So he's got this special on Hulu, this book about grief and growth.

Speaker 3 And then, of course, he is very popular on the radio.

Speaker 3 Morning show for a lot of people. I'm excited about this one.

Speaker 3 So let's do this. Why don't we take a break? And then, through the magic of telepodcasting, we'll have Ricky right here in our own studio.

Speaker 3 Why we did not ask him to come and be with us in person, I have no idea, but we'll fix that moving later.

Speaker 3 We must ask him. He's in Atlanta.
He's probably should have just had him here.

Speaker 3 Let's take a break. And when we get back, Ricky Smiley, the legendary Ricky Smiley.
Let's do it.

Speaker 5 We'll be back.

Speaker 2 Hey there, cats and kittens.

Speaker 5 It's Rachel. I have a terrible cold, but Brian wanted me to pass along the message that TCB's exclusive merch drop happens Friday, August 8th through the 22nd.

Speaker 5 You can pre-order your limited edition commercial break, hat, hoodie, university sweater, or t-shirts and get an exclusive TCB sticker free with every purchase.

Speaker 5 Go to shoptcbpodcast.com Friday, August 8th through the 22nd to pre-order your merch because when the window closes, it closes for good.

Speaker 5 So mark it on your calendars Friday, August 8th through the 22nd. ShopTCBpodcast.com.
Now I'm going to go take some dayquil and feed Axel more pork chops. Best to you.

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored in part by Rula. You know, there was a time when I really needed therapy, but I could not find a therapist who took my insurance.

Speaker 1 I can remember feeling so stuck, like I had to choose between getting help and staying on budget. That's why I think what Rula is doing is so very important.

Speaker 1 Rula makes therapy accessible and affordable by partnering with over 100 insurance plans. The average copay is around $15 per session and depending on your benefits, it could even be less.

Speaker 1 They also take the time to find the right therapist for you, someone who understands your goals, your preferences, and your background. There's no waiting weeks or months for an appointment.

Speaker 1 You can start as soon as tomorrow and Rula stays with you along the way, checking in, supporting your progress, and helping you feel seen and cared for.

Speaker 1 Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit rula.com slash commercial to get started.

Speaker 1 And after you sign up, you'll be asked how you heard about them. Please support the commercial break and let them know we sent you.
That's rula.com/slash commercial.

Speaker 1 You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget.

Speaker 9 This is Free Range with Von Miller, the podcast where I step outside the lines and I take you with me.

Speaker 9 Each week, we're talking everything from the biggest stories around the league to the biggest stories off the field. This isn't your average sports podcast.

Speaker 9 This is game meets culture, locker room meets living room, and no topic is off limits.

Speaker 9 So if you're into good conversations that ruffle a few feathers, join me every Wednesday and follow Free Range with Von Miller, everywhere you get your podcast.

Speaker 1 This episode is sponsored by our longtime sponsor, Squarespace. I am working on a new project, Information TBD.
It's very secretive.

Speaker 1 It's very hush-hush around here because, you know, podcast secrets are a thing.

Speaker 1 Anywho, there is only one all-in-one website tool that's designed to help my new project stand out and be successful, and that one tool is Squarespace.

Speaker 1 Squarespace can help me through every step of the process. The launch, the scaling, the branding, and the growth.

Speaker 1 No matter what part of the journey I am on, Squarespace is an all-in-one website platform, so it'll cater to my needs every step of the way.

Speaker 1 There are so many benefits, services, and tools built into Squarespace, I would need a 10-minute commercial to name them all.

Speaker 1 Cutting edge design, search engine optimization tools, domain management, analytics, email campaigns, the ability to host videos, and most importantly, the ability to get paid.

Speaker 1 So if you've been thinking about building or upgrading your website, now's the time to head to squarespace.com/slash commercial for a free trial.

Speaker 1 And when you're ready to launch, make sure to use the offer code commercial to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. That's squarespace.com slash commercial.

Speaker 1 Then be sure to use the code commercial when you're ready to launch. Squarespace has been with the commercial break for a long time and we have been with Squarespace for even longer.

Speaker 1 This is a company we trust. It's a product we use.
And there's one overarching reason why. It makes my life easier.
Go build yourself a beautiful website, squarespace.com slash commercial.

Speaker 1 And thank you to Squarespace for being a sponsor of the commercial break.

Speaker 3 The legendary Chrissy, Ricky Smiley, here with us now. Hi, Ricky.
How are you? Hi, Ricky.

Speaker 8 Hey, man. Thank you so much for having me.
How y'all doing?

Speaker 3 Yeah, we're good. Fantastic.

Speaker 3 We're better now that Ricky Smiley is here because, as Atlanta, not natives, but we lived here for a long time, me 30 plus years, Chrissy, 30 plus years. Yep.

Speaker 3 You

Speaker 3 have been in our ears and a part of the culture here in Atlanta for a long time.

Speaker 3 Share with me a little bit about what Atlanta means to you because I like when Atlanta natives come on and talk about Atlanta.

Speaker 3 Man, you know, I know you're not native, but you're a big part of the you're a big part of the culture.

Speaker 8 Oh, no, no, no, we almost native. Everybody that lives in Birmingham went to Atlanta every weekend when we were able to get in a car and drive.
We partied in Atlanta. We grew up in Atlanta also.

Speaker 8 We love Outcasts also.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 So, so we also, we go to Lake Lanier to, we go to Lenox and Greenbrow Mall also.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 Yeah. Yeah.
I remember going on stage at birthday bash

Speaker 3 at the

Speaker 8 State Farm Arena.

Speaker 8 Half of the audience was from Birmingham.

Speaker 3 Really? You know? Yeah.

Speaker 8 Oh, man, man, if there's a big, a big, a big concert in Atlanta, they run advertisement in Birmingham. Everybody's on the highway.

Speaker 3 We're gone. It's such an easy drive.
It's such an easy drive over. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 8 Once you get past six flags, you're in the game. You're there.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And actually, yeah,

Speaker 3 Atlanta and Birmingham do share. There's this like sinew between the two of us, this thread between the two of us.

Speaker 3 So many people from Atlanta go to school over there and party over there and hang out over there. It's an easy drive.

Speaker 3 Jump on Interstate 20. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 8 All right, let me let me get one thing straight because I see people in Atlanta wearing these hats.

Speaker 3 You see this right here? Yes.

Speaker 8 that's the braves that's the crimson tide yes yes

Speaker 3 yes roll tide go braves roll tide let's let's be clear thank you that's right thank you for clearing that up because a lot of people you know here's a here's a funny thing so it was like um my

Speaker 3 brother-in-law who's venezuelan lives in houston works in indianapolis came down to atlanta he likes to rock his atlanta gear because he loves it and he came in with an atlanta an a shirt one time and i was like and he goes look at my atlanta shirt and i go that is not an Atlanta shirt.

Speaker 3 And he goes, it is an Atlanta shirt. It's got an A on it.
And I said, no, that's an Alabama shirt. There's a big difference.
And the big difference is the swoop at the top. There you go.
Look at that.

Speaker 3 Uh-huh.

Speaker 8 Get them together, my friend.

Speaker 3 Yeah, correct.

Speaker 3 How have you managed to keep yourself so in?

Speaker 3 You are like a radio legend. You have been around for so, I mean, I don't want to date you, but you've been around for so many years rocking that radio show.

Speaker 3 How have you weathered so many storms that so many other people have? Not as radio, as former radio people, we have seen a few of these storms come and go.

Speaker 3 You're just good.

Speaker 8 That's really a good question. And you know what the answer is? I was talking to

Speaker 8 one of my co-hosts yesterday, Alfreda's, about that. Mastering the art of being funny.

Speaker 3 Yes. Of being.

Speaker 8 funny. People want to laugh.
I found out through research and through morning show boot camps. People want to be entertained in the morning.
They want to be uplifted.

Speaker 8 They don't want to talk about heavy subjects all the time. You got to have a good balance on the show.

Speaker 8 And you have to have somebody that really knows how to, number one, stir the pot, number two, make it about the listeners and not me.

Speaker 8 You know, taking phone calls, getting the audience involved, audience participation.

Speaker 8 You know,

Speaker 8 the PD is going to always program the music. But like, for example,

Speaker 8 this week I'm doing Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes, Soul Week.

Speaker 8 I'm going to do it for two weeks. So these are white artists that was played on black radio stations.

Speaker 3 So cool.

Speaker 3 What a good idea.

Speaker 8 Yeah, I did Tina Marie. I would play two songs at the top of the hour in the eight o'clock hour, like Tina Marie.
And

Speaker 8 when the show becomes unpredictable,

Speaker 8 and I cannot miss the Ricky Smiley Morning Show because I might miss something because they're crazy and they're outside of the box. And we just don't allow,

Speaker 8 you know, we just kind of do radio.

Speaker 8 And I have a good feel of the audience because I'm a performer, right? I perform on the weekends.

Speaker 8 So when you perform on the weekends and you do karaoke shows live during the week and in comedy clubs, you get a sense of what the audience wants.

Speaker 3 What they're talking about, what they're feeling.

Speaker 3 It's like an energy in the room and you can feel it across the radio waves. I know that sounds weird, but you know you got your finger on the pulse.

Speaker 8 Absolutely. Absolutely.
When you're getting text messages while you're on the air, that mean that and you're getting messages on Messenger, on Facebook, people are talking.

Speaker 8 They're talking about the show. So it's really important to have your

Speaker 8 finger on what people want.

Speaker 3 That's very interesting.

Speaker 3 So I used to listen to Stern for years when he jumped over to Sirius and he was, we didn't have him in Atlanta until he went to Sirius, but we, I, I listened to him, started listening to him when he came on serious.

Speaker 3 And I've got really invested in this show. And I noticed that a bunch of other people also were invested in the show, had to listen to it.
It was kind of like a must-listen type thing.

Speaker 3 And I asked myself one day, why am I so invested in the show? And here's why. It becomes like a family.
It's a soap opera that you want to keep up with. It's unpredictable.

Speaker 3 It's something reliable, right? It's something I can rely on.

Speaker 3 I can rely on them to entertain me, make me happy, maybe even occasionally make me cry, but I can rely on it every morning and I'm invested in the characters of the show.

Speaker 3 I'm invested in who's telling me what. And it's like a little soap opera that you just keep up with.

Speaker 3 It's not, you know, over-dramatic, but I think you probably have a very similar relationship with your audience. You're reliable.
You're there. You're funny.
You know, you're open.

Speaker 3 And I think that's part of what you're known for also is that you are transparent, right? You're not.

Speaker 8 absolutely. You have to be transparent.
Like, we laugh,

Speaker 8 we cry, we talk about things, we talk about autism, we talk about we have a partnership with St. Jude where we raise money for the, you know, the kids that's battling cancer.

Speaker 3 God bless you.

Speaker 8 We do a lot of stuff on the radio, man. And, and, and I just always try to make it about the listeners and make it about the people.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 And, and, you know, and uh, you know, not myself, but I get a kick out of it. I have a great team,

Speaker 8 um,

Speaker 8 I have uh, Gary, I have the world-famous DeBrett, yeah.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah, yeah, co-host.

Speaker 8 Uh, Brad is the first female rapper to sell over a million albums, um, you know, and I have a really, really great team and great producers, so putting a show together uh is a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 How many, how long will you do this, Ricky? The audience wants to know: will you do this until they literally drag you out of the studio? Is that do you feel that kind of passion for it still?

Speaker 3 Or is this something

Speaker 8 they might have to drag me out?

Speaker 3 I like it.

Speaker 8 Do y'all know that

Speaker 8 I'm up around 3:30, 4 o'clock every morning, no alarm clock, never my whole life.

Speaker 3 Whoa, your body's just built that way.

Speaker 8 But I was like that as a kid. I was raised by grandparents, so I'm up drinking Sanka brand coffee with my thumb off.

Speaker 3 I remember saying

Speaker 3 my grandfather used to drink that too.

Speaker 3 I remember those commercials. I remember the smell.

Speaker 3 The instant coffee.

Speaker 8 Remember, at first, everybody was drinking Taster's Choice, and then it went to Sanka brands.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's it. Sanka came along, and it's just

Speaker 3 I remember Sanka and Sweet and Low.

Speaker 3 Sweet and Low.

Speaker 8 And

Speaker 8 your grandma would give you a little coffee in a bowl. And

Speaker 8 while you have your little coffee in the morning, up watching. watching TV with your grandma.
Yep.

Speaker 8 So I have been an early bird, a natural early bird my entire life. So since I'm up, I might as well do radio.

Speaker 3 Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 8 You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 8 Keep getting your name out there and your brand out there and working Monday through Friday, whether you perform or not, you get up and go to work. You get up and go do radio.
It's a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 Well, I think you're smart too, is that, you know, like a lot of people who have been on the radio, who have gotten successful careers on the radio, you parlay this.

Speaker 3 You've got almost like a huge megaphone to promote the other things that you do. Also, you've made a little cottage industry out of Ricky Smiley, right?

Speaker 3 You're on tour, you've got the book, you've now got the Hulu special. You do these things, and then you can go on five days a week and you can tell people about it.

Speaker 3 And you've got this built-in audience for what you do.

Speaker 3 I think that's where I'll tell you.

Speaker 8 I'll tell y'all something y'all might be interested in knowing. You know how I got? Well, I started on a local station in Birmingham, but you know how I got the job in Dallas? Oh,

Speaker 3 no, that was your flagship for a while, right?

Speaker 8 Dallas, yeah, Dallas, Texas. And so I get a phone call from Steve Harvey.

Speaker 3 Steve Harvey.

Speaker 8 Yeah, Steve Harvey is one of my mentors, and he's my fraternity brother.

Speaker 8 We're all omegas. We're all in the same fraternity.
DL, Steve Harvey, Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Anthony Anderson, Joe Torrey.

Speaker 8 We're all members.

Speaker 3 That's all members.

Speaker 8 Yeah, we are Charlie. I can go on and on.
Charlie Ward,

Speaker 8 the two live stools, we are all members of the same fraternity. And,

Speaker 8 you know,

Speaker 8 a wonderful organization founded at Howard University in 1911.

Speaker 3 Yes.

Speaker 3 Famous HR.

Speaker 8 I was open,

Speaker 8 opening up for the Kings of Comedy. I got really, really close with Steve and Steve called me one day.
And he said, hey, I'm getting ready to go to Clear Channel.

Speaker 8 I'm leaving Radio 1 and I'm going to Clear Channel. He said, I recommended you uh for this job and i took him i said

Speaker 8 you know i just bought a house in birmingham let me think about it or whatever so uh

Speaker 8 he handed the phone to his bodyguard boomerang who's about six eight

Speaker 3 i love it

Speaker 3 boomerang cursed me the hell out no way

Speaker 8 he said let me tell you something ml

Speaker 8 yeah he said he said you don't tell nobody like Steve Harvey what you're going to think about.

Speaker 8 He said, if you don't have your skinny black ass in Dallas by tomorrow morning, we ain't effing with you no more.

Speaker 8 And hung up in my face.

Speaker 3 Did you get in the car and start driving to Dallas?

Speaker 8 I was sitting

Speaker 8 on the last row of Southwest Airlines

Speaker 8 with tears in my eyes because I felt like I never lived anywhere outside outside of Birmingham. I knew I was going to probably get that job and end up there.
I didn't want to disappoint them.

Speaker 8 And

Speaker 8 Steve was still on the air when I landed. And when I was walking up, the radio station was inside of a mall.
So when they saw me walking, they all looked and they were shocked.

Speaker 8 Like he really showed up. And I went and did the interview and got the job.
And

Speaker 8 I did my last, I did Stephen Harvey last two,

Speaker 8 I did the last two weeks with him on the air to make a smooth transition. Yeah.
Smart. So,

Speaker 8 yeah. And, and, uh, and that's how it happened.
And I won in Dallas. And then the owner decided that he was going to syndicate me.
He put me on all of his stations. And then I went on all of Mr.

Speaker 8 Perry stations out of Oklahoma. And then next thing you know, I ended up on COGS, the Miami station.
And

Speaker 8 when Tom Jonah retired, they slid us over into that slot.

Speaker 3 That's right.

Speaker 8 So now I'm at like around 100 affiliates. It's crazy.
That's

Speaker 3 insane. There are very.

Speaker 3 Wildfire. That's a wildfire.
And I know that just from my understanding of the radio business, my small understanding of the radio business, having worked there for a while,

Speaker 3 like to be syndicated in five stations is a big deal. Very few.
Like Ryan Seacrest, Howard Stern, Joyner, Ricky Smiley, Steve Harvey. These are names.

Speaker 3 Casey Kasim, when he was alive, those are names that get syndicated like that. It's very difficult.
Delilah. Yeah, Delilah.
Delilah.

Speaker 3 I know her.

Speaker 8 Why do I listen to Delilah almost every night and wait for her, some guy to call up and talk about he's in love with a chick from the third grade with eight kids and he still wants to marry her and she plays and she plays air supply.

Speaker 3 It's so good. It's so good.

Speaker 3 It is woven into our fabric. If you grew up in a certain time and you don't know who Delilah is, your parents were not raising you correctly.
I mean, Delilah is amazing.

Speaker 3 She also has been around for, and listen, then there's other, you know, radio cucks that we can talk about, like Dr. Laura and Rashim Limbaugh, but syndication is very difficult.

Speaker 3 And you have done it very well. 100-plus radio stations is amazing.
Your longevity speaks to how

Speaker 3 the connection. You get tuned in that your audience is with you.
In Atlanta, you're legendary.

Speaker 3 I mean, people would talk about you at Clear Channel, even though you weren't at Clear channel and um and so that that's quite a that's quite amazing do you enjoy

Speaker 3 um

Speaker 3 for you is it the microphone or is it the stage that pulls you a little bit more when it comes to like being with the audience i'm sure you're more familiar like it feels it used to be the stage but now it's the radio microphone because

Speaker 8 Man, when I tell you, I am like, I have a studio, this guy named John Matthews built a studio in my house, right?

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 8 So, but wait a minute. People like, oh, you can do the morning show in your pajamas.
I'm like, no.

Speaker 3 Yeah, we know.

Speaker 8 I would never disrespect radio to walk in here and do the show in my pajamas. I get up, take a shower, get dressed, cleaned up, walk down the hall, cook my coffee on the stove.
No curate.

Speaker 3 No curate.

Speaker 3 I love it.

Speaker 8 I have your grandmother's percolator.

Speaker 3 Yeah. You got the Sanka.

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 8 I make my old school coffee. You know, I might order some donuts from Krispy Kreme or Duncan or whatever.
They put it on the porch or whatever. And I got my little fruit.

Speaker 8 And I'm in there watching way too early on NBC. And I got the other TV on ESPN.

Speaker 8 I am ready to roll at 15 to 5. My show starts at 5.
I'm looking over my script, making sure everything is straight. And I'm ready to go.
And I really enjoy that job on radio because you can sit.

Speaker 8 You don't have to get on the plane, train, automobile to get there.

Speaker 8 And it don't give me the anxiety that I get when I get ready to perform because while I'm on stage, people pay money to come see you. So the expectations are like right here.

Speaker 3 Yes.

Speaker 8 Radio is free, but when people pay $40 to come see you perform, so now you got to get on the plane, you got to check in a hotel, you got to get dressed.

Speaker 3 you got to memorize your act i'm on stage like an hour and 15 hour 20 minutes that's a long show ricky yeah blood sweat and tears like i mainly do casinos now instead of comedy club venues theaters and casinos so you got to give people what they paid for and you got to perform like yeah like yeah yeah so uh we've talked to us less pressure we've talked to a few comedians and they have said something very similar is is that you know they get excited when a special comes out and it can kind of live and breathe on its own for a while because there is always this expectation.

Speaker 3 You don't want to ruin somebody's Saturday night that they paid, you know, $100 with them and their loved one to come see you. You don't want to let them down.

Speaker 3 They get dressed up, they come out, they go out to eat, they make a night of it, and then they come and you have an off night and they go, ah, you know, but when you're on radio, we feel the same way.

Speaker 3 When you do four days a week, it pays to be mediocre, right? You just be mediocre and just, I mean, not that you are, but we are.

Speaker 3 Just be funny enough.

Speaker 3 If you can make them laugh once or twice during the show, you'll do it again tomorrow and they'll get another they'll get another shot at it but you know

Speaker 3 but it's good that you can that you have the audience to go out there and fill casinos and theaters because that's an extra you know hey listen let's be honest about it it's an extra revenue source it also gets you out of the house gets you out of your gets you out of your sinker routine

Speaker 3 how often do you do those shows where you're getting out

Speaker 3 probably

Speaker 8 uh now three or four times a month i just did the casino some big casino in phoenix Arizona.

Speaker 8 And

Speaker 8 I ran off stage and jumped on that red eye

Speaker 3 into Atlanta Airport. You know what?

Speaker 8 I found out that even if you die, if you die, you have to go through Atlanta Airport to get to heaven.

Speaker 3 It's true. Yes.
Yes, it's true. Atlanta Airport takes you to heaven.
I was just there the other day. All roads lead to Artsfield, Jackson.
It's 100% true. Yeah.
Well,

Speaker 3 it's because Delta is, you know, it's just Delta. That's the reason.
Delta, the world's largest airline, Delta. It's everybody goes to Delta.
When

Speaker 3 I got to say something about, you know, you being an Omega and the HBU and all the very famous, amazing entertainers that have gone with you.

Speaker 3 DL has become my favorite Instagram account ever. I just got to say that right now, ever.
He knocks out of the park.

Speaker 3 And I know it's probably not him posting every single time, but I'm sure you follow him on Instagram. That guy is on top of it.
I love it. I love his content.
That's great.

Speaker 8 He is a big brother. D.L.
Hughley is a big brother. D.L.
Hughley is a mentor. Dale Hugley is a friend.
DL Hughley is a genius. Comic.

Speaker 8 There have been times where I found out D.L. Hugley was performing somewhere.
I just want to go and be quiet and sit in the dressing room and watch him sit over there

Speaker 8 with his night, one of the nice, one of the cleanest nice most nicely dressed comedians in the country oh yeah cross his legs have him a drink smoke a cigar i remember when he was opening up for the kings of comedy man i i would i would copy his style like that's where i got a lot of my style from because i've really gotten into fashion now uh you know checking out diel hugley i remember when he had the twist with the fade i went and got when i became the host of comedy i had the twist with the with the little with the fade on the side yeah Like

Speaker 8 D.L. Ugly is a mentor.
D.L. Ugley challenges.

Speaker 8 He will challenge you to be better. He will, I remember we went to Houston's restaurant.
We were having lunch. And I just wanted to sit with the bodyguards or whatever.
But nah, D.L.

Speaker 8 was like, nah, we're going to go sit over here.

Speaker 3 And I was like, oh, damn, I already know.

Speaker 8 I already know what's going to happen because if I sit over here with him, he's going to grill me. Yeah.

Speaker 8 Him and Steve, they're so much alike when it comes to

Speaker 8 having someone to challenge you and to make you better and to make you uncomfortable.

Speaker 3 That's where the growth happens. That's where the

Speaker 3 absolutely. I had a friend who said, if it's uncomfortable, lean into it.
That's where you need to be.

Speaker 8 Absolutely. Yeah.
Yeah. And I remember after that dinner sitting in my car for 20 minutes, and that's when I started the ball rolling for that comedy special.

Speaker 3 Wow.

Speaker 8 That David E. Talbot and Lynn Talbert directed, produced it.

Speaker 8 But it was DL that put put that fire under me and was just getting onto me about a lot of stuff, a lot of things that I could be doing that I was not doing. And I just have so much respect for that.

Speaker 8 Yeah, it's easy to tell somebody, hey, man, you're doing a good job, whatever. But when you get somebody to say, hey, man, you ain't doing nothing and you could be doing it.

Speaker 8 He named about 25 things

Speaker 8 and was grilling me. And I felt like a dumbass.

Speaker 8 He wasn't trying to make me feel that way, but like I really needed that challenge.

Speaker 8 And and uh, and I tell you what, if you don't hit him up and check in with him here and there, I can feel when it's time for me to send a text message or call or whatever.

Speaker 8 I'm always in a group text with him and Steve or whatever, but uh, I check in, I check in with Martin Lawrence, you know, I send uh courtesy text message and check in, and just a hump.

Speaker 8 I went on tour with Martin Lawrence, that was the biggest thing I ever done since the Kings. And to have Martin Lawrence host and D-Ray Davis, Adele gibbons

Speaker 8 uh bruce bruce

Speaker 8 uh michael blaxton um

Speaker 8 yeah beast uh in arenas where the nba teams play but uh i'll never forget uh uh ashie larry donnell rollins

Speaker 8 Oh my god, he got a standing ovation in front of me. And

Speaker 8 I was enjoying, I was laughing at him, and I was like, oops, I'm next.

Speaker 3 I got to follow that.

Speaker 8 You're in Atlanta. All the bloggers on the first three rows.
All the celebrities on the first three rows. You cannot have a bad show in Atlanta.
If you do, your career is screwed.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 But I apply Alabama football to everything.

Speaker 8 I'm a big fan of Nick Saving. Guess what I have?

Speaker 8 I have a playbook.

Speaker 3 Oh, wow. For your action one.
For your act.

Speaker 8 Yes.

Speaker 3 Wow.

Speaker 8 i have like six different acts right

Speaker 8 and i'm watching donny rollins on stage and i go and i get my playbook and i say well i can't do what i was going to do because he literally killed the audience and i know what they had a taste for

Speaker 8 right the audience not going to have a taste for what i had planned i think they he has swung the audience in this direction so i need to be over here wow where they are.

Speaker 3 Strategy. Yeah.

Speaker 8 I tore it out of the notebook. And when he got a standing ovation, my role manager ran in front of the stage and took that piece of paper and laid down my one through 10.

Speaker 8 I only got 20 minutes on stage, but I did that one through 10. I had enough sense to say, hey, let me put this together.

Speaker 8 I think this is the act that's appropriate for this particular audience, especially after what he just did.

Speaker 8 And I went out there and got a standing ovation also.

Speaker 3 I love it.

Speaker 8 Yeah, it's a lot of preparation go into comedy because you just can't, it depends on the audience and where you are and who you're performing with.

Speaker 8 That decides what you're going to do on stage. You know what I mean? You have to switch it up.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's so smart. We had a comedian on and he said to us

Speaker 3 that it's like a choose your own. When you get good enough at comedy, we've done it a long time.
You've got a lot of material.

Speaker 3 You've got a lot of resources in your brain and in your back pocket that it's like a choose your own adventure.

Speaker 3 And depending on the vibe, it's like you're walking through the forest and you're moving left and right, right? You're choosing your own path as the audience. You feel them out and you see how it is.

Speaker 3 And I imagine, like, reading a putt, I'm sure you do some golfing, like reading a putt, you read Donnell's putt and you said, Okay, I gotta, I gotta hit it this way.

Speaker 8 Yep,

Speaker 3 super

Speaker 8 the experience is everything. Uh, I've been performing for 35 years.
Just November, it would be 36 years. I started November 13th, 1989.

Speaker 3 That's incredible.

Speaker 8 That's when I went on stage for Open Mic Night. And listen, I tell you,

Speaker 8 that experience in those years and years and in those comedy clubs and had people to train. I used to open for Rita Ruttner.
I used to open for Ollie Joe Prater

Speaker 3 and

Speaker 8 Jeff Foxworthy. I used to open for those guys.

Speaker 3 You opened for Jeff Foxworthy?

Speaker 8 Yeah, at the comedy club in Birmingham.

Speaker 3 That's what I did.

Speaker 8 That's crazy yeah yeah i was i was a young come a young

Speaker 3 how old were you when you had to be about 20.

Speaker 3 when you got on stage for the first time you were about 20 years old yeah probably about 20 yeah what made you do what made you want to do this yeah you always knew you wanted to do this i went to a comedy club with a guy uh

Speaker 8 that was on campus at miles college i was finishing up college at miles college he said hey i'm a comedian he said I knew him, you know, from being on campus.

Speaker 8 He said, hey, come ride over to the comedy club with me. I didn't have a car.
I was like, sure, I didn't have nothing to do. I went over to the comedy club and I saw him on stage.

Speaker 8 I'm like, if they laughing at him doing those jokes, which he was funny,

Speaker 3 I know I could do that because that's what we do.

Speaker 8 I would charge people to come in the dorm room and roast.

Speaker 3 And we would have roasting sites.

Speaker 8 We had the first wilding out in the dorm.

Speaker 8 Like, yeah, I would sit on one bed and somebody on another floor down the hall would sit on another bed. We would face each other and we would roast.

Speaker 3 Just go at it.

Speaker 8 And so, and I was, I was always known for telling funny stories and doing funny things because

Speaker 8 one of my classes, I was doing music in a music class.

Speaker 8 Zebedee Jones, he's also a member of Omega South. Wow.
And that was my music teacher. And he was like, hey, why are you late? I said, listen.

Speaker 8 Everybody's froze.

Speaker 8 I said,

Speaker 8 I had death in the family. He said, oh, my God.
he said, I am so sorry. Go ahead and have a seat.
Um, Mr. Smiley, if you need anything, let us know.

Speaker 8 He said, I, I, I, you know, he said, I feel bad for you. He said, uh, uh, who was it? I said, it was my uncle.
Uh, we were really, really close.

Speaker 8 I said, but they got him a hearing aid now, and I think he's going to be fine.

Speaker 3 Yeah, the deaf in the family.

Speaker 3 It took him about three minutes.

Speaker 8 Three minutes, three minutes that

Speaker 8 thing started hitting like microwave pop bomb.

Speaker 8 How about he dismissed class?

Speaker 3 Oh, no.

Speaker 3 He took the class down.

Speaker 3 Oh, my God. That's too funny on a deaf in the family.

Speaker 3 They got him. That is dad joke level funny.

Speaker 3 All right. So here's a question.
And we're calling back to the beginning of this interview. You know, call back.
You've been on radio for a long time. I'm calling back for a second.

Speaker 3 Holland Oates on your blonde-haired, blue-eyed, even though I don't think either of them are blonde hair. Oh, no, I guess

Speaker 3 Daryl would be blonde-haired, blue-eyed.

Speaker 3 Holland Oates, they're early stuff. Like, I mean, I'm not talking like they're poppy 80s shit, but they're early stuff.

Speaker 3 Do you consider that? Do you consider that good RB?

Speaker 3 Was that funny? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 8 They played all of this stuff on.

Speaker 8 Like, I grew up, I grew up listening to a radio station founded by Dr. A.G.
Gaston.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 8 You got to Google Dr. A.G.
Gaston. He was a

Speaker 8 grandson of slaves and he was a self-made millionaire. He lived not far from my grandparents, but he lived in a big mansion.
And

Speaker 8 I would listen to Wayne Radio Station and they would play those songs by Daryl Hall and John Oakes.

Speaker 3 And they would play.

Speaker 8 I remember growing up as a kid, they was playing Fleetwood Mac on black radio stations.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. It's good.

Speaker 8 You would hear Christy McBay singing You Make Loving Fun and

Speaker 8 To Dreams by Stevie Nix. Oh, they played all that stuff in between Marvin Gaye and the Commodore.

Speaker 8 And then when MTB came out, you had to watch all the videos to get to Michael Jackson Thriller.

Speaker 3 That's it. That's it.
I was just watching, you know, this is crazy. Like earlier this morning, I was watching a real, I mean, Instagram.
One of the Instagram accounts I watched is like found footage.

Speaker 3 And it was found footage of Michael Jackson and his choreographer doing the smooth criminal dance work, like figuring that out and this choreography he had used.

Speaker 3 And listen, we all talk about Michael's personal life till we're blue in the face, but the truth is that he blessed us with some of the best music and some of the best dancing that has ever been seen on earth.

Speaker 3 And watching him figure all of this out with this choreography, it's like watching Van Gogh paint. It's like quite crazy how he moves his body.

Speaker 3 And i i have you know i don't have admiration for some of the things he was accused of doing never found guilty but i don't have admiration for that obviously but i have admiration for the way that he just

Speaker 3 used his mind and his body and his voice to create these works of art it's quite frankly it's crazy one of the best of all time you you better believe it so you have a book out yes what's the title of the book i'm sorry i don't have the the

Speaker 8 the name of the book is called sideshow now i don't know if you know anything about,

Speaker 8 I think the group is called Blue Magic. They had a song called Let the Side Show Begin.

Speaker 3 Hurry, hurry, step right on in. Yes.

Speaker 8 Can't afford to pass it by. Guaranteed to make you cry.

Speaker 3 Right?

Speaker 8 So that song is about a clown that's sad.

Speaker 8 And if you ever listen to the songs, A Sad Show, sometimes that's a story of a lot of our great comedians. Our job is to make people laugh while we're crying on on the inside.

Speaker 3 Yes.

Speaker 3 Donnell Rawling said the same thing while he was here.

Speaker 8 Oh, man, listen.

Speaker 8 I lost my son on a Sunday. Wednesday, I was back on the air.

Speaker 8 I was back on the air Wednesday.

Speaker 8 Tuesday night, I picked out his clothes,

Speaker 8 put the clothes in the car.

Speaker 8 Wednesday, I did the morning show.

Speaker 8 And I went to the funeral home to do to help with final arrangements.

Speaker 8 But I I have a job to do because that's this

Speaker 8 reason why I've had a lot of success in radio because I had to realize that I'm not the only one that lost a son.

Speaker 8 A lot of listeners that have lost a son also, they can relate to what you're going through. And your job as a human being is to use your situation.

Speaker 8 And not as a human being, as a Christian, is to use your situation to bless others. It's not about you.
It's not all about you.

Speaker 8 Somebody in Chicago, somebody in Charlotte, somebody in South Florida, somebody in Decatur and Bankhead and Buckhead.

Speaker 3 And, you know,

Speaker 8 somebody in Dallas, Texas, and Houston have lost a son or a daughter also.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 And my job is to get on the air and get people motivated and encouraged and let them know if I can make it, you can make it also.

Speaker 8 And remember, everything that we all go through as human beings is only a test.

Speaker 8 But it don't feel like a test when you're going through it, but it's a test. God watches us and

Speaker 8 say, hey, I really like the way he's handling that situation because if you can't handle this, you're not ready to go to the next level that God have for you.

Speaker 8 And so we have to always be mindful of that of having a successful podcast, having a successful radio show. We have to sometimes make it about, make it not about you.

Speaker 8 And let's find find out how we can find a way to help other people, share your story to help other people, and bring people closer to God and save lives. Because my son died from an overdose.

Speaker 8 But like my mom said,

Speaker 8 I would go to NA meetings with my mom. And one thing I learned in NA meeting is some have to die so others can live.

Speaker 8 Now, if my son died and I saved a lot of lives because he died.

Speaker 3 Wow. And, And,

Speaker 8 you know, that's the responsibility that we have as radio personalities is to have these real conversations about things that really hurt us in order to make the world a better place.

Speaker 3 It's a very powerful reminder. And my,

Speaker 3 I think it's a very powerful reminder, too. We get a lot of email, like you do, a lot of emails, a lot of text messages.
Most of them, hey, great job. Love the show.
That was funny.

Speaker 3 This is interesting. But some of them are really powerful that, hey, having a bad day and you made it a little brighter.

Speaker 3 or maybe some of them have even been more intense, like, hey, having a bad life and you made it a little bit better. And thank you for that.
But

Speaker 3 for you to use your experience and share that shared experience, that really is what being human is all about.

Speaker 3 And I do think that God has found in those moments when we can use our own experience to comfort someone, make them more wise, give them a different perspective, or even just have the ability to hold space for them.

Speaker 3 Like, you know, you're going through this too. And I just want to tell you that I'm here with you.
And I see that pain and I feel it. You're not alone.
Yeah.

Speaker 8 And that's when I went on that, when I went on that book tour,

Speaker 8 I was because that's my, I wrote my, that was my second book. I'm thinking, I'm thinking, you're going to sign the book and go to the next person, sign the book, go to the next person, sign the book.

Speaker 8 Oh, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 Oh, I can imagine.

Speaker 8 These people have lost. I had a lady, I'll never forget it.
Uh, in Nashville,

Speaker 8 two

Speaker 8 that stick out with me was a couple

Speaker 8 because I found a sense of gratitude. There was a couple that lost their three-year-old son, he drowned,

Speaker 8 and they was sitting in the back of the book sign and they were both in tears the whole time. And I'm sitting here like,

Speaker 8 Well, their son was three years old. My, they didn't get to see their kid get on the school bus.
My son was 32.

Speaker 3 Yeah, their son was three,

Speaker 8 man. Like, like, and how is it that I was able to find gratitude

Speaker 3 from that? Yeah.

Speaker 8 The fact that they did not get to see their son graduate middle school, elementary school, high school.

Speaker 8 I was able to take my son, drop my son off, you know, off to college. And,

Speaker 8 you know, when I met a lady that said she lost her son and her husband, and she said, I don't want to talk about it. She had tears in her eyes.
She just stopped talking.

Speaker 8 I said, ma'am, are you okay? She just shook her head. She wouldn't say anything or she, she wouldn't speak another word.
I grabbed her and I stood her behind me. I said, I want you to wait.

Speaker 8 I don't want you to just, I want you to wait. She had purchased a book.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 8 I politely, I said, is there a therapist in the room? And it was like two.

Speaker 8 And the fact that I was able to connect her to a therapist to get her,

Speaker 8 you know, the help that she needs.

Speaker 8 That was so important. That was my responsibility as a radio personality, as a human being, as a Christian, as a comedian, is to put people in the right place.
So you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 3 Everything is orchestrated

Speaker 3 by God anyway.

Speaker 8 And you have to, I have to let God allow God to use me, you know, in order to

Speaker 8 help people, whether it's on the radio or in person. So I just give God all the glory for

Speaker 8 if I were able, if I was able to help anybody with my situation.

Speaker 3 You know what I mean? Yeah. Well, serendipity is the kiss of heaven yeah and it's like the it is inspiring and there is

Speaker 3 we do often find purpose in the depths of darkness right that is

Speaker 3 you know i used to say this very simple phrase i thought i was wise at the time i was probably 15 when i thought it or said it for the first time there is no light without the darkness right it's just you you don't know what it is you don't know what it is to have a good day unless you've had bad now take that and put it on your worst day And you know, that's those are the times when I think you can find some real purpose and be grateful for all of the things, times, and other things that you've got.

Speaker 3 I think you're really brave to talk about this so openly, to be so transparent about it.

Speaker 3 And I think it's probably why you have such a dedicated and loyal audience, and they're going to have to drag you out of that radio studio.

Speaker 3 Right. Right.

Speaker 3 Ricky Smiley has a brand new Hulu special. i'm not brand new it actually came out in may didn't it

Speaker 8 yeah yeah but man let me tell you something it's still lookup a lot of people have not seen listen listen yeah

Speaker 3 tell us

Speaker 8 i tell you what you you're gonna be laid out is it's it's it's solid funny when i talk about uh the white version of thanksgiving versus the black version too thanksgiving

Speaker 3 I watched 20 minutes of it and I watched that part. That part of it was part of the 20 minutes.
It is so fucking funny, and it is so fucking true. Stovetop stuffing, that's what we like.

Speaker 3 We don't want any oysters or old bay seasoning. We just want stoved, bland stovetop stuffing.
Come on, now. A little bit.

Speaker 8 Man, when I tell you that, that about white people out, I talk about my 600-pound life TV show.

Speaker 3 That's my favorite show. That's his favorite show.
That's my favorite show. Bro, yeah, that's his favorite show.

Speaker 8 All the women, all the women that's on that they all got a man yeah

Speaker 3 everyone but all the men over there don't got a woman none of them not one of them has a woman it's weird it's so strange i agree with you oh we should i talk about that for probably about 10 minutes oh i'm gonna go watch that part i'm gonna go watch the rest of it yeah i i got to about 20 minutes of it I go through every single part of my 600-pound life.

Speaker 8 I am obsessed with you.

Speaker 3 I mean, you found a brother every year. Me too.
We should have a watch party. We'll get on Zoom.
Next time you're in Atlanta, we'll do a watch party. I love it.

Speaker 3 I love it. That doctor now's Arden, you know, you know, hello, hello.

Speaker 3 His voice is.

Speaker 8 He said, I can't stay here. He said, I have to eat something.

Speaker 8 He said, you have ate enough to last you the next four years.

Speaker 3 I know. He told one lady, she said, but I can't.
I can't do the diet. I find myself starving.
He goes, you could not starve in the next 10 years. You've eaten enough food for 50 people.

Speaker 3 He calls it like he sees it. And it's not like Dr.
Narzard is like, you know, two pounds, sopping wet. The guy has got a little weight on him, too, but he just calls out all of their bullshit.

Speaker 3 But I guess when you're 90 and you've seen it all, you've heard it all.

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 8 that's my show.

Speaker 8 You know, I had this little span about little people.

Speaker 8 That cranked people up. That had people like in tears.

Speaker 3 Wait, do you watch the seven little Johnstons?

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 3 you have found your tea out of soulmates.

Speaker 3 Um, I used to watch Little Women Atlanta, Little Women Atlanta,

Speaker 3 Little People, Big World. I get, I'm fascinated, I'm fascinated by all of it.

Speaker 8 I used to call them the baby housewives.

Speaker 3 They were, that's like what it was. They were flipping small tables.

Speaker 8 Yeah, so yeah, yeah, my comedy special on Hulu is crazy.

Speaker 8 If you have not seen it, make sure you go to Hulu and watch it. And just go to Hulu.
And when you go to search, you can pull up Ricky Smiley or Foolish.

Speaker 3 Foolish.

Speaker 3 Foolish. Or links in the show notes as they always are.
Links in the show notes to the books. Links in the show notes to find Ricky on a syndicated radio station.
You're you. He is legend.

Speaker 3 He is comedy gold. I feel really honored to have spoken with you after so many years of knowing about you and listening to you.

Speaker 3 and it's uh the myth the legend yeah they say sometimes don't meet your heroes but this has turned out just fine this has been great you haven't spent enough time with us for either of us to screw it up so congratulations yeah i gotta come hang out with y'all man we're gonna play all soft rock you know uh

Speaker 8 she played aha uh yesterday she played take on me oh take on me

Speaker 3 my my kids was in the car they love aha they love they know all of the words and that video speaking of videos from back in the day, is that the one where they were drawn? It's draw half drawn.

Speaker 3 Yeah, drawn and they move in and out. That was amazing technology for the time.
Yeah, because you know, someone had to draw a ball by hand.

Speaker 8 I have kids and grandkids, and they are all in the kitchen. They love Benny and the Jets by Elton John, and they love, I've been waiting

Speaker 3 for a girl like you

Speaker 3 to come into

Speaker 3 my life.

Speaker 3 I've been waiting. That's foreigner, isn't it? I think that's foreigner.
Foreign. Yeah, foreigner.
That is so good. Yeah, man.

Speaker 8 Yeah. So

Speaker 8 we've got to catch up.

Speaker 3 Let's hang out.

Speaker 3 In a couple of months, when you're in Atlanta, I know you come here often. When you're in Atlanta, we'll coordinate because we're right down the street.
We have a studio right down the street for you.

Speaker 3 I mean, I'm downtown.

Speaker 3 We'll do it. Ricky Smiley, Hulu, book, tour, radio, legend.
Thank you, Ricky. Thank you so much, Ricky.
Pleasure. Thank y'all.

Speaker 8 Thank y'all

Speaker 8 so much for having me, man.

Speaker 3 Y'all be blessed. Anytime.

Speaker 3 Bye, Ricky.

Speaker 5 You'll make this rather snappy, won't you? Somebody got me thinking to do it before 10 o'clock.

Speaker 10 Hi, cats and kittens. Rachel here.

Speaker 11 Do you ever get the urge to speak endlessly into the void like Brian? Well, I've got just the place for you to do that.

Speaker 10 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822.
Feel free to call and yell all you want. Tell Brian I need a race.

Speaker 12 Compliment Chrissy's innate ability to put up with all his shenanigans.

Speaker 10 Or tell us a little story. The juicier, the better, by the way.

Speaker 11 We'd love to hear your voice because Lord knows we're done listening to ourselves.

Speaker 10 Also, give us a follow on your favorite socials at the Commercial Break on Insta, TCB Podcast on TikTok. And for those of you who like to watch, oh, that came out wrong.

Speaker 12 We put all the episodes out on video.

Speaker 10 YouTube.com/slash thecommercial break and tcbpodcast.com for all the info on the show. Your free sticker, or just to see how pretty we look.
Okay, I gotta go now. I've got a date.
With my dog?

Speaker 10 No, seriously, Axel needs food. Today is pork chop day.

Speaker 14 Ready to level up?

Speaker 13 Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun.

Speaker 14 It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

Speaker 15 Enjoy hundreds of online social games like Blackjack, Slots, and Solitaire anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week.

Speaker 19 Whether you are at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you.

Speaker 14 Plus, get free daily login bonuses bonuses and a free welcome bonus.

Speaker 13 Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

Speaker 12 Play Chumba Casino today.

Speaker 21 No purchase necessary VGW Group Voidword Prohibited by Law 21 Plus TNCs apply.

Speaker 14 Ready to level up?

Speaker 13 Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun.

Speaker 14 It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

Speaker 15 Enjoy hundreds of online social games like Blackjack, Slots, and Solitaire anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week.

Speaker 19 Whether you are at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you.

Speaker 14 Plus, get free daily login bonuses bonuses and a free welcome bonus.

Speaker 13 Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

Speaker 12 Play Chumba Casino today.

Speaker 18 No purchase necessary.

Speaker 14 VGW Group, Voidboard, Prohibited by Law 21 Plus.

Speaker 21 TNCs apply.

Speaker 3 Well, that was an interview I won't soon forget for all the right reasons. Yeah, so inspiring.
I mean, he just had a smile on his face the whole time. And what incredible energy.

Speaker 3 Yeah, you could feel it coming through the screen. Like, I just don't know how to explain it.
Ricky was

Speaker 3 a breath of fresh air in a room that is dark and full of wires and black curtains. And Brian, it was good.
It was good. I really liked Ricky.

Speaker 3 I look forward to the follow-up interview where we have him in person.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I kind of felt like I want to give him a hug at the end, like I five of him and give him a hug. And

Speaker 3 I don't know. I'm going to invite myself over to his Atlanta home to watch my 600-pound life and Seven Little Johnston

Speaker 3 when the new season comes out because it's coming out soon. It is? I think so.
Yeah, I suspect my

Speaker 3 spidey sense tells me my TLC aminer

Speaker 3 tells me that there's a new,

Speaker 3 well, they do like half seasons. They'll do like eight episodes at a time.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 They record, I think, 16 or 20 of them, and then they put them out 10 at a time so they can stretch it out throughout the year. Same with my 600-pound life, and I think both of those are coming back.

Speaker 3 When the kids go back in school, new episodes come out because people aren't out fucking around. Parents like to watch that.
That's right. I'm so happy.
He's a my hundred.

Speaker 3 I'm so happy. I'm so happy.
Ricky Smiley made me smiley. I have a new Starbucks boyfriend, even though he drinks Sanka.
I have a Sanka boyfriend and a Starbucks boyfriend. There you go.

Speaker 3 All right, Ricky Smiley, all his information is down in the show notes. His Hulu special that just came out a month or two ago.
Go watch it. Ricky's funny.
Read his book.

Speaker 3 about grief and forgiveness, gratefulness.

Speaker 3 I think we should get a copy of that quite frankly.

Speaker 3 I'm going to check it out.

Speaker 3 And then you can go see him on tour. Again, links in the show notes.
As always, much thanks to Ricky and all the people who made that happen. Really grateful we got the time with him today.

Speaker 3 Really grateful we got the time with him today. All right, the window is ajar for our merch.

Speaker 3 So now that we've... Talked about Ricky, let's talk about us for a minute.
Let's get back to the important part. Legend to legend to legend.
Let's get back to the other legends. 967, the legend.

Speaker 3 Shop TCBpodcast.com. That's shop tcbpodcast.com.
Available now. Go get your TCB merch, please, and thanks.
We would appreciate it. Pre-order now.
The merch will be on its way very soon.

Speaker 3 Chrissy and I wearing our merch as we speak. Yes, I love it.
University sweaters, piggy fronting t-shirts, commercial break t-shirts, hats, and a free sticker with every single order.

Speaker 3 Go there, support the show, rock your gear. You know, because we've been talking to you incessantly about it for two weeks so there you go go now buy it now

Speaker 3 links by now links on the website at tcbpodcast.com text me if you need me to send you the link 212-433-3 TCB that's 212-433-3822 at the commercial break on Instagram TCB podcast on TikTok and youtube.com slash the commercial break for all the episodes on video including this one right now okay Chrissy that's all I can do for you today.

Speaker 3 I think so. I will tell you that I love you.
And I love you. I will say best to you.
Best to you. And best to you out there in the podcast universe.

Speaker 3 Until next time, we will say, we do say, and we must say. Goodbye.

Speaker 22 Hey, Ryan Reynolds here, wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now, Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service.

Speaker 22 And Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price.

Speaker 23 So that means a half day.

Speaker 22 Yeah? Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.

Speaker 23 Upfront payment of $45 for a three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only.
Speed slow water 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxism fees extra.

Speaker 23 See mintmobile.com.

Speaker 14 Ready to level up?

Speaker 13 Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun.

Speaker 14 It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

Speaker 15 Enjoy hundreds of online social games like Blackjack, Slots, and Solitaire.

Speaker 18 Anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week.

Speaker 19 Whether you're at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you.

Speaker 14 Plus, get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus.

Speaker 13 Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

Speaker 12 Play Chumba Casino today.

Speaker 14 No purchase necessary, VGW Group, Voidwear Prohibited by Law 21 Plus.

Speaker 21 TNCs apply.

Speaker 18 Ah, the sounds of an Etsy holiday.

Speaker 18 Now that's special.

Speaker 13 Want to hear it again?

Speaker 18 Get original and affordable gifts from small shops on Etsy.

Speaker 17 For gifts that say, I get you, shop Etsy.

Speaker 18 Tap the banner to shop now.

Speaker 5 Next up is a little song from CarMax about selling a car your way.

Speaker 6 You wanna sell those wheels? You wanna get a CarMax instant offer. So fast.
Wanna take a sec to think about it.

Speaker 3 Or like a month.

Speaker 6 Wanna keep tabs on that instant offer. With OfferWatch.
Wanna have CarMax pick it up from your driveway.

Speaker 5 So, wanna drive? CarMax. Pickup not available everywhere.
Restrictions and fee may apply.