Zach sits down with comedian Roy Wood Jr. to discuss Black comedy and the impact of the coronavirus on our working routines. They talk about their shared experiences as Black fathers, and Roy explains some of the difficulties he experiences working from home in the wake of COVID-19. This episode is explicit, so listener discretion is advised!

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TRANSCRIPT

Zach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach with Living Corporate. Really excited for this episode. You know, you probably noticed this week we had two big episodes. We had Ken Miller, CEO in the healthcare industry, and now, you know, we're about to bring you another incredible episode with Roy Wood Jr. Roy Wood Jr., y'all know who Roy Wood Jr. is, man. I mean, if you don't, I'm about to read this crazy bio. I'm gonna read the entire thing. Shout-out to Roy Wood Jr.'s team. His comedy has entertained millions across the stage, television and radio. In addition to stand-up comedy, producing and acting, Roy is currently a correspondent on Comedy Central's Emmy & NAACP Award winning The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. During his tenure, he has used The Daily Show’s brand of satire to shed a light on serious issues like Chicago gun violence, police reform, LGBTQ+ discrimination, ICE deportations and PTSD in the Black community. Wood's recent credits include guest starring roles on the Netflix comedy series Space Force, the AMC series Better Call Saul, and The Last O.G on TBS. Roy expanded his already large role on Comedy Central with a comprehensive “first look” deal and is developing his comedy pilot ‘Jefferson County: Probation.’ In addition, he recently created the Comedy Central series "Stand-Up Playback" in which his fellow comics revisit vintage clips of them performing and see if their old jokes still hold up. Roy also wrote and starred in the Comedy Central web series The Night Pigeon, the story of a Black superhero with minimal powers fighting the biggest baddest gang in his community, The Gentrifiers. Additionally, Comedy Central is committed to produce and air Roy’s third one-hour standup special. His second special, Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You, premiered as part of Comedy Central’s Stand-Up Month in January 2019, the network’s highest rated original stand-up premiere since his February 2017 one-hour, Roy Wood Jr.: Father Figure. In 2017, he was also named the new host of Comedy Central’s storytelling series, This is Not Happening. Roy is a graduate of the Florida A&M University with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism. True to his roots, he is a strong and outspoken advocate for reshaping the image of Alabama and the American South as a whole. In 2018, he penned a New York Times piece on the subject. He is actively working with the Birmingham City Council and the Film Commission to bring more entertainment jobs to the state. During the pandemic, Roy has spent time raising money for the staff of his hometown comedy clubs in Alabama through tipyourwaitstaff.com and Laugh Aid. In October 2006, he made his network television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman. In 2008, he appeared on HBO’s historic Def Comedy Jam, and in 2010 he was selected by America as one of the top three finalists on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He has appeared on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Conan, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He has also performed for the troops on numerous USO tours in the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. Prior to The Daily Show, Wood co-starred for three seasons on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son. Listen, I read that whole bio. I want you to check this out, okay? We didn't cut this show. It's explicit. We cussin' in there. I'm not cussin', so Mom, please don't--please, y'all, don't get me. I'm fine. I'm not cussin', but we did say "nigga" a lot. Ooh, this might be the first time we've said "nigga" on Living Corporate. But listen, I just need y'all to just prepare yourselves, okay? So there's some listener discretion advised if you're sensitive to that type of language, but I think it's also really important for you to understand how black folks talk. Some of us, not everybody. Everybody don't say nigga, but I say it often. Let me just go ahead and be transparent. I say nigga a lot. I feel it is liberating, and it affirms me as a person. There's plenty of thought pieces about uses and variations of the N-word within the Black community. You should educate yourself on that. Maybe we'll talk about it another time on Living Corporate with some type of like, I don't know, professor of Black studies or some linguistic person or--I don't know, we'll figure it out, but I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm really excited about this episode. Stay tuned. Here it comes. Peace.

Zach: Roy, man, it's an honor. Welcome to the show. I feel like this is a loaded question, but I'ma ask anyway. How are you doing these days?

Roy: I'm doing about as decent as I can, you know, considering these quarantine times that we're living in. You know, that's it, man. You know, we makin' it. We makin' it.

Zach: Right, and we're gonna get to that a little bit about, like, just the working from home dynamics a little bit later in the conversation, but I've been asking folks this fairly regularly, especially people in my Gen X cohort--you know, I'm not calling you old, I promise, but I think it's important--

Roy: [laughs] Nah, I'll wear it. It's fine.

Zach: Okay, okay, cool. So, like, regarding the protests and the collective call to consciousness around anti-racism, like, you know, you were around during the Rodney King protests. Like, have you ever seen anything like this?

Roy: Ooh, no. No. I mean, for Rodney King though, just to give some perspective, that was my freshmen year of high school, and there definitely wasn't any real rioting going--there was some rioting and protesting in Birmingham. I only remember that because I have an older brother, at the time he was a news anchor, so I just remember his coverage of a lot of that stuff. I'm trying to think, man. I don't think there's a time that's like where we are now in terms of the ripple effect. I'm also feeling like for the first time, as a Black person, feeling heard to a degree. Like, I think that's the biggest issue.

Zach: I think what's also been really unique in this moment is, like, seeing so many white folks get beat on camera by the police. I don't--

Roy: Oh, yeah. Them white folks. Oh, yeah. I'm trying to think. Yeah, white people getting beat in record numbers, but that's coming because they're trying to protect Black people. If you're trying to protect niggas, you might have to take this billy club. And them white people is like, "Go ahead!" Did you see the white lady butt naked in Portland a couple weeks ago? Man. Just Google "butt naked white lady Portland protests."

Zach: She was out there--

Roy: Man... as they would say in the Black community, "Bust it wide open."

Zach: Oh, no... I gotta check it out, but, you know, that's an important part of allyship. I mean, like, even with that in mind, like, there are a lot of white folks out here putting their capital on the line, you know what I'm saying? It's wild to see, especially in this scope and scale. So okay, let's get right into it. You know, your career started over 22 years ago, right? How would you describe, like, the collective shift that Black comedy has taken since you got started regarding, like, mainstream consumption? Like, is there anything surprising as you kind of look across the landscape today?

Roy: I think that there's more diversity in the voices of Black comedians. I don't think it's fair to even say black comedy is restricted to creatives whose origin points are solely in the performative arts. Issa Rae didn't start in standup or improv as far as I know. Standup for sure she didn't, improv I don't know, but I would consider her a part of the black comedy diaspora and what they've done over there. That show doesn't get made 20 years ago. I feel like a show like Blackish--like, I think the biggest shift is that there's been a bigger trust in having creators tell the story instead of sort of a network coming in and going, "Hey, we just want to give you a show and plug you in it," you know? I think that someone like Kenya Barris, who dabbled in standup early on but really made his name as a writer. You know, this brother's able to bring a bunch of different comedic voices and a lot of different comedic content out to the world, and so, you know, I think the biggest change in Black comedy is that Black comedians aren't the only gatekeepers of what is funny, you know? You got the young bucks too, you know? A lot of--if this was 10, 15 years ago, a nigga like DC Young Fly woulda had to wait his turn, as they say, you know? Waited, "Do enough standup and then somebody will put you in the show, and then--" No. That boy picked up his phone and, "Fuck you mean just wait?" Into filming television, you know? "Y'all not gonna ignore me. I'm out here. I have an audience," and it's he who has the audience that has the power. [The streets?] don't care where the jokes come from. They just wanna laugh. So if you're out there and you're funny and you find the people who agree, you're gonna have a career, and if you're nice you're gonna have a long career, you know? So I think that there's a real element of--I don't know how to put it. I just think that there's more variety, you know? A black lady sketch show on HBO, you know? There isn't a single comedian in that cast. Not a standup I think. I wo