Speaker 1: You've actually used your characters to almost hold a mirror
Speaker 1: to society, to challenge to question like I look at
Speaker 1: the description that you have the very deep divide in
Speaker 1: America right now between America and America.
Speaker 2: I love America. I love the promise of America. I
Speaker 2: think America is the light on the hill. Merca, on
Speaker 2: the other hand, has a lot of issues, you know,
Speaker 2: Mirca's where division comes, is where hatred comes. Where we're separated,
Speaker 2: is where we don't come together, is where people get
Speaker 2: in bubbles. It's where they divide and all those things.
Speaker 2: But America is the thing that we should always be
Speaker 2: shooting forward.
Speaker 3: Today we're sitting down with Larry Wilmore, a comedy legend
Speaker 3: who's storytelling not only makes us laugh but challenges us
Speaker 3: to see the world differently. But today we're seeing a
Speaker 3: whole new side of him because he's joined by someone
Speaker 3: who knows him better than anyone, his daughter, Laurene Wilmore.
Speaker 3: Larry opens up about career setbacks, fatherhood, and the power
Speaker 3: of believing in yourself even when no one else does,
Speaker 3: and why humor just might be the secret to surviving
Speaker 3: at all. It's insightful, inspiring, and just the right dels
Speaker 3: of fun that we all desperately need right now. This
Speaker 3: is My Legacy, host it by me Andrea Warters King,
Speaker 3: alongside my husband Martin Luther King the Third and our
Speaker 3: good friends Mark and Craig Kilberger. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1: Welcome to My Legacy today. We are truly privileged to
Speaker 1: welcome a creative visionary. Larry Wilmore is an Emmy winning writer, producer, actor, comedian,
Speaker 1: and host whose brilliant work has shaped some of the
Speaker 1: most beloved and groundbreaking shows on television, from The Bernie
Speaker 1: Mac Show to Insecure to Grownish.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: What makes our podcast so unique and unexpected is we
Speaker 1: don't just meet extraordinary individuals, We meet the people who
Speaker 1: know them best. And Larry has brought along his amazingly
Speaker 1: talented daughter, Lauren. And so, Larry, we're thrilled your with
Speaker 1: us here today, and could you kick us off by
Speaker 1: giving us the honor of introducing to us Lauren.
Speaker 2: Thank you thanks for having me here. When I first
Speaker 2: saw this invitation, I'm like, wait, I get to do
Speaker 2: a podcast with my daughter? Are you giving me so?
Speaker 2: I want everyone to me my wonderful daughter, Lauren. He
Speaker 2: Elanie Wilmore. She is such a great, great person inside
Speaker 2: it out, and it's such a joy to have her
Speaker 2: join us on this show.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3: And let's just say she has the best hair.
Speaker 2: That I have seen.
Speaker 4: Oh, thank you.
Speaker 3: You look marvelous, darling.
Speaker 2: She's got hair stories, She's got a lot of hair story.
Speaker 5: But I love rocking the frow Like, yeah, it's been
Speaker 5: a long journey to get here, but now I am
Speaker 5: happily rocking the fro every day.
Speaker 1: On behalf of the guys walking on a show. To Larry,
Speaker 1: he looks great.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, yes, oh you know how long it
Speaker 2: takes to get it like this alone?
Speaker 3: Now, Larry, who our origin story is so important to
Speaker 3: all of us and who raised us had a phenomenal impact, good, bad,
Speaker 3: or indifferent. Now, you grew up the middle child of
Speaker 3: six kids in California, but your family has roots in
Speaker 3: the Midwest. Yes, and so I'm really curious, I'm sure
Speaker 3: our listeners are. Who would you consider the most influential
Speaker 3: person of your childhood?
Speaker 2: Of course, you know, my parents very influential in different ways.
Speaker 2: You know, my parents got divorced when I was young,
Speaker 2: but I was able to get different things from both parents,
Speaker 2: sometimes in different ways. You know, my mom went through
Speaker 2: a lot, you know, she really dealt with a lot
Speaker 2: of emotional issues, but there was a strength about her
Speaker 2: and a resilience about her that I really admired, you know,
Speaker 2: even going through it. And my dad was a person
Speaker 2: who it seemed like he just kept his own ideas
Speaker 2: about himself when he was out in the world, like
Speaker 2: the world didn't affect him. And he was a civil servant.
Speaker 2: He worked, he was a probation officer at a time,
Speaker 2: and it wasn't easy for black people who you know,
Speaker 2: working those kinds of jobs. But he always had a
Speaker 2: sense of humor about it, and I always admired the
Speaker 2: way he treated people. I also grew up at a
Speaker 2: time when your neighborhood kind of raised you. Our next
Speaker 2: door neighbors were very important to raising us. We called
Speaker 2: them Bebie and Uncle Henry were their names. There were
Speaker 2: an older couple from Texas had all that homespun old
Speaker 2: school like knowledge and everything like she made peach jam
Speaker 2: and candidate. You know. It was that type of growing up,
Speaker 2: and we all had fruit trees in our backyards. But
Speaker 2: the last part of it was I was so lucky.
Speaker 2: I had influential teachers who at certain points in my
Speaker 2: life were just there at the right time, and there
Speaker 2: was a thread through some of my most important teachers.
Speaker 2: They always appreciated individuality, uniqueness, it's okay to be different,
Speaker 2: you know. And one of the biggest ones of that,
Speaker 2: I'll say briefly, was my seventh grade teacher. He and
Speaker 2: his wife are from Peru. I went to Catholic school.
Speaker 2: They were the late teachers there, and he saw that
Speaker 2: I was like making jokes and stuff like during school,
Speaker 2: me and my friends, and he came to me going said,
Speaker 2: he said, Okay, Larry, here's the thing. I'm gonna make
Speaker 2: a deal with you. After lunch, there's like fifteen minutes
Speaker 2: when I'm trying to get everybody's attention and all that stuff.
Speaker 2: You can have that as a joke time, okay, and
Speaker 2: you could get up and do whatever you went in
Speaker 2: front of the class. And I was like, Okay, that
Speaker 2: sounds fantastic, he says, but in return, I don't want
Speaker 2: to hear a peep out of you for the rest
Speaker 2: of the day. And I'm like, you're done. That's a
Speaker 2: fantastic deal. Are you kidding me? And he was so influential.
Speaker 2: In fact, I remember he gave us a math question
Speaker 2: that he said, nobody can figure this out. If you do,
Speaker 2: I'll make I'll cook you a steak dinner. Of course
Speaker 2: my brain went stop. I figured it out, and sure
Speaker 2: enough he and his wife invited me into their home
Speaker 2: cooked me a steak dinner. I'll never forget that teacher
Speaker 2: was so influential, how he dealt with students and inspired us.
Speaker 2: He used to play the guitar every day in class.
Speaker 2: It's just great, mister and missus Rebello. Yeah, they were awesome,
Speaker 2: just the best teachers ever. So teachers, family, you know,
Speaker 2: and neighbors and neighbors community.
Speaker 1: Maybe someone on social might want to shout out to
Speaker 1: their favorite teacher and love and put it out there
Speaker 1: in the universe.
Speaker 6: Larry, absolutely.
Speaker 3: And now, Lauren, how did you see the values your
Speaker 3: dad grew up with influence the way that he parented
Speaker 3: you and your brother.
Speaker 5: You know, it's so interesting When he was saying teachers
Speaker 5: and family, I was like, that is such a theme
Speaker 5: in my life so many people. First of all, many
Speaker 5: people in my family are teachers on both sides. And
Speaker 5: I'm an actor, but my day job is teaching Mandarin
Speaker 5: to kids. And I also have so many teachers that
Speaker 5: have influenced me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the sidebar.
Speaker 2: A quick dad, like she also teaches French. That's just but.
Speaker 5: I have so many teachers that have influenced me as well.
Speaker 5: And part of what inspired me to become a teacher
Speaker 5: was knowing how much your life can change from one
Speaker 5: good teacher who sees you and values you and helps
Speaker 5: nudge you along your path. And also the importance of family,
Speaker 5: especially since twenty twenty. Like, we've all just been really
Speaker 5: clinging on to our family the past five years, and
Speaker 5: we've lost a lot of family members, but it has
Speaker 5: really brought all of us closer and we've just really
Speaker 5: been finding as many ways as possible to just like
Speaker 5: support each other and all of that throughout this time. So, yeah,
Speaker 5: those two You happen to mention those two values, and
Speaker 5: I think those are big themes in my life.
Speaker 3: That apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Speaker 7: So, Lauren, your dad's known for certainly sharp humor and
Speaker 7: ability to challenge perspectives through comedy. Oh, he certainly is
Speaker 7: a big deal in Hollywood. What what's something you and
Speaker 7: your brother maybe tease him about that reminds you that.
Speaker 1: He's just dad.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: It's so funny because I was thinking about this and
Speaker 5: I was like, what don't we.
Speaker 4: Tease him about?
Speaker 5: But also what doesn't he tease us about? You know that,
Speaker 5: Like it's a lot of mutual teasing in our household.
Speaker 5: There's just always this back and forth of silliness and goofiness.
Speaker 5: And I think one thing that and feel free if
Speaker 5: you think of anything Dad. But a lot of times
Speaker 5: if he does a joke that I feel like goes
Speaker 5: a little too far, I'll give him two thumbs down
Speaker 5: and he's always like, whoa, I oh, no, two thumbs down.
Speaker 5: I feel he'd probably use it anyway. But that's a
Speaker 5: fun little thing that I do. I don't know, can
Speaker 5: you think of anything?
Speaker 2: I was a mention that Lauren is great because I
Speaker 2: can see how far I'm being provocative thumbs up or
Speaker 2: thumbs downs. You know, when I get two thumbs down,
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, I'm touching a nerve here.
Speaker 3: Well, I think all all children have that. I know
Speaker 3: our daughter certainly keeps us, keeps us on edge, and
Speaker 3: keeps us honest with her opinion even when we don't
Speaker 3: ask at all, and even with all of the humor.
Speaker 3: One of the things that I think is interesting that well,
Speaker 3: first of all, comedians tend to live longer, which yet,
Speaker 3: oh you did not know that. Yeah, so I think
Speaker 3: like Lauren.
Speaker 2: Told me that when when she was younger, she said, Dad,
Speaker 2: people that laugh live longer, So you're life.
Speaker 5: Yes, My brother and I would say that we're like
Speaker 5: our dad saves lives for a living because he makes
Speaker 5: people laugh and.
Speaker 3: It's and it's so healing, you know, to have that,
Speaker 3: that laughter and humor. And I do know though that
Speaker 3: sometimes on the other side of that with comedians, you know,
Speaker 3: there's also this deep sense of kind of carrying all
Speaker 3: of that as well. Do you do you find that?
Speaker 3: And what do you go to if you do for
Speaker 3: your own solace?
Speaker 2: Yeah? You know, who knows the reasons why you want
Speaker 2: to make people laugh. I remember working with the great
Speaker 2: Bernie Mack and he told me the story of his
Speaker 2: mom and you know, she passed away when he was
Speaker 2: a teenager, and the way that she was very sick
Speaker 2: and he so wanted to make her laugh. It meant
Speaker 2: so much to him, you know, and the desire and
Speaker 2: the intensity and the passion that he had to do
Speaker 2: that carried into his professional life. But that's where it started,
Speaker 2: you know. And for me and my brother, we spent
Speaker 2: a lot of our childhood here and our parents' fight,
Speaker 2: you know, and you know they're around the way to divorce,
Speaker 2: and we would spend our time going to sleep making
Speaker 2: each other laugh, you know, and we used to have
Speaker 2: We used to call it make me laugh, you know,
Speaker 2: who could do the funniest thing. But that was our
Speaker 2: that was in the background of you know, that was
Speaker 2: our background noise for that, you know. And it was
Speaker 2: always for us. It was It wasn't conscious. It was
Speaker 2: just our way, I guess, even as children of just
Speaker 2: coping with that. But the but the joy, we had
Speaker 2: a certain joy in it. It wasn't it wasn't covering
Speaker 2: up anything. There was a real joy in it. And
Speaker 2: I still have to this day. I really enjoy making
Speaker 2: people laugh, you know. It's it's just something that has
Speaker 2: been there from the beginning. People would always ask me
Speaker 2: and said, Larry, how did you get into comedy? And
Speaker 2: I said, I'll be honest with you, I'm in showbiz
Speaker 2: to get comedy out of me, you know. I mean,
Speaker 2: if I worked in a bank, I'd still be making
Speaker 2: people laugh. I just wouldn't last very long, you know, so,
Speaker 2: But but that's why it's that's you know, that's my
Speaker 2: connection to that. You know, it's my relationship to the world.
Speaker 2: You know, we're so grateful, Larry.
Speaker 7: You've certainly had many ups and downs in your career,
Speaker 7: for sure. Often the most important lessons that we learn
Speaker 7: come from our challenging times. Can you share what has
Speaker 7: been most challenging experience and what has been emerged from
Speaker 7: that experience.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've had many of them. Many times people think
Speaker 2: your career is just this line that goes like that,
Speaker 2: but it really isn't. Some of my biggest ones was
Speaker 2: I was fired from the Bernie mac Show after I
Speaker 2: won every word you could possibly win, and I was
Speaker 2: in a fight with the network the whole time, and
Speaker 2: it was just one of my lowest points, and you know,
Speaker 2: I was, you know, my personal life wasn't going to
Speaker 2: well at the time too. You know, we're trying to
Speaker 2: my wife and I were trying to figure out what
Speaker 2: was going on, and I just felt so isolated and
Speaker 2: just just really really down. But I just relied on
Speaker 2: just doing the basics. You know. We spent a lot
Speaker 2: of time at that point. You know, learn doesn't know
Speaker 2: about a lot of these things. But we just worked
Speaker 2: on our marriage for a long time and doing the
Speaker 2: work of that just really helped, you know, we just
Speaker 2: it gets you out of the thinking about bad things,
Speaker 2: you know, and remembering what I liked the business and
Speaker 2: going forward. Getting fired from the Burner Max Show actually
Speaker 2: opened the door to me working on the office, to
Speaker 2: me being on the Daily Show, to me expanding the
Speaker 2: things that I wanted to do all along. But you
Speaker 2: know I didn't. I was going down that road, and
Speaker 2: it was very instrumental for me to be to feel
Speaker 2: so low emotionally, but to know that I had love
Speaker 2: around me. You know, I had support, guys you have.
Speaker 2: It was amazing the outpouring of love of support just
Speaker 2: from show biz, from luminaries, people like James L. Brooks.
Speaker 2: I remember Stephen Boschko reached out to me people I
Speaker 2: didn't even know, saying it's okay, Larry, we're with you,
Speaker 2: hanging in there. You're great. You know, the work you're
Speaker 2: doing is great. Let alone from friends. But the most
Speaker 2: important thing was family. And even when my wife and
Speaker 2: I split, when we were talking to the kids, we
Speaker 2: both understood how lucky we were to have a family
Speaker 2: that had love first, you know. And you know, even
Speaker 2: though you could be going through difficult times making difficult decisions,
Speaker 2: if you start there you can make you'll be okay
Speaker 2: in the end. You know. That's always been my lifeboat.
Speaker 2: His family. Family's always the lifeboat, you know, and all
Speaker 2: the other stuff is around there and love first.
Speaker 1: I love that family is the lifeboat.
Speaker 3: When we come back. Lauren shares what her father tells
Speaker 3: her daily. M H, welcome back to my legacy with
Speaker 3: the hilarious Larry Wilmore and his brilliant daughter, Lauren.
Speaker 1: Lauren Learry just gave a beautiful tribute to the role
Speaker 1: that you and family played in his life. Was there
Speaker 1: a time that you were going through a unique challenge
Speaker 1: and your dad's advice, wisdom or maybe even just comedic
Speaker 1: laughter helped.
Speaker 6: Get you through it?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think for me, just the past five
Speaker 5: years since COVID have definitely been the hardest of five
Speaker 5: years and for so many reasons. And Dad has I mean,
Speaker 5: he's always said, first of all, I'm proud of you
Speaker 5: every day of your life. That has always been something
Speaker 5: that he said to both John and I and that
Speaker 5: I always knew he was cheering me on, and then
Speaker 5: when I moved back to New York and started like
Speaker 5: really for real pursuing acting like it's I mean, it's
Speaker 5: rough out here, but like I can always talk to
Speaker 5: him about it, and he's always just giving me little
Speaker 5: bits of advice and you know, sharing his stories, and
Speaker 5: I because i've I.
Speaker 4: Was listening to.
Speaker 5: Some of the episodes, and I think on the David
Speaker 5: O Yellowow episode, he mentioned you have to see it
Speaker 5: to be it, And that's what I saw in both
Speaker 5: of my parents that I knew from a young age
Speaker 5: that if I wanted to do show business it would
Speaker 5: be hard, but that it would be possible because I
Speaker 5: saw that they did it and that they had to
Speaker 5: work their butts off, but that they made it happen.
Speaker 5: And so yeah, I think one of the most helpful
Speaker 5: things has just been his cheerleading and his support this
Speaker 5: whole time, like whatever you need, I got you, Like
Speaker 5: that's always been his energy for both me and for
Speaker 5: my brother as well.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: It was very sweet for your dad. And I want
Speaker 1: to say we should have bite Lauren ba because she
Speaker 1: listened to the previous episodes and did I shut up
Speaker 1: to I like her.
Speaker 4: I am a student first before everything.
Speaker 6: Sure, thank you for perfect so well?
Speaker 1: And Bart, did you listen to the previous episodes.
Speaker 2: I'm the teacher and.
Speaker 4: Making notes.
Speaker 3: I know there has not been one conversation that we've
Speaker 3: had that I haven't been inspired by. And I hope
Speaker 3: that that you got that same gift as well.
Speaker 4: Yes, for sure.
Speaker 3: Now, Larry, I know that it's hard to select just
Speaker 3: one project that you would be most proud of outside
Speaker 3: of your beautiful children. But is there one that you
Speaker 3: felt particularly was significant because of how many obstacles or
Speaker 3: setbacks that you had to overcome to make it happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I probably go back to the Burning Mac show,
Speaker 2: you know, to quote from Dickens, it was the best
Speaker 2: of times, it was the worst of times, you know.
Speaker 2: So it took me. I'll tell this story real quick.
Speaker 2: It took I was in an office where I had
Speaker 2: like an overall deal with Disney that had expired, but
Speaker 2: I was still going to the office, just waving at
Speaker 2: the guard getting left and just kind of hiding out. Guys,
Speaker 2: I'm not exad. For four and a half weeks, I
Speaker 2: never turned in anything or something. I wrote the same
Speaker 2: three pages every day, I could not get past page three.
Speaker 2: This is four and a half weeks. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna get found out. You know, they're gonna realize I'm frau.
Speaker 2: I'm scared. Every day now, I'm hiding in my office
Speaker 2: all the time. I just couldn't get it. Some days
Speaker 2: I didn't write anything, banging my head against the wall.
Speaker 2: And then one day I was I looked up and
Speaker 2: I was on page four, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: and something had clicked, and it just poured out of
Speaker 2: me the entire show in thirty six hours. I couldn't
Speaker 2: stop writing. It was and it was during the counting
Speaker 2: of the votes down in Florida with you remember Bush
Speaker 2: in that election that I was watching that as I'm
Speaker 2: as I'm typing, and that script ended up winning an Emmy,
Speaker 2: you know, a year and a half later and almost
Speaker 2: intact from that moment, and I just had clarity in
Speaker 2: that moment, you know, I just it took so hard
Speaker 2: to get it, but it just took trust. I was
Speaker 2: so out of myself for doing that and just sticking
Speaker 2: in there, because there could have been many moments, I mean,
Speaker 2: when you're feeling really low, especially as a creative person
Speaker 2: and you feel all alone, you know, and everyone's going
Speaker 2: to judge something you're doing is terrible. I mean, you're
Speaker 2: going through all the worst things that every writer has.
Speaker 2: You feel that way anyway, It doesn't matter what the
Speaker 2: project is you you know, finally everybody's going to find
Speaker 2: out that the piece of crap that I already know
Speaker 2: that I am, you know. But when I when I
Speaker 2: broke through, I was so proud of the fact that
Speaker 2: I stuck in there and it became like a template
Speaker 2: for other writers and that sort of thing, you know,
Speaker 2: And so I was very proud of that moment.
Speaker 6: Well, first of all, congratulations the area.
Speaker 8: That's a phenomenal story and just an amazing moment of inspiration.
Speaker 6: Lord, I'm going to turn it back over to you.
Speaker 6: We love your energy.
Speaker 8: You have captured us here on this conversation, and you
Speaker 8: can see why you've been sincerely. You can see why
Speaker 8: you've been so successful in theater, including your roles with
Speaker 8: classical Shakespeare to musical theater and so much in between.
Speaker 6: And I can't believe you teach Mandarin?
Speaker 4: Now, what.
Speaker 6: Did you say Mandarin? Just before you tell us?
Speaker 5: Oh, I was just like, Hey, if anyone out there
Speaker 5: speaks Mandarin, let me know if you think I speak well,
Speaker 5: and like, I don't know what I should say.
Speaker 2: I'll have to brag and Lauren real quick. Lauren was
Speaker 2: in love with the movie Frozen. You know, it really
Speaker 2: hit her at a time in her life. Really fair.
Speaker 4: I was like, you know, fifteen, nothing to apologize for it.
Speaker 3: But she.
Speaker 2: Took that song and she like let it go translated
Speaker 2: into like twenty different okay.
Speaker 5: So so I didn't translate it, but I gathered all
Speaker 5: the translate because you know, Disney movies get translated out
Speaker 5: of like a million languages, and I made a version
Speaker 5: where each line was a different language, and then I
Speaker 5: like learned it and that was like my party trip.
Speaker 6: Okay, can you give us, give us, give us a
Speaker 6: line or two.
Speaker 8: I've got to uh to two girls who are just frozen,
Speaker 8: uh door frozen, so they're big Ana fans. So can
Speaker 8: you just this is from my daughters.
Speaker 4: Daja han libraso, libraso no mad on. That was Korean
Speaker 4: and the Spanish. Forgive the Korean.
Speaker 3: I do not speak Korean, fantastic, but that was Korean inspira.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like Lauren's stealing the show, so
Speaker 1: I feel like we gotta give a litle question. You
Speaker 1: have played so many iconic roles you obviously, among the
Speaker 1: most iconic is the very sarcastic, hilarious senior Black senior
Speaker 1: Black correspondent of course from The Daily Show. Can you
Speaker 1: bring us some of your favorite memories from those from
Speaker 1: those show?
Speaker 2: Fans so many, you know, just working with all soundented people.
Speaker 2: I was just so lucky to be there. I mean
Speaker 2: I started right after John Oliver started writing rob Rego
Speaker 2: and also Momby. We all kind of started at the
Speaker 2: same time. You know. My audition was was funny because
Speaker 2: it wasn't quite an audition, but I met with John
Speaker 2: and we had talked about doing something because that's when
Speaker 2: I was looking to start kind of performing again. I
Speaker 2: was in that transition point and we thought it would
Speaker 2: be something fun. We weren't quite sure. They thought, well,
Speaker 2: maybe you're like a black Republican. I was like, no,
Speaker 2: I don't want to just be anti South them. And
Speaker 2: then someone said senior Black hors final and that just
Speaker 2: sounded really funny. And so what they says, we'll write
Speaker 2: two things and we'll just do them. You know, we'll
Speaker 2: take we'll tape one and we'll do the other one
Speaker 2: in the show. And so we wrote them. And when
Speaker 2: you're trying to find it, you're not sure what you
Speaker 2: are or what that type of thing, you tend to
Speaker 2: overwrite it. And I remember during rehearsal. Rehearsal went horrible.
Speaker 2: I mean as a comedian, especially as a performer. It
Speaker 2: was just too overridden and nobody's laughing, and it's that
Speaker 2: point where the crew isn't kind of looking at you
Speaker 2: because the thing, you know, it's like it's like how
Speaker 2: you don't name certain farm animals because they might be
Speaker 2: food one day, so you don't want to get too
Speaker 2: close to them, you know, like so making sure they're
Speaker 2: not gonna get too close to me. You know, this guy,
Speaker 2: he may not stick around, and you can just feel
Speaker 2: that you're not connecting. And so I was kind of down.
Speaker 2: And then I found out, you know, before air, that
Speaker 2: they were gonna cut one of the pieces we were playing.
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, I'm not going to be on this show.
Speaker 2: And then they decided to do one piece, and right
Speaker 2: before air, John goes through this rewrite and he says
Speaker 2: he brought me and he said, hey, man, let's just
Speaker 2: go through this and he said, let's just put it,
Speaker 2: just talk it through, and I really just put it
Speaker 2: in my voice and I'm working off of John and
Speaker 2: we're doing it like that, and we really got it tight.
Speaker 2: And right before we went on, I was sitting there
Speaker 2: and he said, hey man, I was a little numbers. She said,
Speaker 2: just look in the camera and just f and give
Speaker 2: it to America. That's what he took me. And I
Speaker 2: was like, okay. And so the first joke, huge laugh
Speaker 2: and as now my comedian in seems are taken over,
Speaker 2: like okay, this is like I got you guys now,
Speaker 2: and it's like dam bam bam. Now the crew is
Speaker 2: likes a brother now, you know, the crew is like
Speaker 2: where did this guy get When did he sneak in
Speaker 2: the door? You know? And I'll never forget that. I'll
Speaker 2: never forget John's generosity knowing that I needed a little
Speaker 2: boost at that time and just saying, hey man, don't
Speaker 2: worry about this, just you know what you're doing. You know,
Speaker 2: it was so nice too.
Speaker 7: So Lauren, you know you've watched your dad navigate Hollywood
Speaker 7: and said he taught you a lot about resilience. What
Speaker 7: is one of the most important pieces of vice that
Speaker 7: he's given you in terms of navigating through.
Speaker 5: I think this just for life, not even just for
Speaker 5: you know, being in in show business. But he always
Speaker 5: said to John and I, you don't have to be
Speaker 5: the best, you have to be your best. And that
Speaker 5: stuck with me because I am a recovering perfectionist and
Speaker 5: you know, like just knowing that it wasn't and that
Speaker 5: kind of takes off the energy of competition as well
Speaker 5: of having to beat other people out for something, but
Speaker 5: just focusing on living up to your potential and shining
Speaker 5: your light as opposed to trying to dim someone else's
Speaker 5: so that you can get to the top. I mean
Speaker 5: that applies to just everything ever in life, but certainly
Speaker 5: in show business. And I've really come to understand that
Speaker 5: more the past couple of years that I've been here
Speaker 5: in New York and finding my community here and my friends,
Speaker 5: and we're all just constantly lifting each other up because
Speaker 5: that's the only way to you know, that's the only.
Speaker 6: Way to live.
Speaker 4: You can't be always trying to push other people down.
Speaker 3: When we come back, Larry shares the Oscar speech that
Speaker 3: had him in tears.
Speaker 1: Now back to my legacy with Larry Wilmore and his
Speaker 1: daughter Lauren.
Speaker 7: As the father of a sixteen year old daughter, we
Speaker 7: hope that we get it right most of the times,
Speaker 7: but there are those times. Is there a piece of
Speaker 7: advice that you think was not so good that your dad.
Speaker 5: I'm sure there was, but like I probably was just like, Okay,
Speaker 5: throw that out and pressed on with my life, you know,
Speaker 5: like I'm sure there have been, but I genuinely nothing
Speaker 5: really comes to mind, because I think I just kind
Speaker 5: of hold on to the gold nuggets and.
Speaker 2: That didn't.
Speaker 4: But also I will say, I mean.
Speaker 5: Talking about being a nerd, that is another legacy thing
Speaker 5: from my dad, you know, like not only valuing education,
Speaker 5: but like embracing just like learning stuff always I'm always
Speaker 5: seeking out knowledge and and I think that was something
Speaker 5: that I saw my dad do, just chasing little passion,
Speaker 5: you know, whether for him, whether it's magic or space,
Speaker 5: Like he was always super interested in space.
Speaker 4: And and language is a little bit you know, like
Speaker 4: you know, you still know a little bit of Japanese.
Speaker 3: Right, and you're talking about earlier seeing it to to
Speaker 3: to see it so you can be it. And I
Speaker 3: just can't help but just be delighted when I think
Speaker 3: about too. You know, all children, but particularly black children,
Speaker 3: black little girls, to see this beautiful woman with her afro,
Speaker 3: you know, speaking perfect Mandarin and how what kind of
Speaker 3: doors and that opens in their mind. I just I
Speaker 3: just think is magnificent.
Speaker 5: I have a couple black students, and I always tell
Speaker 5: them that people will be shocked and then delighted that
Speaker 5: you speak Mandarin. Yes, you know, both here in the
Speaker 5: States and also I did a semester in China, and
Speaker 5: I mean, people are floored.
Speaker 4: They're just like, what what what what? And then they're thrilled.
Speaker 5: They're so happy that you've learned this language because they
Speaker 5: weren't expecting that of you, which is unfortunate that but
Speaker 5: it's it's I really try to be that for them,
Speaker 5: to show them that this is possible for you.
Speaker 3: But we have our daughter is she's fluent in Spanish,
Speaker 3: and so she's at international school and and speaking since
Speaker 3: she was learning since kindergarten, and so it was interesting
Speaker 3: even in elementary school. We all went to Spain and
Speaker 3: she was helping us navigate through the airport right in
Speaker 3: this perfect Spanish. And it was interesting because it took
Speaker 3: people like a few minutes, like a few moments to
Speaker 3: wait like it wasn't. They were buffering, like, wait a minute,
Speaker 3: here's this little black girl with curly hair and she's
Speaker 3: speaking perfect Spanish with no accident, and they kept saying like,
Speaker 3: what what is this?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: And then where did you learn? You know? So you know, I,
Speaker 3: you know, I think that's that's beautiful.
Speaker 2: I love that story. You know. It's also like teaching
Speaker 2: our kids, especially our young black kids, that they can
Speaker 2: be children of the world too. You know, they don't
Speaker 2: you know, that they can engage with the world, And
Speaker 2: it's such a powerful thing for them to learn at
Speaker 2: a young age that there's more than just than just
Speaker 2: right here in front of you. There's this whole world
Speaker 2: that's out there that you can engage with.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, when you think about the fact that Martin Luther
Speaker 3: King Junior's last book, Where do We Go from Here,
Speaker 3: Chaos or Commute Unity, the very last chapter in that
Speaker 3: book is the World House. So it was incredibly important
Speaker 3: for us for our child to be to understand and
Speaker 3: see the world from that that global perspective. Absolutely, And
Speaker 3: I love Lauren what you said too about the I
Speaker 3: want to go back to what you said about being
Speaker 3: in competition, because one of the things that we talk
Speaker 3: about a lot is that that we tell our daughters
Speaker 3: that champions create and amateurs compete, you know, so like
Speaker 3: I'm writing that down, amateurs compete and in that kind
Speaker 3: of idea, your father, Larry, you have opened so many doors.
Speaker 3: It's to me one of yours. The most powerful parts
Speaker 3: of your legacy is how you've used your influence to
Speaker 3: open doors for black women in television and spaces where
Speaker 3: we've historically been shut out, creating shows like Insecure, which
Speaker 3: was a must watch, you know, and Sunday Nights and
Speaker 3: you know for a lot of black women with ter
Speaker 3: Ray and Grownish, and it's ensued that black stories are
Speaker 3: told by the people that are living them. And then
Speaker 3: Quentin Brunton, I'm looking down because I want to make
Speaker 3: sure that I get her her words exactly what she said.
Speaker 3: But she's the creator and star of the hugely popular,
Speaker 3: very funny series abviod Elementary, and she credited you in
Speaker 3: her Emmy acceptance speech and for teaching her how to
Speaker 3: write great television. And then you post it and these
Speaker 3: are your words. Ver Vadim. I was crying because Quentin
Speaker 3: Bernson won, but not ready for the shout out and
Speaker 3: now I'm blubvering congrat I was, what did that moment
Speaker 3: mean to you, not just as a mentor, but as
Speaker 3: someone who's worked so hard to make sure that these
Speaker 3: voices are heard.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate the question. I'm so flatterfy.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: I always took that road seriously and intentionally from the beginning.
Speaker 2: I always realized that, you know, there's an opportunity here
Speaker 2: to do something important for us in the business, and
Speaker 2: if I can help to open doors. Always my joke was, look,
Speaker 2: if I can open the door, I'll put my foot
Speaker 2: there and I'll just say come on through as many
Speaker 2: people can come them through while it's open. So it's
Speaker 2: been an intentional philosophy. But the first thing I was
Speaker 2: very concerned in the nineties, when I was working in
Speaker 2: television at how number one, how black writers were treated.
Speaker 2: They were always put into a different category, and black
Speaker 2: shows were always thought of funny, but they didn't get respect.
Speaker 2: And I'll never forget my friend Janine Sherman, who's top producer.
Speaker 2: Now we're working on the Jamie Fox Show. She said,
Speaker 2: how come there's no like black Seinfeld, you know, or
Speaker 2: something like that, meaning a show that was considered a
Speaker 2: smart black show, not just funny but smart and was
Speaker 2: worthy of getting worse. And I said, well, Jannine, because
Speaker 2: you haven't written it yet, and she's like, oh, And
Speaker 2: then I was like, wait a minute, I haven't written
Speaker 2: it yet either, you know. And I remember having that moment.
Speaker 2: I thought I have to be responsible for raising the
Speaker 2: bar and you know that turn black excellence as used now,
Speaker 2: But then I was just thinking of excellence and making
Speaker 2: sure that we were being regarded in the same ways
Speaker 2: with that type of respect, and I took that into
Speaker 2: the PJS, you know, so that my friends who worked
Speaker 2: on the Simptons and that thought of the pj's just
Speaker 2: as worthy as that of those types of shows we
Speaker 2: like were Emmy nominated things like that, Bernie Macshaw, Juan Emmys,
Speaker 2: you know, on Critics Award, you know. So I've been
Speaker 2: very fortunate that the shows I've been on also have
Speaker 2: to be reckoned with on an artistic level and not
Speaker 2: just being funny, and at the same time to present
Speaker 2: us on screen where I call who's controlling the narrative
Speaker 2: of us, you know, and it's how important it is
Speaker 2: for us to control the narrative and to me low
Speaker 2: in that total poll was the black woman on television
Speaker 2: in many different ways. You know, God blessed Sean the Rhymes,
Speaker 2: you know, for helping that too. But I realized what
Speaker 2: I I met Lisa that premium television. I'm always looking
Speaker 2: to put something on TV that's not there before, you know,
Speaker 2: so like Bernie Mac show that wasn't on there before,
Speaker 2: for a black show to be that style, you know,
Speaker 2: someone breaking the fourth wall, you know. I kind of
Speaker 2: used French New Wave of as inspiration for how I
Speaker 2: did that. Insecure is a little different. I'm like, no
Speaker 2: one's telling the stories of Black women as full grown women,
Speaker 2: you know, who have agency and what's their story in
Speaker 2: the world, what's the black girls? You know, that type
Speaker 2: of thing. So it was important for me. It wasn't
Speaker 2: just trying to do a show. It was important for
Speaker 2: me I having those conversations with Lisa and really focusing
Speaker 2: on that character and how important it was for that
Speaker 2: character to be on HBO, not just on the networks,
Speaker 2: but on HBO premium cable. So being in certain spaces
Speaker 2: are the things I've targeted too, not just getting on TV,
Speaker 2: but being in a premium space and getting the certain
Speaker 2: type of attention, getting certain types of awards. And when
Speaker 2: I was developing with Quintum, I first found quentin was
Speaker 2: on the Nightly Show when I was doing that show,
Speaker 2: and I discovered she was brilliant, and so I brought
Speaker 2: her into the network when I was over Disney to
Speaker 2: develop with her. And they were like, who is this Kinta?
Speaker 2: What's her name?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: And we sold a show to CBS with her and
Speaker 2: Jermaine Fowler, and I really, she remembers, I really was
Speaker 2: trying to imparton her how important voice was. I said,
Speaker 2: I knew Quinta with the skill of writing very easily,
Speaker 2: but for me, the lesson was about voice. How do
Speaker 2: you get your voice on that page and sticking up
Speaker 2: for things. And our show didn't go, but I gave
Speaker 2: her the freedom to put the character on the page
Speaker 2: that she felt passionately about and that was the lesson
Speaker 2: there too, because what are you representing at the end
Speaker 2: of the day when you're on that screen. I still
Speaker 2: remember the show Julia with Dian Carroll Marco. Push this
Speaker 2: woman on screen representing something I hadn't seen on TV before,
Speaker 2: this black woman. She was a single woman, she was smart,
Speaker 2: she was intelligent, she had to be reckoned with as
Speaker 2: a character you could not dismiss easily, you know, and
Speaker 2: that meant something to me at that time.
Speaker 3: So Julia inspired my mom. My mom was the first
Speaker 3: black nurse in her small town in live Oke, Florida,
Speaker 3: Swanna County, Florida. And it was seeing Julia on TV,
Speaker 3: seeing her, you know, seeing that she was a nurse
Speaker 3: and how she you know, obviously done, Carol was beautiful,
Speaker 3: but you know that, So how how that impacted her
Speaker 3: and inspired her and you know open doors for you know,
Speaker 3: for my family, you know, to this day.
Speaker 2: M H.
Speaker 3: Lauren, your dad has accomplished so much in his career,
Speaker 3: But what makes you the most proud not just for
Speaker 3: those accomplishments, but who he is as a human being.
Speaker 6: Mmm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: One thing is what we were just talking about, that
Speaker 5: the way he has brought people with him, and particularly
Speaker 5: black women. I'm I'm always trying to tell people this
Speaker 5: because I feel like, because you're so humble, Dad, that
Speaker 5: people don't really know that necessarily if they're not like
Speaker 5: really researching who was it that got that person in
Speaker 5: that room, because it's such a behind the scenes thing.
Speaker 5: But that's something that I've always been very proud of,
Speaker 5: and yeah, and just that you've always kind of stayed
Speaker 5: true to yourself. It's been kind of an interesting journey
Speaker 5: because dad has been, you know, doing show business since
Speaker 5: before I was born, but he became more in front
Speaker 5: of the camera when I was in about high school
Speaker 5: and that's when like people started being able to just
Speaker 5: like recognize him on the street, and that was kind
Speaker 5: of a different vibe from like my childhood. But even
Speaker 5: with that, I feel like you just haven't like changed
Speaker 5: as a person or anything. You know, like you're still
Speaker 5: putting the work first and putting other people first, like
Speaker 5: it's not all about me and me, which I think
Speaker 5: happens to a lot of people in show business.
Speaker 4: So I think that's something else that I'm very proud of.
Speaker 1: And I love that descript should because Larry, I think
Speaker 1: it hasn't been about You've actually used your characters to
Speaker 1: almost hold a mirror to society, to challenge to question.
Speaker 1: Like I look at the description that you had the
Speaker 1: very deep divide in America right now, between America and
Speaker 1: America America.
Speaker 6: Breath.
Speaker 2: You did really good, but okay, but we need that.
Speaker 6: Can you can you explain though a little bit difference.
Speaker 2: I love America. I love the promise of America. I
Speaker 2: think America is the light on the hill. Merca, on
Speaker 2: the other hand, has a lot of issues, you know.
Speaker 2: Merca's where division comes, is where hatred comes. Where we're separated,
Speaker 2: is where we don't come together. Is where people get
Speaker 2: in bubbles, It's where they divide and all those things.
Speaker 2: But America is the thing that we should always be
Speaker 2: shooting for, that that perfection of an idea that unites
Speaker 2: people that isn't tribal, you know, it's it is the
Speaker 2: freedom of express russion, you know, all these things, freedom
Speaker 2: of speech, you know, the you know, the ability to
Speaker 2: be a unique person in the world and not be
Speaker 2: threatened by government has never happened before, you know. But
Speaker 2: Monica tends to threaten those things in different ways, you know.
Speaker 2: And so I did a show early this year where
Speaker 2: I made that distincion through a show where I did
Speaker 2: both political commentary and magic tricks, which a lot of
Speaker 2: people didn't know that I didn't magic.
Speaker 1: So grab that second cup of coffee because you won't
Speaker 1: want to miss a moment.
Speaker 3: Now back to my legacy with Larry Wilmore and his daughter.
Speaker 1: Lauren, So We all have been friends for years, the
Speaker 1: four of us here, but we recently wrote a book.
Speaker 1: We talked a lot about the disconnection. We talked about
Speaker 1: the solution being the blood community, but the disconnection frankly
Speaker 1: and American around the world. So when you look at
Speaker 1: that division.
Speaker 2: Hmm, do you have hope or what gives you hope? Well,
Speaker 2: I'm a hopeful person, but I'm a realist too. Look,
Speaker 2: I was very influenced by you know, doctor King. I mean,
Speaker 2: here's a man that understood that division. He relied on
Speaker 2: America to get us out of the worst instincts of America,
Speaker 2: you know. I mean it's very people don't realize, they
Speaker 2: don't appreciate today how revolutionary not a non violent approach
Speaker 2: actually is. You know, because we allow oppress people to
Speaker 2: fight back everywhere in the world, why was it not
Speaker 2: allowed here? What's the difference? You know? Why? You know
Speaker 2: we we expected everywhere in the world, why did we
Speaker 2: not expect it here? You know? So there was a
Speaker 2: bigger idea that he was working at, and that idea
Speaker 2: was the promise of something that people actually had an
Speaker 2: agreement upon. It just hadn't been cashed in yet. As
Speaker 2: your dad said, the promisory note is the way that
Speaker 2: he put it, you know, and that is inspirational, and
Speaker 2: it's aspirational. It's different, it's a different thing when you're
Speaker 2: doing that, and that's how you that's how you bring
Speaker 2: people into something as opposed to you get something. You know,
Speaker 2: you want to bring people together. You're not just trying
Speaker 2: to get something. Whenever I talk about when I'm talking
Speaker 2: to young people about show is, I say, look, let
Speaker 2: me give you here's the best advice I can give
Speaker 2: you when you're in the business. But you could use
Speaker 2: this in any business. Don't look at it as something
Speaker 2: you could get something out of. Look at it as
Speaker 2: something you could put something into. What's the contribution you
Speaker 2: can make that is a unique contribution because you can't
Speaker 2: lose with that. You're going to lose eventually when you're
Speaker 2: trying to get something out of something. You know, maybe
Speaker 2: I can get this, or maybe I can extract this,
Speaker 2: don't extract make a deposit. You know's the what's the
Speaker 2: thing of value that I'm putting into this the contribution?
Speaker 2: And that's what your dad did. You know.
Speaker 3: One of the things that is interesting that you talked
Speaker 3: about oppressed people because one of the things that he
Speaker 3: said was the greatness of America is the right to
Speaker 3: promote for rights for rights, you know, So that was
Speaker 3: foundational to all of his work, and you know why
Speaker 3: he did what he did. And you know, right now though,
Speaker 3: we're seeing an all out attack really on diversity, equity
Speaker 3: and inclusion, and it's hard not to think about your
Speaker 3: role as mister Brown, the diversity educator on the office,
Speaker 3: you know, a character who's trying to cut through both
Speaker 3: the workplace absurdity and the uncomfortable, unspoken realities of the
Speaker 3: racial bias. You did a brilliant job I think, you know,
Speaker 3: bringing that into the conversation. But looking at where we
Speaker 3: are today twenty years from that role, are we any
Speaker 3: father ahead or does it feel like we're falling father behind?
Speaker 2: I mean, it's always a difficult question to ask. In
Speaker 2: some aspects, you always are. In some aspects you have
Speaker 2: to keep your eye on it. You know, there's a
Speaker 2: you know, many times we have to separate something that
Speaker 2: feels like a program or a prescription for something versus
Speaker 2: what's happening in the culture, and keeping your eye on
Speaker 2: the culture. What's a political movement, but what's a cultural movement?
Speaker 2: What's a political change, what's a cultural change? You know,
Speaker 2: the culture actually is moving forward, but there's been a
Speaker 2: political change where it's trying to be a check on
Speaker 2: that culture moving forward. And so we're at an inflection
Speaker 2: point right now, you know, And that's why it feels
Speaker 2: very intense, you know. But it's rare that culture goes backwards.
Speaker 2: It's very rare. Sometimes it goes forward in a way
Speaker 2: that isn't necessarily good, you know, but it's still kind
Speaker 2: of moving forward. So it's up to us to steer
Speaker 2: that and be stewards and be mindful of the ways
Speaker 2: in which it is tumbling forward, you know, because bad
Speaker 2: actors are always all around for you know, things that
Speaker 2: are self serving that you know, we have to be
Speaker 2: a check on. So and I don't look so when
Speaker 2: I look at DEI to me, I'm not concerned about DEEI.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm more concerned about freedom and that sort
Speaker 2: of thing. If we're going to use letters, give me
Speaker 2: the F. That big F is a bigger concern to
Speaker 2: my Somebody wanted me to ask some questions about BIPOC,
Speaker 2: you know, and I said, look, guys, I'm only concerned
Speaker 2: about the bee right now. You guys could be concerned
Speaker 2: about the ipack. Okay, I got enough. I got enough
Speaker 2: issues trying to work with the bee at this point.
Speaker 2: You know, so we're going to separate letters. I don't
Speaker 2: get too concerned in the micro. I'm more concerned about
Speaker 2: the macro, you know, and fighting those fights. If that
Speaker 2: answers the question.
Speaker 3: So it has already been established, Lauren, that we're gonna
Speaker 3: get you and our daughter together so that you can
Speaker 3: talk to her about many us please, But until that happens,
Speaker 3: I want to ask you a question on behalf of her.
Speaker 3: Who again, she's sixteen years old, Yolanda, if you could
Speaker 3: go back to your sixteen year old self, what is
Speaker 3: the one thing that you what you would tell her?
Speaker 6: Wow?
Speaker 4: Because and I'm for a reference, I am twenty six,
Speaker 4: So for me, this is ten years ago.
Speaker 3: Oh that decade.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought of that for a second. I'm like, wow,
Speaker 4: that's a full decade ago for me.
Speaker 5: I think a big thing, uh is to be patient
Speaker 5: and to know that things happen when they happen, and
Speaker 5: if it, you know, what is meant for you will
Speaker 5: not pass you by. Like if it doesn't happen, then
Speaker 5: that means that wasn't your opportunity, you know, and to
Speaker 5: not think that you can control the timing of things.
Speaker 4: Like I was college class of twenty twenty.
Speaker 5: I was going to stay in New York and do theater,
Speaker 5: and then the world shut down and I had to pivot.
Speaker 5: And that's when I went and got my masters, because
Speaker 5: literally all of theater had shut down and would be
Speaker 5: shut down for who knew how long. And I had
Speaker 5: such a plan, like to the minute, of how my
Speaker 5: life was going to look, and March twenty twenty just
Speaker 5: completely changed everything. And so just knowing that there's so
Speaker 5: much that's outside of your control, but that things will
Speaker 5: happen if you just take little steps every day towards
Speaker 5: your dreams and your goals, whatever that may be, it
Speaker 5: will happen for you. So don't freak out, don't stress,
Speaker 5: Just like keep taking those baby steps and trust the
Speaker 5: timing and that your timing is different than other people's timing.
Speaker 5: Coming back to that whole comparison competition thing, it's so tempting,
Speaker 5: especially with social media. Oh yeah, I didn't even get
Speaker 5: started on the stay off, but especially with social media, it's.
Speaker 4: So hard to see other people's timing and not feel like,
Speaker 4: oh I should be doing that. Oh they're on Broadway already.
Speaker 4: But it's like yeah, because that's their journey.
Speaker 5: Like this is my journey, and this is your journey, Yolanda,
Speaker 5: And you know, like just knowing that things will happen
Speaker 5: when they're supposed to happen, and it may not be
Speaker 5: like you envisioned, and that's okay.
Speaker 3: I often think of it like being in a car
Speaker 3: and and putting on your GPS or ways, and you know,
Speaker 3: when I'm driving with my husband, he argued with Ways.
Speaker 3: I don't know if anywhere else that you like, just
Speaker 3: don't put it on if you're gonna argue with her.
Speaker 6: You know that's me.
Speaker 3: Literally, it's like arguing out loud with Ways. But I
Speaker 3: think of life sometimes. I think of life sometimes as
Speaker 3: as like you know, having that that ways or GPS.
Speaker 3: So once you know you put your goals and you
Speaker 3: and if you're working towards reaching them, even if you
Speaker 3: make a turn to the left, you know what happens.
Speaker 3: It recaalculates itself, you know, so even so that it
Speaker 3: will continue and then so therefore and you will ultimately
Speaker 3: as long as you're you know, you you have your
Speaker 3: vision and you work hard and you believe no matter
Speaker 3: what you you will get there. And even if it's unfolds,
Speaker 3: and even if you quote unquote take a wrong turn,
Speaker 3: you can't take that wrong turn from from destiny when
Speaker 3: you're truly focused on something bigger and greater than yourself.
Speaker 1: That was on fire.
Speaker 6: That was amazing.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 1: I will never look at Ways the same.
Speaker 6: Way again, Google and Martin. When you argue with Ways,
Speaker 6: do they argue back or sometimes.
Speaker 2: I know I want to hear that argument, shake my
Speaker 2: head and I go not happening.
Speaker 3: That's what.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to go this way.
Speaker 1: And then I'm going to say, though, if if Larry
Speaker 1: we hear that work its way into a script, we
Speaker 1: know it came from here from this podcast.
Speaker 2: Will believe me knows everything shows up everything I love.
Speaker 2: That's right, we're joking, but it is true. Guys.
Speaker 3: Well, what would be funny if when we see that
Speaker 3: comes up like come up that very few people will
Speaker 3: know that's Martin lu that character that's arguing with Ways.
Speaker 7: I'm sure the hundred thousands of millions of people are
Speaker 7: that's only one right.
Speaker 1: Well, one of the unexpected pleasures of this conversation Lauren.
Speaker 1: I meant that when I said, and I say this
Speaker 1: was respect Larry, because I'm a dad. She stole the show.
Speaker 2: Like that's the highest praise I can give to a dad.
Speaker 1: What are you most proud of?
Speaker 2: Well, I can't take credit for aud but her mom
Speaker 2: is an amazing mom. And you know, I always say
Speaker 2: Lauren gets ninety percent of her talent from her mom.
Speaker 2: She gets the she gets the jokes from me, but
Speaker 2: her mom her values in her family too. You know.
Speaker 2: It was this was a group effort, you know, with
Speaker 2: both of the kids. And I've always said my term
Speaker 2: for kids are my joke term for kids are blessed inconvenience.
Speaker 2: But the but the first the first word is very important.
Speaker 2: You know. I've always viewed John and Lauren as a blessing.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: The most important thing that's happened in my life and
Speaker 2: everwell is them, you know. And as I told Lauren,
Speaker 2: I am proud of her every day of her life.
Speaker 2: But their inspirations to me, you know, and I'm happy
Speaker 2: that I am to them, But they're inspirations to me too.
Speaker 2: I learned from them all the time, you know, And
Speaker 2: it's fun to see both of them out in the
Speaker 2: world doing their thing, you know, and doing what they're doing.
Speaker 2: I've always loved seeing people's reaction to Lauren. To Lauren
Speaker 2: has such a light about her. She's very inspirational. I
Speaker 2: don't know if she knows that either, but especially to
Speaker 2: young kids. I mean, I remember she did Peter Panmwins
Speaker 2: and she was tinker belling. Oh my god. She was
Speaker 2: like one of the Beatles, you know, like the kids
Speaker 2: who were flocking around her, you know, but just drawn
Speaker 2: to her in a way. And she has a lot
Speaker 2: of power in just being still and being herself, you know.
Speaker 2: Not very proud of her. Well they're in Lauren.
Speaker 1: We're grateful for your honesty, your humor, your heart brought
Speaker 1: to this conversation. I love the multi generational nature of it.
Speaker 1: You've talked to us about legacy, family representation, and the
Speaker 1: power of impact, especially opening doors and sticking your foot
Speaker 1: in so people can follow thereafter.
Speaker 6: And Craig, we even had some songs today.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, yes, jokes laughter, but it's great.
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1: Hopefully won't be ssued for that copyright infringement, but I
Speaker 1: love it.
Speaker 4: It was in the other languages, so they're not going
Speaker 4: to be well.
Speaker 2: I love it, but we.
Speaker 1: Typically end the show by inviting people to live their
Speaker 1: own legacy, and they do it through fulfillment. They do
Speaker 1: it through taking ideas that came to them from this conversation.
Speaker 1: And I really want to emphasize it for the parents
Speaker 1: out there who are listening this time because a few
Speaker 1: things Larry really struck me. One, tell your kids I'm
Speaker 1: proud of you every day. What a beautiful message, Lauren
Speaker 1: that you shared, that your father voiced that, you know,
Speaker 1: I try to tell my kids every day I love them,
Speaker 1: and just to create that ritual, that routine is so
Speaker 1: powerful and invite our listeners to reflect that you don't
Speaker 1: have to be the best, you have to be your best.
Speaker 1: I hope every parent says that to their kids. How
Speaker 1: powerful that is. And lastly, you know, making someone laugh
Speaker 1: even in times of difficulty. Larry loved the reflection about
Speaker 1: how when your parents were going through their divorce and
Speaker 1: you and your brother just finding laughter to cheer each
Speaker 1: other up. There's a lot of people now who are
Speaker 1: going through tough times in American around the world, and
Speaker 1: to share a little bit of laughter, share a clip
Speaker 1: from this podcast, to share a clip from their favorite
Speaker 1: TV show that you helped create to share a clip
Speaker 1: to bring a little bit of joy in the world.
Speaker 1: So Larry and Lauren, thank you for sharing all of
Speaker 1: this with us and for living your legacy every day.
Speaker 2: You guys are so lovely. Thank you so much. What
Speaker 2: a Mays tribute and everything. It's such a great podcast.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It was an honor to be here.
Speaker 3: Yes, you are beautiful and again and thank you so
Speaker 3: so much from the bottom of our hearts for all
Speaker 3: that you've done.
Speaker 1: To open doors.
Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us. If you enjoyed today's conversation, subscribe, share,
Speaker 3: and follow us at my Legacy Movement on social media.
Speaker 3: New episodes drop every Tuesday. At its core, this podcast
Speaker 3: honors doctor King's vision of the beloved community and the
Speaker 3: power of connection. A Legacy Plus Studio production distributed by
Speaker 3: iHeartMedia creator and executive producer Suzanne Haywood co executive producer
Speaker 3: Lisa Lyle. Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
Speaker 3: get your podcasts. Until next time, may you find inspiration
Speaker 3: to live your legacy.