WEBVTT - Wayne Brady Wants to Build an Improv Empire 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:13.319 Welcome to Strictly Business, Varieties weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:16.720 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:20.159 Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today. My 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.880 guest is Wayne Brady. You know him as the affable 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.360 host of Let's Make a Deal and the versatile cast 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.400 member of the improv competition series whose Line Is It Anyway? 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.159 Behind the scenes, Brady has big ambition. He wants to 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.440 use his improv training to help build a consulting business 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.280 with Mandy Takeda, his former wife who remains his business partner. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.320 Brady sees the tenants of improv, active listening and an 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:48.440 openness to collaboration as a natural framework for coaching the 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.519 best out of executives and other leaders. He also has 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.320 a vision of improv centers that can help youth develop 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:58.360 self confidence and critical thinking skills. In our conversation, he 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.320 speaks from the heart about why he's driven to spread 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.080 the wisdom that comes from improv training. It's all coming 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:16.280 up in this Strictly Business conversation. Welcome back to Strictly Business. 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.200 Wayne Brady a multi hyphenit, if ever there was one 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.160 in the entertainment business. Thank you so much for joining 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.800 us today. Thank you so much for having me. I 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.280 was looking forward to this conversation. The thing I wanted 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.200 to start by talking with you today was I understand, 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.240 of course, you are a master of improv and have 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.200 been doing improv in various forms I know for decades. 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.759 Tell me, as I understand, of late, you have really 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.840 been putting some thought and putting some things down in 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.880 a more formal structure about how the tools, the skills 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.880 of improv, the creativity that it takes to be good 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.640 at improv, how those skills and tools might be applied 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.520 in other sectors for fun and profit. Tell us what, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:01.760 tell us what you and Mandy are working on in 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:05.160 this area. Well, let me start off by saying that 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.760 that the use of improv and the corporate sector. I'm 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.280 not coming up with some you know, uh Um. I 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.760 didn't just hit this great motherload of gold and I'm 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.680 in the hills going look what I did. I founded Eureka. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.639 It's been there. In fact, people were doing that when 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.040 I first started doing improv. In fact, I joined a 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.519 company called Sack Theater in the I want to say, 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.519 in the early nineties, and it was through sacked. UM, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:34.440 I started to learn improv or or the formalized version 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.200 of what I think I've already been doing, and part 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.799 of what I learned from them at that point, they 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:44.760 were already doing corporate work for for Disney, doing t 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.520 building and showing how the the the principles of yes, 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.800 and you know that we can come into your business 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.600 and we can show you X, Y and Z that 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:57.480 will help your team work together baby better. And groups 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:01.480 like Second City and Io and and the Groundlings, They've 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.000 all had their various versions of it. So when I 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.840 say I feel that I have a methodology that will work, 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.800 it's really based on the methodology that I have put 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:18.000 into play for myself, the way that I have been 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.840 able to maneuver on stage using those tools, then to 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.240 work off stage using those same tools in a pitch meeting, 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:31.280 using those tools once I already have the job, using 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.120 those tools to help run a show, UM, going to 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:39.880 other businesses and saying okay, just like on stage, I 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:44.040 have a relationship with whomever I'm on stage with in 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.840 order to make make a successful improvisational scene work, and 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.280 if not even a scene like my one of my 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:55.440 specialties is being being able to make an improvisational music 0:03:55.480 --> 0:04:00.920 piece work, which is basically jazz with your body, jazz 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.800 with your body and jazz with your mind, and and 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.680 being able to have the give and take to ebb 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.520 and flow, the the listening skills to be able to 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.880 take in everything that the person is saying as they're 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.279 taking it in process it not jumping the gun to 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.000 come to my own conclusions immediately and going this is 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.680 what the song is about, listening to what they say, 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.120 taking the pieces of it, going okay, I see what 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.919 you're going with, and and then we put the rules 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.440 into play up yes and yes. I like this line 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:38.200 of of of of you know, Boba Fett. It should 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.920 should stay out of the cantina because it's a Star 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:45.080 Wars scene. So that's great. Now I'm gonna take that yes, 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.400 but let's add this so on top of it in 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.600 order to do the yes. And I did listen to you. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.880 I didn't come in with any preconceived notions. I didn't 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.400 block you by going no, no, no, this is better 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.520 Han Solo's mom. I walked into the no no, no, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.200 I didn't do it. I took in everything that you said. 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:05.440 I'm going to take it, and I'm going to add 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.560 on to what you just gave me, and if we 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.159 keep doing this back and forth, by the time we 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.960 are finished, we should have an end product that sounds good, 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.760 that is incredibly funny, and that has kept the audience guessing, 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.680 but it satisfies them at the end of the day. 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:26.320 That's how I feel a business should run. Now, that's 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.599 in its most simplistic way, of course, when we know 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:32.200 there's so many things that goes in that that go 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.200 into making a successful business. But I think the one 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.760 thing that can be spoken of in a universal sense 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:45.479 is a boss, employees, product or services rendered. Those things 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.719 have to be done successfully in order for this business 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:52.039 to continue to operate. One of the things about a 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.120 business is when someone hears, oh you're you're a boss, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.960 So all these people work for me, I pay them, 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.440 they should just do what the hell I said. That's 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:02.560 one way to do it. That's one way to have 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.960 a bunch of unhappy people rousing about you, you know, 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.919 next to the water cooler and and potentially not having 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.600 your workflow be as smooth as it could be. You 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.000 could lord over them and be a draconian boss, or 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.560 you could take the cue from improvisation and you recognize 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.880 that you have a team. You can take in various ideas. 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.960 You can say yes and to them. You don't have 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.200 to say yes, these are all the best ideas and 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.120 and this is what our company is going to do. 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.800 But you can make people feel that they've been listened to. 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.120 You can acknowledge that they've been listened to. And the 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.200 best thing about improvisation, unless you're doing a scene by yourself, 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.040 I'm very capable of walking on stage and doing an 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.520 hour and a half by myself. That's great, that's fun, 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.800 and it's a great parlor trick. But but you know, 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.160 when I have the most fun and when I think 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.640 I shine the most, it's just like on whose line 0:06:57.680 --> 0:06:59.080 is in any way? Or when I'm on tour with 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:04.520 my best friend Nathan Mangum, when I'm playing, when I 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.880 when I can just play, when I take in your ideas, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.400 I'm better in that show because my buddy Jonathan has 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.560 set me up. I'm better in that show than when 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:21.960 I'm spinning by myself and just just uh the the 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.600 center of attention and generating all of those ideas. There 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.400 are no checks and balances. So in a business sense, 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.320 what I'm what I would like to set is set 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:34.880 up is is well because there's so many things I 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:36.600 want to do with this. But in the first place, 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.840 be able to show showing a business setting, whether it's 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:43.040 your coworker or whether it's boss, to get to employee, 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.680 the yes and aspect, the listening aspect. That's a great 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:51.320 way to to up your productivity simply by listening. It 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.239 costs you nothing to just listen and make someone feel 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.440 like they've been heard. You take the same skill and 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.560 you give it to someone who may feel unimport like 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.120 their voice doesn't matter in that company. That's the that's 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:08.040 the weak link in your company chain, because that's the 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.040 person sending back at the machine going all I do 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.320 all damn day is pull this lever. They don't care 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.560 if a paper from one box, whatever, they don't care. 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:21.720 If that person thinks that I don't care, then they 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.840 don't care, and at some point mistakes will be made. 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.920 No one is invested in your scene or or in 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.680 your company, right, everyone of the team feel that they're 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.640 pulling the same way that that they're invested, that they 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.960 want to to work towards the same common goal of 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.280 finishing that scene or delivering a product or having having 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.680 uh aid and an effort made. How do you learn 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.200 how to be a good listener. It's a muscle. It 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.800 is an active muscle. I will say that. And if 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:00.359 you're not used to using that muscle, it's just like I, 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:05.560 I consider myself to be a socially awkward person, or 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.280 like you know, an interviewer will go, Wayne, you must 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.199 be a hoot at home, or they'll talk to my daughter. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.760 Your dad must make you laugh all day long. She goes, No, absolutely, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.120 because the person that I am when I'm not on stage, 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.800 the narrative that I've told myself since I was a 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:28.000 young child is I'm awkward when I'm dealing with more 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.880 than one person, and I don't UH on stage. I 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:37.520 have no problem taking in information, sitting on it for 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.040 a millisecond, and putting something out that uses the information 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.800 that comes in. I have no problem being open. I 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:47.600 think to be an active listener, the thing that we 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.160 need to do is to be open. So the narrative 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.320 that I tell myself in real life when I'm here 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.199 is I can't really talk to these people right now. 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.360 But no, I don't know, I don't don't I don't 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.640 want to go to this this event is because I'm 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:04.520 closing myself off, so I haven't any space to listen, 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.280 and I haven't any space to take anything in. So 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.719 that's even something in my personal life that I had 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:14.319 to learn to change that and to activate that. That's 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.800 why I say it's an active muscle. Wayne at home 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:24.120 has to actively practice let me hear you Okay, as 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.560 it's coming in, Wayne, I really need to talk about 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.800 the da da da da. Yes, I have to cogitate 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.199 and form something. But if if I take the extra 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:37.960 second to just take everything in before I'm ready to answer, 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:42.360 before I'm defensive, before I have to explain myself, before 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.320 I have to make my point, right, I have to 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.680 actively It's almost like the way that I pick picture 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:52.480 it is is I have to actually just keep my 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:59.120 hands down and and go okay mm hmm and really 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:02.719 hear you yeah and I and I cannot allow myself 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:07.360 to move into that relaxed space until I take it 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:13.160 in and I really and And that's the that's the 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.600 way that we can learn it. How do you learn 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.040 to be an active listener? You really have to listen. 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.520 You have to take in everything that person says, that 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.480 that other piece of the machinery that as they're saying, look, 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:31.040 I want to talk to you about something some now. Well, 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:32.679 and you know what if you're mad at me, well 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.560 I'm mad at you too. I mean, as soon as 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:40.360 you're doing this, this isn't happening. So just like on stage, 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.679 I have to do both. I have to take it 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:47.520 in and as it's in, I'm I'm taking it and 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.920 adding to it. That's the difference. Most people want to 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.040 take it in or not and just give You have 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.320 to take in, add give back. That's the one step 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.240 that that most of us miss. What do you want 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.960 to do with the kind of improv for business idea? Well, 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:06.720 there are a few things. I'm going to be writing 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:12.439 a book called called you know, making Ship Up, which 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.000 is which has been my brand for years. It was 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.240 the title of my Vegas show and and my other 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.800 production companies that um, because we really just that's all 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:23.680 that we ever do, you know, in business and in life, 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.559 we're all just making it up as we go along 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:31.640 and hoping that it's not a spectacular failure by the 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:35.480 time that our show is over. So so in terms 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:37.760 of writing, writing a book and laying out of course 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.880 and it and and it being a course where I 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.320 feel that it overlaps business, but it also at the 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:49.560 root of it, it overlaps our interpersonal relationships. Because in business, 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.000 just like in life and family, family and leisure, it's 0:12:54.000 --> 0:13:00.560 our relationships that can propel you to success or that 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.320 can sink you. It's how you deal with the people 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.840 around you. It's how it's how you talk to people, 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.160 it's how you listen to people. It's how you make 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.000 the people around you feel. Talent in this business just 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.240 is not enough. It has to be talent mixed with 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:23.240 your relationships. And when I say relationships, I don't mean 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.959 what's the I'm trying to think of the proper term. 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:31.800 I don't mean mean me personally. I'm not a super network. 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.360 There are people that are amazing at that, and they 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.240 know everybody's phone numbers, and that's great. I'm not necessarily 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.560 talking about that. I'm talking about how do you make 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.200 the people around you feel so that when you leave 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.440 the impression that you've left behind that's out of your control. 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.560 But what is in your control is when you're in 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.280 the room. And I truly believe that the skills that 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.200 improv give you give you an upper hand when you're 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.200 in the room, and if someone doesn't like you at 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.600 the end of the day, they don't like you, you 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.280 keep it moving. But on the average, if you're able 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.760 to practice these skills, whether at home or or in business. 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.360 So so the first part of that is going to 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.559 be be the book, and the second piece, which I'm 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.520 very proud of, is I'm going to be starting my 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.400 own theater company slash school along the lines of an 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.040 io or a second city here in Los Angeles and 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.800 later one in my hometown of Orlando, Florida. And and 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.240 the basis of that. Recently, Mandy and I had a 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.320 show on a network called b y U t V 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:37.320 called Wayne Brady's Comedy I Q and and it was 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.280 kind of the pilot program for what I want to 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.120 work out in the real world, where where we took 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.280 teenagers from all over the US and we had them compete. 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.720 And we took these kids who were actors, singers. Some 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.480 of them had in prompt training, some of them had 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.880 sketch training, but most of them were at at the 0:14:56.120 --> 0:15:00.280 very basic level for that. And I said, I'm gonna 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:04.080 teach you these rules. Not not only are these my 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.120 rules for on stage, but these are my performance rules 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:09.080 for in life. And I'm going to teach you these 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.120 rules and whatever you do with them, let's see if 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.520 they enhance your skills. I can't teach you be funny, 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:18.880 but I can teach you the rules. Improv only works 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.080 in in a grid or in a framework to it 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:26.720 to hang it on the shows a success and using that. Now, 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.040 I'm going to start doing the schools where I'm going 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:35.720 to be teaching adult classes, um teaching sketch, improv, the 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.080 these rules, putting, putting together a corporate sector that that 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.960 will go into businesses and and consult I'll also have 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.760 an advertising wing. Some of the best ideas come from 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.880 the people who are fast on their feet and being 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.640 able to go into these companies and come up with 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.920 with ads for for them, showing them how to think 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.640 less critically sometimes times and more creatively. And then the 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.640 third piece of that is it will also be a 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:08.080 school for teenagers to to be able to help them 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.200 take the skill into adulthood and go into certain neighborhoods 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:16.160 like a South Central, like a Watts, places where people 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.560 that look like me, where these kids that look like 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:24.800 me haven't haven't been taught the skills that I was 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:30.800 able to take in terms of improvisation and character building. 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:33.240 And someone might might look at it from a distance 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.400 and go, well, why do they need that? Well, I 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:37.800 tell you why. If someone can stand in front of 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.880 a crowd and have a conversation and feel confident in 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:45.280 who they are using the skills of uh if I 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.920 can listen to you and I can tell you clearly 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.440 and exactly who I am, and not only can I 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:55.720 think critically, but I can think creatively and fast. You're 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.600 you are prepping them for a life on stage, You're 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.840 prepping them for a life that Those are life skills, 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.240 and I wish that I would have had someone to 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.919 help me with those when I was younger. I I 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:13.240 think everything worked out well for me, but the but, 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:21.080 the but, the crushing self doubt, the the lack of 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.080 sense of self that I had growing up until I 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:28.600 found these skills. I want to impart them earlier. And 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.760 so that's the dream, that's the rollout, and all of 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.399 this is we are starting now. We have hit the 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.040 ground running, and I'm hoping to have the first first 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:44.200 company up in in less than a year. We'll take 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:46.879 a pause here and be back with more from Wayne 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:57.760 Brady and we're back with Wayne Brady. As you're talking. 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.840 What's also great about this is that improved this kind 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.040 of creativity. It's the same with writing, you know, with 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.680 that rudimentary it's a it's a great leveler. You don't 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.440 have to have an arm like a cannon, you don't 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.480 have to be built like a linebacker to All you 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:18.879 need is just to spark that spark, that creative, creative gene. 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.359 And I've also heard other actors say that that kind 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.080 of this kind of work also helps with rejection, because 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:28.680 there is a lot of rejection in the entertainment business. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.480 And when you realize that, you know you're looking at 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:35.280 one of you could go any direction in any split 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.760 second decision, and you go this way, and you know, 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.240 you kind of come to know that you know there 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.960 were many paths, and maybe maybe one path might have 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.560 been more successful, but it was your choice, and it 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.399 was your choice in the moment in a way that 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:51.960 in a way that I think that can help people, 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:53.919 and I can, I can, I can really see an 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:57.320 application here for teenagers for all the reasons you said, 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.480 to be able to stand up and speak articulately. And 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.040 although this sounds like a cliche. Truly find your voice 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.800 in a in a setting of where people come together 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.680 and agree. You know, there's not gonna be any stupid choices. 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:13.639 There's not going to be there's such an ethos of 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.800 all the actors that have been involved in this, there's 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.879 there's also it seems like a very healthy ethos around 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.200 the around the improv community. Absolutely, and and I think 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:28.520 some something that it also helps teach is accountability m 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.800 because when you're on stage and you have to make 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:37.479 a choice. One of the things that was drilled into 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.160 me when when I was learning was in theater sports, 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.840 which is another improv type thing that I was involved in. 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:49.080 UM it's an improv competition and I and I got 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:51.040 involved in Orlando, but also did it out here in 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.879 Los Angeles. UM is one of the rule rules is 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.920 no waffling. And the waffling was you've got to make 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:01.880 a decision. It's especially in that split second. You've got 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:05.240 to make a decision, and you know what, sometimes it 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.000 will not be the best decision, but you've got to 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.160 pick a course and go with it as opposed to well, 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.520 I mean, I guess I can do that. And oh 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.399 and in the world of business, just like in real world, 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:20.879 you have to make decisions sometimes. And the reason that 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.919 it teaches accountability is because if if I'm on stage 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.639 and and I decide, guys, I'm taking the scene in 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:34.080 this in this direction, Let's say the scene tanks. Okay, fine, 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:37.840 when we get off stage, I'm not gonna turn around 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.560 and go why didn't you guys back me up? You 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.920 guys sucked? Why did you do Why did you know? 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.200 I made that choice. You guys made the choice to 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.600 yes and me and go with me. But I made 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.960 the choice to do this thing. I stick by that, 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:57.240 and I had no chance in the moment to back 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.439 off from it. I had to commit to that choice 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.399 and go and And there are so many situations in 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:07.320 business where instead of just passing the buck, instead of 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:08.959 just going, oh, well, I don't want to do it, 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.880 I'll give it to Johnson teaching that if you can 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.919 make a choice knowing that someone's got your back, that 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:19.240 the rest of your team has yes handed you, and 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.280 they have had your back you, you can make a 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.040 clear and decisive choice, and you can be accountable to 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.480 that choice whether it pans out or whether it does not. 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:30.560 And if it doesn't, what are you gonna do when 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:34.320 it doesn't no time to sit, because when we're on stage, 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.000 we have to go, oh, you didn't get a laugh 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:40.400 with that thing, Okay, I've got something else. Or from 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:44.399 an on in an audition and they tell me to pivot, okay, cool. Um, 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:46.800 I can do this voice, or I can make this choice, 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:49.359 or I can give you an eighty seven year old man. 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:52.800 What I can be a little blonde girl from from Malibu. 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.960 Whatever you need right now, Wayne Brady can do that 0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:58.920 for you right now before I leave this room. That's 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.880 the type of thing that that you have to have. 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:06.000 And all of those come from that grid of improv 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:09.520 and there's a there's a sense of you gotta be game, 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:12.879 and that is for sure, it's business. You gotta be 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:14.760 game to be on that you know, to get out 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.280 there on the stage. Tell me how young Wayne Brady, 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:22.560 growing up in Orlando, Florida, got interested in improv and performing. 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:29.240 Young Wayne Brady started performing when he was sixteen. Um 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:33.080 sixty fifteen ish Um. I was a junior in high 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:38.879 school and I had a moment like fame. I'd always 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:41.760 fantasized in my head about being a performer, but in 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:45.280 my household, I was raised by my by my grandmother 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:48.240 and grandfather who are from the Virgin Islands, very strict 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:53.760 island upbringing. It was all about school and manners and 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.159 how you present yourself topped off on top of my 0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:00.439 father was in the military, so I was rayed with 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:05.280 a military work ethos. So it was all about you 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:07.639 keep you keep your head down and you do what 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:11.040 you're told, and you don't talk out, you don't disrespect people. 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:13.320 You keep your mouth shut unless you're spoken to when 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:20.120 you go. So none of that is very conducive towards 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:23.760 the arts. So I harbored any love that I had 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:26.280 for any of that stuff. I kept it to myself. 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:29.520 Home from school, I would go in my room, I 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:31.520 would close close the door, and I had a little 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:33.399 black and white TV. And I watched a lot of 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:35.920 PBS because one of the only channels that that I got, 0:23:36.400 --> 0:23:38.879 and PVS. I watched a lot of old specials. I 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:41.200 watched Sammy Davis Jr. In the rat Pack. I always 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:43.920