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Speaker 1: What's up.

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Speaker 2: It's way up at Angela Ye. I'm Angela Yee. And

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Speaker 2: Jasmine from the Jasmine brand is here. Yes, that's right,

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Speaker 2: and we are here today. By the way, Dean is

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Speaker 2: a very good friend of mine. Yeah, but you guys

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Speaker 2: introduce yourselves.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, what's up? This is your man, Dean Edwards. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: right right, No, Hi, this is Dean Edwards.

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Speaker 4: Dean Edwards, comedian, actor, a writer, now producer and co

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Speaker 4: star in the in the play Race the movie. The

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Speaker 4: play playing at the Soho Playhouse. And I'm sitting here

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Speaker 4: with a co writer and also creative this brilliant project

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Speaker 4: and also co star Brett Rabel talk talk to yo?

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Speaker 3: What up everybody? All right?

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Speaker 5: Trying to try to deepen it for radio y'all.

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Speaker 3: What up, y'all?

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Speaker 5: Hey, My name is Brett. I co wrote and co

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Speaker 5: star and Race the Movie Player with Dean comedian in

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Speaker 5: New York.

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Speaker 3: And I'm just so.

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Speaker 1: Happy to be here now Race the movie to play.

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Speaker 1: I want to go see that. I saw that. I

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Speaker 1: saw that. You guys just started maybe how long ago?

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Speaker 3: Was it?

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Speaker 1: Like a week ago?

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Speaker 3: We started last week? We started.

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Speaker 4: We're at Soil playoffs. All month is off off Broadway.

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Speaker 4: We ran last year during the New York Theater Festival Okay,

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Speaker 4: so to test the waters, and we wound up selling

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Speaker 4: out all our shows and we wound up winning. We

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Speaker 4: won Best Actor, Brett won Best Actor. I got nominated

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Speaker 4: for Best Actor, but I'm happy that if I didn't win,

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Speaker 4: he won. And we also won what Best the Original.

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Speaker 6: Best Script, Best Script, and we were disqualified for Best

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Speaker 6: Show because we ran long because we were getting so

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Speaker 6: much laughter and applause, so they said you can't win

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Speaker 6: Best Show, and we're like, that's aorright, I will take.

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Speaker 5: The applause in the weed to go.

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Speaker 1: What are the dates? How long is it going?

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Speaker 4: We're running until the end of May. May. Yeah, we

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Speaker 4: have We have shows this week because I actually because

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Speaker 4: I'm at Yanka's comedy. Come this week on the on

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Speaker 4: the eleventh through thirteenth. We're doing the ninth and tenth

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Speaker 4: Okay this week, and then every week there after we're

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Speaker 4: doing Wednesday through through Saturday. So May seventeenth through twentieth,

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Speaker 4: and then May twenty four through twenty seventh. We have

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Speaker 4: we have ten more shows. Last week we sold out

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Speaker 4: a couple and and people, you know, what's beautiful about

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Speaker 4: this show. Ye, is the fact that we're you know,

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Speaker 4: we're tackling some serious subjects with with race inequity and

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Speaker 4: you know, racial privilege, but we're doing it in such

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Speaker 4: a funny way that people it's the spoonful of sugar

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Speaker 4: helps the medicine go down. I don't think people realize

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Speaker 4: until they walk out of the theater. Yo, this was funny,

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Speaker 4: but it was. It was so smart. That's what I've

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Speaker 4: been hearing people say, like, Yo, it's funny, but Yo,

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Speaker 4: this is really intelligent.

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Speaker 3: How y'all, how y'all are doing it well?

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Speaker 2: Brett tell us about race the movie, the play and

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Speaker 2: what it is, because I was trying to understand from

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Speaker 2: reading it, and it's kind of a spoof on all

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Speaker 2: of these different movies. Yes, they deal with like the

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Speaker 2: Driver exactly.

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Speaker 5: It is. Absolutely it is like a spoof of all

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Speaker 5: of those cheesy race movies Green Book, The Green Book,

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Speaker 5: In Viguers, The Help, Django, Twelve Years of Slave, all

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Speaker 5: of those movies. It just parodies all of them. So

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Speaker 5: picture kind of like scary movie, but for like those

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Speaker 5: like White Savior films. I play one of the characters

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Speaker 5: whose name is Wyat savior and I am tasked yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 5: and I'm tasked with driving around this brilliant black must

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Speaker 5: musician named jene Yus Genius the Green Book.

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Speaker 3: Yeah exactly.

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Speaker 4: I'm essentially he's playing Vigo Mortenson's character and I'm Ma

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Speaker 4: herschel Ali's character. Okay, and uh, and you know, but

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Speaker 4: we we goof on everything. I mean, this this some

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Speaker 4: of everything, you know, from help to driving his daisy.

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Speaker 1: Somehow, the white person's always the savior.

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Speaker 5: That's exactly what it is. But that's Hollywood movies. So like, well,

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Speaker 5: the white guy's gotta save the day. I know that

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Speaker 5: needs to happen.

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Speaker 2: Right, So it sounds like it's like smart but funny

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Speaker 2: and entertaining and conscious kind of yeah, I.

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Speaker 5: Think it's conscious without being forwards, does it.

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Speaker 4: It's not like we're not saying, see how funny but intelligence.

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Speaker 4: We are just you know, we're just so you know,

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Speaker 4: you know me, I'm about funny. And that's why when

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Speaker 4: he first he first approached me a little over a

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Speaker 4: year ago, he said, yo, you want to read this script.

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Speaker 3: I was like, all right, cool, I had some time.

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Speaker 4: Two pages in, I was like, yo, I hate him,

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Speaker 4: I say, yo, I want to be part of this

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Speaker 4: because this y'all have something special. Y'all wrote something special

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Speaker 4: during during the pandemic. You use your time wisely and

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Speaker 4: wrote something magical.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, what made you think of this?

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Speaker 3: Well?

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Speaker 5: I co wrote it with one of my best friends

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Speaker 5: in comedy. His name is Christian Durant. He's also the

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Speaker 5: director of the show. And honestly it stemmed from a

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Speaker 5: joke Christian I had together. Just not Jasmine brand.

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Speaker 3: Here.

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Speaker 4: I'll say that the original name of the idea, the

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Speaker 4: original name of the script was called not Another Slave Movie, right,

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Speaker 4: because that's what it was. It was like, there was

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Speaker 4: we we've we've constantly, even even when Will Smith, you know,

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Speaker 4: came out with that movie where.

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Speaker 3: He was like, Yo, this movie.

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Speaker 4: You know it's not it's not about it's not about slavery,

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Speaker 4: it's about emancipation.

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Speaker 3: You like, it's imagine patient and slaves, you know, right,

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Speaker 3: right right, And.

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Speaker 4: So you know, because because you know a lot of

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Speaker 4: black folks, we like, we get it right, and so

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Speaker 4: we we were too. So they they did a great

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Speaker 4: job saying, you know, how can we goof on these

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Speaker 4: and also goof on the fact that even in these

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Speaker 4: movies that are based on slaves. You find a way

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Speaker 4: to make Brad Pitt the savior exactly, you know, And

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Speaker 4: so they they really they flip it on its head

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Speaker 4: and really turn the turn the mirror back at at

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Speaker 4: the audience that doesn't recognize the fact that if the

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Speaker 4: fact that I was nominated originally for a New York

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Speaker 4: Theater Festival, I was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and

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Speaker 4: we were like, y'all missed the point.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, kind of Unfortunately life was imitating in that regard,

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Speaker 5: and it was like, it's so weird because Dean's character

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Speaker 5: is the main character of the show. That's the entire

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Speaker 5: point is this supporting actor, more lines, more scenes.

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Speaker 1: The reflection of what you know.

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Speaker 4: And the industry and how how it's viewed. Is is

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Speaker 4: that that you know the powers that be in that

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Speaker 4: particular case, they were like, wow, this is amazing. But

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Speaker 4: but the guy that played the the Vigo character, he

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Speaker 4: did something.

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Speaker 3: We were like, but I have a lot of the weight.

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Speaker 4: I actually I'm not as funny in this in this

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Speaker 4: show as most of other characters. My character Gene just

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Speaker 4: uh grounds most of the show and and and bring

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Speaker 4: some of the serious and heavy weight to the show,

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Speaker 4: whereas I'm letting everyone else around me sort of play

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Speaker 4: funny and uh, which as a as a comic, As

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Speaker 4: a comic, that's challenging.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, But make no mistake, Dean has his scenes where

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Speaker 5: he is delivering on the funny. He's being like modest,

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Speaker 5: but he does someone in our cast, who you know

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Speaker 5: is the biggest star of our show, is also being

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Speaker 5: so selfless with giving other people in the scene that

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Speaker 5: chance to shine that I think that makes everyone else

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Speaker 5: know that they can also serve the material too. If

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Speaker 5: like the biggest star is helping make others shine, what

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Speaker 5: does that say about whoever your role is in the show.

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Speaker 2: And Dean, let's dig into your history a little. Because

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Speaker 2: we know each other for a super long time. He

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Speaker 2: can tell me his daughters are in college.

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Speaker 3: Yeah I remember, yeah, yeah, yeah, man.

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Speaker 4: And you and I go back decades now at this point, right,

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Speaker 4: but we still look good, you know, people like people.

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Speaker 3: Like how old y'all don't worry about that. We look

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Speaker 3: good doing what we do.

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Speaker 4: And I mean he was around when I first got

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Speaker 4: SNL way back in the day, and and uh, you know,

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Speaker 4: y'all have y'all you know on the previous show you

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Speaker 4: were on. Y'all showed me a lot of love on

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Speaker 4: there whenever I was doing road gigs, so I appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, And for you guys right now, there's also

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Speaker 2: a writer strike going on and you're both writers.

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Speaker 1: So where does that leave things for you? And what

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Speaker 1: are your thoughts?

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Speaker 3: Well?

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Speaker 4: The challenge is actually another good friend of ours, Mark Theobald,

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Speaker 4: is my writing partner. I worked on season two of

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Speaker 4: Tiffany had its presents They ready?

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Speaker 3: Oh thanks, thanks, I'm glad.

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Speaker 4: I'm glad, y'all. Y'all could check it out streaming on

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Speaker 4: Netflix right now. And so we're working on Mark and

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Speaker 4: I are working on something which she ready with Tiffany's company,

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Speaker 4: but it's on hold right now because of the writers strike.

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Speaker 4: So I mean the you know, the the producers come

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Speaker 4: correct man, the the the equity is so I think,

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Speaker 4: if I'm not mistaken and break correct me. But in

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Speaker 4: the last was it last decade, there have been four

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Speaker 4: the amount of money they made in the billions. It's

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Speaker 4: almost four times the amount of money that the streamers

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Speaker 4: have earned. It was five billion and now it's nearly

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Speaker 4: twenty billions. And the writers with including inflation, have lost

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Speaker 4: twenty percent of.

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Speaker 2: Right and they're not getting residuals either on streaming services

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Speaker 2: like they would. Let me ask you guys this. Roland

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Speaker 2: Martin was here the other day. I remember what he said.

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Speaker 2: He said, Now you can see what all of these

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Speaker 2: late night show hosts. He said, they shouldn't need writers

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Speaker 2: and they should be able to continue with that.

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Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on that?

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Speaker 4: There's truth to that, being that I was cast members

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Speaker 4: with a few of them, with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers,

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Speaker 4: who are funny, funny cats. But it also reinforces that

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Speaker 4: writers aren't necessary. You know, I was hanging out with

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Speaker 4: Michael Chay this weekend and we were at the Comedy

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Speaker 4: Seller and a bunch of cast members from SNL were

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Speaker 4: in there. Because people were like, yeah, I'm shocked, like

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Speaker 4: to me an institution like SNL not being on the

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Speaker 4: air force, they only had three more episodes last and

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Speaker 4: seeing that the show is just like a, well, the

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Speaker 4: season's done. But I think they've gone above and beyond

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Speaker 4: to make sure that the crew is still getting paid,

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Speaker 4: the camera people and the all the all the people

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Speaker 4: that are union and making sure they get squared away,

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Speaker 4: But it just showed this.

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Speaker 2: Such a yeah, like, but would that be wrong for

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Speaker 2: people who could continue the show without their writers to

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Speaker 2: just go on ahead and be on the air. Do

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Speaker 2: you think they need to stand in solidarity?

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Speaker 4: I think stand in solidarity because you are part of

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Speaker 4: a union. If you're if you are a host on

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Speaker 4: the show, chances are you're probably also a writer, so

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Speaker 4: you're you're part of the WGA anyway, but you're also

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Speaker 4: sag after, which means you know the benefit of the

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Speaker 4: union union working hard to make sure you get your

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Speaker 4: correct pay, you get your correct residuals. So I say, yeah,

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Speaker 4: everyone should stand stand in solidarity with the Writers' Union.

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Speaker 6: Okay, I disagree.

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Speaker 5: I'll take any job that comes my way. Your boy,

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Speaker 5: you know this interview is done, Jas, How could you

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Speaker 5: go there? No? You know, I just want to stand

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Speaker 5: with the capitol at the top. You gotta speak for

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Speaker 5: the one percent. If you guys don't mind trench privilege

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Speaker 5: to stay in French, you up and say.

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Speaker 3: Now, I'm just kidding.

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Speaker 5: I'm just kidding everybody. These are something. Oh god, yeah,

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Speaker 5: ye that that clip defines me. I know what my

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Speaker 5: face you look like. That's what he would believe. You know,

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Speaker 5: we need the job creators to be you know, they're

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Speaker 5: suffering if they don't have many, many, many millions and

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Speaker 5: they just have many, many millions like that, that's a bummer, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 5: that's why they're pros. They know they did their research.

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Speaker 1: No, Brett, we haven't.

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Speaker 2: So we haven't met previously. So we talked about Dean

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Speaker 2: and how we first mess. So let's get some background

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Speaker 2: on how you even ended up writing and doing comedy.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I've always loved comedy, and I moved

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Speaker 5: to New York because I knew it was the best

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Speaker 5: city in the world to become better at comedy. And

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Speaker 5: it also is the funniest, best people in it, and

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Speaker 5: so you're it makes you better to be amongst the best,

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Speaker 5: and you also get to find those collaborators that are

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Speaker 5: so talented that you love working with chief among them.

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Speaker 1: What was your first big break when you were like,

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Speaker 1: all right.

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Speaker 5: This is I would say, getting Dean to be involved

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Speaker 5: in I'm not even just saying that, no, no, no, no,

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Speaker 5: I mean I'm being that's not even a joke. I

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Speaker 5: would be completely honest, because let's say one thing that's

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Speaker 5: a fact. If Dean wasn't in this production, I wouldn't

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Speaker 5: be in this room talking to you right now, okay,

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Speaker 5: because I know yeah right, No, I mean that, I

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Speaker 5: mean that completely. Yes, he was. No one will be like,

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Speaker 5: no one can lift you up more than I mean.

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Speaker 5: Dean and if I may, has become a mentor to

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Speaker 5: me in this process, and now I've been so lucky

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Speaker 5: to learn from him, and like it's meant the world

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Speaker 5: and Dean being involved really is my first break and

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Speaker 5: I think it means a lot that a fellow artist

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Speaker 5: is more of my break than anyone who's ensuring that

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Speaker 5: the writers don't get their deal.

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Speaker 1: Now, what is the audience?

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Speaker 6: Like?

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Speaker 1: Who comes to see this way?

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Speaker 2: Because I go to a lot of Broadway plays and

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Speaker 2: I've gone to off Broadway. I went to go see

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Speaker 2: The Black Odyssey off Broadway.

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Speaker 4: That joint was was fire a white people?

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Speaker 3: It was yeah, it was it was yeah.

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Speaker 1: So what what is the what is the audience been

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Speaker 1: like for you guys? At With With.

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Speaker 4: With with last week we had one show where you

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Speaker 4: could feel the difference like most of the shows have

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Speaker 4: been diverse audiences because I've been blasted telling everybody I

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Speaker 4: know to come out as as have most of the

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Speaker 4: cast members. But we had one night where it was

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Speaker 4: where you understood why it's called the Great White Way,

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Speaker 4: you know, and and you felt the difference. And there's

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Speaker 4: something what I think is great about our show is

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Speaker 4: because we have such a diverse cast whoever all sort

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Speaker 4: of put the word out and made sure to you know,

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Speaker 4: just put the bat signal up and make sure they

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Speaker 4: they're telling all the people to come out. Is we've

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Speaker 4: had a nice mixture. My mother came, you know, to

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Speaker 4: to watch the show this past weekend, and for me,

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Speaker 4: that's that's everything because because I'm hearing my mother laugh,

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Speaker 4: I know her laugh, you know, in the audience, and

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Speaker 4: I'm like, okay, Mom's is laughing because I know some

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Speaker 4: of the material is racy, and you know, I work

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Speaker 4: relatively clean, so she was rolling with it.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 4: Uh, My man Brian, Brian's Brian, one of our cast

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Speaker 4: members who plays Demya His He's he's what we call

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Speaker 4: herbal back, you know, very herbal, and his and his

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Speaker 4: and his lady, she's herbal has the has the dreads

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Speaker 4: and the forest shells. Yeah, very natural, very herbal herbal,

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Speaker 4: you know, vera dude, you know, and so I was

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Speaker 4: watching her laugh.

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Speaker 3: I was like, Okay, we got it, we got you.

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Speaker 4: And so that's our goal also with the show, is

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Speaker 4: to add some flavor to this.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, because I tell Jasmine all the time, you know,

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Speaker 2: I'll go see your play, I'll go see the Tina

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Speaker 2: Turner play, MJ to musical, I went to go see

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Speaker 2: Yea for Black Girls, and I go see all of those.

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Speaker 1: And you talk about it on here all the time. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I don't think enough black people go see.

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Speaker 3: No.

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Speaker 4: But I think also that's attached to the institutions because

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Speaker 4: the gatekeepers have made it scene.

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Speaker 3: Well.

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Speaker 4: Number one, they do charge ridiculous amounts for tickets. I

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Speaker 4: saw MJ the Musical and Odyssey was these and I

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Speaker 4: just saw Andre Royo's Drinking in America down at the Minetta.

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Speaker 4: And I've been happy to see say compared to ten

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Speaker 4: twenty years ago going to see the first run of

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Speaker 4: Top Dog Underdog, yeah right, and seeing it back then

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Speaker 4: with Don Cheatle and Jeffrey Wright versus seeing it now

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Speaker 4: now there is more color, more of us coming out.

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Speaker 2: To support because it's more of us represented to I

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Speaker 2: think that's part of what it is. That's why something

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Speaker 2: like this can be important, Like you said, a diverse

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Speaker 2: cast exactly.

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Speaker 5: One thing I hate about theater is how prohibitively expensive

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Speaker 5: it can be for people. And then when that happens,

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Speaker 5: when ticket prices are so high, then you're only serving

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Speaker 5: the taste of a certain segment of society. And it's

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Speaker 5: been really one thing that's so important to me about

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Speaker 5: this show, and I love that our comedy does not

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Speaker 5: speak to just your prototypical theater audience. It's a little

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Speaker 5: more ambunctious and it's just frankly funnier, and so like,

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Speaker 5: one thing we're doing as people are producing this thing

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Speaker 5: is like trying to ensure people who might not otherwise

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Speaker 5: be able to see theater because of how ridiculous these

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Speaker 5: prices can be, can see it. I'll just say on air,

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Speaker 5: if you type in the promo code I live here,

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Speaker 5: tickets are twenty dollars for an off Broadway shews. That

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Speaker 5: doesn't happen, and that's because we want people to come. Fine,

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Speaker 5: we can pay Hey, Hey, everyone loves a promo cover.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right, No.

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Speaker 5: And one thing we've been working on our show behind

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Speaker 5: the scenes is we're working on a local one hundred

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Speaker 5: union appreciation week.

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Speaker 3: And I say that to say.

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Speaker 5: Local one hundred is a union that's currently the MTA

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Speaker 5: Workers union. The transit workers are currently fighting for fair

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Speaker 5: rights and benefits, and we want to bring them in

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Speaker 5: to the shows and allow them to laugh for free.

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Speaker 5: Either or almost nothing, I should say, because New Yorkers

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Speaker 5: don't appreciate them enough, and without them, none of this

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Speaker 5: show or our dreams or visions could exist. Because lord knows,

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Speaker 5: I couldn't take an uber every day to the show.

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Speaker 5: I would, I'd be broken to two weeks yea.

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Speaker 4: But also the tickets are not like his His promo

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Speaker 4: code has given you essentially fifty percent off. Like the

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Speaker 4: tickets are forty dollars, so it's not an expensive show

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Speaker 4: for people to come out. You know, if if you

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Speaker 4: go to a movie, if you take your family to

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Speaker 4: the movies on the weekend, you're spending less money going

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Speaker 4: to see our show.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, Mayo said he buys kids tickets instead

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Speaker 2: of buying the adult ticket to the movies.

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Speaker 1: Wow, And he said, they don't check it. You know,

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Speaker 1: they don't take they Now we talked about Innet.

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Speaker 5: I did the same thing. When I buy a ticket,

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Speaker 5: get the senior I buy the senior price and if

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Speaker 5: they I've been called on it, and he goes, you're

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Speaker 5: not a senior and I was. I said senior in

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Speaker 5: college and.

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Speaker 1: He was still like, uh uh, So they caught you.

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Speaker 5: And then I just to the guy, I go, hey, man,

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Speaker 5: here's two more dollars there. I pad the price you

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Speaker 5: take the tip ticket does make this a big thing?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Were you on a date or were you No?

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Speaker 5: No, thank god, no, thank god. I wasn't on a

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Speaker 5: day and I went to the movie.

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Speaker 3: So imagine his girl sitting there like, I mean, I

384
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Speaker 3: could have given you.

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Speaker 1: That's a good content. How old are you up.

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Speaker 3: On the youngest?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't have to worry about dating and forever.

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Speaker 4: We we've been together a long time.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but but you still got to pay, you.

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Speaker 1: Know, and your wife probably think it was funny. If

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Speaker 1: you know.

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Speaker 4: My wife is what what are you doing? Why are

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Speaker 4: you why are you being slick? Trying to be slick?

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Speaker 4: My wife is also British Jamaica. I don't want people

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Speaker 4: like why do you give her an accent? Where this

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Speaker 4: actually comes from the bronx.

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Speaker 2: But we have to ask you this, okay, And doing

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Speaker 2: our research on you, it appears that you were like

399
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Speaker 2: something come rags.

400
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:47,080
Speaker 5: Oh snap, oh my gosh, yourself know what it is,

401
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,399
Speaker 5: exactly what it sounds like?

402
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Speaker 1: Yourself?

403
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Speaker 5: Explain myself. Yeah, I know, I mean fell on hard

404
00:19:53,400 --> 00:20:00,119
Speaker 5: times and my brother and I fell on crusty times. No,

405
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 5: my brother and I launched a startup called com Rags,

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Speaker 5: where we quite literally sold rags.

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Speaker 1: For come Okay, special about the like what's.

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Speaker 5: Much it was? It was well, we had you know,

409
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Speaker 5: it was engineered by NASA scientists.

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Speaker 1: Obviously they tried it obviously.

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00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:21,040
Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: And not only am I the founder, I'm also a

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Speaker 5: proud user of come rags. But no, it was my

414
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,560
Speaker 5: brother and I was just this comedy bit. We'd sell

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Speaker 5: them at merchant shows and we we actually sold a lot.

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Speaker 5: We sold out of com Rags and unfortunately our business.

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00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,720
Speaker 3: He says, it is just critz.

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Speaker 5: You know, it's a family company that makes it better,

419
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 5: the com rags are and you know, we had sold

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Speaker 5: we sold out and during the pandemic when the one

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Speaker 5: of my best friends actually he works in textiles, so

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Speaker 5: he was able to just like make it super easy

423
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Speaker 5: for us, okay, and he told me, you know he's

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Speaker 5: he's Pakistani and his like sweet Pakistani aunt who when he.

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Speaker 1: Where is this going about.

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Speaker 5: When he told her about putting in the order for comrags,

427
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Speaker 5: she wouldn't say it.

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Speaker 3: God bless her.

429
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:12,160
Speaker 5: She would go the naughty rags. So no, but we

430
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,159
Speaker 5: unfortunately we're on current hiatus the com rags, but they

431
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Speaker 5: will return as I know there's demand.

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Speaker 3: But you can always just use an old sock.

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00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,200
Speaker 1: That's rough, a sock, it's rough.

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Speaker 5: You need to have the l support his company.

435
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Speaker 3: How much were you selling these naughty rags for?

436
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:37,200
Speaker 5: We were selling them for They were only ten dollars.

437
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,280
Speaker 3: Not including and that's the new one.

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00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:43,960
Speaker 5: Used ones are only five.

439
00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: Bucks, but they should cost more. Switch and you give

440
00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,120
Speaker 1: them a cold and then they get half off.

441
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's a problem.

442
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,359
Speaker 3: I want you to bring the cum rags onto Shark Tank.

443
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 3: I will see. I want to hear him.

444
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,080
Speaker 4: Is the wonderful uh and Laurie and Damon John's take

445
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:04,679
Speaker 4: on happening?

446
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:10,640
Speaker 5: Because I'm like, you've worked in textiles four it's your arena.

447
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is Damon's John.

448
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,600
Speaker 3: Thank you great that.

449
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 5: We want five percent of the company and you give

450
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 5: us ten million.

451
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 3: Dollars, which evaluated.

452
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 2: Million is the ultimate goal for Erase the movie to

453
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:30,720
Speaker 2: play absolutely.

454
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,680
Speaker 5: I mean, first off, we're gonna have an we're continuing

455
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 5: this amazing.

456
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:35,360
Speaker 3: We're off Broadway run.

457
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 5: Then we're gonna get to a bigger stage, preferably Broadway

458
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,680
Speaker 5: brings some really incredible comedy there. And the ultimate goal

459
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,440
Speaker 5: is to turn Race the movie to play into Race

460
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:45,360
Speaker 5: the movie.

461
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 3: The play movie.

462
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 5: Okay, and we're looking for the right partners to partner

463
00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,640
Speaker 5: with in that regard. It's gonna happen. And so that's

464
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,120
Speaker 5: the ultimate goal is just share this this this great

465
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 5: piece of comedy that it's old school slapstick comedy that

466
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 5: we don't really see anymore.

467
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,359
Speaker 4: Yeah, because because I think part of the genesis of

468
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 4: the of the project was the fact that he and

469
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 4: Christian wrote this script as a feature film and you know,

470
00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:13,879
Speaker 4: brought it to a bunch of people in Hollywood and

471
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,840
Speaker 4: they said no, they said it's great, but Hollywood wouldn't

472
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:18,320
Speaker 4: make it. So they said, you know, let's bring it

473
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 4: to the theater because lot people will will give you

474
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 4: the evidence live in person that people aren't dumb, and

475
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 4: people will laugh. People have been laughing. So now our

476
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,359
Speaker 4: goal is sort of inviting all these people. We have,

477
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,960
Speaker 4: we have execs coming down during our run to check

478
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,159
Speaker 4: it out and see for a fact. Now this is

479
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 4: this is uh, you know something that's potent that people

480
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 4: will respond to. You know if you if you, because

481
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:47,720
Speaker 4: it's it's not You can give people funny and real

482
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 4: without having to worry about getting canceled if you do

483
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,199
Speaker 4: it with a certain amount of integrity and with a

484
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,000
Speaker 4: certain amount of empathy. And anything I've ever done, you know,

485
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,879
Speaker 4: I joke about any and everything, but I I do

486
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:04,440
Speaker 4: with an empathetic uh insight, So I never worried people.

487
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 4: People always says, are you worried about kids? Because I'm like, no,

488
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,280
Speaker 4: because I've always been aware of how people feel about

489
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 4: what I'm saying.

490
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:16,399
Speaker 2: And empathetic and also knowing your intention is not to

491
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 2: be harmful.

492
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,159
Speaker 5: Exactly, and it's it's it's also execution. I think that

493
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 5: the writing that Christian and I have done and has

494
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 5: also been proof read by audiences and our cast.

495
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 4: And enhanced by it's been collaborative where where the entire cast,

496
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 4: everybody for Myself to Ted, Alexander to Eagle With and

497
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,320
Speaker 4: so many other funny comedians slash actors have really just

498
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 4: been allowed to have, you know, their hands in this

499
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 4: in crafting the script that they originally brought to me

500
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 4: and making it into something even more amazing.

501
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 5: And that's why I think so much modern comedy can

502
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,160
Speaker 5: not be as interesting because it is so worried about

503
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 5: either offending people or upsetting people in a small subset

504
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 5: of people sometimes at that that they end up making

505
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,920
Speaker 5: very uninteresting toothless safe, very safe comedy. And I think

506
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,400
Speaker 5: great art does not come from a place of fear

507
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 5: of how you're perceived. It comes from a place of joy,

508
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 5: of execution and thoughtfulness. And though we have a very

509
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 5: irreverent comedy, it is a lot of thought has gone

510
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 5: into that and it's it's irreverent, but with like a

511
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 5: purpose and a point.

512
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 2: And Dean, when you first started working on this also,

513
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,120
Speaker 2: did you feel there were some things that needed to change?

514
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 3: No?

515
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 1: No, honestly sometimes feedback from other people.

516
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,679
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, no, because I mean we we even you know,

517
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 4: I'll give y'alla teaser. We address the origination of of

518
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,360
Speaker 4: the N word, you know in this play, and it's

519
00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 4: one of our strongest and funniest scenes and audiences Black white,

520
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 4: Asian Latino have all responded in a positive manner. And

521
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 4: then I can't I made the mistake of attempting to

522
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,080
Speaker 4: explain the scene to my wife initially and she wasn't laughing,

523
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 4: and then.

524
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 3: But that no, but but peep.

525
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,320
Speaker 4: Then after she left the show, finally seeing the show,

526
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,720
Speaker 4: she was like, she was like, this is it's it's

527
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 4: it's funny, but it's also smart, you know. And that's

528
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,640
Speaker 4: and that's what I've been hearing from a lot of

529
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,439
Speaker 4: the people feedback. They've been like, Yo, it's funny, but

530
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,639
Speaker 4: it's how y'all how y'all are doing it is slick

531
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 4: and very intelligent in the way you're approaching.

532
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 5: You don't condescend audiences by being afraid, because we know.

533
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 3: What we're doing.

534
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,240
Speaker 5: And one of the moments of my of the show

535
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 5: that means the most to me, I think, you know what,

536
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 5: it's not just the laughter and collapse that can happen.

537
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,879
Speaker 5: It's that scene where Dean does have like a pivotal

538
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,200
Speaker 5: dramatic monologue towards the end of the show, and there's

539
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,919
Speaker 5: all this laughter that happening. But there's sometimes when you

540
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 5: do that monologue, we hear from the audience.

541
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 4: You you well, Brett's alluding to this something wonderful about

542
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 4: hearing hearing a black woman in the audience saying I

543
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 4: know that's right, that's right, Yeah, yeah, because it's show

544
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,119
Speaker 4: like the Coast sign, the coast sign of you know,

545
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,240
Speaker 4: like as as a comic, you know, I got to

546
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 4: be able to go and win the Apollo Theater.

547
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 3: If I can.

548
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,000
Speaker 4: If I can win the Apollo, I can go anywhere.

549
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 4: If I can go on stage and crush in Harlem

550
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,720
Speaker 4: on a one to twenty fifth, I can go anywhere.

551
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 4: And I have taking my comedy everywhere around the world,

552
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 4: from from New York City to Hollywood to Saudi Arabia, Japan, China,

553
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 4: Dubai and so forth.

554
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,400
Speaker 3: And so that's the goal to me is when you.

555
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:42,680
Speaker 4: Because black audiences, we're harder to impress.

556
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 3: But when when we when we rock with you, we

557
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 3: go very vocal. We are very vocal.

558
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 4: And so that's that's the beauty of the show is

559
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:56,439
Speaker 4: hearing you know, sprinkles of sisters in the audis like okay, baby,

560
00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 4: you know that's that's priceless.

561
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 2: See how you're working on an hour special now for

562
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 2: I know you did Tiffany's Ready.

563
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,399
Speaker 4: Yeah, we did. We did the joint with Tiffany. And again,

564
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 4: the focus prior to or aside from I always put.

565
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 4: Let me put that, I'm always working on my hour

566
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 4: but the goal with the project I'm working on with

567
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,679
Speaker 4: Mark is to sell that show, because then the show

568
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 4: that we are working on, which I know is a banger,

569
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 4: Brett seeing some of the you know imagery from from

570
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:27,400
Speaker 4: our pitch deck.

571
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 3: Uh.

572
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,920
Speaker 4: Once we sell this show, then going back to Netflix

573
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 4: and the show getting being a hit, and then saying

574
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 4: all right, boom, now let me do the hour special.

575
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 4: I'm always I'm always working at the comedy clubs. Like

576
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,239
Speaker 4: I said, I'm at Yanker's Comedy Club this weekend. I'm

577
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 4: always at the Comedy Seller, Gotham Comedy Club, New York

578
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 4: Comedy Club in the Tri State area, and always on

579
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 4: the road.

580
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 5: It's the best to watch. I mean, I love watching

581
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 5: Dean do comedy acting, but I also love getting to

582
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,080
Speaker 5: watch him do stand up live. I like to think

583
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 5: I think Dean is like the most under rated, criminally

584
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 5: person in all of show biziness. I think Dean should

585
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 5: be the lead in every show and I've I've joked

586
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 5: to Dean, I'm like your career. If I was as

587
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 5: talented as you, I'd be super bitter.

588
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 4: You. It wouldn't be the same because your wife, you

589
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 4: would you had been way up already factually accurate.

590
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:22,520
Speaker 3: But no.

591
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 5: But Dean, I say he's the Lebron James of comedy

592
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 5: because like Lebron, can do everything a basketball player is

593
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 5: asked to do every part of his game. There are

594
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 5: no holes. That's how Dean is with performing every part

595
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 5: of his game, the writing, the voices, the accents, facial expressions. Uh,

596
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 5: he can do comedy acting, you can do stand up comedy,

597
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,600
Speaker 5: and then he can also deliver dramatic stuff. It's there

598
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 5: are no holes in his comedy game.

599
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 2: Dean's been a master at this for a very long time.

600
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,959
Speaker 2: I want to say so, I'm excited to go see it.

601
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 2: Jasone we're going to go see this will be the

602
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 2: judge of it.

603
00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,040
Speaker 1: Yes to I.

604
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,440
Speaker 4: I look, you know, on some Denzel Washington, Frank Lucas,

605
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 4: I stand behind it. I guarantee that you will walk

606
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 4: out of this theater feeling good about about what you

607
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 4: just saw, feeling like maybe there's hope to this crazy

608
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 4: world that we live in. That you know, it's it's

609
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,680
Speaker 4: it's not on some kumbaya, but people walk out. For me,

610
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 4: the best feeling is exiting the theater every night that

611
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 4: we've been doing it and seeing people smiling and just

612
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 4: sort of cheering, like, Yo, this this this is really

613
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 4: really something special. So I'm excited. And for anybody that

614
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 4: wants to challenge the funny, check out my special on Netflix,

615
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 4: Tiffany had Has Presents Day Ready, Season two, episode six.

616
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,239
Speaker 4: That is a small portion of what we're doing in

617
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 4: this show.

618
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: Is there a Mermaid in this play?

619
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 3: Or I like that That's what I'm talking about.

620
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 4: But again, but you know what that was that that's

621
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 4: why this show for me was perfect because I like

622
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 4: comedy that can say something, you know, and I had

623
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,280
Speaker 4: I had a white friend mentioned to me recently who's redheaded,

624
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 4: and she said, you know what. When I first was

625
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 4: watching that, I was annoyed because I'm like, what is

626
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 4: he talking about? But then there's a joke in my

627
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 4: special on Netflix where I addressed people being en raised

628
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 4: because the Little Mermaid was going to be black, And

629
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 4: my point behind it is representation is important, and so

630
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 4: that why shouldn't there be why can't they be black mermaid?

631
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 4: Why can't there be a Latina Disney Princess, a Middle

632
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 4: Eastern Disney princess, And so that was the point of

633
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,440
Speaker 4: the joke about representation, which is what we're doing with

634
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 4: this show, making the Great White the off Great White

635
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,320
Speaker 4: Way a little bit more mellenated.

636
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 2: Okay, hello, but Brett Rabel, thank you so much for

637
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 2: joining us. Is a pleasure, and I know we'll see

638
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,160
Speaker 2: you again, and we are gonna come see the play.

639
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: And that's our word. You already know.

640
00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 4: Y'all gonna see ye and Jasmine and Persas, so that's right.

641
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 2: Whoever we're gonna on the air will let you guys

642
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 2: know who. But day were coming, everybody could try to

643
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,520
Speaker 2: come that day too, and Dean Edwards.

644
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: Always a pleasure to see you.

645
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,800
Speaker 2: I love you and congratulations and I can see the

646
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 2: website is Race Themovie theplay dot com.

647
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 1: Great on the shirt.

648
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 5: Listen, I had to put my self promotion fit on.

649
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 5: I'm not above just wearing a shirt with you know

650
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 5: what I mean. I don't need to look good. I

651
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:21,959
Speaker 5: need to sell tickets.

652
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 3: I know that's right. I know that's right. And the

653
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 3: tickets are inexpensive.

654
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 4: Y'all come out, make sure you check out the show,

655
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 4: Race the Movie to play.

656
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 3: Brett, what's your social media?

657
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 5: So just at Brett Rabel, ber T r e Y

658
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 5: b o U l D, and yeah, Race the movie,

659
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 5: theplay dot com or at Sohole Place a playhouse as well.

660
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 3: And I'm at I am Dean Edwards because that's who

661
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:42,720
Speaker 3: I am.

662
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: That's right his way up at Angela ye,