WEBVTT - You’re Not For Everybody with Yvonne Orji 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:06.120 Hi, Catherine, Hi Chelsea. I am in Estoya and Majorca. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:12.160 I've just spent five days alone. Five days alone, and Carla, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.880 my assistant, is here as well. But my first guests 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.520 didn't arrive until the second so I had five days 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:25.960 of no drinking, utter seclusion, exercising, eating healthy. The thing 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.760 about being on vacation isn't possible to get on any 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.040 sort of program, so I got my shit together. I 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.040 didn't do anything. I did Glennon Doyle's podcast, Glennon and 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.040 Abbey's podcast. I recorded that, so look for that. That's 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.559 coming out shortly. We were trying to figure out a 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:41.879 time this summer and I'm like, you know what, I'm 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:43.440 alone for five days. I think that's the best time 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:46.200 for me to do a podcast. Since I'm all podcasted out. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.360 I'm like, I have my own fucking podcast to deal with. 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.720 But yeah, so I have a full house of comedians, 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.279 So yeah, you can follow me on Instagram for all 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.160 the sorts of shenanigans. And then at the end of 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.040 this month, I go back on tour. I start my 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.520 little big which I'm really excited about. I've gotten so 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.800 much rest and relaxation and aggravation and I need a 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.119 vacation for my vacation, But what else is fucking new? 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:09.479 Yeah? 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.440 Now do you restore your energy alone or with other people? 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.679 I restore my energy mostly by myself. But I go 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.000 to bed listen. When I was in London, I stayed 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:20.880 in London for a month, in like the month of July. 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.200 I think I was pretty much in London. I had 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:26.959 a blast. I went to bed probably between two and 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.600 five am every single night. All I did was go 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.040 out and party. And it was so nice because I 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:33.840 was in a hotel and I could just I had 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:35.720 so many friends in London that I could just join 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:38.319 other people's action, you know, like whatever my friends were 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:39.800 up to, I'd be like, Okay, I'm going with them. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:40.960 I'm going with them. I'm doing this. 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:41.880 You can float. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.560 So that was perfect because I wasn't in charge of 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.600 the entertainment, you know what I mean. In my Orca, 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.080 it's my house. I'm in charge of the entertainment. But 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.400 I have a new policy I'm putting in place, like 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.560 everybody has a free day throughout the week. Go do 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.640 whatever you want to do. There's no organized plans. We 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:02.720 all will have dinner together, obviously, but breakfast and dinner 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.960 and then anything in between. Get your own fucking party started. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.960 You can hang out, you can leave, but don't rely 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:09.320 on me. 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:10.520 Yeah no, that's smart. 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.840 Yeah, so that's that plan. And then yeah, so that's 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:16.800 what I'm in. I'm in. I have three different weeks 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.160 of guests coming, so we'll see, we'll see what happens. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:21.880 I'm working hard on my book. I got a lot 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.360 of writing done. I have this great title for my 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.560 new book, which I can't wait to share with people, 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:28.440 but it'll be a few months before I can do that. 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.720 And yeah, I'm feeling very productive. 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.480 That's so good. Are you able to share any themes 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.120 of the book, like kind of the angles you're working 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:39.119 or keeping that under wraps for now? 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:44.079 I think it's just about female independence and freedom, nice freedom, 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:46.160 child free freedom. 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.680 I feel like that is absolutely something that people who 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:50.640 love you respond to. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.720 So yeah, I think it's definitely underrepresented, you know what 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:56.680 I mean, We have so many people that are just 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:58.560 not the reason why it gets such a big reaction 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.720 is because there are plenty of people talking about it now, 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.120 more so than there were. But you know, it's not enough, 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.960 and it'll never be enough. That women have choices and 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.960 that we can choose to do whatever we want and 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.440 become whatever we want as long as we get all 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.799 of this nonsense out of our heads and stop listening 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:15.000 to what people are telling us. 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.840 Yes, yes, it kind It makes me think about what 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.520 Alice Lonan had said about, you know, the whole, not 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:23.160 just our culture, but. 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.520 Like the energy of the universe basically is like. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.919 Swinging more feminine for the next Yes, who knows how long, 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.079 but it's just it feels like it's coming to pass. 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:32.680 And I like that. 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:37.360 Yeah, yeah, great, Okay. So our guest today is she's 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.200 a real piece of work. She's an actress, a comedian, 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.960 and author of Bamboozled by Jesus. How God tricked me 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.280 into the life of my dreams. Please welcome vn Orgy. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:54.320 Oh yeah, baby, hello, Oh yeah, look at you. Cutey, petuity, 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:55.320 fresh and fruity. 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:57.600 And he takes one to know one. 0:03:58.320 --> 0:03:59.840 I was excited. I thought I was seeing you in 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:02.640 today and I was gonna do a little dry hump 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.280 and say hello. I was gonna jump on you. And 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.520 then she said you're virtually no, and I was like, oh, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.080 what a bummer. But that's okay. We're happy to have you. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.160 I'm pretty bummed about it too. That was like, okay, 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:12.760 we can do a body. 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:13.000 Well. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:14.760 I've been a huge fan of yours. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.440 Literally when people asked me, I was like about like 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.760 they were comedians. They were showing them like Chelsea Lately. 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.680 You not seen Chelsea lately. I'm like, every night I 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.400 tuned in BEFO I to move to LA. It was, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.880 you know, fantastic, Thank you, honey. Well, likewise, right back 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:29.400 at you. 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.839 You're fantastic, And I'm so excited to have you on 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.560 and to be talking to you because we don't have 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.000 a lot of religious people on this podcast. We have 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.719 a lot of spiritual people. But as I was reading 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.080 your book, I realized that it's kind of one and 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.120 the same. It is it's a belief system, and I 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.200 love that it's like modern religion what you're talking about 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.600 in your book, and I want to talk to you 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.039 about that first and foremost. I want to talk to 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:57.520 you about your belief in God and all of the 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.560 signs that you I guess maybe early on the signs 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.640 that you got that made you believe in God, not 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:08.200 just that was instilled from your parents, but from your 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:09.560 own young adulthood. 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:09.960 I guess. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.640 Yeah, it's really I like to say, it's really more 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:17.120 like a relationship. So with my book it was my faith, 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.160 it is very much more fate relationship. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:20.520 Board. 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.680 I think when you have a relationship with somebody, it 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:24.960 makes it more personal. Like if your mom tells you, 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:26.760 like come home, and you know she loves you, and 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.200 you love her back, You're like, you know what, I'm 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:30.640 gonna come home even though I want to stay out, 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.919 I'm gonna come home, Versus like if it's somebody you 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.120 don't have a relationship with, like that aunt, that's always 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:36.600 your business that it's like you should come home. 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.560 You're like to the hotel not you know, you're just 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:41.280 you're not really out that life. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.640 And so I think when people try to use religion 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:45.479 to like force people to do stuff and like there's 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.680 no understanding or no relationship behind it, it doesn't stick 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:50.400 and it doesn't also feel good, like what the heck? 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:52.359 Like why why would why would do we eat this? 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:56.919 So that's just kind of like where my center of 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:58.039 faith lies. 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.200 This is why I've been able to be a wish 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:01.039 for as well as I have. 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:03.400 But yeah, no, I got saved when I was seventeen, 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.880 Like I was not playing on going to anybody's blah 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:07.360 bla study. 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.480 I grew up Catholic, but from Nigeria. Well your parents 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.200 are Nigerian and were you you were born in Nigeria, right? 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.240 I sure was. I was born in Nigeria. 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:18.200 We immigrated to America when I was six and my 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:19.480 mom was a nurse at had. 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.120 With University hospital. And you know, back then they liked 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.800 the immigrants and so they gave us green cards. Naha. 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.599 Now they're like you can go. You're like, well, wait, 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.200 like you you told us to come in. 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.600 I love switching the rules. It's like yes, yes, we'll 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.280 take the tire the poor, and now we're like no, no, 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.960 actually we take it all back. We didn't mean that. 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:38.360 For sure, like nobody one of them. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.800 There was a nursing shortage, so like that's why every 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.279 time you go to the hospital, there's gonna be a 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.000 Filipido or an African nurse. This is why when you 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:48.000 see hospital shows, you're like, no, this is not represented it. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:56.600 There's got to be a madame orbs. 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.840 Like what are you talking about? Like that? 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.160 If there's not a Filipino nurse or niger nisse, I 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.880 would trust this hospital. So anyway, so that's how we 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.919 got to America, and you know, we again we were 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:05.680 Roman Catholic. 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.159 But I remember just going to church war. 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.760 As like a ritual, you know, like and after you 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:12.520 going up, you're just like, it's gonna be a fifty 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.720 five minute service, sixty if the priest is really feeling it. 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.600 But you know, I just love God and I'm also 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.400 afraid of my parents, so I'm gonna go to church. 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.840 But then I got to college and I was I 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:27.480 was like, let me tell you right now, we want 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:29.080 to go all the way wild. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:30.160 We are in DC. 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:32.600 I am a grown woman. Let's go. 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.080 And I was on my way to the club and 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:36.520 my friend was like, why don't we go to this 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.360 Bible study before we hit the club? 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.320 And I was like, I mean, I mean, I guess 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:43.160 that makes sense. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.400 Sure, It's like it was like, you know, I'm not 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.240 in a Bible study attire. I was probably supposed to 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:49.400 be a hole in my heart, you know what I mean, 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:51.880 Like I feel like in Jesus hadn't gotten me as 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:52.520 early as. 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:53.920 He would have. It made a different story. 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.640 So anyway, we go to the Bible study and the 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.760 woman preaching, she was just so in lovely God in 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.520 the way way that like being a Catholic, I'd never 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.160 seen someone want who like understood the Bible, new Scripture, whatever, 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.280 and I was just so drawn to it. I mean, 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:10.040 before I knew it, I was over there giving my 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:11.880 life to Jesus. I was like, we were supposed to 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:14.800 be on a poll tonight. Why am I now like 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.280 in tears, like I do love you Lord, I surrender. 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:20.080 So she got me. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.240 So it was in that moment, what you decided to 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:23.960 commit to your relationship with God. 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.320 Yeah, Like I like that's how I already got bambooed 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:26.640 by teeth. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.760 Like I was prepared to lose my virginity at eighteen, 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:31.400 I knew I was. I knew I wanted to lose 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.920 my virginity at eighteen because not because of that necessarily 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.440 religious purposes, but because I was like, if I get pregnant, 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:39.240 I just won't be able to make decisions as an 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.040 adult because if anybody calls my mama, I'm gonna be dead. 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.040 So I mean, can you imagine your parents working, probably 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.160 sacrificing everything to come to America and then their daughter 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:49.400 has a teenage pregnancy. 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.079 What a fuck you? I was like, I get I 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:53.600 don't want my mom to go and deal with thirty 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.079 five to life. I don't want that to be her esimoity. 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:58.680 So I just was like at eighteen, like I don't 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:00.480 even know what decisions I would make, but I just 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.000 both feel more of an adult to do them right. 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.839 And so I remembered when I was sixteen, I went 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.880 to see my my primary care physician and she had 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:11.800 to call the mother of a sixty year old to 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.680 tell her that her daughter was pregnant. I remember that 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.800 a just sketch in my mind, like, oh, nobody will 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:19.959 ever meet that call. So that's why I had the 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:22.720 eighteen And God was like, ooohol, I'm gonna let her 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.760 have this like timeline because I got a surprise with her. 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.120 I'm not saying when I was seventeen and a half. 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.200 So he got me, we're gonna take a quick break 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:37.600 and we're gonna be right back and we're back. Are 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.240 you still a virgin? I am, Oh my god, I 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:45.000 love this. This is the most original guest we've ever 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.680 had on and you what are you? Thirty nine? I am, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.960 Oh my god, that damn is gonna break one day, baby, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:53.559 and maybe. 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.080 Let the thing right now, I like people were like, oh, 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.720 you know. Even I was like, pray for him, whoever 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.880 he is. Why you've got a lot of pets up energy. 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:03.079 Up and here. 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:05.240 Okay, oh my god. 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.760 And you're gonna hit your sexual peak when you start 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.480 having sex. So yeah, you're gonna need a couple of men. 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.360 Probably you all went from. 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.640 Being universits of poly ellaly, Like that would be a 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.640 very interesting to events. That's I don't think that's the destimy, 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:21.680 but I will say, like, hurry up, if you know 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:23.680 any good men to the attend of my way. 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:24.400 Please please. 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.199 I you know what, it's funny. I know this Nigerian man, 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:29.720 he's married to my girlfriend. But I have so much 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:34.280 experience with their family and Nigerians, and I know how 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.400 dedicated Nigerians are to education and becoming a doctor, which 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:40.560 you cover in your book as well, And it's just 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.440 couldn't be more true. Like it's very serious. You know, 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:45.560 you have to be loyal and you have to like 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.520 it's almost like being in a family can also feel 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.960 like work for somebody who's like me, who gets to 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.080 do whatever they want. And all the time you're like, oh, oh, 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:54.400 this is a serious situation. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.680 There's always like an outlier. I'm the outlier by family. 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.160 I was like, yeah, I feel like I'm met for 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:05.320 more than just what everyone else is doing. And so yeah, yeah, no, 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.679 and also as a Nijoria's supposed to be married at 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.000 twenty three, also an outlier. 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.040 But no, I'm actually really happy. 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:13.520 I feel like I don't think I could have ever 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:17.679 gotten married before this moment, Like honestly, maybe like thirty five, 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:19.880 I thought I was ready, but actually I think I 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.600 feel the most ready to be in the committed relationship now, 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:24.959 like that will actually last. 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:26.240 Everybody there get married. 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:30.160 At twenty three, they probably not together anymore. Yeah, how 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:31.720 did Nigerians feel about divorce? 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.520 I mean, it's happening more and more now, so it's like, 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.400 maybe don't tell your daughters to get married and just 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.600 find it could and I didn't, I, you know, before 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:41.559 they know themselves. 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:43.319 And how many siblings do you have? 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:45.800 I have three older brothers, okay, And are. 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.120 They in the States. They're all in the States. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.480 Yeah, they very like I have one brother who lives 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.160 in Nigeria, go back and forth. 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.040 I have two brothers who are in the States. So yeah, 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:54.600 we're we're all over the place. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:55.480 And you're the baby. 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:56.360 The baby. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.160 Isn't that kind of the best place to be in 0:11:58.200 --> 0:11:58.720 a family. 0:11:59.240 --> 0:11:59.679 You know what? 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:01.760 I like if they listened to me more, I would 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.120 really appreciate this position. 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.520 I think with more the more success you have, the 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.079 more they will listen. That's my experience with my family. 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:11.840 For sure, they respect me way more than they did 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.440 when I really thought I had some smart ideas. So 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.120 talk a little bit. I like some of the stories 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:21.880 about your faith and belief being reinforced right signs of faith, 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.640 taking risks and knowing that God shows up for you. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:26.679 So can you talk a little bit about that. 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:27.640 Yeah. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.000 When I was getting my master's in public health, there 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:35.720 was a pageant called the Misbagerian American Pageant, and my 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:38.880 like my friends were like, want you to enjoy, and 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:40.720 so I did. And I just thought I was like, 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.600 you know what, I can wear a dress. I feel like, 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.120 you know body colleges is I'm fine. And in two 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.880 weeks before the pageant, they were like, well, what's your talent? 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.280 I was like, oh, I don't. I'm a job of immigrants. 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:51.040 I don't have one. 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.360 Like, we're not raised they have hotties and talents. And 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.000 they were like, well, everyone who performs, needs to have one. 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.760 So it's two weeks people have bought tickets for my 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.000 mom and my like cousins are comed hey, and so 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.280 I'm just like, well, what the hell. I can't like, 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:07.040 I can't mess up because again the Nigerian it means 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:08.080 like we gotta be excellent. 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:09.480 And I prayed. 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:11.560 By this time, you know, I had a relationship with 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:13.880 God now for like five or six years. I was like, hey, 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:19.079 God really needs a solid It's me dollan fast, it's 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.800 stat And God was like, do comedy, Like I've heard 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:24.120 the voice of all these favorite sayings. 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:24.840 Do comedy. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.320 And when you say you hear the voice of God, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.720 what do you hear? How does that present itself? 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.240 You know, it's it's one of those things where I'll 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.360 say out of body, but it's almost kind of like 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.439 a almost like a closing in because I know it's 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:40.720 not me, Like that was not an idea that I 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.040 could ever come up with on my own, and it 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.920 just sounds very clear, do comedy. 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.600 It wasn't really, it wasn't James Earl Jerald. It was 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.440 just you comedy. And I was like what And. 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.040 I remember being like, that's that's not what I would 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.440 ever do. So I was like, nah, I'm good. And 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.160 then I was like god, no, for like it's me Evon, 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:03.080 like like give me something I can actually work with. 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.079 And he said, either you're going to larger trust me, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:06.800 or you're not. 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.400 And then the book spun away like it was like 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:11.240 I was just like whoa, you guys just dropped. 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:13.360 I was like to leave, what the hell? But it 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.600 was just so clear and I was so scared. 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.560 That's also how I know that it's him when he 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.960 asked me to do something that completely takes me out 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:26.000 of like the realm of logic, out of the realm 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.080 of something that I feel like I can do. I 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.120 know this nothing but God, because I wouldn't normally come 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:30.480 up with that. 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.960 That's stupid. Why would I? Why would I put my stuff? 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.920 Because Lenduria is like Americs are actually nice, like just 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.040 you know you have white friends and like when you 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:39.440 started doing comedy, they were like. 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:40.680 Honey, that was good. 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.200 You know they'll support, they'll clap, they'll support whether it's 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:43.840 good or bad. 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:45.440 When you bomb there like you'll get. 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.600 Them next size and you're like, oh, thank you. When 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.360 you know front of durious they do not care about 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.680 your feelings. Okay, if I were to bomb, they. 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.280 Would be like who's this? 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:54.920 Why? 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:58.520 And these are the parents? Okay? 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:04.880 And so I definitely was like, hey, okay, I'm very nervous, 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.600 I'm very scared. I also know that I don't want 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.800 a regular life like I just once I got said that, 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:12.400 I started like really representing the Bible. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:13.320 I was like, oh, I. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:15.320 Think I'm destined for more because for me, I think 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:16.920 when when you don't have friends and when you were 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.800 bullied and you feel like, oh man, all I wanted 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:21.920 to do was be long, and then you read the 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.080 Bible and it's like a blueprint to like belonging. It's 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.920 a blueprint to like finding a discovery yourself and your purpose. 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:29.960 I just I think I clung to it in such 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.520 a way that like I needed it. And so I 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.080 was like, well, maybe God knows something about me that 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.680 I don't know about myself and excars me so much. 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:39.880 But I would I would hate you know. 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.480 Even in the book, there's a chapter called Fears two 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.640 Boys and but regret as her bees, And for me, 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.840 I'm like, I would hate to like regret my life 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:49.720 because I just didn't do what God said because it 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.720 scared me so much, and so I spent the next 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.760 two weeks writing down what I thought was funny with 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.000 the dual identity of being that you're an American and 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.040 people who have and I almost I was so scared 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.920 of forgetting my lines, so I didn't do it. Like 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.400 like you know, when you get familiar with comedy, you're 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.640 able to improv, You're able to go with the jokes 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.360 to a crowd. Work that was not my case. I 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:14.160 was like, yeah, can y'all please start laughing? Y'all go 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.360 rest me up. And that was the first time that 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.760 I was like, Wow, I really really trusted God to 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.200 do something out of like the norm for me and 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:24.960 it worked out. 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:26.280 But I was so scared. 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.280 So I was like, hey, God, I want to do 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:31.320 this again, but if I know, I'm good if it's 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.880 not an audience of Nigerians with the same material. 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.520 And so that I did DC's Funniest College Student Competition. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.120 I ended up winning for GW and part of winning 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.200 means you perform at the DC improv and so I 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.200