Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central, The Long and Last Cheryl Lee, Ralph,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Daily Show. Let me start with saying
Speaker 1: congratulations Emmy Award winning. You know, there are many performers
Speaker 1: in history, many artists, many actors who audiences have said
Speaker 1: critics arelike, this person never got their flowers. This person
Speaker 1: never got the recognition that they deserve. So many people
Speaker 1: in black Hollywood never got the flowers that they deserved.
Speaker 1: Talk me through just a part of this journey. You
Speaker 1: know you've done it all. I mean militia for me
Speaker 1: and then moving from one to the next. You know,
Speaker 1: dream girls for so many people back in the day,
Speaker 1: the original dream girl. Talk me through the journey and
Speaker 1: what has kept you being as efficescent as you are?
Speaker 1: Oh my God, I too is to be happy. I
Speaker 1: choose joy. Yeah, I believe that since I am alive,
Speaker 1: I might as well get up, get out there and
Speaker 1: enjoy it. Yes, I'm so happy that God has chosen
Speaker 1: throughout all of these years to wake me up every
Speaker 1: morning in my right mind so that I can carry
Speaker 1: on in life. I love that. Yes, that's what keeps
Speaker 1: me going, That's what keeps me enjoying what I do
Speaker 1: Through all of the ups and downs, through all of
Speaker 1: the missteps and the bad breaks, I choose to carry on.
Speaker 1: I choose to look in the mirror and love what
Speaker 1: I see. We love what we seek, We genuinely love
Speaker 1: what we see. Again, I mean, I am sucker. I
Speaker 1: love all comedy, anything that is funny. I love you
Speaker 1: are a master and the way you perform it. We
Speaker 1: Abbott Elementary has done what many people said it wasn't possible.
Speaker 1: People said, no one wantes life TV anymore, nobody likes
Speaker 1: to sitcom anymore, that we likes these family stories anymore.
Speaker 1: And yet Abbot Elementary has gone and done the exact
Speaker 1: thing that everyone said was impossible. You know, Quincon Brunson
Speaker 1: assembled this amazing squad of people to come in and
Speaker 1: tell real stories that teach us love of themselves, of
Speaker 1: the students of the American schooling system. You know, I
Speaker 1: know it touches everything. But what do you think it
Speaker 1: is that brings people back every single week and watching
Speaker 1: live by the way, sharing it with each other. I
Speaker 1: think what they're seeing is their own struggles. There's We're
Speaker 1: just a group of regular people in the show going
Speaker 1: through life, and we just happened to be in a
Speaker 1: very challenging situation. And every week we are getting over
Speaker 1: the difficulties and we are appreciating what we have together,
Speaker 1: working together on the show, in the show, in the characters,
Speaker 1: in the scripts, and people see themselves in it and
Speaker 1: they love it. They feel it, they feel it and
Speaker 1: they love it, and they tell us they do God,
Speaker 1: they do, My God. My life now has turned into
Speaker 1: one big photo session. Anytime I go out into the street,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to take a picture. Everybody wants you to
Speaker 1: talk to their people, and everybody wants to tell you
Speaker 1: how much they love you. And I am saying, that's
Speaker 1: why I wake up happy every day. You You're also
Speaker 1: you're also the brid the rear breed of human being.
Speaker 1: Who is you know, talented in every aspect of what
Speaker 1: you do? You know some some people will see you
Speaker 1: as an act on screen, others know you as the
Speaker 1: phenomenal perform on stage. And now you have an album out,
Speaker 1: the Christmas Album. Yes, yes, which I like to play
Speaker 1: on words. But but but talk me through that, talk
Speaker 1: me through why the Christmas album and why an album
Speaker 1: in general. Well, first of all, it was only supposed
Speaker 1: to be a song, and before I knew it, we
Speaker 1: had done fifteen songs and we have an album called
Speaker 1: Slay and people are actually downloading it everywhere and loving it.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, people are it's not your mother's Christmas album.
Speaker 1: It is not without take your mother to church and
Speaker 1: the club. Yes, I didn't notice that. I didn't notice
Speaker 1: that it is. It is. It is one of the
Speaker 1: sexiest Christmas albums I've ever heard. I'm not I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie. I'm not gonna like before I let you go.
Speaker 1: I would be remiss if I didn't talk about your
Speaker 1: moments at the Emmy's where I always say, you know,
Speaker 1: at every awards show, I feel like they should be
Speaker 1: an award for the best award acceptance, and yours was
Speaker 1: that because sometimes at awards, you know, it can feel
Speaker 1: self indulgence, it can feel like we're not part of
Speaker 1: what's happening. It felt like we won with you. It
Speaker 1: felt like people want, you know, with your win, even
Speaker 1: just for their lives. It didn't feel like a platitude.
Speaker 1: It didn't feel like you were just saying it. It
Speaker 1: felt like you were embodying it. And I'd love to
Speaker 1: know in that moment when you're holding that award. You know,
Speaker 1: in an industry that everyone thrives to be celebrated or
Speaker 1: successful in, what made you think of talking to the
Speaker 1: people and not just talking about yourself Because I thought
Speaker 1: in that moment, you know, my dad was a great
Speaker 1: lifelong learner and educator. And I when they called my name,
Speaker 1: it was just like I could hear my dad saying,
Speaker 1: there you are, it's your time, come on. But I couldn't.
Speaker 1: I couldn't. I was so shocked. I couldn't get the
Speaker 1: message from my brain to my feet to move. And
Speaker 1: I my husband kept saying get up, get up, And
Speaker 1: it wasn't until I heard Quintus say it's your name,
Speaker 1: get up, And then I got up because Tyler came
Speaker 1: and literally lifted me up and guided me to the
Speaker 1: stage and I got their center stage, and there was
Speaker 1: my dad again saying, don't you cry, don't you cry.
Speaker 1: This is your moment. Let them know who you are
Speaker 1: and how you got here. And there's a big screen
Speaker 1: like that in front of me saying stop now, stop now,
Speaker 1: And I was like, I haven't even gotten started. Oh
Speaker 1: I love it, Yes, I love it so much. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining in the show's trap. Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much showing me rough everybody. The Daily
Speaker 1: Show with Trevor no Ears editions. Subscribe to the Daily
Speaker 1: Show on YouTube for exclusive content, and stream full episodes
Speaker 1: anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central
Speaker 1: podcast