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HBO:
How would you describe the show you did for One Night Stand?
Earthquake:
Realistic, true, edgy. That's all I can say about it -- it's the truth. And funny. I'm the only person to tell that many jokes in that small a period of time. I'm a true comic. I like to say what a person told me. Substance other than style. I have substance.
HBO:
So what were you doing before you did full-time comedy? What kinds of jobs have you had?
Earthquake:
Ooh, I only had one - I used to be in the military for eleven years. I loaded bombs. Whoo, hoo. [HAND SLAP] We dropped a nuke one time and everybody ran. So that used to be my job. And they put me out after that.
HBO:
Where was that?
Earthquake:
Eckland Air Force Base, Oxnard Air Force Base and Okinawa, Japan. Those were the three bases that I did my time at.
HBO:
Wow. Do you talk about the Air Force at all in your show now?
Earthquake:
No, not yet. But my sitcom is going to be about being in the Air Force. I'm developing a show about being in the military. I think it's time.
HBO:
It will be about a soldier - somebody who's actually enlisted?
Earthquake:
Yeah.
HBO:
Cool, that's great. When is that going to happen?
Earthquake:
I don't know. God only knows. [LAUGHS]
HBO:
So what made you go into comedy? What got you started?
Earthquake:
Well, once you get put out of the military you can't work for the government no more. So instead of going back to D.C., to make a long story short, I went to Atlanta, which was called the Black Mecca at the time. And instead of laying on the couch and telling people about my problem, I stood on the stage and told them about it. Same effect. In other words, therapy. [LAUGHTER] That's what got me into it.
HBO:
Was there another comedian who you loved who made you think you should get onstage?
Earthquake:
No. I never had no epiphany, like, Ooh, mama, that's what I want to do. It was just, let me try it out. And that was it. So I kept on talking about my problems, and that's where I'm at today.
HBO:
But it's a huge thing to go from the audience to the stage, to go up and do stand-up. Did you start with an open mic night or something?
Earthquake:
Yeah, that's all. They have open mics that allow you to try it out. I tried it out and the dude gave me fifty dollars. And that was more than I was making working at a regular job. So I kept the fifties coming.
HBO:
Has your stand-up changed from the time you started till what you're doing now?
Earthquake:
Yeah, but just because I'm getting older. I don't have a set set, you know? My mind says this, this and this. I talk about world views and where I'm at today and that type of thing.
HBO:
Are you writing material all the time?
Earthquake:
All the time, even when I'm onstage. Sorry, HBO.
HBO:
Really? You improvised some stuff while you were up there?
Earthquake:
Always. For me, always. If you do the same thing every night then you're doing monologues. A comic is sitting down and saying the facts are not the funniest set. I'm not a clown, I'm a comedian. There is a distinction.
HBO:
Are there any other comedians who influence your work, who are somewhere in your head when you're writing or out there performing?
Earthquake:
Yeah, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock. Steve Harvey is very funny to me, despite what people think. I mean, they're my peers, you know what I mean? And you just want to be competent. That's the important thing, be competent.
HBO:
How about movies - what's your favorite comic movie?
Earthquake:
That's a tough one. I love 48 Hours. Gimme a Black Life was hilarious. But I love everything.
HBO:
How about TV shows?
Earthquake:
Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, the silliness of it. Curb Your Enthusiasm, because they allow you to just go. The Dave Chappelle Show, In Living Color - that type of thing.
HBO:
When watching your show it seemed you had a lot of almost preacher-like intonations. Have you done stuff in church?
Earthquake:
No, but I think all comics are just one step away from the pulpit. You got radio, then you got the pulpit, and then comedians are third in getting to the masses of the people, giving social views and those type of things. So I just put a social spin to it, with no scripture to back it up.
HBO:
Right, right. And your military background, with its discipline and maybe its own kind of cadences, the way that people yell at each other - is that a part of your act?
Earthquake:
Uh, no. I mean, I just do what I do, man. I don't know what I do. So, that's why I always gotta stay humble, cause it's a gift. You know, I'm trying to be the words, the cadence and the military and the discipline. I had more discipline in the military than I ever have as a comedian, because as a comedian you have to be self-motivated.
And we live great, so I can't see how you want us to live greater. [LAUGHS] When you work for yourself, that's the blessing of all blessings. So I don't strive for nothing else but just to stay that good.
HBO:
You were doing stand-up up in Atlanta when you started out. Was there a point where you felt things blew up, where you turned a corner and things started working on a big level?
Earthquake:
Yeah. When I went to Dallas and I performed at Steve Harvey's. He showed me how to do it. I was like, I'm writing this joke. And he said, Man, why are you writing that joke? It was come out already. [HAND SLAP] Just express your views. You're a comic. And from then on it's been good, and I'm here today.
HBO:
Could you tell immediately that that had an effect on the audiences?
Earthquake:
Oh, definitely, because it's honest. You might not agree with it, but it’s not staged. It's coming from the heart. You understand? It's, this is what I believe in - in a very funny way. So that's great. I think that's better than the different stages of people being politically correct. I think I’m not that intelligent to be politically correct.
HBO:
Because it's such a fine line to walk all the time?
Earthquake:
Exactly. You can't sell nobody but yourself. And whatever they give me for me being me, I'm willing to take - other than chasing the elusive, supposedly superstardom. A friend of mine always told me: a fan only blows when you're hot. [LAUGHS]
HBO:
That's right. Ah ha. So, you started going from city to city, club to club. What's your favorite city to perform in?
Earthquake:
ATL - Atlanta, Georgia, baby. That's my favorite city to perform in.
HBO:
Is that because it's a hometown, or is there something else that's different about Atlanta?
Earthquake:
Atlanta makes everybody feel home. Except for that crazy brother that went crazy. But, yeah, Atlanta makes everybody feel at home. That's the people.
HBO:
And how was this crowd tonight?
Earthquake:
The crowd was great. It was great, it was great, it was great.
As a comic, some things I would like to have did better than other ones. But I'm always my hardest critic. And it is what it is that day. As an entertainer you have to take it that way: this is my performance this day, and I'm allowing you to record it. And you have to say you're going to be special that day.
HBO:
The friends who are with you in the dressing room, do they watch your show? Do you rely on them to give you feedback on it?
Earthquake:
Yeah. Like, my boy Dave, he give me feedback, tell me different stuff. Matter of fact, he'll be doing the editing for my show, cause he knows it. He knows what's right, what's wrong. I don't even look at my stuff anymore. This is the hardest I ever worked on a show. Usually I need 45 minutes of funny stuff, and whatever comes to my mind that's funny, that's what I interpret and put it out there. And the people respond to it.
HBO:
But this, you edited more?
Earthquake:
Yeah. You know, you put more work in it cause this is HBO and it's such a gift, and you don't want to take it for granted. So it makes you work. It's like the Super Bowl, you know what I mean?
HBO:
With that in mind, what do you do in the few minutes before your show or leading up to a show? Do you have a ritual that you go through to get ready?
Earthquake:
Yeah - pray. Hope he give me that gift he been giving me this time. Cause one day it ain't gonna come. And it's up to him to tell me. So I just hope it ain't this day, that's all. Not today. Let it be a little raggedy club with folks. [LAUGHS] But Jesus, don't let it go blank today. Oh, help me, Lord. But that's the way to keep you humble 'cause you don't control the gift. The only thing you control is the work. You don't control how it affect people. And I'm just blessed that it does affect people in a positive way.
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