Comedian Reese Waters Blazes New Career Path on ‘The Daily Line’
. No, there’s no way I could be this bad.” So I ended up trying out for it and making that, and one thing led to another.And as far as comedic influences, I never really admit it to other comedians because it’s kind of embarrassing, but my god growing up was Martin Lawrence. He’s from Prince George’s County, which is where I am from. The characters that he does are like many members of my family. You can pretty much go down [the list of people who come to] my family reunion verbatim. I’ve just always really identified with him and his comedy. Dave Chappelle was big, because before Chappelle I always thought that every black comedian had to be loud and in your face, which isn’t my personality. When I first saw Chappelle, a light bulb went off. I didn’t even know I could be quiet, laid back and low key. Obviously Chris Rock, because he’s such a hard worker. And Richard Pryor is the legend.
Did you ever think you would be a sports commentator on a show like ‘The Daily Line’? What’s it like working on the show?
In some kind of fantasy, I believed I would be able to figure out some marriage between sports and comedy, which are my two favorite things. I never thought it would be in a news capacity. I guess if you watch the show, me saying I am in a news capacity is probably taking liberties with things. I’m sure my co-stars would say there’s no news that’s ever come out of my mouth. But, I never thought I would be doing something like this, just because I never knew that something like this existed. When you watch ESPN, they don’t necessarily have a comedian giving their take on the day’s sports, so it’s something that I didn’t see before this show happened, which also makes it a great opportunity. They originally pegged me on the show as the comedian, the guy who tells it like it is. But really, I have and give my opinion. I really don’t try to be a certain way. It’s really just my take on sports, and it happens to be one that differs from that of my other three co-stars that people find interesting. So, I try to get out of the habit of trying to be a certain way, and try to relate to my co-stars as three best friends.
What are some truisms you have learned about working in the entertainment industry?
My co-star, Miss Jennifer Sterger, told me, “When the show starts, do not Google yourself.” And then after the show started, we were having a conversation, and she reiterated that to me. I was like, “What are you talking about? I’m going to Google myself. I want to see all the great things they’re saying about me.” Forty-five minutes later, we were on the phone, and I needed a pep talk, and I needed her to tell me how good I was so I could go to sleep at night. So I learned that. I also learned to know that you deserve to be where you are. We had Ice Cube on, who I was a huge fan of growing up, we had Darryl Strawberry [recently,] and the tendency is to really want to be fascinated by them. But I have to realize, I’m hired for a reason, to offer a particular perspective and point of view, and that I have to bring that to the table. And in fact it seems that they really respected me for doing that, kind of mixing it up a little bit. So that’s [another] thing that I’ve learned. Jeez, there’s so much. You can’t take anything personal in entertainment. There’s a million things.
Being funny comes as a natural gift for man – but only the really talented (and really daring) ones have answered the call to make the masses laugh with their comedy. The wild and crazy Tracy Morgan, the much heralded Whoopi Goldberg, the brassy Mo’Nique and the late, great Richard Pryor are just a few of the black, famous and funny people who made us laugh over the last 50 years. There are many more. And they all have stories behind the funny. Check out who they are and what they’ve done.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Being funny comes as a natural gift for man – but only the really talented (and really daring) ones have answered the call to make the masses laugh with their comedy. The wild and crazy Tracy Morgan, the much heralded Whoopi Goldberg, the brassy Mo’Nique and the late, great Richard Pryor are just a few of the black, famous and funny people who made us laugh over the last 50 years. There are many more. And they all have stories behind the funny. Check out who they are and what they’ve done.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Martin Lawrence
Started Out: Making an appearance on the national talent show ‘Star Search,’ which ultimately led to a gig on ‘What’s Happening Now!’ Big Break: Hosting the groundbreaking comedy series ‘Def Comedy Jam.’ Hometown: Landover, Md. Also Was Seen: In the films ‘Do the Right Thing,’ ‘House Party,’ ‘Boomerang,’ ‘Bad Boys,’ ‘Thin Line Between Love & Hate’ and ‘Big Momma’s House.’ In addition, he starred and executive-produced his own Fox sitcom ‘Martin’ for five seasons. Factoid: In 1989, Lawrence was engaged to ‘Saved by the Bell’ actress Lark Voorhies.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Steve Harvey
Started Out: Began doing stand-up in the mid-1980s and was a finalist in the second annual Johnnie Walker National Comedy Search in 1989. Big Break: Hosting the nationally syndicated TV series ‘Showtime at the Apollo.’ Hometown: Welch, W. Va. Also Was Seen: On the series ‘Me and the Boys’ and his eponymous sitcom. Also appeared in the movies ‘Love Don’t Cost A Thing,’ ‘The Original Kings of Comedy’ and ‘The Fighting Temptations.’ Factoid: Born in 1957, Harvey (real name: Broderick Steven Harvey) made his literary debut with the New York Times best-selling relationship/advice book ‘Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man,’ in 2009.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Wanda Sykes
Started Out: Began her stand-up career at a Coors Light Super Talent Showcase in Washington, D.C. Big Break: Played multiple roles on Chris Rock’s Emmy Award-winning HBO show. Hometown: Portsmouth, Va. Also Was Seen: In the movies ‘Monster-in-Law’ and ‘Pooty Tang’ and on the TV shows ‘Wanda At Large,’ ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine.’ Factoid: During a Las Vegas gay rights rally in November 2008, Sykes proclaimed she was “proud to be gay.”
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Jamie Foxx
Started Out: Acting on a dare (from a girlfriend) and competing in an open-mic contest at a comedy club in 1989. Big Break: Playing the comely date-challenged Wanda on ‘In Living Color’ Hometown: Linden, Texas Also Was Seen: In the films ‘Booty Call,’ ‘The Players Club,’ ‘Any Given Sunday,’ ‘Miami Vice,’ ‘Ali’ and ‘Ray,’ for which he won an Academy Award for best actor in 2005. Also fronted his eponymous sitcom. Factoid: As of 2009, Foxx (real name: Eric Marlon Bishop) has released three music albums: 1994′s ‘Peep This,’ 2005′s ‘Unpredictable’ and 2008′s ‘Intuition.’
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Tracy Morgan
Started Out: Appearing on the sitcom ‘Martin,’ where he played ‘Hustle Man.’ Big Break: Morgan’s claim to fame came in 1996 when he began appearing on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Hometown: New York City Also Was Seen: In ‘A Thin Line Between Love and Hate,’ ‘Martin,’ ‘Half Baked,’ ‘How High,’ ‘Head of State,’ ‘The Tracey Morgan Show,’ ‘Little Man,’ ‘First Sunday’ and ’30 Rock.’ Factoid: Andrew Dice Clay inspired Morgan to pursue comedy.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Chris Rock
Started Out: Doing stand-up comedy in 1985 in New York City’s Catch a Rising Star Comedy Club. Big Break: Was a cast member of the popular sketch comedy series ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Hometown: New York City Also Was Seen: In the movie ‘New Jack City,’ where he played a crackhead informant. Factoid: Born in 1965, Rock won a Grammy for best spoken comedy album in 1999 for the project ‘Bigger & Blacker.’
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Mo’Nique
Started Out: Appearing at the downtown Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet. Big Break: Starred on the hit UPN sitcom ‘The Parkers.’ Hometown: Baltimore Also Was Seen: In ‘Three Can Play That Game,’ ‘Hair Show’ and ‘Shadowboxer.’ Factoid: Born in 1967, Mo’Nique (real name: Monique Imes) is the author of ‘Skinny Women are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World’ and the cookbook ‘Skinny Cooks Can’t Be Trusted.’
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Eddie Griffith
Started Out: Griffith began his acting career the 1991 action-thriller ‘The Last Boy Scout.’ Big Break: In 1996, Griffith showcased his talent on a national scale when he landed the role of Eddie on the TV series ‘Malcolm & Eddie.’ Hometown: Kansas City, Mo. Also Was Seen: In ‘Foolish,’ ‘Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo’ and ‘Undercover Brother.’ Factoid: Suffered a heart attack in 1996 while taping an episode of ‘Malcolm & Eddie’ following a scene in which he did the salsa dance.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Famous, Black & Funny
Bill Cosby
Started Out: While in his early twenties, Cosby appeared on various well-known variety programs including ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ Big Break: In 1965, he appeared as Alexander Scott in the Emmy Award-winning flick ‘I Spy.’ Hometown: Philadelphia Also Was Seen: In ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,’ ‘Uptown Saturday Night,’ ‘Let’s Do it Again,’ ‘Ghost Dad,’ ‘The Meteor Man’ and the groundbreaking NBC sitcom ‘The Cosby Show.’ Factoid: Beginning in 1965, Cosby scored the Grammy Award for best comedy album six years in a row.
Famous, Black & Funny: An Inside Look At Popular Black Comedians
Recently, comics Eddie Griffith and Sinbad have been the news for having money problems. Do you have any financial advice for them you would like to share?
One of the things that I’ve realized is that when you do any other job, they take taxes out for you. I get my check, and I say “Aw, man, look how much in taxes they take out.” I’m angry for about ten minutes, and then I take my money. But in stand-up, you pretty much have to allot for taxes yourself. When you give us that whole check, it takes a certain kind of a person to say, “You know what, they just gave me $500. That is not my $500.” That’s not really the mindset you have at 2am in Des Moines, Iowa when you just got paid, and you’re looking have have a good time. So, it’s definitely a really tough thing. I feel for them. Having to restrain yourself to take out taxes is just unnatural.
Thanks for your time Reese. To finish up, you know that 2010 has already been a wacky year. What are your top five predictions for rest of 2010 in the world of business, news, politics or sports? Scandals included!
Oh, that’s a good question. Here we go:
1. The Lakers are going to win the NBA finals this year and Kobe will say after the finals: “I am now the greatest player of all time!”
2. One of the players’ wives who is on ‘Basketball Wives’ will storm the set and demand that his wife gets off show. OR will be seen crying on the bench during the playoffs. Either or. Or maybe both.
3. & 4. Dwyane Wade’s wife has blazed a trail for crazy, scorned women everywhere, and I think the courts are going to be dominated with crazy suits from women trying to get back at their ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends who left them and it’s going to get to the point where there are not going to be enough judges to handle these cases. So being a judge is going to become like a $10 an hour job. Where you can go on Craig’s List and be like, “We need a judge to do this case!” And that can be one of your first jobs out of college, to be a judge. It’s going to be minimum wage. Minimum wage judges.
That’s kind of two different ones. That’s two-in-one.
5. I want to see a new ‘Roots.’ That’s what I want to see. I like ‘Roots,’ and I think we can do a better job now. We just have better ways of making movies now. I would like to see how that movie would be made with the black stars of [today]. How about, “Tyler Perry Announces a Remake of ‘Roots’”?
Reese Waters can currently be seen on Comedy Central’s ‘Live at Gotham’ and ‘Michael and Michael Have Issues.’ In 2009, Reese won the annual Caroline’s Comedy Competition and the Emerging Comics Contest at the NY Underground Comedy Festival. New York Magazine has called Reese one of the top ten comedians to watch. Reese began performing standup and improv when he was a student at Columbia University. Be sure to catch Reese on ‘The Daily Line’ on the Versus network.
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By Black Voices On Money on 05/17/2010 – 2:36 pm PDT -- Business News