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We are talking to a legend, to the guy who I follow, who I've looked up to, not just from his comedic skills, but also his entrepreneur mindset. He is someone who we're about to talk about, it got me in trouble when I was 16 years old, but he is the guy that I have always looked up to. I am talking about the iconic, the legendary, the phenomenal, the absolute legend, Mr. earthquake. Quake, how you doing today, brother? I'm doing good, boy. That felt too much like a eulogy. I like, did you talk to my doctor? Did somebody tell you? But I'm good, man. I'm blessed. Life was good, and he's a well. I'm well. I'm truly honored. I've been looking forward to this all of my life, man. And I truly mean that. Everybody knows the comedic legend that you are, but you don't give yourself enough fortitude. You don't talk about enough about one, what you do in the community, but two, the entrepreneur mindset that you have. And I'm going to give you those flowers today, brother. Well, thank you. I think my father taught me long time ago, the best way you can change the world is do your part. And, you know, your part is, you know, do the best you can, with what you can, for what you have around people that are around you. And that's all I try to do, you know what I mean? And I always thought if, especially us as black people, if we only did the best we could for each other and start with yourself and your own, it will be a lot farther, you know what I mean? And personal responsibility and give grace to our women and understanding to our men, you know what I mean? So that's always been my plethora. Absolutely. And you do that in everything that you do too. When you're on stage, you always have those moments where you're coaching us. And I'm going to say it, you're coaching us black men on how black men should be, right? You talked to us about going to the doctor, about having our paperwork, about all those things that matter. On Quakes House, you talk to everybody about doing the right thing. When you're on interviews, like those things come out and that's, again, that's why I want to give you your flowers. But I'm also going to be mad at you because you're the first person that ever got me in trouble. I'm born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, hour and a half up the road from Atlanta, Georgia. And at 16, I would sneak down and go to this comedy club called Uptown Comedy Corner in Buckhead. I was not supposed to be there. But at 16, I looked a little bit older and I could get in and I would always have the time of my life, except my mama found out one day. She, my mama said I had to be home so I could go to church on Sunday and I was late because I had an amazing time and I'm just going to leave it at that down in Atlanta. But that's when I realized the brevity of who earthquake was because in these are the things that I'm going to say, T-93 and T-95, there were, you can count them on what, three fingers, back on comedy clubs in the country, not just Atlanta, not just Georgia, not just the South, not just the East Coast in the country. And to see excellence because it'd be easy to tear the club down. And I don't mean physically, I just mean, to not have would be really easy to do in the early to mid 90s, right? The excellence that that club represented, I got to know earthquake, the businessman before I even got to know earthquake, the comedian man. So I'd love for you to just walk us to that time and why you said, you know what, I need to open my own doors because people were not willing to take that financial risk either. Well, it came out a necessity to be quite honest with you. They had a black comedy club there already, historic comedy idea. And they had two locations, one in LA and of course one in Atlanta. And I was just getting into business of comedy because of likes going on now, golf, war, for there's a storm had kicked off. And I had decided that I wasn't going over there to fight. I don't mind practicing for war, but y'all fighting for real. You know what I mean? And as patriotic as I was, I knew that that fight ain't had anything to do with my country. Had to do things with oil. So my time was up, so I didn't realize. I saw CNN and CNN said the best place for black people, black men to be prospered was Atlanta, Georgia. Never been there. So I migrated there and I said, let me try this comedy thing because I was doing a little hosting when I was in the military. And the owner would never let me perform at his club. And then one time he said, okay, I'm allowed you to perform at my club. And I told the girls and everything, yeah, I'm a comedian because when you tell a woman you're a comedian, especially black women, that's the only women I mess with. And we ain't going to be at the comedy act. No, I'm down in Miami and, you know, way club. I ain't it. Call me when you come to the comedy act. And you ain't a real comedian unless you perform at the comedy act. It was equivalent to being at the Apollo Theater back in that time. So he finally said yes. And I could perform. So I told the little girl I was messing with, I'm performing this Friday. And I finally went to go up there to perform that Friday. And I posed to open up for Paul Mooney. And the owner told me, no, you're not on the show. I ain't telling you that. I said, you lying to me. So I cried to my mother. I said, this man let me down, sitting down there. Told me he was going to put me on. I told all my friends I was going to be there. And my mother told me what she always said, you can't get mad at another person for not lying. You can ride that bike. You even get your own bike or don't ride a bike at all. And I said, what you mean? She's like, get your own comedy club. I said, Mom, you just can't get your own comedy club. And she said the key word that that's why black women are so important to me. Because she just gave me, as clear as day, why not? And I was like, yeah, why not? So from then on, I went and found some investors and opened up my comedy club and the rest of this history. And I had three out there that. Man, man, man. And again, just that the business acumen that you had, the financial literacy that you had, because again, when you own something, right, like there's a lot that goes into it that people don't realize, right? Like it's bills to pay. It's employees whose lives depend on the decisions that you make. Okay, like people don't understand that, bro. And again, that's why I applaud you. Like, still my all time favorite comedian, but one of my all time favorite business people is earthquake. Thank you. It was, you really, you know, was so funny about it. You never realized the significance of it. Until you look back at it, because you're in it. You know what I mean? You never, that's why I tell people, you know, just do it. And don't, you know, worry about if it can't work, just do it, apply. And then it's time to sit back and reflect. And you never know how great, with all due respect, how great of a cop that she may, until it's over. It's like, you know, like you said, it gave you time to count the money. You know, you count the money when the deal is over, when the game is over. You know, you never count your money at the table. So, and that's metaphorically what I did. I just was, I went all out on it. Atlanta was rich at that time. Because, you know, I was, it wasn't infiltrated by so many people, transition people being there. And I'm from DC. It was a country town that turned into a city. You know what I mean? It had all the southern accolades, but it was a city. And you know, like, man, this is fertile. I mean, I was surprised they let you pump your gas, then you walk in and then pay for it. You know what I mean? So I ain't paying for no gas. Just leave the holes on the ground and drive off. You know what I mean? It was just that period, that naive, that naive, it was beautiful. Yes, sir, yes, sir. Now we'll get into this comedic legend that you are, man. We have these conversations. We have barbershop conversations at my house every weekend. I got a big family and we always gather around. And, you know, just two weekends ago, we were talking about earthquake. And every single person in my family said the most relevant and relatable comic of our lifetime is you. You put in the work. And again, I'm going to keep giving you flowers during this whole interview. But you know, right? Like, I go to comedy shows all the time. There's comedians that don't put in the work, meaning they told a great joke 10 years ago, and that's still the joke they close with, right? It's like, you can close your eyes and tell the joke. You are always putting in the work. And from opening story, and I like story because you're a storyteller, to the close, you got us hurt, bro. Like, like hurt. Again, a lot of people, they'll put energy in the beginning or energy at the end. Earthquake is giving it to you moment after moment after moment. Talk to us about that work. And why that's so important and why... I'm not going to have you say it. These are the words of Mick and Mick only. Why there are some that just don't continue to put in the work. It's hard to come up with a joke. I'm just blessed to be able to do it. I come from a family that we call... I'm from Washington, D.C. And we have no cut car. So we always joke. And there is no limit. You know what I mean? We... My brother was bound and was fighting cancer. And he just came out of surgery. He was in ICU. And we asked the doctors, can we go to see him? Me and my three brothers, we went to see him. And my older brother, name Tyrone, looked at him and said, hey, man, I know your zodiac sign isn't cancer, but you're going too far to prove you're a cancer. And we just started laughing. The doctor was like, what is wrong with y'all? You know what I mean? But that's just how we have no cut cards. So when you have a standard of excellence within your family, you know there's a standard you must do when you stand on that stage. And that's what is in me. I know that it's a standard I have already set. I know it's a standard that I must maintain. And it's easier to maintain that standard if you keep working on it, then to let it go down and then try to regenerate it. And I think that's what a lot of comedians do. I'm not confident enough or arrogant enough to be everything I can wrestle my lungs. You know what I mean? I don't have that comfortability. I always worry about, have I structured it this way? I constantly, I'm always in the lab trying to improve. And of course you get into them slumps where creative it doesn't come. But you mean anyway. I fight to get out of it and keep on working with it. And people pay they hard earned money to come see you, especially your black comic. I'm an urban comic. My clientele is my people. And I know what it takes for them to spend their money to come see me. So it's an obligation that I'll at least give them their money work to come see me. And I always, you know, I carry that like a badge on. And you do it well, man. And now, I mean, it's been this way for a while because, you know, three decades in, you started when you was five years old, I get it. You are now, you're the shoulders that people are standing on. Right. And again, I want to give you your flowers because I don't know if you understand how powerful that is, man, but it's your shoulders that people are standing on. And when you hear those type words or that phrase, like, how does that make you feel? It's humbling. And you try to sit back and say, thank you, God. Thank you for letting me to be living in a great purpose, making a difference. Because I always, for all my, all my, see, in this business, I have always tried to elevate my peers, my friends, and my coworkers because I'm a soul fan of the art. I love the art of it. You know what I mean? So when I own my own comedy club, you know, I only, I just did not do that for me. I did it for every other comedian that they wouldn't allow to perform there. I gave them their opportunity. Quake House, when I formed, when Kevin Hart came to me and asked me about that, what kind of show? I could have done my show anything, but I'm wrong in place where other comedians can shine and that everybody can hear is other comedians other than the name brand. You know about these comedians are just as funny and the people that you love so much, we was at these same position, these comedians, I'm introducing in their life. So let me introduce you to them. And I have always felt opportunity you need to give back, especially the black, to black comedians because we don't have no comedy clubs. We don't have no platforms. So I think it's very important for those of us that do get some kind of success and able to provide a platform. And we do have the ear of the masses. It's our obligation, I feel, homily, it's our obligation to pull back and say, yeah, you love me, but what about him? Tim, he funny too. Let me show you the vans of comedians that we have. And I always carry that to the day I die. And again, I applaud you because as a huge listener, supporter of Quake House, that is exactly how that show is, man. Like, yeah, your name is on it, but you give everybody their time. Like, you wouldn't know that it's your show unless you really knew that it was your show, meaning everybody gets their time, you don't interrupt, you never make it about you, like ever. And you let people go in on you, on the show. Like, y'all cut on each other, like, and you don't pull the I'm Earthquake card or anything like that. Like, again, I relate that to business because that actually helped me be a better leader in my businesses because it's not about me. Yeah, it's my name, it's my brand, but I can't do anything without my team, right? It just though happens that my name is on it. And not only that, if you really look at it, man, it's, I call it the Tom Brady effect. You know what I mean? You take responsibility when you lose, it's my fault, and you defer all the credit when you win. But at the end of the day, everybody knows who team it is. You know what I'm saying? So the actors, you ain't gotta stand, you don't need the accolades. And if you're about winning, you want to elevate your team. And, you know what I mean? You want people to gravitate to the other people that you put. And then at the end of the day, those people that you elevated gonna be so indebted to you for what you did for them when they knew you could have been the other dude. You could have hogged all the time. You could have been, this is my, my, my, all my, my, my, and my. I look at that as insecurity. I look at that as bad business. I look at that as burning bridges. And then if you ask for me, having the ultimate faith in God that this is my purpose and what's meant for me, can none of y'all stop it? You know what I'm saying? So there's no reason for me to be right, and be portraying to be afraid that you can. Well, I know you can. You can. Yes, sir. And, you know, that's a perfect segue. You talk about team and the team dynamics, and you brought up Tom Brady. I'm a huge sports nut. And you are as well, right? Like, I mean, you could talk about sports more than you talk about comedy if you want to. And you do a lot of times, man. What happened to your football team, bro? Well, the Washington Commanders, I mean, it's understandable. It was a gift and a curse. Gift was we got JD five, Daniels, JD, Daniels. And we had a phenomenal year. We went all the way to the NFC championship, something we ain't done in over 30 years. So you had to run it back. You had to give all of those older players that was on one year deal another shot. It was one game from there to the Super Bowl. You know what I mean? You had to postpone or delay the rebuild and add a couple of more players to seek and then duplicate what they did the previous year. There's you. Unfortunately, the older players got older. Injuries came in and you sit back and say, okay, we gave it a shot. Now we're going to tear it back down and get back to the original, the way we are. A building round. I feel one of the greatest young quarterbacks able to play and go from there. So that's what happened with our team. We gave them one more year for them to duplicate the go-father and it didn't work out. It was a gamble that didn't work. And now we back to the rebuilding and doing what we need to do with the quarterback we got. Now, y'all would be just fine, man, because those quarterback contracts are very good if you got the right quarterback, which you guys did. So to turn it around, we'll be quick, because my team did it. So I'm a New England Patriot. It has nothing to do with Tom Brady. Oh, listen to me. Don't you talk. Y'all got listen to me. Oh, New England Patriots got the easiest role to the Super Bowl ever to know. We had to play the games though. I'm not knocking it. You celebrated. You came in second. So my every team is going to be upset except for one. And I was Seattle. Y'all was too. Y'all went no problem on. Experience. It may get the final. We went to the Super Bowl. He already know what it takes and everything. But y'all back in the same situation we are. Do you keep that same team because you got to the Super Bowl? Or do you stay on the same formula of rebuilding and rebuilding, placing around, and hitting the draft and everything on it? And we're going to see. Yeah. We got to go get an offensive line because we got exposed. Well, you got exposed earlier than that. He just, he didn't have nobody on the other side to score. You know what I mean? He played a team that didn't have no offense. So after a while, the opposing defense get tied. We just can't, listen man, we just, we ain't even get a chance to drink no water. Y'all went three and out again. Get out. You know what I mean? After a while there's, I tell people, if I had to pick between a defense and an offense, I'd take a defense. All day. You understand? Because a defense can demoralize the whole team. Yeah. You know what I mean? If you, you got the 85 bears and you knocking the quarterback out turn and the defense see man, they ain't getting no breaking this three and out there. You're demoralized. Yeah. So believe everything got to be right. Yeah. Everything got to be, defensively, they can't move that ball. That's what I tell people all the time. Don't tell me how good your defense is. Can your defense make a stop when it needs to make a stop? I don't want to hear you the fourth ranked defense in the league, but when he got, there's no reason Kansas City should better go all the way down the field in 13 seconds. You're supposed to lose that game. You got the game winning. You let him go all the way down in 13 seconds. 13 seconds, man. Come on, man. Listen, I can't blitz them do something. You do what? You're supposed to have certain, what did you crackers all week for? You're supposed to have one coverage. This the one right here that we're going to blitz and you're going to be free and you got to make this, you got to make this talk. If they get a niche formation right here, which they love to do, and you come over there because you know, pretty boy in the city quarterback, catch my home. Come on over here. Come on. You see, pretty lights can't do. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? Old Elgba ball in there. Come on, huddle up, huddle up. You know what I'm saying? You just got to sit there and you've seen previously, if you put pressure on that's how you're going to beat them. Why are you going to sit back here in the zone? You both have a blitz package. And this the one we're going to run right here when the game's on the line. Yes, sir. NFL general managers. Earthquake might be available on your coaching staff. Amen. Or consultant to the owner, he might be available. Well, if I did, I'll start a team of building a team. I'm building from the inside out. Offense and defense are lying out. If I can, you understand? If I got an offensive line that can push the ball three yards out, and if I got a defense line that can push you back three yards out, then everybody behind me is good. I can put anybody, it's quarterback, get a ball that I do, run, run, run. They're going to have to do something to come in and stop the run and check down. I don't need cash at my home. I've been saying that forever, brother. Like at the end of the day, football is just blocking and tackling. Everything else just rates. Everything else is just getting your eyes to look somewhere else. Exactly. Forget all that. Richard Dent, it was a friend of mine. And he said one of the best things ever when he was with the 85 there. I said, don't you worry about how they doing all that switching and everything around and all that motion. He said, yeah, they got to stop. But the defense, when they stopped, it's 11 on 11. That's it. When you shift over here and move all that, we ain't care about nothing. We coming, right? You got to stop. And when you stop, I got him, you got him, you got him, you got him. Beat your man and go get the quarterback. That's it. And I said, okay, I love that philosophy. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Quake, man. I got to talk really quick about Earthquake Legendary. Yes. The Chappelle's home team, crazy numbers. You guys are rocking it, man. Like how did all that come together? Legendary came. They should call me. I thought it was a prank call. I'm going to be quite honest with you. Me and Dave had been friends for a while. He called my agent and asked for my number. My agent called and said, Dave Chappelle was wondering, is it cool for me for him to give him my number? I said, of course. So he called me. I'm going to do your special. Take you to Netflix. I should have did it a long time ago. Please forgive me. I said, yeah. He said, yeah. So he went to Netflix and told them that he wanted to produce my special. And I knew that was going to be career changing. And it was. And it was beautiful. It was one of the biggest breaks that I have ever received other than now developing my own TV show on Fox. I've ever had in my career. And it is still one of my favorites. If you go to my list in Netflix, it is still there. I love to watch it when I'm in the air. Because it makes me not think about anything. And I laugh for a good hour and 15, man, because you give it to us all the time, all the time. And let's talk about this Fox show coming up. Let's talk about it. Yeah, man. And with my boy Bill Burr producing it from his production company with Fox, we right now going through the process with the notes, with the scripts and everything. We're trying to get it all together, suitable for the network. And it's going to be a earthquake show with the mandate from the president, Michael Thorne, that said in our quote, I don't care if you put earthquake on the roof, on the moon, as long as it's earthquake. We're buying earthquake to hear that blessing from a man of that, that statue, the network president. Something anybody in this business dream upon. And it came, I done had close to 16 deals. And every time they signed me to do a TV show, I had to always try to convince them they should allow me to be me, even though they bought me. I used to always have to audition to play me. I mean, one time I was in a meeting and they were sending me notes and one of them said, we don't believe earthquake will say that. I said, well, I'm earthquake. I've been with earthquake longer than anybody. I think I should know what earthquake would say when you don't think. I mean, you actually had a moment. I don't think earthquake will say that. What? You know what I mean? So this is what you're dealing with and to actually have a person that wants me to be on his network because Fox is making the transition to back to their origins of when they first came out with sitcoms with and living color, married with children, Martin. Yeah, they going back to that. Yeah, rock. They going back. And we're one of the shows that's slated to make that new Ridderson to come back in it. And the script is funny because I wrote it. I am very caught. Yes, I had everything to deal with it. And we're just waiting for the rest of the notes on it and get the script together for them to give us the A-O-K to cast, you know, get it going. Man, I have never anticipated anything more than this because, one, I think the people are telling these networks and kudos to Fox that reality TV is great and all, but we're missing something in society. Like we don't laugh as much. Like there's silliness and nothing against Instagram comedians. Everybody's got their place. It's still not the same as just I had a rough day. I need to laugh and I need a show that's just going to like put me at ease, take my mind off the day. And when you go see earthquake in person, that's what happens. So the fact that you have the full creative control over your own show, man, I am so excited and have been anticipating this for a long time, brother. Yes. And taking where it was at creative control is the mandate that came along with it because no one write me but me, you know what I mean? So I tell the story and get it in. And when you was thinking about the relaxation, you know, I told that to my writer, we want to be cowed off, take them away. You know what I mean? We want and the reason why in my humble opinion that it was so much reality TV shows because people who was greenlighting the shows, it was so far-fetched that every day people couldn't even recognize what this is. You know what I mean? So really, in my humble opinion, it was a testament to them not allowing people, the comedians that they hire, come and tell you, I'm at the front line. I'm telling you, I ministered this comedy gospel to 4,000 people all this weekend for a whole hour. Pleading me, I'm telling you what experiences where they at. If you trusted me, I can bring that and you allow me to do it on your platform and give me an honest shot at it, we can pull this off. And the reason why reality shows are doing so well because people can recognize with that more than the fictitious scripted show that you've formulated and sitting through the machine with people who lives in million-dollar houses that not dealing with the everyday life. You know what I mean? And so I think, you know, that's one of the biggest problems I have to say in my humble opinion. I respect it too. And like I said, I cannot wait when taping starts. I'm gonna be out there in the live studio audience. Please. I promise you. I promise you. You have my people thing, I ain't gonna interrupt. Please, I want you to be there. I want you to talk about it. I'm gonna, a lot of online influencers, I'm gonna bring them out to see it because I really wanted to see it because we need our Jeffersons. We need our good times. We need our show that, you know, that, like you said, you can just sit in and laugh. And that's what we're doing. That's what we're writing and we're gonna push the edge. I'm all for it. I'm all for it. You don't have to tell me twice, man. So I'll make sure I'm doing my part. Every day, if I got to, I'm gonna be posting about it until it comes out. And when it comes out, I'm gonna post 10 times a day because I know what those ratings are supposed to look like, some in that world too. So whatever I can do, brother, I'm there. Like you don't even have to ask. You just tell me and it's done because you've changed my life more than you ever know. Like you taught me how to be a businessman and how to be a man, period, when I didn't have somebody that looked like me that could do that. So thank you for being an earthquake and thank you for the inspiration that you've given to me personally, brother. Thank you, brother. And thank you. And words can describe my appreciation to what you just said. There you go. There you go. Well, I know you're busy. So I'm gonna let you run to everybody that's watching or listening. Follow Earthquake. Stay up to tune with what's going on with the new show. I'm gonna be pushing it out everywhere. Here's Earthquake, ladies and gentlemen. I can't say anything more. So follow me at the real earthquake for all my days and where I'm gonna be. Keep going first and anything else will work out. My brother, God bless you, and I hope to see you in the future. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. God bless you, brother. That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen. Share it with someone who needs that spark and leave a review so more people can find there because I'm Rudy Rush. And until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay unplugged.
