Hey, it's Jeff Zito. Thanks for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber podcast. Streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, wherever you listen to podcasts, please subscribe. Hit that subscribe button, please. We love a five-star rating, and if you could, please leave a review. You want to go back in time? Check out past guests and episodes. You can do so online at celebrityjobber.com. Closing in on 200 episodes, almost four years. Pretty crazy. Again, thank you for listening and making this podcast successful, as we are consistently in the top 10 of the Apple Podcast Music Interviews chart, number six today currently. Basically, we take a deeper dive into celebrities' lives before fame, everybody wasn't born famous, although there are a few. Cedric Antonio Kiles was not one of them. His father was an employee of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. His mother was a school teacher, and Cedric had a regular life before he became Cedric the Entertainer. How did it all happen? What was his big break? What's he up to these days? What was his first job? And he famously has a job story, a working story that I can't wait to get into. From BET's comic view, Def Comedy Jam, the Steve Harvey Show, Barbershop, the Kings of Comedy, and the Neighborhood. Not to mention his new movie on Netflix, Swapped. Cedric Antonio Kiles, aka Cedric the Entertainer, is my guest this week on Celebrity Jobber. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five-star rating, and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you pod. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out. Jeff meets Cedric the Entertainer. There he is, man. Jeff, what's up, dawg? Cedric, how's it going, man? All is good, man. Can't complain, man. Life is busy and that's a good thing. Happy belated to you. Oh, yeah, man. The birthday celebration is good. Taurus season, baby, the Taurus season. Yeah, I'm a Taurus myself. I got another couple weeks. What did you do? Anything noteworthy? Well, I mean, it was a big weekend, man. I mean, I did the birthday on Friday, and then we had the opening of the Broadway show Saturday night. A lot of friends and family in town. The opening was crazy. Former First Lady Michelle Obama came to the show. It was crazy. So I would say I had one of the biggest birthdays ever. Wow. So, I mean, just take yourself back to growing up outside of St. Louis to right now, bumping elbows with the former First Lady. I mean, you ever think about this, your journey? Like, you know, you were a regular guy a few years, not a few years ago, but you were a regular guy. And here, here, Michelle Obama is coming to the debut of your Broadway, you know? And, you know, it is one of those things where you're like little, you kind of imagine maybe the opportunity of being a star or, you know, being big, but you don't see it really all kind of paying out. And to be to have done it as long as I have with the degree of consistency that I have, I really feel really blessed, you know? And so the relationships feel authentic. You know, I was able to meet the Obamas many years ago because I had, you know, the opportunity to introduce him when he was running, running for a city, I believe. So, it's been, it's been one of these things where you recognize like, man, I'm running some crazy circles. Never would have thought it, you know, but you feel really blessed, man, you know, to be entertaining people and still doing it at a high level, you know, this many years after starting, you know, from quitting state farm to now still out here and being able to do it, which I, you know, is a leave of absence. I never quit state farm. I can go back. You keep the door open. You know, that's very professional of you. Keep in the door open. I'm going to go and take somebody's guy's desk one day just to be like, what's going on? I'm like, bro, I'm back. Jake, you're no longer needed out. Oh, God, that's awesome. I want to get to that later, but I was just watching the trailer to swapped. And I mean, what they're doing today in animation blows my, if you even call it animation anymore, it blows my mind, but it as an actor, is that challenging? Like, because it's challenging enough to be Calvin Butler, you know, when, you know, on the neighborhood, on TV, being a real guy, you're a character, you're in, you know, you're not seeing your character. Like, is that how challenging is that being a voice in an animated movie? You know, it's harder than what people think because you're right. You don't really get a chance to kind of like play off another actor. You don't really, you know, you don't know like their mood. So you have to listen to the director is the one who kind of really explains to you what's going on right now. You know, this is where you are. This is what just happened. And now you kind of go back to your childhood imagination and start to visualize that. That's the best way I can describe doing an animated movie is just imagine you're playing with your little toys or your army man, and you're giving them voices and you're making up storylines, and you're just kind of saying it in your head. And that's kind of pretty much how you have to do an animated movie. They give you a scenario and then you just start to play and just go back into that kind of childlike energy and really see if you can bring that character to life. And I think that's the best way to describe it. It's hard. I think it's great. Like you said, you don't have the other person there and, you know, and to kind of bounce off of. Right. You're by yourself, right? You're recording all your lines. Like Tracy Morgan's not with you. That fish. He's not there. So you're just you're doing you. And I think that's a great way to describe it, too. Really kind of gets regular ham and eggers like like me to kind of understand what what you're doing. Can you tell me a little bit about Swap? By the way, it's it's on Netflix now. Can you tell me a little bit about the movie? Yeah, Swap is really a story of two creatures. We Michael B. Jordan is the lead character. He's a little small chipmunk, if you will. You know, a little small animal. I play his father. We we used we're used to living life small because we were these little small animals. The world is too big for us. We usually try to stay out the way. We don't want to cause any problems. And I'm teaching him to be this while he's this young, rembunches, you know, creative, want to experience life kind of personality. And so he ends up swapping with a bird and just so that he can fly and see the world bigger and then ultimately realizes that he was always enough. And I think that that's kind of the storyline behind it and what makes it a really cool visual to watch in. And the kind of experience that allows people to understand that, yes, you can want more out of life. And at the same time, you don't have to give up who you are on the inside to do it. And I think that that's really great. And it's a good message, you know, kids that maybe having a tough time growing up and wish they were something different or wish they were somebody different. I think it's a really good message. And so so relevant, especially in this day and age of watching people on TikTok and on the in believing that, you know, these Instagram photos is somebody's real life and they want to be them. And you realize like that's just all made up. Like, you know, be yourself and enjoy life and grow and be dynamic. And I think that, you know, the kids will enjoy this space for that reason. And and families alike will enjoy this movie. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. All right, so I want to get back to State Farm for a minute. So you never quit, you left the door open and just hear me out for a second. Jake from State Farm, this this guy's got your gig. I mean, this is a no brainer, you know what I mean? Just think about that for a minute. This is a no brainer. This this job belongs to Cedric, the entertainer. Anyway, tell me a little bit about growing up, right? Tell me a little bit about your life, your your because you got into this later in life. This wasn't like when did when did comedy and show business Cedric the entertainer? When did that become real life to you? You know, I was I'm the raised in a single parent household. My mother was a school teacher. She taught elementary 30 something years. He raised my younger sister. My younger sister is a she's actually a professor at Pepperdine University. Beautiful. So we we just kind of, you know, lived in this educational family, but I always had this fun outgoing personality. I kind of knew that I could entertain when I was really young, but because my mother was a teacher, I had to go to college. I had to go and get a degree. So I worked at State Farm. I've worked in corporate America. And then, and you know, right around in my late mid to mid 20 late 2026, as I discovered I can do comedy and just started going for it. So, you know, and pretty early on, you know, loved it, knew that this was my passion to be able to entertain people. And so luckily for me, I was able to set myself on the path and was really blessed, you know, with making really cool moves early on, you know, landed the Steve Harvey show because I went to Dallas and was stuck and ran into Steve Harvey and end up going to a comedy club where he was performing. Just so happened that the headliner wasn't doing well. He put me up. I went up and killed. He brought me back. We became friends. And that led to me being on the Steve Harvey show. Wow. Us doing the Kings of Comedy together and still great friends to this day. Man. So you went to college, went to Southeast Missouri State. You were a mass comm major. What did you think you're gonna, what did you think you're gonna be then? I was gonna be a broadcaster. I actually, you know, I was gonna do like kind of fun news, like, you know, Access Hollywood, entertainment tonight kind of stuff. Like that was the, that was a new, like during that time, the late eighties, that was fairly new. And, and so I actually got a job at a CBS affiliate to do a little fun stories. And but you never actually got a chance to go to work. The company had some expansion happen and my salary got wrapped up before I ever got to go to work. So that was crazy. So what about your very first job? Can you take me to like what before State Farm? What, what were you as a kid? What was your first job growing up? Oh, man, you know, I'm from the Midwest, man. So it was shoveling snow and, and cutting grass, you know, that was, you know, your kind of hustles. But I remember like my kind of very first job that I had was working at a janitorial service for a guy that went to church with us. And he had a big janitorial service where you clean buildings. Oh, wow. That's your first time going into an office building at night, like a big, you know, you know, 20 story building and you got offices, you go around and you clean up and you vacuum real quick and you empty all the trash cans and you do that and you just bounce around and I just remember having to do the floors with the big, the big cleaner, you know, yeah, you know, like putting way too much liquid on the ground, you don't need this help, you know, having the machine get loose from you and go spinning down the hallway. Like all of, all those experiences, man, was that first job? Were your parents, excuse me, were your parents supportive of your dream to become an entertainer? You know, it took some time. That's why I think it's right kind of why it started late. My mother was a school teacher. She kind of only understood, you know, point of order and business way, you know, doing it, you know, doing it the traditional way. And so the fact that I wanted to do something different, I had to convince her. And so I remember telling her a joke one time, I had written this joke and she laughed so hard, she went to the ground and that's what I knew. I was like, okay, I can do this. She gets it. She came and watched me perform live and she was like, okay, you know, I think you can do it. And from that point, she kind of less supported me and just kind of got behind me. I always did it smart, though. I never like, I didn't quit my job right away. I worked and would do comedy at night and kind of built my career up and built my name up around the city and just kind of really took my time until I had a great break even point. And so I never like just kind of quit where I needed to lean on her or any way. I just needed her support. And so that's how it worked out. And you were also a substitute teacher for a minute? Is that right? Yeah. Had that workout? You know, that kind of came from, like I said, when I didn't get the job, you know, doing the news, I had to come home and find something to do really quick. And, you know, because my mother was a school teacher, she knew the school systems and she knew that my college degree would allow me to be able to like get these jobs where I can go and substitute for the days. And if you like, they kind of keep you busy. And that's how I, you know, was able to live for the first few months after graduation is I just substitute and would, you know, hang out with the kids. But I felt so close to the kids. I was only a few years ahead of them. Because I was at a high school. And I was like, man, this kind of weird. Like I just was weird. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Cito. Celebrity Jobber. Tell me about the, was there a big break? You're just mentioning the Steve Harvey story. And I'm thinking from the time that you're doing comedy for the very first time on stage, whether it was open mic night or whatever, there had to be this moment, this app, this moment that if it didn't happen to you, maybe, maybe we wouldn't be talking today. Is there that pivotal moment, that big break or that moment that changed your life? You tell us about that. Yeah, you know, I think for me, it was at the time I was like doing, you know, comedy in St. Louis. It's just kind of like, you know, making a name for yourself locally. It's good. It feels good. You feel like you kind of got it. Right. And then there was a big comedy competition in Chicago that Miller Genuine Draft used to promote. And you know, you would get, if you won, you would get like $3,000. This would be so much money nowadays. I don't know the equivalent, but this is like in the late 80s. And then, and you would be in a magazine, they would put you in the, you know, the Jet Magazine and the Ebony Magazine, if you won this competition. And so I remember that I had to make them an address so that I can qualify for being a Chicago resident. And then I would have to drive up there every weekend to compete. And, you know, I did it because I wanted to be, you know, I wanted to be bigger than my local situation. And I won that year. And that, and I would say it was one of those things that put me in the, like I said, put me in a national magazine. I won this. I'm taking a picture with this big check. I won $3,000, which again, at that time, felt like the most money in the world. And, and it was one of those things that put me in the talks, you know, people like Bernie Mack was, were around and, and Adele Gibbons. And it was a lot of great comedians coming out of Chicago at that time. And it put me in the same talks with them. And which gave me, you know, was one of those things that really let you know, you can do it on a national level. Wow. Wow. Cedric, I just wanted to touch real quick on the neighborhood. And I'm such a fan of it. I'm such a fan of Calvin Butler. I'm such a fan of all in the family. Tell us why, tell us why that show, which I didn't think could be made today, tell us why that show is, is so important for people to watch. Why is that? You know, the show started at, you know, a very interesting time in our country when gentrification was all the talk. Everybody kind of felt like, you know, people are moving into, moving into neighborhoods and bringing in the whole foods and moving folks out that lived there for generations. And, you know, this was kind of the idea of like where they were making the people adversarial. And we love the approach that if folks just really had an opportunity to know each other, get a chance to know each other, that our differences aren't so different. And that are, and the differences that are gives us an opportunity to grow and experience something new. And we were able to capture that with this show, man. Tell so many great stories. The cast was amazing. And I think that that's what people really started to resonate with and love about the neighborhood. We started to get, you know, even more viewers, of course, in syndication now, like more and more people like, finally like, oh man, this show is great. I just really kind of got on top of it because, you know, in the world of streaming, there's just so many opportunities to watch different things. But now when we're on every night, right before you go to bed, you know, it's perfect. So really happy that people are discovering the show and that, you know, we had the opportunity to do eight seasons of it. Huge. And I think it's important for people to watch today and this current climate. Swapped is on Netflix. Cedric the entertainer, a pleasure man. I'm so glad you didn't quit State Farm. It's keeping the door open. Let me know if you need a claims adjustment. I can give you some advice. Thanks, said. Take care. All right. So a lot going on over there. Really, really great conversation. Cedric the entertainer grew up just outside of St. Louis. Single mother raised him. She was a school teacher and he talked about his big break being doing local comedy around the St. Louis area, kind of making a name for himself locally. But there was a contest in Chicago that he really wanted to be a part of, but he had to live in Chicago. So he lied on the application about his address. He put down a Chicago address and he ended up winning and it got him a lot of exposure in some national magazines. And he notes that experience from that contest winning $3,000, which he said felt like a lot of money at the time, the late eighties. He feels like it was that moment that really upped his profile. You know, and Cedric the entertainer went to college. He was a mass communications major. He wanted to be a broadcaster. He wanted to do like fun news, Hollywood news. But after college, he went on to be a substitute teacher and also the famous story. I guess the first time I ever heard this, but he was an insurance adjuster for state farm. Now, listen, you've got this guy, Jake from state farm and not trying to, you know, push him out of the way for Cedric the entertainer, but you got the perfect spokesperson here. Cedric never quit state farm. He said he never formally quit, left that door open just in case things didn't work out for him in comedy. So this could be the perfect opportunity for him to step back in to state farm. He's the new Jake. I don't know. I definitely think that idea has legs. Cedric said his first job though was with a janitorial service. Pretty crazy how his working life started out with working as a janitor and now Cedric the entertainer. I thought it was really interesting talking to Cedric about being in these animated films. You know, it's got to be hard enough acting, you know, being on camera, trying to be natural with some made up story and some made up character. But when it's animation, it's even more crazy and there's nobody else in the other room. You're not playing off of somebody else. They're cartoons. They haven't really yet been created. So I thought it was really interesting how he explained, he takes himself back to the days when he was like a child playing with his G.I. Joe guys, you know, and he had to rely on his imagination and that's kind of how he is able to lend his voice to these animated movies. I thought it was a really great explanation. I don't think Cedric the entertainer is going to have to return to his job with State Farm as an insurance adjuster, but I definitely think there's room for him as a spokesperson. Sorry, Jake. Yeah, you had a good run though. Right. There you go. Cedric the entertainer on the Celebrity Jobber podcast streaming now on Spotify on iHeart, Apple podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, we're streaming on all of them. If you want to go back in time, check out past guests and episodes. You can do so at celebrityjobber.com. Plus you can follow on Instagram celebrity underscore jobber underscore podcast youtube.com slash the at sign celebrity jobber and for video bonus content, check out substack.com slash celebrity jobber. Most celebrities are just one big break away from fame. And before they hit it big, they were, you know, pretty much just like you and I. Who knows, maybe your big break is right around the corner. Anyway, thanks again for listening to another episode of the celebrity jobber podcast. And until next week, we'll see you then. I'm Jeff Zito.
