Why Roy Wood Jr. Always Says Yes

Summary

Podcast Summary: Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know – "Why Roy Wood Jr. Always Says Yes"

Introduction In the June 4, 2025 episode of Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know, host Hasan Minhaj engages in a candid and insightful conversation with comedian Roy Wood Jr. Renowned for his sharp political satire and relatable humor, Roy delves into various aspects of his life, career, and personal philosophies. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting key topics, memorable quotes, and the nuanced perspectives shared between the two comedians.

Financial Survival for Aspiring Comedians The conversation kicks off with Hasan seeking Roy’s advice on financial preparedness for a struggling 30-year-old comedian aspiring to achieve a first special.

• Hasan Minhaj [00:21]: "I'm a 30 year old struggling comic. I'm working towards my first special. How much in savings do I need to survive without a full time day job?"

• Roy Wood Jr. [00:34]: "You need 6 to 12 months rent saved up."

Roy emphasizes the importance of having a financial cushion, sharing his own experience of having only three months' rent when he landed his role on The Daily Show. This anecdote underscores the volatility of a career in comedy and the necessity of financial planning.

Brand Consistency in Fast Food Chains Shifting gears, Hasan and Roy discuss the perplexing brand strategies of certain fast-food chains.

• Hasan Minhaj [02:01]: "I don't respect any burger chain that has a different name across a different longitude and latitude."

Roy critiques the inconsistent branding of chains like Checkers and Carl’s Jr., arguing that it creates confusion and dilutes brand identity. He likens Checkers to a Division 2 school, suggesting it’s appropriately positioned without overreaching in power rankings.

Relationships and Dating Norms The topic of dating within familial lines is humorously explored.

• Hasan Minhaj [02:25]: "How distant does a cousin need to be before it's okay to date them? 4th, 5th, 8th? Where we at?"

• Roy Wood Jr. [02:31]: "Fifth probably at least you don't want the, you know, you don't want no issues."

Roy advocates for maintaining sufficient familial distance to avoid complications, blending humor with practical advice on relationships.

Birthdays Over 40 and Restaurant Practices Hasan questions the social norms surrounding birthday celebrations in restaurants for adults.

• Hasan Minhaj [02:39]: "Is it psychotic to demand that grown adults sing to you?"

• Roy Wood Jr. [03:00]: "They be making people happy, bro. Because how lonely are you that you're at a restaurant and you've requested that strangers come sing to you?"

Roy defends the tradition, highlighting its positive impact on people’s happiness, while adding a humorous twist by linking it to improbable scenarios like preventing mass shootings at restaurants through birthday songs.

Stand-Up Comedy Bits and Observations The duo dives into Roy’s stand-up material, dissecting his bits on bubble art and personal relationships.

• Hasan Minhaj [04:02]: "He tells the story. Basically, he goes on a date with somebody."

• Roy Wood Jr. [05:45]: "This is my happy hour friend. This is my book club friend."

Roy’s examination of his own comedy explores the complexities of relationships and the authenticity of connections, emphasizing the importance of genuine interactions over superficial bonds.

Friendship Challenges in Adulthood A significant portion of the discussion centers on the evolving nature of friendships as one ages.

• Roy Wood Jr. [07:04]: "Friendship needs bored time plus sacrifice."

• Hasan Minhaj [07:55]: "How many close friends do you have after 30?"

Roy illustrates the difficulty of maintaining deep friendships amidst the hustle of adult life, contrasting it with the ease of forming connections during financially challenging times, like sharing ramen noodles with friends.

Roy Wood Jr’s Background in Radio and Prank Calls Roy recounts his early career in radio, highlighting how prank calls became a pivotal part of his comedic journey.

• Roy Wood Jr. [32:49]: "I used to sell the prank call CDs. I did morning radio for 15 years."

• Hasan Minhaj [35:00]: "Is it wrong that your prank calls and jerky boys for me as like a 16 year old was some of my favorite shit."

Roy explains how desperate measures to retain his radio job led him to create viral prank calls, which significantly boosted his career by garnering a substantial online following.

Election Night 2016 Experience The conversation takes a political turn as Roy shares his experience during the chaotic aftermath of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.

• Hasan Minhaj [19:44]: "Election night. Okay. Donald Trump has just won the election."

• Roy Wood Jr. [20:43]: "What's happening here? They look, we look. We're the same age. Why do I have shoes and you don't have shoes?"

Roy reflects on the emotional turbulence of that night, juxtaposing it with his father's civil rights work to illustrate his resilience and preparedness in facing political upheaval.

Reflections on America, Immigration, and Legacy Roy and Hasan delve into deeper societal issues, discussing the American Dream, immigration, and what they hope to pass down to their children.

• Hasan Minhaj [23:27]: "How do you explore free agency?"

• Roy Wood Jr. [27:01]: "This is my home."

Roy contemplates the challenges Black Americans face in an evolving America, expressing a desire to stay and improve the country for future generations rather than seeking refuge elsewhere.

Raising Children in a Diverse Urban Environment The discussion shifts to the complexities of raising children in a bustling city like New York, where exposure to diverse and challenging environments is unavoidable.

• Hasan Minhaj [28:29]: "When you get to the train station, everybody's there."

• Roy Wood Jr. [30:05]: "I don't want him to see an unhoused person doing a heroin lean on the side."

Roy emphasizes the importance of teaching his children to navigate and understand the multifaceted realities of urban life while fostering trust and caution.

The Role of Political Comedy In a philosophical exchange, Roy and Hasan examine the impact of political comedy on society and whether it holds significant power.

• Hasan Minhaj [44:30]: "Is it wrong that your prank calls and jerky boys for me as like a 16 year old was some of my favorite shit."

• Roy Wood Jr. [44:31]: "I think jokes are jokes, and I can point out some stuff, but it's not gonna make you go vote."

Roy argues that while political comedy provides relief and highlights societal issues, its ability to effect real change is limited. He distinguishes between entertainment value and tangible societal impact.

Roy Wood Jr’s Memoir and Lessons Learned Towards the end of the episode, Roy shares insights about his upcoming memoir, The Man of Many Fathers, which explores the values and lessons he has learned from various influential men in his life.

• Roy Wood Jr. [46:06]: "It's lessons and values I gathered from men other than my dad."

• Hasan Minhaj [47:38]: "That's amazing."

Roy recounts personal anecdotes that illustrate the importance of choosing understanding partners and the hardships faced during his early career, providing a foundation for the themes of his memoir.

Conclusion The episode wraps up with heartfelt exchanges and mutual appreciation between Hasan and Roy. Roy highlights the significance of meaningful relationships and the balance between personal and professional life, while Hasan acknowledges the depth and authenticity of Roy’s experiences.

• Roy Wood Jr. [47:56]: "You are a friend. Your children's names make your daddy glad."

This episode of Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know offers a profound exploration of Roy Wood Jr.’s life, blending humor with poignant reflections on career struggles, societal issues, and personal growth. Listeners gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and philosophies that shape Roy's unique comedic voice.

Transcript

[Hasan Minhaj]

Lemonade. Bro, you're. Unk, if even if I'm hanging with you, like 30 minutes into us hanging, you'll get a call from somebody asking you for advice. But. But what was beautiful is it doesn't matter how inane or dumb it is, you do have a perspective and opinion on it.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Cause nobody fucking talks to the Youngins.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's true. All right, let's do it then. I'm a 30 year old struggling comic. I'm working towards my first special. How much in savings do I need to survive without a full time day job?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Unk, I was told that you need 6 months, 6 to 12 months rent saved up.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

When I got Daily Show, I only had like 3 months rent left. I was still booking shows.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Stop. Bro, are you serious?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I only had three months of Runway. When I booked Daily Show, I was opening for Wendy Williams and that was the only reason I had the money to open.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, that's true. No, no, no, that's true. Extended warranty. Worthwhile or not?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Never.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Even with AppleCare?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

AppleCare, yes. Anything else? No, it's true.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I worked at Office Max is bullshit. There's always a common comparison between Shake Shack in and out. Why are we sleeping on Checkers?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Checkers is not getting slept on. Checkers is ranked really exactly where it needs to be.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You think it's given the power ranking indication?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I think Checkers is in the Sonic bracket. It's a Division 2 school. It's kind of a. It's kind of a Gonzaga, if you will.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You know, it can get in the dance, but it's like Richmond Spiders.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you. But you putting it where Sonic is, It's in the right weight class.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Also, I don't respect any burger chain that has a different name across a different longitude and latitude. Same issue with Hardee's and Carl's Jr. I don't. Pick a name. You don't get to be one thing on the West Coast. And some checkers and rallies. So you Checkers on the white side of town, on the black side of town, your rallies, which are you. That's some code switch.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So you feel the same way about Safeway and Bonds?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't respect. I don't respect any establishment. That code switch.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Safeway carried itself with a little bit of elitism.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, they kind of look down at.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Bonds even though it's the parent company. You know, how distant does a cousin need to be before it's okay to date them? 4th, 5th, 8th? Where we at?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

We trying to have a baby or we just fucking.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Baby.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Fifth probably at least you don't want the, you know, you don't want no issues.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Is it psychotic to demand that grown adults sing to you? If you go to a restaurant for your birthday and you're over 40 years old, I stood on this take very hard on subway takes. So what's your take? This is a note to all restaurants. Stop singing Happy birthday to adults.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

100 disagree. What? I know and I didn't agree with you. Only because.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This is crazy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Only because. Why? I'm two years, you know, I'm year and a half. Shoney's two years. Golden Corral. I've sang numerous birthday songs. Yeah, it be making people happy, bro. Because how lonely are you that you're at a restaurant and you've requested that strangers come sing to you? Something is wrong and I want to fix it. How many mass shootings do you think TGI Fridays has stopped?

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's hilarious.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Because some dude got sung to and.

[Hasan Minhaj]

He'D be like, maybe not just fudge cake.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Cheer me up.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's just a semi automatic weapon.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Only you can close the question.

[Hasan Minhaj]

First of all, watch the special. But he tells the story. Basically, he goes on a date with somebody. Okay. This person has a child. You perfectly describe the irritation that you have to pay 74.99 per ticket, which is just crazy when you start adding it up. He goes on this bubble, bubble date show. He's like, how good could this bubble show be?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's a man. It's a man just doing bubble art, right? For an hour.

[Hasan Minhaj]

He starts describing it and your description of the exposition is fucking hilarious. The part where you do the whole act out and then it's the world and he adds food dye to it and you're like, holy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Coloring the bubbles in North America.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, it's crazy. But then, bro, the best part of the joke is when you describe his wife coming out and she's. They create bubble art together.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Together.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And then his description of like. Okay, let me get this straight. There's a grown man who's devoted his entire life to bubbles. And by the way, this is a defense of accents doing. We need to bring accents back like into. Into comedy. Like, it is funny that like, he for sure, for sure has like H1B green car. He is from another part of the world.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

He's Southeast Asia all day.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Typhoon country.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right? Correct. And then his wife is equally passionate, that skilled and as passionate about bubbles.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

The perfect couple.

[Hasan Minhaj]

The perfect couple.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And you're there on a date and I'm On a date. And then you just realize, oh, fuck, this is not my person.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We ain't going to make it.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

We ain't going to make it. We're good. But this is not enough.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You. You accomplish the paradox. You break up with her. So you kind of are the asshole, but the audience totally gets it. You guys won't go make. You guys won't go make it.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And this is after a bit. Yeah, this is after earlier in the bit where I've talked about the idea of being alone. Just because you're with someone doesn't mean you're not alone. You can live with someone and still be alone. So be careful about who you choose. Don't just choose just to choose because you don't want to be alone. You're still going to fuck yourself. So I feel like my action is protected by that declarative at the beginning of that whole run. Once we get into personal life. And then I talk about my mom and my mom finding friends. And that part I had to lighten up a little bit because I didn't want to get too morbid. But it was the truth. My mom is in her mid-70s. A lot of her friends have died, but somehow motherfucker keeps finding new friends. She ain't never not had a friend or somebody to kick it with for a specific activity. And so you look at that observation and you go, oh, wow, that friend doesn't need to do everything. She doesn't need them to go everywhere and do everything. This is my happy hour friend. This is my book club friend. And you. We should operate the same way, but we're incapable.

[Hasan Minhaj]

She had the right. She also is from a generation that has the right expectations. Bro.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Lower.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes. Correct.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Much lower expectations.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct. She knows what yield her investments should get.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Correct.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We have indexed it wrong because we.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Want full ROI on friendship. You need to be my best friend. I need to be able to confess everything terrible to you. I need to be able to dump on you when shit isn't going well. And that's a lot of pressure to put on somebody.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right, so I was thinking about the whole theme of friendship. We know a lot of acquaintances. I meet three, four new acquaintances a week. But how many close friends do you have after 30? Because you were talking about ramen noodle friends. The bit that you have where basically your ramen noodle friends cannot be your. I'm 52 year old friends.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Like the people you're meeting that. Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Friends you met when you were still eating ramen and Hot Pockets and Party pizzas. If those friendships end, the new friendships will not have the bond of poverty or the bond of struggle. Real talk to galvanize it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Also, some of your ramen noodle friends never upgrade to steak sushi. Yeah, yeah, use a sushi, motherfucker. Now ramen noodle ain't gonna understand sushi.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's not gonna. Don't make it elitist, though.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

No, I'm not. You could.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You could be like. No, but for real, you could be sushi and like, in your soul and the way you think.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. Your. Your evolution changes to things you like or the things you want to do or the things you see value in. Change. I've learned now I define friendship in a most basic way. Do our kids know each other or do you know my child's name? That's.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's your entry point for friendship.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

That's if I'm tearing. Like if you asked me to go through my phone and rank people. Friend or acquaintance. Okay, friend, friend. The baseline is, do you know anything about my personal life and do I know anything about your personal life?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Bro, you're about to go to pickup. That means there's at least 30 people that know your son's name and they know who you are.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But that's parents. Parents are a different situation.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I wrote this out. Tell me what you think of this. This is why friendship is impossible in your 30s.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Friendship needs bored time plus sacrifice.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I don't have time for neither of those things. When you're broke. I was like, why? So you and I met in 2009 doing NACA. I was broke.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I had a lot of time.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Four cities, four days. You're driving three, four hours a day.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

From school to school.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Number two, there's gotta be some. I gotta bleed and you gotta bleed. So we did our NACA showcase together. NACA is basically this convention where you.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Essentially tap dance for NFL Combine.

[Hasan Minhaj]

The NFL Combine.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

For stand up comedy.

[Hasan Minhaj]

For stand up comedy at colleges. Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But for non elite colleges, like, we're talking about SUNY Oswego, SUNY Albington. None of these teams are gonna play.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

In Division 3 basketball colleges. You perform once or twice over the course of a weekend. A bunch of students from each school. Are there.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Maybe like 100 to 200 schools at a conference.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

If you're lucky, 30 schools will book you for the calendar year. I'm sure we cleaned up in our respective cultural months.

[Hasan Minhaj]

100% API month was great, bro.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Black History Month. I worked one year. I worked 23 days in February.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Hilarious.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

23 days.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you can map out. You can map out your financial future based on that. You book 40 schools. 800 a pop. What your rent is. You're now piecing together your next month. But. But that time in your life, I was like, you had a enough time of just boredom.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Stagnation.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, stagnation to just Explore. But I'm 39, bro. You're. You're a little bit older than me. I keep. Yeah, bro, I actually think if. When I talk to younger people, I'm like, if I'm gonna be really honest with you, is gonna get harder.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yes. But I'm also not gonna.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You have to somehow. You have to somehow bench more. And that's what I'm feeling now.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But that's why I'm like, bro, I'm.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Maxing at the 245 place. Do not put tens on. They're like, tens are on.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But I also don't want a lot of young people. And tell them, make sure you make these friendships work. People split sometimes, so you gotta respect that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

True.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You gotta figure out a way to replace them. Or you do like my mom, and everybody becomes compartmental. It's Ed Norden, Fight Club, Single Serving friends. You are book club. You are the person that I go out to the nightclubs with. You are the person that I run with for fantasy football. Like, bro, I got three different group chats, and I don't think any of the topics overlap.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Who's your heart attack friend? Who's your heart attack friend?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

What do you mean, God forbid, if. If I died, if I had a heart attack. I've been working on a list. And this is the other thing with the whole friendship thing. I've been working on a list of names for my son to have when I pass. When you are of age and you think this person could help you, call him. This person I know will do something for you. Might only be once. But these people I know cared enough about me that on the strength of that relationship, they will fuck with you. But you have to water those plants while you're living, too. When life starts happening, you have a wife, you have kids, you have responsibilities. You forget to schedule. Just connection.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. Fair.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Because so many other things become the priority. Especially. Especially with me and Bro, you know me, I'm eight pots on the stove. Always.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You've always been that. But to your detriment. Yes, to your detriment.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I think that's from some of the survivalist shit that you grew up through.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. And like, I think that a lot of that is like, okay, it was Trevor. Trevor said to me one time, he goes, you can say no sometimes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You don't have to do all of the things I'm like, But it's a check. Yeah, you do. Otherwise you're stuck driving to San Jose College, State Community technical aeronautical for $800.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, I've done that before. I don't want to do that again. So I'm going to say yes to that, and I'm going to say yes to that, and I'm going to say yes to that, and then I'm going to tell my friends I can't come to the fantasy football draft in person that I said I was going to come to four months ago, that you all planned your entire fucking Labor Day around. That's not.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's not wrong.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's not wrong.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's not wrong. We had to get critical altitude.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

The problem we need to escape velocity. The problem that I have is that as a road comic, like all these comics who, like, take a break, take your time. You got time. It's not a big deal. They're usually city comics who came up in the city. They didn't tour on a regular basis unless somebody took them out on the road and they did the little regional feature acts here and there. But you either hit a lick on tv, then you went out as a headliner or like a Daniel Tosh or some arena act or Gaba Glaze. Jo Koy, right? Russell, Peter, come with me. Whatever.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

That's usually what happens to a city comic, Right? I was a road nigga for nine years, bro, and I drove every place opening for every alcoholic, every loser, every. Every washout, every person who I thought was the shit and then open for them and realize, oh, my God, there's a whole nother side of the game when you're working the road. When you're working in Lexington, Kentucky, on a Wednesday, you're opening for somebody that used to have it or somebody that's trying to get it. So when you've had a front row seat, when you've shared a condo with a motherfucker that used to have it, right then in my head I'm going, I know what happens if I stop writing. Yeah, yeah, I know what happens.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So I'm gonna say yes to that. And Trevor, you shut the fuck up. I'll figure out fatherhood.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You know, and I'm not saying that's. No, no, I said to a detriment.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But no, no, because you coming up in Birmingham, me starting in Sacramento. At the punchline when you start in a B market. You started in Florida, right? Right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. You start in Tallahassee.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Let's call it a non main Birmingham.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Open micros once a month so you have to bounce around.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But what you also do is you see what for better, for worse is you also see the back end of someone's career. You see someone go from NBA G maybe to Europe, Serbia. You know what I mean? You see that part so you can map it out for yourself.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And it's a survival thing of like, I don't want to end up like that. It's finally summer and I want to be spending those longer days in extra sunlight with my family. But between working on new material and creating a wildly successful, soon to be critically acclaimed podcast, time is hard to come by. That's where Factor comes in. Factor's chef crafted dietitian approved meals are ready in just two minutes. Taking the hassle out of cooking and keeping my life relatively sane. With 45 weekly menu options, there's tons of fresh gourmet meals that'll work for you. And for your individual needs, choose from options like calorie, smart, protein plus keto, and more. In my house, we're keeping it pork free. That means with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Factor has got you covered all day. I'm into their smoothies and juices, all vegan, by the way. I usually have one just before I go on stage. It gives my assistant a break so they can treat themselves to some tap water for all the flavor and none of the fuss. Get started right [e-mail] hassan50 off and use code hassan50off h a s a n5 0 off to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. That's code [e-mail] hasan50off for 50% off plus free shipping factormeals.com hassan50off this episode of Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know is brought to you by booking.com booking. Yeah. Whether you're planning a getaway for just you or the whole crew, booking.com has summer stays across the United States to match every single personality you can think of. From light sleep. From sleepers to late risers, picky teens to chill partners, you'll find just the right spot and vibe for everyone. When I travel with my family, we're not just looking for a place to sleep. We are looking for a place that works for our entire family. That means a big Kitchen where we can cook breakfast together, separate TV room where we can wind down at night, and a hardwood floor so my girl can dribble. She's a Hooper. Whether you're going on a road trip upstate or hitting a beach, booking.com helps us find the perfect stay that checks all of our boxes. Ridiculously big fridge. Check. Blackout curtains for grown men who can't sleep without them. Check. Quiet neighborhood that is extremely unpopular with spring breakers. Check. Whatever your family needs to feel at home. Booking.com makes it easy to find your kind of place. And hey, if our family can find their perfect stay on booking.com, anyone can find exactly what you're booking [e-mail] booking. Yeah. Book today on the site or in the app. This is an all time Roy Wood Jr. Story. It is the day of the election. We're working at the Daily Show. Okay. It is election day. November 2016 is the day of our live taping.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Election night.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Election night. Okay. Donald Trump has just won the election. Now, the way it works is basically when you're working at the show, you tape was 11pm Right?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Correct. 11pm Live.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct. So by the time we tape, the verdict is out of who's gonna be the president? United States.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's looking like Trump.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

They're already crying at Hillary headquarters.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So, Javits center balling.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

People are just in tears at our office. People are in tears. People headsets, crying, hugging, drinking whiskey. Drinking whiskey. Door opens. Ambi. Door opens. You come in backpack, bro. You're simultaneously 40 years old, but you're also like, in the eighth grade. Get your backpack on. Beats by Dre headphones.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Okay.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Chicago Cubs hat.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Cubs hat tilted up to the side. Yep. To the right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay. Everybody's crying, bro. You walk in like, it's like it's Monday morning, completely nonchalant. Now, I may be misremembering this like, Marcus Aurelius stoic. Another day, light work. And from what I understand was my memory may be off, but you basically were like, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's like, oh, yeah, I thought this couldn't happen.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Y' all thought in a million years, Trump would never win.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So. So this, what? Yeah. What was going through your mind at that point?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You know, so my pops, for context, my pops is a civil rights journalist. He delivered a lot of commentary about heinous things.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

He covered a lot of heinous things that happened to colored people across the globe.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So my pops is already.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And by the way, not just domestic politics. This is like he covers stuff that was happening in Zimbabwe, Vietnam.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Zimbabwe, South Africa.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Soweto riots. My father was there getting shot at with a tape recorder.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This is crazy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So he would come back. I'm telling you, boy, these white people, and you gotta get them together. So his speeches were very on task about how America will always figure out a way to betray the people who believe in it. So I just saw that. I was like, oh, this is what Pop. This is shit Pops be talking about. Okay, well, I'm already equipped for that. Also, keep in mind, I went to a black college. I was in Tallahassee when Bush stole the election from Gore. I was in the group of students who marched on the Capitol to get Jeb Bush to try to do the recount down in Dade County. We marched on that. So I've seen America be slick.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You know what I'm saying? So this, to me, it was like, yeah, this is new and unprecedented. But I ain't gonna cry about it. I will. Me and Klepper had a shot. I drank. I'm gonna drink with you.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah. You're like, I've seen the injustices of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I've seen the world at, like, I've.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Already ran that program. Like, if that was a software program, Exe. You're like, I've ran this.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I've seen this. It's like the opposite of Dr. Strange and fucking Infinity War. Like, how many possibilities for America to screw over the country? Like, five. He doesn't hold up one finger. He holds up, like, 40 fingers.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, totally.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. So, no, I was just. All right, let's figure out the jokes. Yeah, that's. Let's figure it out. Now, I will say that that approach to life probably not the most compassionate and definitely doesn't help in relationships and love, because I can be very procedural and just. Let's get it done. There's a solution. Let's find it. No, don't you feel the emotion? Yeah, but, you know, after this, we're going to need to write jokes. Right? All right, well, y' all do what y' all want to do. I've got four pitches already in on email on what we want to do tomorrow.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So your. Your mind has already been like, the Titanic is going down. Just know that the Titanic is going down, or it's already gone down.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

This is what I.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This is what I'm trying to riff out with you. There is the immigrant's expectation of America, and that's changed. My pops got here in 82, and I've told him, and I've been trying to write about this, and now I'm thinking about my son. I asked my pops, I go, 80, is this the same country that you immigrated to? Like, is this the same America? Is this, like. He has this idea. I think it was almost like Sylvester Stallone, Tom Hanks, America, West Wing America. And he's like, it's not the same America. It's not. The itunes user agreement changed.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And I'm recalibrating that. But basically, the way Beijistan works is we almost treat America the same way European soccer players treat their clubs. I'll go play for Paris Saint Germain. I'll go pay for La Liga. I'll go play in Saudi. I'll play in Qatar. Yeah. I'll get my bag any which way, and I'll keep it moving.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I think that immigrants, though, especially from your pop's era, they got sold the dream and then they showed up and then realized that the club wasn't jumping.

[Hasan Minhaj]

The way, you know, the social contract isn't the same.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Whereas black people have already been in the club the whole time. It's like, when is the party gonna get started? And then you got people coming in going, hey, we heard the party's here. And it's like, no, not really.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So in your mind, where does Act 3 go?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I think that a great deal of black America is walking around America the way I was in the Daily show offices now, like, the idea of fighting back, and we're gonna. We'll see. But I don't think anybody's checked in the fight. I don't think there's a candidate that has yet to show up that could unify or inspire people on either side. Truthfully, a lot of Trump, even with the Republicans, it's just lack of better options because you couldn't debo his movement. Trump had the streets. If he got the streets, there's nothing you can do. You can't fight that. So I don't know what happens next. I think I hope that everything goes back state and local in terms of what you care about and what you, like, fight for.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But what are you selling to your son? Because legitimately, the thing I was talking about with Bina was we can explore the sign and trade. Being from Beijing, I identify with the diaspora. What do I mean by that? When I go to London and I see Riz Ahmed, Mikayla Cole, Daniel Kahlua, even here in the States, Yvonne Orji, I feel my Bluetooth is connected to the larger diaspora.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

See, I don't have that. I don't have that as a black.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So I'm like, maybe I sign and trade, but so what is.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Where does a black American go? Where they can.

[Hasan Minhaj]

How do you explore free agency?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Guarantee. And feel like my son is getting something better? I could say Africa, I could say the Caribbean. Okay, maybe. But even then you gotta dig into the whole Afro diaspora and whether or not I'm even wanted there. There's a lot of countries that don't fuck with black Americans. A lot of countries that don't run with Americans, period.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Period.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And a lot of these places where black folks going to eat, pray, love, they don't rock with black people like that. You going by yourself? Okay. Yeah, I bet it is cool. You're a black woman at a cafe. I'm sure it was great. But if I'm bringing a whole black ass family in a U haul through the streets of Prague or Eastern Europe, that's man, that's a white European's worst nightmare probably.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So the idea of even doing the research and the studying to find where I would go.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You know, I don't know. But then there's also part of me that goes. And this is what I'm more so lean to. I'm fifth, sixth generation, I think.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

If I'm not six, my son is sixth generation wood on this soil.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, bro, this is home.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

This is my home.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So I'm gonna stay here and try and figure out a way to make it better.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And so with my son, what I've had to give him. And I don't want to plant in my child distrust of everyone. But we talk about every day. Trust but verify. You gotta basically capture everybody you think is a good person. You need to make sure there's reciprocity, make sure they watering you back. Make sure that the people that you run with mean you well. Move in love. But understand that not everybody does. I love when I'm on the train with him and there's a fight. What we saw somebody get arrested in Target. It was a good day. Cause you need to know that that's also the world.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You want him to see what's possible. Gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It ain't all roses, big dog. It ain't all the crossing guard knowing your name while we walk to school. Now I don't want him to see a unhoused person doing a heroin lean on the side. I got you.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I got you.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But every now and then we do. It's true, it's important and that's a good day.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Dude, we went to. So over Christmas break, we went.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I'm not rooting for it, but yeah. No, no, no, I get what you're saying.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You can't have an intellectual conversation. They have to expl Experience that we were in Delhi over, over Christmas Deli's like packed and congested. It's crazy. It's. It's indescribable.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

More than Tokyo, bro.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's. It's all. It's in across the spider verse when they all crash into each. That's New Delhi. My point is, is that we take the train to get to the village to go see my, my father in law's village, but to. When you get to the train station, everybody's there. So every class cast, they're all there. My children see the way homeless people beg in India. And so my 6 year old daughter, the other kids recognize they're not from here. So a kid with one arm missing, these two children run up on them and you know, they start, give me money. Give me. You know, and I can see both my daughter and my son be like, what's happening here? They look, we look. We're the same age, we're the same height. Like, why do I have shoes and you don't have shoes? Why do I have all my limbs? You don't have your limbs. And I remember my daughter was just like, why is this happening? I don't know.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't know why.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And then she just goes, I guess we're really lucky. And I'm like, that's her moment. And then it's out of a movie. Just sound up train. Nicolette, just. Train is going. We got to go, we got to go. The train is leaving. Gotta go. You know, and it was just an experience that like, I remember being her age and being like, that's, that's the world, you know, you can't.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, that's the difficult part about raising a kid in congested New York is that you can't avoid these parts of the city. Like mentally ill people coming through the train, having to explain mental illness to my son at 6, 7 years old.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Like in the south, you don't see that every day. It's just once a year you might see a crazy person go through the sidewalk and talk to themselves and you say, don't worry about that. New York. You can't ignore it because every block is a different reality that awaits them. So I just teach my son how to hopefully know, be trustworthy, but be Very careful and double check people. And when someone like, I don't want to put this on them. And I don't know if you move like this on the sidewalk, but motherfucker passed me too close, I'll go back over the shoulder to make sure he ain't busting a U turn behind me. If I go past you and you fall in line behind me, I stop and put my back against the wall and pretend to check my phone.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, you've all. He's always been this way. He's always been this way.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You've always, even when you're leaving, like when you were leaving work, you'd have one ear off. Yes, bro. This is the one year off, Roy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's crazy.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, you've always been on the like the paranoid WI fi.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Always. But that's cause I don't carry a gun.

[C]

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[Hasan Minhaj]

So this is the weird thing. I'm gonna. I wanna, I wanna go back. This is just. I just wanted to do this with you. People don't know Roy Wood Jr. Came up in the prank call scene. Oh yeah, we're gonna listen to Roy Wood Jr's prank call.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

This is Barbara's check That's the one that put me on. Good morning. Good morning. This is Dr. Cinema Zebo. I call you on the behalf of the Federal Social Security Administration Division. I called you about your Social Security check. Yes, ma' am. I called to let you know that we're going to be reducing your check because the government is having cutbacks right now, the hurricane and the gas price, and we try to help the gas the nation. So we will cut your check back down to $250 for the next 12 months. Oh, no, y' all won't. Yes, ma' am. Yes, ma' am. No, no, sir. You better tell them folks don't have them hurricane folk. They better get them a job that work for mine. They better get up and work for them. No, that's not. How could you say something so intrinsic. That is not nice to say about the hurricane people?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Because they attracted the hurricane people. This is not just about hurricane.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

About hurricane. This is about the gas price.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right, bro. This is a timeless bet, by the way. You can get two great CDs for one. Great.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. I used to sell the prank call CDs. I did morning radio for 15 years. And so one of the requirements. So my degree is in broadcast.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I wanted to do broadcast news.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Ricky Smiley, who's now super syndicated. Ricky's.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Ricky, Right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Ricky's from Birmingham. Ricky leaves the radio station, said Delaney leaves, and they go, we need a new comedian. I go, okay, what do you need me to do? Do prank calls. I don't want to do prank calls. But then you can have a job. All right, I'll do prank phone calls.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, they made you do this?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, because it's a benchmark, like in radio. In morning radio, every radio show has the bits that the listeners love called benchmarks. So you can't ditch a benchmark just because Ricky Smiley left. I wanted to do parody songs. I wanted to do fake commercials, like a lot of that Leo Deblin shit that I started doing at Daily Show. That was ideated in morning radio.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But to prove my worth, you have to do the thing that the listeners want. So I had to call strangers every day and get them to cuss me out, record it, and then we upload it. And listeners would be the ones that would put us up to it, like in Birmingham. Birmingham is a very unique radio market in that it's a bro, by the way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You don't gotta be defensive. This is my sensibility.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

No, I love it. I love it. It's nothing I would ever do again. Because it's such a young man's game. Be that verbally reckless with a stranger. I am doing this because I need a job in radio. Because if I'm good at radio, I can grow my standup because this show will get syndicated. I believe the local show we were doing in Birmingham was gonna be the next big show to get syndicated. And then I will sell comedy. I'll sell out all the comedy clubs. So what do I need to do to not get fired? Get black people to cuss me out. Bet I know how to do that. Impossible request or insult something you love.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Those are the two. Like on some psychological.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Hey, I heard you were cursing out. I heard you work at a gas station. I heard you was rude to the white customers. Next week, I want you to greet every white customer. Would welcome massa.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, my God.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Impossible requests.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, my God.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I'm from corporate. I know you be cussing people out. You don't turn the pumps on. You make black people prepay. I don't appreciate that. When a white person come in, I want you to go out there and pump their gas and go, can I pump your gas? Massive.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's crazy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So now your reaction to that is inconsequential.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

The request itself is. So whatever you say on the backside of that, I got you. I only need this to go for 90 to 90 seconds to two minutes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Wow.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And that's a win. And I get to keep my job tomorrow.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

That's all I was after.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So this was desperation.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Damn.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And it was some of the best shit. That barber's check call has done more for my career than Letterman. And it's probably neck and neck with Daily Show.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's crazy. I first discovered you through this.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I called that lady two weeks. That call took place two weeks after Hurricane Katrina when Katrina refugees were being displaced all over the South. And there was a lot of gang beef because a lot of people were coming from New Orleans and starting shit and setting up shop in neighborhoods they ain't had a clearance to be setting up. You taking the jobs and the city is donating resources. What about the poor people? That was already. It was. So it was a little bit of tension between. Yeah, of course.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So then you call a black lady and tell her you're gonna cut her security check and give it to people that there's already sociological tension with.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Powder Kick. That shit went viral. It crashed my website. I put that on my website in 2003. Wow. And the only reason I had pranks on my website is because the IT person at the radio station said we don't know how to do that. I'm not putting server space for pranks. I go, it's on the show. People should be able to download stuff they've heard on the show.

[Hasan Minhaj]

No, this is around the same era. I don't know why there was this era between 1999 to 2003. Like prank call.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

The idea of digital access.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. MP3 was.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Where's that thing from this morning? I should listen to it now. You can get the Breakfast Club before it air.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Preview.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I didn't even know you were a stand up. Like this was. Nobody did this was circulating through like my undergrad. We would have these direct share. Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Bear share.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Because all that Limewire.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah. And so I took those pranks and. And then because it went viral, I took those pranks. I sent em to radio stations in markets where I couldn't get booked. I'd sent a radio DJ 50 pranks.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Wow.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Hey man, do me a favor. Air my shit twice a week.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This was like you were like a Vine star in that way. Like hey, I got this trick. I got this.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I had 150,000 subs on YouTube. That's crazy. In 05 first year YouTube lost the account over some copyright strikes or some shit. I just didn't know. I didn't. It was YouTube. You went to YouTube to listen. There was no visuals on YouTube.

[Hasan Minhaj]

150K and 05 is like 150K.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

That's Bitcoin at a nickel.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah. That's like 5 million subscribers.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Do you know what I would have today? So it was crazy talk. But that I sent it to the DJs. The DJs will play them. Then I will wait a month, call the comedy club and go hey, I'm on the radio in your market. Will you book me? And they will book me. And that's. That prank call opened up. The entire anything west of Memphis is because of that prank phone call.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's incredible.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Where I got booked off the top.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Is it wrong? I've tried to psychoanalyze this. Is it wrong that your prank calls and jerky boys for me as like a 16 year old was some of my favorite shit. I don't regret like that naughty silly goose anarchy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't regret anything I said on a prank I would never do.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's not an indictment. This is an indictment on me. Does this mean I had bad taste?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Oh no.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I think it's Great.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It was good.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't know, but that's what I came up on. I grew up reading Mad magazine. I grew up. There's an album called. It's a parody of Luther Campbell 2 Live Crew. And it's called 2 Live Jews. And it is a full Weird Al style parody.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Of Nasty as They Wanna Be. And it's all Jewish theme songs.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, gotcha.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And I didn't know nothing about Judy. I'm Christian Ass South. But this is funny. It's a parody. I loved Weird Al. I loved Spaceballs. I watched Airplane. I remember watching the first Airplane when I was five.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's crazy.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Didn't even get half of the jokes. Like, that was my shit.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right, you got the CNN show.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So have I got news for you. All right. Now there's this disclaimer at the beginning of the show. It says, this is cnn, but it's also kind of not cnn. Puzzled. Well, don't say we didn't warn you.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, you need that. Because people see that logo and they just assume, you know, whatever.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. What is. What is happening there? What's the. What's the reason for that?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't know, man. All I know about is Saturday. They talked to me and they asked me, hey, man, you want to come host some shit on a Saturday? And I said, not if y' all gonna make me be serious. Cause like every. Especially black men on that network are just. And I'll tell you the problem. You have enough of those people who are far more qualified. Keith Boykin's great. Van Laken's great. Van Jones is great.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I can't do what they do.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Nor should you. Nor should you, by the way.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, but. Okay, well, then let me do what I want to do. Will you let me do that? They said, yeah. And to their credit, they kept their promise. That's great. So you get to run a fake ass game show. A fake ass queer show where you just submit the news of the week and you don't really try to find a solution to the issue, which is a burden that. I forgot how much of a burden that is to a punchline. It made me appreciate Daily show so much more that like, oh, we Daily Show. You can't just make the joke. You have to. Well, whose fault is it? Well, what's the solution?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

How did we get here?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, you have to have the hypocrisy glasses on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The whole thing.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, Them shits is off.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Hilarious.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Cnn. And so that Part of it, I don't know. I like, man. The network as a whole. The thing that's interesting, though, is doing other shows on the network because it's like, hey, yeah, yeah, motherfucker. Go do Jake Tapper.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure. Or go do AC360 or whatever.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But then what is that? Who am I on that show? Because that show's format does not welcome the chaos that I get to do on Saturday.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Correct.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I'm still a little. Yeah. Of a weird. Forget. Like, even the New Year's Eve shit where I just go, I don't want to drink. Oh, bro, you fire black people when they drink on cena.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. Yeah. Does anyone want a shot? Would you like to start? Tequila.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

You're the last black man to drink on this network. Got fired. I'm going to keep it with water for right now. It's just a joke.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Was that honest or was the bit. Yeah, it was a bit. Or were you being kind of honest?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It was just being a bit. It was just a bit. I mean, underneath it, it's the idea that if I get fired, I know they'll use a shot of me drinking.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But it wasn't a bigger pontification about Don Lemon than the dish. It was just a quick little joke of Don Lemon, and we're just being silly. It's New Year's Eve. When you see me on this network, expect me to turn left when everyone's going right, but I'm being involved.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But that moment made national news because of the. Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Because I turned left. But that's the whole fucking point is to get people to watch. So if you're going to put me on these other shows, let me turn left. But that's going to take time. And so I'm cool with that. And all the shows, all the producers of all these various shows, they're nice and they let me on and they let me do stuff for CNN Digital. They really, like, give me. Make this your playground.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I want to end with something philosophical. All right. Both you and I kind of became extremely popular through the form of political satire. And a common thing that I get is I get asked about the importance of comedy in the world. I have argued that people over index the power or the significance of comedy. Do you think people over index the power of political comedy?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Great.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

But it's because the world is shittier, and so the laughs feel better. If I turned up the heat in this room, if I gave you a glass of water right now, you'd go, oh, yeah, it's Good glass of water.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Gotcha. So it's a pass.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I set that thermostat to 200.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

And I come in here with that same glass of water, same temperature.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Oh, my God, this water is the most amazing. I'm telling you. It's the same faucet if it's hot as shit, that I've been getting the.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Jokes for that cold water. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll quench your thirst. Yeah, it's.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

So I think the perception of what laughs do for the soul has changed. Cause I just think more people are distraught and whatever.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I don't know. I just think jokes are jokes, and I can point out some stuff, but it's not gonna make you go vote. I would hope it would, but I'm not measuring the success and failure of anything that I tell on whether or not it's. That's why I don't be knowing what to say to people sometimes on the street, and they're like, yeah, keep fighting the good fight. And you're fighting and what you're. The work you do.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

I'm glad you feel that way, man. But it's the same water that I was when I was opening for Wendy Williams.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Same faucet, bro.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I think they're big up, and to be generous, they're big up in the quality of what you're doing. I think they're just not assessing the limits of entertainment. At the end of the day, it still is entertainment. There's a great book called Amusing Ourselves to Death. I think you should read it. It's just about literally the medium of television, but I think people are over indexing the power of that. Yeah, it's ability to change the world.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

There's growth to it. But I mean, I just think all of that, like, comedy doesn't change anything any more than you trying to cancel a comedian changes the trajectory of that comedian's career. Most canceled comedians are making more money than when they first got canceled. So did it work? I don't know. But you spoke your opinion and you made it wrong. That's all that matters.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you're working on the memoir, right?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. The man of many fathers.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What's the thing?

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It's lessons and values I gathered from men other than my dad. My dad died when I was 16, so everything I've ever learned from other men, how did I get my value system and stories around those particular values and how I pass them down to my son? So it could be broader, philosophical about the importance of choosing a good partner. There was a comic. A lot of it is road stories. There was a guy I opened for years ago and I'm couch. I drive to Savannah to pick him up. I sleep on his couch for a couple of hours. I wake up to him and his wife in a full blown argument about money. We get in the car, head to the gig. Halfway to the gig, the gig cancels and I have to bust a U turn and drop him back off with the woman.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, no.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Who he was just arguing with about money. And I'm like 23. This is a 50 year old man. And just the stress on his fucking face of just like, damn. I'm sorry, bro. I don't know what to tell you, but the importance. But that whole thing taught me the importance of picking somebody that understands what you're chasing and what you're surviving, you know?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right, right, right, right.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

It could be something like that or it could be the time I got slapped in the face by a coworker who was on cocaine. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm writing the book for my son, bro. It's like, it's for good people to check out too.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's amazing.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Yeah, so we'll work on that. Maybe there's a one man show on it too. Let's see.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Thank you for doing this, man.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Good to see you.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Good to see you, man.

[Roy Wood Jr.]

Tell your children I said hello. You are a friend. Your children's names make your daddy glad.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That was great, bro.