01-09-26 - Entertainment Drill - FRI - w/Marlon Wayans - The Price We All Have To Sell Out

Summary

Podcast Summary: Holmberg’s Morning Sickness – Entertainment Drill with Marlon Wayans

Episode: 01-09-26 – The Price We All Have To Sell Out
Date: January 9, 2026
Guests: John Holmberg (Host), Marlon Wayans (Guest), Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo

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Overview

In this lively episode, comedian and actor Marlon Wayans joins the crew of Arizona’s popular morning show for the Entertainment Drill. The discussion is a mix of irreverent banter, commentary on celebrity news, reflections on comedy’s deeper truths, and personal stories from Marlon’s evolving stand-up act. The recurring theme is “the price we all have to sell out,” explored both humorously and sincerely.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Celebrity Insanity: Tom Cruise, Selling Out, and “Doing Anything” for Money

• Tom Cruise's Dedication:
  The group discusses a story about Tom Cruise arriving by helicopter to help film a Star Wars-themed lightsaber fight in the mud, wearing expensive shoes.

  • Marlon’s Take:

    “I think he can afford it. Yeah, he can do no wrong... And by the way, if they pay me what he gets paid, you could attach my black ass to the back of a plane and I would do those things.” (02:29)

• Selling Out for the Right Price:
  The gang jokes about what they’d do for Cruise-level money, with Marlon and John trading outrageous ideas.

  • Exchange:

    Marlon: “I’ll do anything. I’ll sell out.” (03:00)
    John: “Look, Al Qaeda starts handing me cash… I’m gonna start thinking.” (03:02)
    Marlon: “We all got a price.” (04:36)
    John: “I’ll shove hot sauce in my ass for a plane.” (04:39)

2. Jackass Film & Comedy’s Physical Boundaries

• Aging Jackass Crew:
  News breaks about a new Jackass movie, prompting amazement at their endurance and potential hazards.

  • Marlon’s Reaction:

    “Ain’t they too old to be doing… They got gray hair, somebody dying. You know what I mean?” (03:12)

• Love for Jackass:
  Despite the risks, Marlon expresses admiration for the Jackass team’s commitment to absurdity and the niche they fill in comedy.

  “But you know what? I will say, I really like the Jackass movies... I love Johnny Knoxville and I love… with the brand, with those guys.” (03:35)

• Steve-O’s Antics:
  The group riffs about Steve-O’s limits (or lack thereof) and invent fantastical new “Jackass”-style stunts, carrying their earlier “selling out” humor to extremes.

3. Comedy, Anger, and the Role of Pain

• Conan O'Brien’s Critique:
  Discussion pivots to Conan’s comments about comedians’ anger clouding humor—especially regarding politics.

  “He thinks comedians are letting their anger at President Trump ruin their comedy... You put down your best weapon as being funny.” (05:12)

• Marlon’s Philosophy:
  Marlon offers a nuanced defense of anger as fuel for comedy—noting that many great comedians (like Paul Mooney and Sam Kinison) channeled rage or pain into brilliance.

  “Anger’s good for comedy ... Anger protects you and makes you defensive ... I’m not mad at angry comics. A lot of great comedians were birthed from anger. Paul Mooney was one of the most angry comedians ever... but he was brilliant.” (05:12–06:15)

  • Further Reflection:

    “Vulnerability ... you gotta speak your truth on stage, man. And if you’re angry, then be angry. There’s nothing wrong with that.” (06:19)

• Sam Kinison Origin Story:
  Marlon recounts watching Kinison bomb until anger unlocked his voice:

  “And then one day he got pissed off and he just started screaming out the audience... and he killed.” (06:49–07:06)

4. Blurring Comedy and Sadness: Marlon’s Current Work

• Comedy That Makes You Cry:
  A listener praises Marlon’s Netflix comedy special for stirring tears; he reflects on balancing humor and heartbreak.

  “Sometimes my shows make you cry laughing and also cry because I talk about real stuff. I did a special called Good Grief, about my parents... dealing with their death. But it was the funniest special I did.” (08:14–08:16)

• His New Special:
  Marlon reveals he’s preparing an hour on parenting and acceptance as the father of a trans child:

  “My transition—going from denial to acceptance and the five stages of grief... It’s a brilliant hour.” (08:40–08:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We all got a price.” – Marlon Wayans (04:36)
• “I’ll do anything. I’ll sell out.” – Marlon Wayans (03:00)
• “I really like the Jackass movies.” – Marlon Wayans (03:35)
• “Anger’s good for comedy... A lot of great comedians were birthed from anger.” – Marlon Wayans (05:12–06:15)
• On comedy and vulnerability:

  “You gotta speak your truth on stage, man. And if you’re angry, then be angry. There’s nothing wrong with that.” (06:19)

• On personal material:

  “I did a special called Good Grief... Now I have a new special... about my transition... going from denial to acceptance and the five stages of grief to get there.” (08:14–08:52)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:24: Marlon jokes about being “drunk as hell” and the crew starts the Entertainment Drill.
• 02:29: Marlon and crew riff on Tom Cruise’s mega-stardom and what they’d do for that kind of money.
• 03:12: News about a new Jackass movie; the gang discusses aging daredevils and the franchise’s appeal.
• 03:35–04:39: Outrageous selling-out and stunt hypotheticals escalate.
• 05:12: Discussion shifts to celebrity comedians, anger in comedy, and political polarization.
• 06:49: Marlon recalls Sam Kinison’s breakthrough.
• 08:14–08:52: Listener feedback leads Marlon to describe the emotional core of his stand-up and his newest, deeply personal material.

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Overall Tone and Style

True to the Holmberg’s Morning Sickness brand, the episode is fast-paced, irreverent, and boundary-pushing, peppered with jokes about selling out, wild celebrity antics, and playful one-upmanship. Yet underneath is a current of sincerity—especially when Marlon discusses the evolving nature of comedy, anger, vulnerability, and his family life. Marlon keeps the energy high while deftly mixing humor with real talk, leaving the listener entertained and with something to think about.

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Transcript

[A]

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[A]

Morning sickness. You've been deceived by an agent of Satan himself. He's evil. Sitting right here.

[C]

Come on.

[A]

No, no, he's not.

[C]

He's not evil.

[A]

He's just a bit rude.

[D]

All right.

[A]

This has been fun. Marlon, thanks for hanging out with us today. It's been great.

[C]

I appreciate you. I'm drunk as hell.

[A]

Ed says rec will get you. Let's do some more. We're not done.

[C]

We're all gonna walk out of year. Like Thriller.

[A]

Thriller. We got him drunk on. Was it your birthday?

[D]

We.

[A]

We drank a little bit and he normalized a little bit. I'm like, might be the future, brother. We do a thing called the entertainment drill, starting now. Marlon, you mind helping us out with us? That'd be great. It's the entertainment drill. It's Mo Brady just entertained us. Let's get out of here.

[D]

Hurry up. Well, this goes in along the lines of your Star wars experience. Tom Cruise basically popped by the set. Of course, he came in by helicopter. And Shawn Levy's doing a movie and he asked Tom to help him film a scene. A lightsaber fight. Tom Cruise like, yeah, I'll do it. Grabs the camera, films. The whole thing. Doesn't change. He's. It's a mud scene. So he's.

[A]

Huh.

[D]

He's shin high in mud filming the scene. Yeah. They said he had really expensive shoes on stuff.

[A]

Isn't that crazy?

[C]

What?

[A]

People pay attention to that's weird. Yeah. Tom Cruise had shoes on and he got in the mud. What a man.

[C]

I think he can afford it. Yeah, he can do no wrong.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And by the way, if they pay me what he gets paid, you could attach my black ass to the back of a plane and I would do those things. He makes, like, $100 million a movie. He owns planes for a plane.

[D]

You could.

[C]

I'll fly on the back of a plane to Europe.

[A]

All the way to Europe. All right.

[C]

The east coast, though.

[A]

We're not gonna go crazy. Let's not do stops.

[C]

Hey, is he gonna give me that plate after it? Let's do it.

[A]

Yeah. That stuff to me, I'm the same like you. Give it to me. I'll do it.

[C]

I'll do anything. I'll sell out.

[A]

Look, Al Qaeda starts handing me cash.

[C]

I'm gonna start thinking, I'll show you that.

[D]

Johnny Knoxville announced a new Jackass movie theaters in June.

[C]

Ain't they too old to be doing.

[A]

Yeah, it's gonna end in a day.

[C]

They got gray hair, somebody dying. You know what I mean?

[D]

Mature's back in the mix.

[A]

He shouldn't even be out in public. He's got to clean up his own thing.

[C]

Steve O. Put more things in his butt than that lady that put the eight balls.

[A]

I always. Look, Jackass is like playing ball in the house. So long as everything's still good, it's good. But eventually something horrible happens and we never do it again.

[C]

But you know what? I will say, I really like the Jackass movies.

[A]

Oh, they're great.

[C]

And I'm not just saying that because they're coming out two weeks after us, and they're also on Paramount. But I'm saying it because I really. I love Johnny Knoxville and I love. With the brand, with those guys, scary.

[D]

Movies, guys like Steve O. I mean, they're just. That's all he thinks about.

[A]

No, it is.

[D]

What can I do to my body?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

You know, even though I've hit.

[C]

How many things can I put in my butt?

[A]

Yeah, it'll fit.

[C]

Hot sauce. How much stuff can I. How can. Many times. I could slam my penis in a door.

[A]

Stevo should do hot ones only with his ass.

[C]

Well, he did interview people. He did.

[A]

I didn't know he did it.

[D]

When I interviewed him, podcast with him, I had the hot sauce. My hot sauce is like, hey, I want to enjoy.

[A]

You put it in his butt.

[C]

You sound like, yeah, but if you.

[A]

Do it while he's putting it in his ass and he's interviewing you, he would do it. I know he would. He probably get, like. Would we get you to do it?

[C]

I wouldn't do it.

[A]

Yeah, no. Put a chicken wing of heat in your ass. I'm not doing it either.

[D]

Oh, you're saying wing it?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

The guest would do it, too.

[C]

If you give me a plane.

[D]

See everything.

[C]

We all got a price.

[A]

Yeah, price.

[C]

Everybody's got a price.

[A]

I'll shove a hot sauce in my ass for a plane. That's easy.

[C]

Which hot sauce? Doesn't matter. We're not talking. Frank's talking Ghost pepper. Okay, okay.

[A]

Okie dokie. I'll be crying. Who's flying this thing? We're going to Paris.

[D]

Last thing, Kono o' Brien was on a podcast, and he was talking about how he thinks comedians are letting their anger at President Trump ruin their comedy. Because he says, you. You put down your best weapon as being funny. When you've all said it just turned.

[C]

Into more anger than anything, that comedians are being shifted into a different zone of comedy. And I think in order to get there, there's the five stages of grief that you gotta lose yourself in. And one of the phases is anger. I think anger is good for comedy. It's great because anger protects you and makes you defensive and makes you go, I don't give a F. And so when you're trying to take down establishments or the popular vote or whatever, it is a popular word as a comedian. When you go against it, you, you know, you immediately get the ooze. You're mini Gl, and you want to just toughen your skin. So I'm not mad at angry comics. I think a lot of great comedians were birthed from anger. Paul Mooney was one of the most angry comedians ever. He would never make you guys his favorite white people because he didn't have favorite white people. But he was brilliant. His favorite white people would have been slaves, but he was brilliant. Let me tell you something about anger. Anger works in comedy.

[A]

It works in music.

[D]

It does.

[C]

It doesn't work on tv. It works in music.

[A]

It works in music.

[C]

Pain works in music. You know, you got to put it all. Vulnerability, like, you got to put it all on. You got to speak your truth on a stage, man. And if you're angry, then be angry. There's nothing wrong with that. You know, Conan. I love Conan. He's dark, too. Oh, he's just not angry about me being dark. He's happy and dark.

[A]

But I think what people assign as angry is often, like, their thing. Like, you say something dark and they think you're mad about it. Oh, he's just angry and he changes it up.

[C]

They thought Sam Kinison was.

[A]

He wasn't angry. He was coping. He was crazy funny and he was coping.

[C]

He didn't find his funny until he started scraping out your body. I was there. My brother. I used to go watch my brothers do stand up. I know I was like 12 years old, and so I watched Sam Kinison go on night after night, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb. And then one day he got pissed off and he just started screaming out the audience.

[A]

It was brilliant.

[C]

And he killed.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And.

[C]

And it was.

[A]

And because we all want that release valve. So we went through him.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

It's brilliant.

[A]

Yeah. I think the tragedy plus time is funny.

[D]

Cocaine helped, too. That's it.

[A]

Well, that didn't hurt.

[C]

Back then when it was good coke before it killed food. I tell you this, there's a conspiracy. When they started making watermelon, sour apple and grape, he was telling me, they're making fried chicken flavor. I was like, they come.

[D]

I'll tell you this. What's the. They called the fatback pink one.

[A]

I'll believe you. Because they have not made ranch flavored cocaine yet. If they want to kill fat, white.

[D]

Out, that's going to cause blue cheese.

[C]

They get us mayonnaise cocaine coming for us.

[A]

Mayonnaise would be. All those people, they coming for us here in Arkansas. What kind of world we living in? They got mayonnaise flavored cocaine. I know what they're doing. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Until they make mayonnaise cocaine, it isn't for everybody.

[C]

You got a lot of voices.

[A]

I do a couple. I got a couple. This lady named Janice says tell Marlon his Netflix show was amazing. I cried like a bitch. Hugs and prayers.

[C]

Thank you so much.

[A]

That's pretty great.

[C]

I don't know if you want to hear that as a comedy.

[A]

I cried.

[C]

But you know why you're crying?

[D]

They'll be doing it live tonight.

[C]

Yeah. No, because my shows sometimes make you cry laughing and also cry because I talk about real stuff. Yeah. I did a special called Good Grief, and it was about my parents and dealing with their death. But it was the funniest special I did. And now I have a new special that I'm working on called I don't know what it's called. Probably Somewhere under the Rainbow. And I have a trans child, and it's about.

[A]

I didn't know that.

[C]

The transition. Not.

[A]

Oh, I guess I did know.

[C]

Not their transition. My transition. Going from denial to acceptance and the five stages of grief that I went through to get there. And it's a brilliant hour. And I. I really feel like.

[A]

And that's a whole hour I want to talk to you about now.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Come to the show. You'll see.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.

[C]

It's a great show.

[D]

You're.

[A]

You're the best man. Thank you for hanging out with us. Marlon Wayans at stand up live. Standuplive.com if you want to head over there.

[D]

Good transition.

[C]

That's it.

[A]

Yeah, it was a fine transition into this transition. We're all transitioning into Larry's show because we're getting.

[C]

No, we're all transitioning. And speaking of transition, one time.

[A]

We'll transition right out of here. Larry's next Thriller. Get the hell out of here. We're done. We'll catch you guys Monday right here in the morning. Sigma solo.

[D]

It's not weird. It's pretty cool, actually. No membership fee.

[C]

I have heard enough of this.

[A]

You PJ.