Rip Micheals | ROC Solid w/ Memphis Bleek

Summary

ROC Solid with Memphis Bleek — Rip Michaels (March 31, 2026)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode of ROC Solid, Memphis Bleek sits down with comedian, producer, and entrepreneur Rip Michaels. Their wide-ranging, candid conversation explores Rip's personal journey from humble beginnings in Chicago to selling out arenas as a comedy impresario. Topics include the gritty reality of grinding in stand-up, the impact of Black entertainment institutions, shifting perspectives on success and legacy, and surviving both the entertainment industry and personal health trials. Throughout, listeners get an unfiltered look at both the hustle and heart it takes to thrive in comedy and beyond.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Rip Michaels' Beginnings and Chicago Comedy Roots

• Starting Young

  • Rip began performing comedy at age 12–13, often being the only kid at adult clubs in Chicago (05:26).
  • Anecdotes about being escorted in and out of clubs and confusion over family relationships (“Auntie Jockey” actually being his dad’s girlfriend) (05:26–06:37).
  • Quote:

    "My parents been together what, 43 years? And they was cheating on each other for 40 years, but they still together. So don't judge that."
    — Rip Michaels (06:28)

• The Toughness of Chicago Crowds

  • Discusses the three hardest cities for performers: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia (06:59).
  • Rip reflects on how brutal crowd reactions in Chicago (and later New York and the Caribbean) shaped his resilience (07:25–09:44):

    "Comedy has always been like—Chicago, that was back in the era where you could boo people. Now, no one really gets booed or heckled."
    — Rip Michaels (08:08)

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2. The Move to New York, Struggles, and Connections

• Arriving with Nothing
  • Rip moves to NY post-college, homeless with his daughter, following Dave Chappelle’s advice:

    "Dave Chappelle told me, if you ever want to find out if you really got what it takes, you'll go to New York." (08:15)

  • Hustling by handing out flyers in Times Square, performing anywhere and everywhere ("trains, Queens, Brooklyn" etc.) (08:47–09:44).

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3. Breaking into TV & Meeting Industry Figures (Carson Daly, Christina Milian, 50 Cent)

• Getting His Foot in the Door
  • Started as a warmup comic for MTV (TRL, etc.), 106 & Park, and more (12:25).
  • A pivotal moment: making people laugh in the line outside the MTV building led to a producer giving him access (12:25).
  • Helped by Christina Milian, who cast him in "Love Don’t Cost a Thing," and survived a hilarious near-miss with 50 Cent (“I just took a G Unit T-shirt”) (11:46).

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4. Wild 'N Out, Warmup Gigs, and Missed Shots

• Wild 'N Out Journey

  • Missed original Wild 'N Out opportunity due to childcare, but eventually got onto the show via the warmup path — helped by Spanky Hayes, Shantae Wayans, and Jack Thriller (13:47–15:51).
  • Unique path:

    "I was the warm up for so long for that show...I'm doing warm up for like two years on the show."
    — Rip Michaels (15:53)

• Behind-the-Scenes Reality

  • Producers used Rip’s stand-up warmup footage for the actual show’s laugh tracks (16:45).

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5. The Evolution of Black Comedy TV & Community Responsibility

• TV’s Changing Landscape

  • Longing for the era of Black TV that showcased excellence—Martin, Cosby Show, In Living Color—versus now, where “ignorance represents us” (17:51–18:20).
  • Compares gatekeeping of old TV to newer platforms like Zeus and Tubi, crediting them for giving chances (18:20–18:39).

• On Failure & Growth

  • Insights on the necessity of failure in creative growth:

    "Failure breeds greatness. ...I got booed a lot, a lot, bitch."
    — Rip Michaels (18:48–18:53)

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6. Building Platforms: April Fools Comedy Jam, Tours, and Uplifting Others

• From Local Rooms to Arenas

  • Rip closed the gap after a friend (comedian Rasheed) passed away, taking over his rooms and donating proceeds to his family (21:09).
  • Created the April Fools Comedy Jam, growing it to 16,000-seat arena shows and uplifting R&B artists with the Fall Back in Love tour (22:08–23:52).

• Legacy of Collaboration

  • Vision:

    "I stopped elevating my career because I started going like, you know what? I'm gonna bring us all up."
    — Rip Michaels (22:08)

  • Recounts booking Nick Cannon himself and packing out venues using hustle and faith (33:29–34:50).

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7. Adversity, Health Crisis, and Realizations

• Health Struggles

  • Rip’s perspective post-heart attacks (“heart at 19%”) and kidney failure; emphasizes commitment to purpose (28:13–29:32; 51:36):

    "If I ever get well enough...I'm gonna make it mean something. I'm gonna push myself and I'm gonna push my brand."
    — Rip Michaels (28:13)

• Industry Loyalty & Loneliness

  • Felt abandoned during health crisis, only one person showed up for him; awakened to who is truly in his corner (29:32–30:18).
  • Memphis Bleek offers Jay-Z’s advice:

    "No one’s coming to save us. We gotta save ourself." (30:45)

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8. Comedy as Healing and Service

• Comedians' Real Role

  • Comedy as medicine:

    "My name is actually not Rip Michaels—it’s Rip Mike Heals...That mic can really, really heal people."
    — Rip Michaels (49:18, 50:14)

  • Focus on providing relief for real people in the audience, regardless of the venue or material circumstances (38:48).

• Stand-up Misconceptions

  • The audience often underestimates how difficult and intelligent the craft of comedy is:

    "Comedians are some of the smartest, most intelligent people that you'll ever come across. Because we normally take tragedy and we find a way of making it funny…"
    — Rip Michaels (54:20)

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9. Ownership, Business Savvy, and Challenging Power

• Owning Success

  • Details the business of renting arenas (MSG, Barclays, etc.), and overcoming dismissiveness and prejudice from venue staff (71:54–77:03).
  • Standing up for himself and his team—refusing bad industry deals, demanding fair treatment and autonomy.

• Building Without the Machine

  • Rip’s pride in being one of the only comedians to self-sell out arenas, usually done by a “machine” for other acts (68:19).
  • Memphis Bleek reinforces the value of ownership and creative control seeded from grassroots (69:16–70:23).

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10. Social Media, Evolving Comedy Consumption, and Cultural Revolution

• Internet Era vs. DVD Era

  • From selling other comics’ DVDs on the street to viral memes and Instagram clips—social media opened up opportunities and broke old-school gatekeeping (42:11–45:32).

• Critical of Industry Exploitation

  • Breaks down predatory contracts offered by major companies; refuses to cede control over his work (66:24–69:19).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Comedy has always been like—Chicago. That was back in the era where you could boo people. ...That was in the era you could boo people." — Rip Michaels (08:08)
• "I was the warm up guy. I didn’t even know they having auditions. I'm doing warm up for like two years on the show." — Rip Michaels on his journey into Wild 'N Out (15:53)
• "Failure breeds greatness. ...I got booed a lot, a lot, bitch." — Rip Michaels (18:53)
• "We do 18,000 people at State Farm Arena. We have done 22,000 people in a garden on a Wednesday with only three weeks of promotion..." — Rip Michaels on building his platform (61:54)
• "If you can't laugh at yourself, then you looking at life too serious, man. Life is to be enjoyed." — Memphis Bleek (41:36)
• "No one's coming to save us. We gotta save ourself." — Memphis Bleek quoting Jay-Z (30:45)
• "Comedians are some of the smartest, most intelligent people that you'll ever come across. Because we normally take tragedy and we find a way of making it funny..." — Rip Michaels (54:20)
• "My name is not Rip Michaels. ...It’s Rip Mike Heals." — Rip Michaels (50:14)

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Notable Timestamps

• 03:06 — Memphis Bleek opens, urges organ donation
• 04:02 — Rip Michaels introduced
• 05:26 — Rip’s early comedy journey in Chicago
• 08:08 — On the “boo” culture and learning resilience
• 12:25 — TV credits, warmup gigs, meeting Christina Milian
• 13:47–15:51 — Wild 'N Out path, mothering his daughter
• 17:51 — Black television’s golden era & what's missing now
• 22:08–23:52 — Creating and scaling April Fools Comedy Jam, Fall Back in Love tour
• 28:13 — Health crisis and “doing it with purpose”
• 33:29–34:47 — Booking Nick Cannon, the hustle into sold-out arenas
• 51:36 — Health struggles, almost stepping away temporarily from comedy
• 54:20 — Audience misconceptions about standup and comedians' intelligence
• 61:54 — Rip’s mission: Elevation and collective success
• 69:16–70:23 — Importance of building and maintaining ownership

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The Tone & Energy

• Authentic, funny, and raw: Both guests keep the conversation candid, switching seamlessly between storytelling, industry critique, and energetic banter.
• Inspirational & Empowering: Rip’s perseverance—both his physical battles and business victories—shine throughout.
• Community-focused and supportive: Constant refrain of “togetherness” and “uplifting our people” as the path forward.

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Final Takeaways

• Rip Michaels is more than a comedian — he’s a culture builder, business innovator, and community leader.
• Legacy, access, and ownership: The episode is a rallying call for Black creatives to own their work, believe in collective power, and never rely on the system to validate their dreams.
• Vulnerability is a strength: Whether admitting to hospitalization, business failures, or difficult choices, Rip champions transparency as crucial to the journey.

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For New Listeners

If you're unfamiliar with Rip Michaels, check out:

• April Fools Comedy Jam Special at the Apollo and Barclays for his signature “healing with laughter.”
• His viral appearances from Wild ‘N Out and standup clips on social media.
• Upcoming projects: multiple specials, his podcast with his wife (“Kind of Sorta Married”), a show with Erica Mena, and the One Wild Night festival (September 5, Atlanta).

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Stay Solid. Stay Roc. 🎙🔥

Transcript

[Stephanie Young]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human.

[Rip Michaels]

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[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

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[Rip Michaels]

What?

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

You probably won't believe it either.

[Stephanie Young]

Was this before you wrote his stories? It must have been okay. I don't think that's true.

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

I'm telling you, I was a spy. Listen to the Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rip Michaels]

I'm Daniel Alarcon and this is my friend. He's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co host of the podcast

[Howie Mandel]

the Away End with my old friend Daniel.

[Rip Michaels]

On our podcast the Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why. Of all the unimportant things football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the Away End with Daniel

[Howie Mandel]

Alarcon and John green on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rip Michaels]

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[Howie Mandel]

Right now.

[Rip Michaels]

The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back.

[Howie Mandel]

Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got

[Rip Michaels]

to see for yourself.

[Howie Mandel]

That's why I stay locked in with

[Rip Michaels]

the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports.

[Howie Mandel]

I can follow the teams I care

[Rip Michaels]

about, get real time.

[Howie Mandel]

Scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place.

[Rip Michaels]

Download the Bleacher Report app today so

[Howie Mandel]

you never miss a moment.

[Stephanie Young]

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[Rip Michaels]

Ah.

[Stephanie Young]

Because however you mix it, those extra 13 grams of complete plant protein are the little bit of extra you need. A little extra readiness, a little extra boost, a little extra. So let's mix up the old routine from here on out. Let's start our morning strong. Silk protein feel planty. Good.

[Memphis Bleak]

What up, y'? All? This your main man, Memphis Bleak, right here. Welcome to Rock Solid, a production of iHeartRadio and the Black Effect Network in partnership with my guys over at Drink Champs. Yeah, sure, boy. Memphis Bleak right here. And before we get into this episode, I would like to take a second to bring awareness to organ donation. April is national Donate Life month. It's a reminder that there are thousands of people right now waiting on a life saving organ transplant. It's not something we talk about enough, but one decision can literally save a life. Becoming an organ donor doesn't cost you anything, but it can mean everything to someone else. So take a minute, learn more, and if you can, sign up to be a donor. Now let's get into this episode.

[Rip Michaels]

You should know by now. You should know by now.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, y', all. You already know what it is. Yours truly back with another exclusive episode of Rock Solid. And this time, I got somebody special with me, man. One of the funniest comedians you seen on tv, been in many, many shows from msg, NBC, Carson Daly, man, this man have been all over tv, man. The wild N out. I let him tell you for himself. We got Rip Michaels in the building, man. And it's a pleas.

[Rip Michaels]

Thank you. First of all, huge fan, man. Thank you. Honored to be on the couch with you chopping up. I love what you're doing, man. Studio's fire. Your whole staff treat me well. I really appreciate, man, if you haven't been on it, you need to come on it because it's a dope platform, dope podcast.

[Memphis Bleak]

All I'm gonna say, they gotta be solid. First, this ain't. This ain't for everybody. Can't sit on this couch because a lot of these guys, they not Solid. They veer off the track of being solid. So everybody is. We welcome everybody, but not everybody.

[Rip Michaels]

Ooh, it's exclusive.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. It's not forever.

[Rip Michaels]

Not including. I get you. I got you. So like pimp word.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes, yes, definitely. Being from the shop, man, you from one of my favorite cities, the Chicago, man, the land of no BBL is all natural.

[Rip Michaels]

Yes, that is definitely true. That is definitely true.

[Memphis Bleak]

I ain't learned that until I went and was like, what the fuck? They got in the water out here was like, God damn, I might have to move to the shop. But yeah, man, being from the Shire, coming up as a comedian, your era, like, what was that like for you in the beginning?

[Rip Michaels]

So the beginning of it for me was weird. Cause I started comedy when I was about 12, 13 years old. So like a lot of comedians you see now, like the D Rays and the Corey Holcombs and the Bill Bellamy's and the Damon Williams, like, I was the kid that they wouldn't even let in the club, in the Cotton Club. I would have to stand outside. And then when it was my turn to go on stage, they made me go back outside. Yeah. And it's a weird thing to get into it. Cause my dad's. It was my auntie. I called her Auntie Jockey. So that was my auntie. My Auntie Jockey, the one that took me around and showed me what was going on in Chicago, put me to see him. But I found out later on that wasn't my auntie, that was my dad. That was my dad's girlfriend. She used to make me call her Auntie Job. I didn't know that. I didn't know that one. Dad came home, my mom was like, that ain't your goddamn auntie, that's your daddy. Girlfriend, go outside, your Uncle Charles gonna take you to the zoo. So that kind of stopped right then and there. Yeah, that was true.

[Memphis Bleak]

So it's real when you get a fake relative.

[Rip Michaels]

I didn't know that. I had no idea back in the day.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was creeping.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

You just had a fake uncle, fake auntie.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, this is my cousin from the. Your dad's side. Like what?

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, that was that generation. And I didn't know any better than that, you know. But hey, my parents been together what, 43 years? And they was cheating on each other for 40 years, but they still together.

[Memphis Bleak]

Damn.

[Rip Michaels]

So don't judge that. So they don't judge my parents. They still together.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

To this day. My parents been together so long, they got the same voice yo, chick. Yeah, that's when you know. That's when you know you've been together. Like, hey, mama, now this your daddy. Hey, daddy. No, this your mama. They got that same. And I love my parents. Big shout out to them.

[Memphis Bleak]

So, like, you know, Chicago, I feel like the three roughest cities to perform in. Whatever field of performing you're in, that's the toughest is New York, Philadelphia, Chicago. You know what I mean? Like, the shot don't play. Just like New York and Philly don't play. What was performing there and getting the reaction from the crowd in your hometown first teach you about being a comedian?

[Rip Michaels]

It taught me a lot, man. Cause, you know, like, I was. I was a kid at the time, so watching Deon Cole and watching him, like, I remember watching running up on Deon Cole the very first time I did a show, I think it was in Gary, Indiana with him. And I was like, yo, it was when Def Jam came out. So Def Jam for me was like the NBA for like, people who want to play basketball. Russ put a lot of people watching that. And then seeing Deion Cole maybe like a couple weeks later and was like, yo, man, you a celebrity, man. He like, I ain't no goddamn celebrity. I came on an L train. What are you talking. Yo, I got $700 for that show. So was different and introducted into the scene. But comedy has always been like Chicago. That was back in the era where you could boo people. Now no one really gets booed or heckled. That was in the era you could boo people. Yeah, that was an era.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's because now it's edited out. I believe a lot of these things is controlled. It's not live performances no more.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, but back in the day, like, you know, I cut my teeth in Chicago, but, you know, big shout out to New York I came from. That's when I got my real. I would say really taking it serious. After I graduated college, I came from to New York. And like, I came to New York, I was homeless on the streets. And I was like, if this comedy thing is gonna mean anything. Cause Dave Chappelle told me that. Dave Chappelle was like, if you ever want to find out if you really got what it takes, you'll go to New York. And that was when he had the movie Blue Streak out. And I was like, all right, I never been here. Got off the Greyhound bus. My daddy's girlfriend had died then, so I couldn't call her.

[Memphis Bleak]

Auntie passed away there. Rest in peace, Auntie.

[Rip Michaels]

It's A different thing when the side chick died. So it ain't different. And it's a true story. So, like, I'll make up any of this shit. My dad Wiley watching, he's like, yeah, damn, that's crazy. But my mama boyfriend dead too, so he gone. So now they really committed, so now it's all about them. But I came to New York and I got off the Greyhound bus. I ain't no shit about it at all. I didn't know nothing about New York. So I got off the Greyhound bus and I was like, I'm gonna do comedy here. And I started walking around people's giving out flyers at Times Square. And that's kind of why I got cut my teeth in. But I would say New York gives you that. That era of, you know. Cause I used to do comedy anyway. I'm talking about squads, I'm talking about Utica Avenue, I'm talking about, you name it, Bushwick. I'm talking about Queens, I'm talking about 40 projects. I'm on Bayley. I went anywhere that would actually trenches. Yeah, I did Manhattan proper. I did all of those things. I got a chance to do the Peppermint a couple times in New Jersey. And it was just the era where they didn't like you. They would boo the hell out of you. And I used to do this Jamaican spot I did. It's called Footprints and Clarity.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, yeah. Come on, Jamaican spires. Come on, we know Footprints. You from Brooklyn, you know Footprints.

[Rip Michaels]

They would throw shit at people. They would throw pepper pot and swordfish and Aki and all. They didn't give a damn. That was that era when, you know,

[Memphis Bleak]

Caribbean crowd is tough.

[Rip Michaels]

Yes, yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's one of the toughest crowds too. They don't play that shit.

[Rip Michaels]

But see, I didn't know that. Cause you know, in New York, I mean, in Chicago, growing up in the Midwest, you don't really know that. It's different. You just look at black people like they black people. You'd be like, what up, broad? And you be like, yo. You mean brod up broad? I know your brother. I ain't no brother. Are you yo? Shit, where are you from? You Jamaican like, no, I'm Haitian. I'm True Yadian. I'm this. I'm Bajan.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm Guyanese. Guyanese.

[Rip Michaels]

I'm Guyanese.

[Memphis Bleak]

And if you get it wrong, it's just like that with the Latin community. They take that shit real serious.

[Rip Michaels]

They do.

[Memphis Bleak]

Even the Asians, like. And we fuck em all up.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah. We don't know.

[Memphis Bleak]

I word up as black people. I still look at certain Jermaine like, yo, you from hating, man. I'm from fucking Ghana. Like, you from Africa, nigga. Like, what the fuck?

[Rip Michaels]

Like, word.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, I still fuck it up. So I feel you on that. How was it working with Carson Daily, man? I know that had to be an experience in itself.

[Rip Michaels]

So when I got into the comedy thing, I started saying to myself, like, you know what? I gotta get credits. Because I started noticing that they wouldn't put you up unless you had credits. Like, I was doing all these open mics and I couldn't take my career to the next level. So I started doing warmup for and big shout out to Christina Milian. I was like the first person to ever be like, look, you know what I'm saying? I'm a look out for you. And I used to do. Because I did a show called Becoming. It was Wannabes. I remember. If you remember that back in the day, that was like, if you could. It was like a contest. And you got to be whatever rapper you won and they make you a video or whatever. Whatever. And I did that. And believe it or not, I was Ja Rule on the show. Yeah, I was out. What would I be without you? I did such a good job on it that 50 Cent hated me back then. I'm joking. I'm jok. Let me stop. Cause 50 Cent is petty. He's petty as hell.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, he. He. Yo, he just was on my. Yo, he petty.

[Rip Michaels]

Like, I actually did a show with 50 Cent. He had a comedy show called 50 Central on BET. And I fell off the stage. Cause like a faulty thing, like a beam. And I could tell that I wasn't gonna get paid. Cause 50 cent came over and he looked at the Beam and looked at me, and I was like this. And I was like, okay, you know what? I'm just gonna take a G Unit T shirt.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo.

[Rip Michaels]

Shit. No, I got me on some bullshit.

[Memphis Bleak]

He's shooting at everybody. He got mad drama right now. It's Smokey fucking for him.

[Rip Michaels]

What?

[Memphis Bleak]

It's Smokey. Everybody dropping verses, raps, memes. It's meme wars. He even put me in the meme war. Like, nigga, what I said, I ain't got no record about you, homie. Chill.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, petty 50.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. Yo, but now Christine Milian looked out. That's dope.

[Rip Michaels]

She put me in. And to answer your question about Carson Daly, like, I started doing woman for every single MTV show. I started doing woman for TRL. I started doing woman for every single thing. 106 Park. I was the official, like the crowd guided to just beforehand and get in this shit beach house, all that. So. And then Carson was like, you know what? Cause I was the one of God for him. He put me on his late night show called Late Night with Carson Daly and a whole bunch of other stuff. So big shout out to the whole MTV team. Because it's funny. Cause I used to sleep outside of 1550 Broadway, like, you know what I'm saying? Right outside. And I used to look up at the window, I was like, one day I'm gonna be on mtv. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna be this person. So I started by just making people in the line laugh. How they was going up to the building and I was to start cracking jokes. Yeah. And I started cracking jokes and the producer saw me and he was like, you know what? Why don't you come upstairs? And it started from that whole thing and just, you know, transcending to meet Christina and doing the Ja Rule thing and just snowballing me on Comic View and Bad Boys of Comedy and all that stuff. Just kind of moved on to that thing. And she even put me in the movie. Love don't cause a Thing. So big shout out to her and her mom, Mama Milian.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's dope. I ain't even know you was in Love don't cause the Thing.

[Rip Michaels]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[Memphis Bleak]

Canon was in that. Moving, moving, grooving. Yeah, Shout out my dog Nick, man. And that. So that obviously being in the mtv, I feel like system that's the segue into Wild' N Out. Or did you meet Nick on a separate occasion and the wild' n Out position happened.

[Rip Michaels]

I met Nick for the first time at Let on calls the thing. And that was when I guess, you know, Wild N Out wasn't out yet. It was just like a concept. And I remember Spanky Hayes. I don't know if you know Spanky Hayes. Yeah. So Spanky Hayes on. He was telling me that he was like, yo, we about to shoot this thing for nb. But when I came to New York, a lot of people know I was a single father. So the whole time I was homeless, I was with my daughter. Had full custody of my daughter since she was 2 years old. And she was with me every single step of the way. So when that opportunity came, I couldn't take it. I couldn't do it. I couldn't go out to audition. Cause it's just me and My daughter. I couldn't just go to LA for that time. So right after I did the movie, I came right back home and I was just like, damn. I always felt like I missed that opportunity. But, you know, Nick ended up marrying Mariah and they brought it to New York and I was like, ah, I'm good now. So I was like, it's here. And I remember going to the first season when they brought it back, and Spanky was like, yo, man, come through. And you know, I'm gonna look out for you, I'm gonna introduce you and bring you in here. And the funniest thing, Spanky forgot to leave my name at the door. Or he didn't leave my name at the door. So I'm standing there, I'm like, yeah, I'm on Spanky's list. And it's like, spanky ain't no damn list.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Rip Michaels]

And I'm like, oh. And I'm calling my nigga and he's not answering the phone. It's just like.

[Memphis Bleak]

I was like, new York, shit, we got a lot of those stories.

[Rip Michaels]

But God always be on my side. Cause the director was like one of the people that cp, he was one of the people that directed trl. So he saw me, he's like, rip, what are you doing here?

[Memphis Bleak]

He was like, da, da, you doing

[Rip Michaels]

one before the show? And I was like, nah, I was trying to get in. And then Spanky didn't leave my name. He was like, come on in. And then I got that. And then I used to help and assist Shantae and Shantae Wayne started looking out for me, so I started helping other people. And a big shout out to Jack Thriller. Jack Thriller really helped me get in. Yeah, Jack Thriller and really helped me get in to start doing the warmup and stuff like that. So I had to start as the warmup comic even for that show. So I started back in the same thing, thinking I was gonna get on, but I didn't. I was the warm up for so long for that show. And then one day, I believe a comedian by the name of Jimmy Martinez came and was like, yo, man, they having auditions. And mind you, I'm the warm up guy. I didn't even know they having auditions. I'm doing warm up for like two years on the show.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's crazy how he get the information.

[Rip Michaels]

He had an agent. This is me freelancing the whole damn time. So I'm out here like trying to just figure out how to maneuver myself through it because I'm like, bam. And so then I'm doing a warmup. Jimmy's like, they're gonna have auditions tomorrow. You should start asking me about it. I'm gonna try to get you in, get you one too. Cause I'm auditioning and I'm like, I bet. And so then I started doing the warm up and I forgot her name, but she was one of the producers on it. She was like, rip, I'm gonna try to get you an audition. Cause what happens when I used to do warmup? I used to make the crowd so hysterically laughing and the energy. So they would use my stand up part of me doing stand up before the show. And they would bank it and they would turn the cameras on. Because normally when you do warm up, they turn the cameras off, they go take lunch. So they started filming the crowd when I would do warmup and taking those, those laughs and those bits and adding them to the show. So I would. Sometimes you'll watch the show and you'd be like, they hysterically laughing. That would probably be when I was doing warmups.

[Memphis Bleak]

So they was capping, in other words, they was capping. They was using your action for somebody else jokes. That wasn't slapping.

[Rip Michaels]

I don't think it's capping. I think that's just part of production. Cause normally you bank those things. Normally you have a person go out and you bank them and you be like, fake laugh, fake clap, fake this, fake that.

[Memphis Bleak]

They used to hold signs up back in the day. Yeah, Everybody make noise, Everybody applause.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

So instead of doing that shows like

[Rip Michaels]

that, they would just take my stand up and we would go straight in and they would just keep me up there and they start filming it. So then it was like, eventually they was like, you know what, let's give him an audition, let's give him a shot.

[Memphis Bleak]

Do you feel like wild' n Out? I feel like created a lot of jobs in the black community, black comic community for us. Like you had shows like Def Comedy Jam, you had Bad Boys of Comedy, you know what I mean? You had all those shows and then a lot of these, you know, comedians went on to do television. And now when you look at television, you don't see no more. Not even just from comedians, actors, period. There's no more real television shows or even shows for our community. Do you feel like that's something that's missing, that you want to contribute or create more?

[Rip Michaels]

1,000%. That era was dope, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Super dope. I miss it, bro.

[Rip Michaels]

Man, the era of Martin. Different world.

[Memphis Bleak]

Different world. Everything.

[Rip Michaels]

And Just showing black excellence and living color.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was just the Cosby's. Yeah. Showing the show. It showed the different levels, all that stuff. All of that, man. Show different levels of our community. You know what I mean? Now it's just ignorance that represents us. So I definitely feel it's a loss that's missing in television with us, for sure.

[Rip Michaels]

Well, we always got Zeus and Tubi. Yo, chair, we go tube.

[Memphis Bleak]

We shoot at you. He got a red shirt. He cut back dye. It's a blue shirt. Like, yo, what happened?

[Rip Michaels]

Nah, you got it. I'm joking. You got a shout out to me. They actually.

[Memphis Bleak]

I love what they do.

[Rip Michaels]

They do actually give you a shot. They don't even care if it's whatever. They actually give people a shot.

[Memphis Bleak]

And that's what's dope about it. Cause all you could do is try, man. You know what I mean? Get better. Like to get better at something. I always felt like you had to fail before. You don't just start off great.

[Rip Michaels]

I agree with that.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I mean? Failure breeds greatness. A thousand and a lot of failure.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, a lot. Don't get Twitter. I got booed a lot. A lot, bitch.

[Memphis Bleak]

I got booed one time, bro, I swear. And I swear. Remember the Southwest commercial they used to have when they be like, you wanna get away? And they'd put the Southwest commercial like, you gotta. Yo, bro, I had one of those moments in Baltimore. This is being from New York, not realizing there's a thin line between Baltimore and dc And I'm over there like, yeah, peace and love. Dc. Them niggas like, boo, ho.

[Rip Michaels]

Damn.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, bro, I'm standing there like, what I did. Y' all just was rocking with me through the whole show. Niggas, we don't care, boo. This ain't dc, nigga.

[Rip Michaels]

Damn, that dmv. Yeah, that's not the dmv. That's bald. That's Bmore.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, I swear, I learned the hard way, so I know about a boo or two, you know what I mean? Like, yo, like being from Chicago, you know, Chicago produced many legends from the comedian side, from the music side. Did you get any inspiration from any of those guys on the come up? You started young, though, so.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, my God, yes, of course, man. Idols. Come on, Bernie Mac. Come on. Are you serious?

[Memphis Bleak]

Come on.

[Rip Michaels]

That to me, was like, the idol.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes, Bernie Mark, Bernie Mac. A legend.

[Rip Michaels]

And then you look at the D Rays. Like, everybody. When you come to New York, you look at all the great comedians that come from New York. Like Eddie Murphy's from here. You look at Chris Rock, you look. There's just been a plethora of black excellence, man. And just to be a part of even the people I work with now. And it's funny, cause I get to call them peers now. You know what I'm saying? I got a show like even April Fools. It's me, Michael Blackston, Bill Bellamy. So just being on the same Marlon and being on the same shows, that's dope, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Y' all gonna be in the Barclays, man. Shout that out, man. Let them know. Oh, that's gonna be crazy. April Fool's Day. The Barclays. Brooklyn is going down.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, it's just a dope thing that I've been doing for. Honestly, it's funny. Cause you speak about black excellence. That's a show I've been doing for about 15 years now. Oh, wow. And it was just the concept of me, like, looking to, like, when I started my career, I wanted to go here, right? So when I started doing all these rooms, a friend of mine named Rasheed passed away. I don't know if you remember Rasheed, if you ever seen the Bad Boys of Comedy, he was the one that had Uncle Dope. And he was like, oh, papi ain't no snitch. Or he was like. He was like, yeah, I gotta go back and check it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, I probably remember the joke, but not the face, you know what I mean?

[Rip Michaels]

And he passed away.

[Memphis Bleak]

Sorry to hear that.

[Rip Michaels]

When he passed away, a lot of people tried to host his rooms. Cause I had a lot of rooms. And at one point, when it came to comedy in New York, you couldn't come to New York without calling me. Cause from Monday all the way to Sunday, I had two rooms a night. And then when he passed away, his room, I ended up doing his rooms too. Because they were gonna disappear. And his brother in law was like, hey, man, Rip, they're gonna take these rooms away. Would you mind hosting it? And I was like, yeah, I'll host it. But when I'm hosting it, I need you to whatever. I think the budget was like $800. So I was like, take the majority of the budget, take 600, give me two. And you give that to his daughters and his family so I can keep that going. I'm gonna take two, I'm gonna get a comedian a hundred. And the rest of y' all just divvy that up and do whatever y' all want with that. And he's like, serious. I was like, yeah, it's not. We Gotta keep this going. Cause, you know, he had a heart attack at such a young age, and he was on his way, bro. Like, he was really, really on it. Wow, man. Damn.

[Memphis Bleak]

Bringing that up. Sorry to hear about it, man. I'm glad you sitting here healthy, strong man. You know you suffered a heart attack.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, man. It's just. You never know, man. Word up. And I said all that to be like, you know, back then, I set up this April Fool's Comedy Jam, and I was like, you know what? I stopped elevating my career because I started going like, you know what? I'm gonna bring us all up. I'm gonna show what we can do when we come together collectively. And that's what the Able Fools was. And I was like, all right, cool. I'm gonna take me, you, and let's go sell out the Barclays Center. Everybody thought I was crazy. It was like, you gonna sell out the Barclays center with a whole bunch of comedians? And together we may do like, 300 people. And I was like, nah, I'm gonna make it something dope. And when I did that, like, I have mad rapper friends. So I was like, all right, you know what? I'm gonna put you in. I got you. We gonna do you, you. And then I made it all about all the people I know. So that's how the April Fools Comedy Jam came about. And it became this big thing where you got people that would never normally be in an arena doing 16,000 people. Like, we do shows in the round, and it's just been that cultivating thing like that with April Fools. And if you fast forward, I own the Fall Back in Love. And that's when I take all the R and B stars that people thought they forgot about. Like, I put Brandi on when she hadn't been doing a song in 10 years. And Trey, when he had a court case every week.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, Terry still got a court case every week. And that's my dog, man. Shout Out Trey.

[Rip Michaels]

Yep. That's the big homie, though, man, like Mario. And, like, if you look at all of these people, I was like, we coming out of this club thing. We gonna be big. And I started this whole R and B. Bring back older R and B artists that are now just probably doing clubs and, like. And so if you look at April Fools, that's me. And comedians and hip hop artists. And if you look at Fall Back in Love, that's comedians and R and B artists.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Rip Michaels]

If you look at the Wild N Out tour, there's something also started The Wild N Out tour in Queens. In Amazura of all places. Started that. Yeah, come on. I did that with 1500 people in the room. I started that. And next thing you know, I was number two on Polestar. And we're selling out arenas and it's what, five years strong of doing nothing but sold out shows across the country. The Global Gaming League is presented by

[Howie Mandel]

Atlas Earth, the fun cashback app. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my How We do it gaming team take on Gilly the king and wallow. $267 million gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match right [e-mail] that's globalgamingleague.com in partnership with Level Up Expo.

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda and the bfg. But did you know he was also a spy?

[Stephanie Young]

Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been.

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

Our new podcast series, the Secret World of Roald Dahl is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans.

[Memphis Bleak]

What?

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either.

[Stephanie Young]

Okay, I don't think that's true.

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelts, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congressman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids? The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to the Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Stephanie Young]

In 2023, former Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct.

[Rip Michaels]

I doctored the test once.

[Stephanie Young]

It took an army of Internet detectives to crack the case.

[Rip Michaels]

I wanted people to be able to

[Stephanie Young]

see what their tax dollars were being used for.

[Rip Michaels]

Sunlight's the greatest disinfectant they would uncover

[Stephanie Young]

a dis disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

[Rip Michaels]

Greg Gillespie and Michael Mancini.

[Stephanie Young]

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap.

[Rip Michaels]

Laura Scottsdale Police.

[Stephanie Young]

As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences.

[Rip Michaels]

Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at a Maricopa county as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona.

[Stephanie Young]

Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rip Michaels]

The global Gaming league is presented by

[Howie Mandel]

Atlas Earth, the fun cashback app. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my Howie do it gaming team take on Gilly the King and Wallow267's million dollars gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown. Plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match match right [e-mail] that's globalgamingleague.com in partnership

[Narrator (Secret World of Roald Dahl Podcast)]

with Level Up Expo.

[Stephanie Young]

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[Memphis Bleak]

Looking back, do you, do you credit the struggle years of your comedian career to the businessman you are today? Did those years you feel like carve you to the man and the businessman you are today to make those decisions, to create all these new platforms to come together?

[Rip Michaels]

I wouldn't say I was thinking business at the time. I would say that I was thinking more like let's change. Let's change the perception of what we doing. I wasn't even thinking of it as no financial like, oh, we gonna kill him. We gonna make a lot. It was more like we matter. Like we come together. We can do these great things that people just think that we can honestly, I know you brought up the hard thing, but. And that's why I'm doing this now. Like if you. I was in a hospital and I hate to jump all over subjects, but I was in a hospital and you know, I had a heart attack. I had a heart attack at State Farm arena on the side of the stage and 18,000 people there. And I'm just like, okay. And I've been in. I'm still on a heart transplant. At least it's not over. Like, my heart is still at 19% and I'm sitting in a hospital bed. And I was like, yo, if I ever get well enough. Cause it's not over. It's still a journey. Like, today is a good day, but tomorrow may be a bad day. But I promise myself that if I ever get a chance to do comedy again, I'm gonna make it mean something. I'm gonna push myself and I'm gonna push my brand. And I'm. Cause I realized that being in there, you start to realize, like, who really is your friend, whose business who.

[Memphis Bleak]

Who's not started to mad. You start to realize what really matters.

[Rip Michaels]

Dude, I lost my health insurance, right? And so I'm getting about to get kicked out the hospital. And I called every single person I knew to like, just put me in something because I'm sag, so that's. My insurance is sag. So it's like I'm calling everybody I know they got a movie or anything. I'm like, throw me in this, don't put me in this. And I park the cars in the movie. I just need to make like 10 grand on. On SAG so I can keep my insurance so I can stay in this hospital. And the fact that I couldn't get one person to do that for me out of all the things I've done was just a wake up call. A wake up call. And big shout out to, you know, we in Jersey. Big shout out to Justina. She was doing a little independent movie and she was like, all right, Rip. You could just play whatever. Just come by. I got you.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what's up, man.

[Rip Michaels]

And it was like a person I would never think in a million years. Like, come on, Are you serious? I don't know if you know who Justina is, but, like, that's the girl on Wild Eye with the red hair. Yeah, she got the same face and ass as Gary Owens. Not no more. She got it done.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, cheer.

[Rip Michaels]

I tell her all the time. She got Gary Owens. She kind of looked like Tommy from Power in the face, but that's my girl. She always joke on me, but like, she did that for me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah, man, that's a blessing, man. And you know, like, that's one thing and it's sad and it's fucked up. Cause as having a good. Being a good person, you do so much for so Many people that when it's your turn for people in return, there's no one ever there. And that's one thing that I always. You know, people always like, yo, what's some advice that Jay gave you that you take with you is that, yo, no one's coming to save us. You know what I mean? We gotta save ourself. We the ones that when we save ourself, we in a position to save others, but no one's coming to save us. And that's something I always remember, like, we gotta get it. And it's sad reality, but it is, man. That's the reality. When heartache and pain hits, it's just you and your loved ones. A lot of friends go, I was a hundred deep before, you know me. My brother accident, after my brother accident. You see. You see the road? It's five of us. You know what I mean? And that's just what it is. The main one stay. And the ones who just was crowding on the boat, they jump. And it's cool. The boat's still gonna go. You still doing your thing, Blessing, like you said. April 4, April Fool's Comedy Jam. You selling out the Barclays. So I'm pretty sure a lot of people who jumped off the boat or didn't even throw you a life raft begging you for a life raft now. You know what I mean?

[Rip Michaels]

You know what it is? I still won't change me. I still. I didn't take that away.

[Memphis Bleak]

Mm.

[Rip Michaels]

I didn't take that away. And I don't cause what I do for people. I did it with no expectation.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

So I don't expect anybody to do anything for me. And I'm not mad or have an issue with anybody that don't want me to do it. I didn't do it for that. I did it to do and help and be there for others. And I'm gonna still be the same person. So these people are still my friends. I still call these people to this day. And I think that our relationship has gotten better. But now I understand that God got me here for a purpose.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And I wasn't living my purpose. And so now it's time to be like, okay. Cause no one knew that I did all these things. No one knew that I created the Wild' n Out tour in a small place and 1500 people in Amazon Queens.

[Memphis Bleak]

I definitely had it.

[Rip Michaels]

And that shit started just because we was on the side of the stage and Nick was like, I was working on a special, and I was writing on this special. Stand up. No shoot. And he was like, man, I wish that I could sell out arenas. And it was Katt Williams. We went to go see Katt Williams in Ontario, and he was looking at Kat, and he was like, yo, I wish I could do arenas like this. And I was like, really? You put all these people on. You created the Cavs. You created the Cats, you did the mics. You created all these people. This. This is what you want to do? And I looked. I was like, yo, Nick, man, you changed my life by putting me on Wild N Out, man. And you kept me on that show. And if this is what you want, I got you, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's dope.

[Rip Michaels]

I got you. I said, give me six months, and I promise you we gonna do 10 times more people that's in this room.

[Memphis Bleak]

Damn, that's dope, man.

[Rip Michaels]

And he forgot I booked him. I was like, we gonna get it started. So I put. I was like, hey, man, we're gonna do this little room in Queens. And Nick forgot all about this shit. So I booked it. And I was like, yo, man, Nick, we got this show on the 30th. He was like, what are you talking about? Oh, the 30th. What are you talking. I was like, nick, you told me back then that you wanted to do. He was like, man, I got a show in Chicago, and I can't do your show. And I was like, look, Nick, whatever they pay you in Chicago, I'm gonna give you more than that. I'm gonna give you more money than they give you in Chicago. I need you to move that and do this. And he was like, you got the money now? And I was like, no, I ain't got it now, but I promise you, I got you. Before you touch the stage, you'll have all of your money, plus more than what you're supposed to get in Chicago. And I didn't know how at the time. Cause I was giving out Wild N Out flyers. And he was like, get out of here. That's a kid's show. Nobody wants to see that. My daughter watched that show. And everybody. I thought they would be like, oh, with it. Cause, you know. And it turned out not only did I do one show, I did two shows at Amazor. And then we went out to Long island and we did Patchog and Soundgarden. We did three. And that show was so packed that the mayor and the police came and shut it down. Cause I had 6,000 people in line. Cause there was no ticket master. 6,000 people lined up in people's yards. Damn.

[Memphis Bleak]

6,000 people show up. Yeah. The police showing up.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, 6,000 people.

[Memphis Bleak]

What the hell going on over here?

[Rip Michaels]

And it's a deep in Long island, so you know that's Patchog. So they was just like, like, what in the hell y' all trippin is going on? Y' all gotta get out of our yards.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact.

[Rip Michaels]

And then I thought that would catapult it into something. But then they were like, no, this don't really matter. These numbers. The powers that be was like, these numbers don't mean this and this don't mean that. And I was like, you know what? So because I did it on this scale, this don't matter. So I took my cars and took everything I had on my bank accounts and turned that shit into an arena tour. I went and booked like, 10, I think it was 13 arenas. I booked 13 arenas, and there go history. Like, after that, signed every single one of them. We was like. I was number two in the country on Polestar. It was Kelly Clarkston, and it was me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Damn.

[Rip Michaels]

And it was wilding out. And to this day, we still. You speak about D.C. to this day, I still own the record for doing two arenas in one night. We did show palace, like 12,000 people in there. We took a FBI escort to the Capitol. One arena at the time, and we did 17,000. And when that, we had a 7 o' clock show and a 9:30 show and two arenas in the same night.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's dope, man. I had Nick up here, man, and I was just telling them it's a blessing creating these shows and lasting what wilding out on they, what, 19, 26 seasons? Yo, bro, y' all doing Simpsons numbers over there, man. Like, realistically, that's Simpson numbers.

[Rip Michaels]

But you gotta look what Nick created, man. Look at the comedians out now that's getting money come from that institution. Like Matt rife, Nate Jackson, 85 South.

[Memphis Bleak]

Like, yep, yep.

[Rip Michaels]

You name it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Mike EPPS, I got 85 South. Yup, Mike Epps. Mike Epps. A legend too, man. Like, and then you started. So doing arenas, I'm pretty sure feels natural. Like, you opened up, of course, Rihanna shows, Jay Z, Drake, like, doing those arenas, did that help you prepare for the arenas tours you put together like this?

[Rip Michaels]

I think that opening up for those people and seeing those things, it's funny. Cause I was never like, I never dreamed that big, man. I'm like, I didn't dream that big. I just wanted to just be actually my biggest dream of Being a comedian, I was like, I just want to be on Def Comedy Jam. Damn, that's crazy Rush. That was the only thing I ever dreamed of doing that the highest I thought he could take. I wasn't like, I won't be in the movie. I want to be this. And my other dream was to make sure that I could always make people fall out and create that same Def Comedy Jam laughter when you're just falling out the chair. And if you watch my Apollo Special, like, I sold out the Apollo last year, and I had a heart attack after that. Again, had to be rushed to hospital. But, like. And then I did a huge city winery tour, and we sold out every one of those. And I sold out City Winery. And it's just. I never thought that big. It was just me always trying to do stuff for other people, and people shutting doors on our faces was like, all right, you tell me we can't do this, we gonna do it. You telling me we can't have this and these people don't matter, then we gonna do it.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. Always do that.

[Rip Michaels]

And that's what it was always about. And, like, my comedy, when you watch it, if you watch my Apollo Special, if you watch, you know, all those years of doing warmup for so many people, I can always change my joke and fit the environment that I'm in. So whether I'm doing, you know, I was homeless, so there was not an audience I didn't perform for. Like, I would do people's living rooms, I would do a basement. I would do a Guyanese wedding, I would do. I would perform on a train. I would sell Metro swipes. I got to the point where I was doing comedy so much, I didn't even have a dvd. I used to sell other comedians dvd, and they would break me off a piece of it. Like, this dude named Kareem Green, he had a DVD and he was selling it for, like, 15. And I was like, all right, look, how much you pay for it? He's like, I pay 5. I was like, so I'll give you 10, and I'll sell your DVD for 15 and make 5 off each one. And I would sell them to people. And they was like, man, I watched the dvd. You not even on it. I was like, I never said I was on it. I said, it's a funny dvd, but if you keep buying them, I can produce my own specials.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

So I was selling DVD ain't all. I wasn't even on it. You should say, kareem Green, biggest day on it.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's hustling.

[Rip Michaels]

And I just think that's what really prepared me in all those years of being in the background. And I've wrote for so many comedians. Like, I was like, the head writer for the Nick Cannon show. I wrote on the Winnie Williams show. I wrote for so many different comedians, and Franchise Jackson wrote for. It's just so many people that. Whose entire specials I've written and cultivated. And I think all of that journey, being with my daughter the whole time, prepare me for what I was doing. And you don't know that you being prepared and God is sharpening you for something. The whole time you're going through it, you're like, you know, why is there no food on the table? Why is there. Why am I not like, this person or this person?

[Memphis Bleak]

So why such a struggle for me? I sat there, right?

[Rip Michaels]

And you watch it. Like, he just did that. Nice. He just. And I realized God was sharpening and sitting out in that hospital. It's my turn now, and I'm ready for it. Like, I got four different specials. First special I put out did over a million in the first week. The next one I'm putting out, just keep dropping these different things. And now, thanks to you, I'm doing podcasts, and I'm explaining my journey because I didn't care for, like, no way. I never was like, hey, man, it's about rip. It never ever was. It was about, hey, man, let's do this together. We gonna do this. Cool. And it was just when I do this and we shake hands, then when it popped, you go left. Okay. So we. Oh, okay. So that didn't. Oh, all right. Got it. And I just didn't even carry it in. I was like, all right, cool, cool. Whatever. Congratulations. For you, man. Anything I could do. And then being in a hospital, coming out, knowing I need a heart, this is about legacy. This is about sharing God's story and triumph, man. And if I got. If I got two shows left in me, if I got one show left in me, if it was 50 fucking shows left me, I'm gonna give my all, and I'm gonna put my. My. Can't say my heart, but I'm gonna keep it my all, man. And I'm just blessed to. To be here for. It's just whether it's today, tomorrow, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, life is.

[Rip Michaels]

I'm not stopping. And I'm gonna keep creating. I'm gonna keep.

[Memphis Bleak]

Keep.

[Rip Michaels]

Keep growing this thing, and I'm gonna keep making people laugh.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what's up, man. Trust me. You gonna get it, man. You a good guy. Somebody gonna give you that heart in return, man. That's gonna come to you, man. Trust me. It's a sad way that we gotta get it from someone else, like, you know.

[Rip Michaels]

But that is hard, waiting on the life organ. Yes, that is. It is. It puts your mind in a different mindset when you wait on life organ. Cause somebody has to no longer need

[Memphis Bleak]

it for you to get it.

[Rip Michaels]

For me to get it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep.

[Rip Michaels]

So now every time I hear ambulance, I'll be like, God, is that my blessing? Is that me?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, chill.

[Rip Michaels]

I hear gunshots. I'm like, don't shoot him in the chest. Yo, chill, please. Was he a positive? Did anybody know? I slowed out of every car accident. Now I was like, oh, okay, this ain't my turn. Yo, that's crazy. You gotta be able to laugh at yourself, man. You gotta be able to laugh, too.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I tell people. If you can't laugh at yourself, then you looking at life too serious, man. Life is to be enjoyed. And you got a lot of life to give, man. Trust me. God is good. God keeps giving back. And I believe that blessing is definitely, definitely gonna come for you.

[Rip Michaels]

Thank you, man. And, hey, man, I'm not above running into you. You know, I know you still got the hookups in the street. I still. You know what I'm saying? I might slide you to 30,000 for you to bring me the little white. The little red cooler with the white top. Be like, rip.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know what I'm saying?

[Rip Michaels]

I heard about your journey, man. Go and drop 20,000, pick up this.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know, I grew up on Marcy Avenue. They know what's on Lee Avenue. Holla at me now. I ain't gotta say it. Holla at me.

[Rip Michaels]

A positive. You know, y'.

[Memphis Bleak]

All. I mean, Lee Avenue, plug. Holla at me. Yo, you brought up DVDs, right? And I remember when DVDs was the, bro. They was moving through the street like hotcakes, bro. I remember when Jerry Springer tapes was flying in the street.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

All the comedy shows was flying.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

The era. How do you look at comedy has changed now with social media, the Internet and the clips going viral now instead

[Rip Michaels]

of the DVD era, I think that's fire, man. Like, if you take it back and you think about Q, God rest his soul, from, like, you know. You know Q, right?

[Memphis Bleak]

No, I don't think so. You gotta. It's a lot of Q's. Remember, I'm on A project Q.

[Rip Michaels]

A lot of Q's. Q from P from Worldstar.

[Memphis Bleak]

Okay, Yes, I know Q. B from Worldstar.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah. Q&MB.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause remember, I have a cousin named Q.

[Rip Michaels]

So you could have been talking about him. It's mad Q. It's like saying, Ray Ray. I get it.

[Memphis Bleak]

You know Ray Ray.

[Rip Michaels]

You like which Ray Ray?

[Memphis Bleak]

Lil Ray Ray Ray Ray.

[Rip Michaels]

There's a lot of cubes in New York. Yeah. I think that he kinda, you know, evolved that whole thing by taking people's mixtapes and putting them on YouTube and creating this whole War Star thing. So I think that the evolution of it is just fire. Yes, it's fire. It's getting audiences that probably would have never been in the comedy. Cause think about it, when you was a kid, you didn't watch no damn comedy. That wasn't your thing. Really.

[Memphis Bleak]

Nah, that's not true.

[Rip Michaels]

When you were a kid. Kid, like, you was like 10.

[Memphis Bleak]

See, I had an older brother, so they used to remember we had. They used to listen to comedy tapes. Okay, I remember. What was the guy's name that had the comedy tapes they used to listen to back in the day? The Jerky Boys.

[Rip Michaels]

The Jerky Boys.

[Memphis Bleak]

Pause.

[Rip Michaels]

They was tearing the ass out of me.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, yo. You couldn't say that today. Yo, I got a Jerky Boys tape. They could be like, huh?

[Rip Michaels]

Those dudes was hilarious.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, that.

[Rip Michaels]

Those dudes was hilarious. I had all of them tapes.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what I'm saying. Like, comedy evolved from then tapes, movies, VHS DVDs. But now you can just open up social media, go to your Instagram page, go to Twitter, and comedy is all over, man. I feel like we live in a world that's serious, but still take the time to laugh.

[Rip Michaels]

I believe that, man. I applaud every single person for opening up that door. And I would say that's why I shout out Q. Because he was the first person to be like, you know what? These mixtapes ain't gotta be on mixtapes. These ain't gotta be sold on 125th street on a blanket. Let me get booty talk number 12. Let me get that state property DVD. We was definitely on it. Yeah, you're definitely on it, too. I have it before in the movie. In the movie, before it comes out. I have it right now. What? What do you want to do? Please don't work. Two for five, please, my friend. Don't, brother. And look at me back and look at. No, I'm just joking.

[Memphis Bleak]

You taking me back to Canal Street? Cause that's how they was, boy, you get anything you want on these blocks on that blanket they laid down, that

[Rip Michaels]

was an open up shop and pull it out. Store opening, store closing in two seconds. When the cops.

[Memphis Bleak]

Two seconds, bro. Don't let the cops pull around.

[Rip Michaels]

You watch that blanket get wrapped up like a magic trick. So, yeah, I think that what they're doing now is great. I think it opened up the door and I think it stopped a lot of barriers that we had before. Because it used to be one at a time and now it's no longer one at a time. Now you no longer have to go and wait for someone to go, like, I pick him and put him in a movie. Now you can just go and captivate your audience on that. And I think that touching the fans now you don't have to wait. And I love them for doing that, man. I love them for opening those doors. And then they transitioned to the comedy. Look at D.C. young fly, putting out sketches, putting out skits, and next thing you know, one of the hottest comedians in the country.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. D.C. young fly killing them. You named a lot of legends. Deion Cole. Like, man, come on, man, I was a favorite. Like, Eddie Griffin was my guy.

[Rip Michaels]

Come on, boy.

[Memphis Bleak]

Eddie Griffin, Eddie Murphy. All the Eddies was funny. Like, damn, your mom named you Eddie. You was funny. You better be funny. Like, who would you consider your top? Cause you know, when I'm sitting somewhere, they always be like, yo, give me your top five rappers. But it's too many comedians for me to just narrow it down to five. Cause somebody might be like, yo, you left me off. I'mma say top. Who would you put in your top list? Top 10, top 5, top 7, top 6. Wherever you want to stop at.

[Rip Michaels]

What did he say? Dylan. Dylan, who's the best? Dylon. Dylon. Who do I trust? Dialogue. Yo, Jim. Cause I spit hot fire. That's right. Yo, yo, you spit. I think it's a lot of comedians that you'd be surprised if people sleep on. But I think Tony Roberts and I think that if a comedian tells you Tony Roberts isn't one of the funniest comedians in the country, then someone is like lying to you. That's right. That man is hysterically funny. You know you funny. When all the comedians on the show run out to see his set, I think that he's best. And my next would be Rasheed. He was just cultivating a way he could tell a story and just bring you in it and be like, there's a lot of People in this world, you can rob, but a old Spanish man ain't that nigga. That's right. He be like, papi, I shoot you with the gun. I don't give you nothing. I give you $5. You want the $5, you take the $5. He said, Poppy, don't snitch. You be like, somebody got killed on the third floor. That's not me, baby. I live on fifth floor. That's right. That's it. So I think that he was just a great, great comedian, man. One of my mentors in this game. Like, I think if he would have, you know, gone on to live longer, he probably would have been top five, period, man. Just getting it in. But his life was taking too short, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Sorry to hear about that, man.

[Rip Michaels]

You gotta go watch, if you know what I'm talking about. When you watch it, you can be like, he doodle, dude, I'm coming to Jamaican Store, right? You remember coming to the Jamaican Store? He was like, he going to Jamaican Store.

[Memphis Bleak]

He was like, yo, I'm going back to watch it. Cause Def Comedy Jam still available, man. What? Still available.

[Rip Michaels]

Beast. Beast. Beast, man. He always. When he say he go mess with the Spanish people in the Spanish store. And he say, papi, why the cat always sleep on the bread when I come in here? Yo, and that's a fact. He live here. That's it.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, every. That's crazy. See, New York, our stores done changed hands so many times. First it was the Puerto Ricans, Then it was the Dominicans. Then it was the Asians. Now it's the fucking Indians. And now it's the Arabs. Yeah, and them niggas selling bud out the store. I ain't cut. Had that seven for me.

[Rip Michaels]

They do do the little cigarettes. Yo, yo, Lucy's chill.

[Memphis Bleak]

The Lucy. I hate it when somebody be like,

[Rip Michaels]

yo, go to the store.

[Memphis Bleak]

Give me a Lucy. Like, Lucy, buy the pack your broke ass.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah. No, Lucy's here. They tell you true. They even gotta tell you, too.

[Memphis Bleak]

You ain't gimme your top list. You stop.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, so I'm sorry. Tony Roberts. I would say Rasheed, a lot of people, and I'm glad he's getting his shot. Now, T.K. kirkland. Oh, yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

T.K.

[Rip Michaels]

t. To the word up, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

He been in the game since pushing, man.

[Rip Michaels]

Pushing, changing, elevating. Just, you know, my next probably would be Deon Cole. So, of course, we all got the legends, like the Chris Rocks, the Dave Chappelles, all of those different people in that dude. Eddie Murphy's, the Martins and all that. But I'm talking about soldiers that's been grinding, but just never got that. That, like, that break, that break that can go up after anybody. It don't matter. And it don't matter. And I cultivate myself where it don't matter who going on stage. So I think that even when you mention my name in comedy, people like, yeah, I don't want to follow Rip. Rip gonna kill it.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

It's just something that. And I like those gladiators. Everybody I name is a gladiator. I mean, there's different ways of, you know, doing comedy. There's joke structure. There's different ways of people doing more intellectual. We can do slapstick. But I just think that being able to rock a crowd and I'm not a person that'd be like, I don't care how you did it. But if I go in there and I'm looking like, yo, these people are having the time of their life. Cause to me, that's what comedy's about. It's not about. To me, in my personal opinion, it's not about me just getting my story out and just spitting my life at you. It's about changing what you got going on in your life and being able to take a little bit of pain away. Cause my name is actually not Rip Michaels. If you look at the spelling, it's actually rip. Rip Mike Heels. It's M, I, C, H, E, A, L, S. But people always pronounce it wrong. So I just let people. But that's always what it been. So that's what I try to do when I'm on stage. I try to like a lot of people. And I think a lot of comedians don't understand, like this person being that I promote the shows and sometimes bring people in. I see the person I gave a flyer to and I see that this is their last $20. I see that this person just fighting a court case or just had domestic violence or just had. And if you can just take a little bit of that away and make them. And just take them away from their problems, that's what it's about. Cause that mic can really, really heal people. You can change people's lives and their perspective and what they doing. And that's what I try to do. So I look for that. I look for, ah, you know, black people. We hear that.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. Woo.

[Rip Michaels]

When you hear those, that's when you know you make somebody's soul laugh.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a fact. Cause you only hear that. I feel like three Ways in the black community, when you laughing, you get good food or you see a relative you ain't seen in a long time.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh yeah, that's when you get a

[Memphis Bleak]

real reaction from the black community. Cause we get some food, you gonna be like, woo. Like you dancing and all.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, you dancing. Like you talking about eating chicken right out the grease. When your momma, like, come chase the chicken. When you

[Memphis Bleak]

like, damn, man, you made

[Rip Michaels]

me lose my train of thought with that one.

[Memphis Bleak]

I was just about to say something to you about somebody else. Damn, man, where was I at with that one? What were some of the moments that you consider? Did you ever consider a moment stepping away from comedy?

[Rip Michaels]

No. No, not one time. Like, it's funny because I wanted to do this since I was 8 years old and I never wanted to do anything other than this. And when I was in the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, big shout out to them, I was, when your heart fails, the rest of your organs start failing and start falling apart. So my kidneys start failing. And for like, I want to say, like a month and a half, I couldn't see because my, you know, my sugar got so high. And when you're diabetic, you can lose your sight. And for the first time I was like, damn, how am I gonna do comedy? Cause I can't even see the crowd and I can't even see to write the jokes down. How am I gonna do comedy? And I would say that was the closest thing to me ever quitting. Then I was like, thank God for Siri, Siri. And now you got chat. So I think that, yo, that was probably my lowest of like, thinking I couldn't do it because you can't see and your heart isn't good. I was like, Cause I always thought this was something you could do till you die. Like, you know, as long as you can come out in a wheelchair, you can come out 80 years old. Like, I got to see Paul Mooney and like work with him like a lot of times right before he passed. And I was like, man, you could do this forever. But that would probably be the closest I ever got to being like, I don't want. I don't know how I'm gonna do this. But yeah, I figured out a way. God was like, nah, you can just, you can hear the crowd.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

But then I got my sight back and, you know, took a lot of medicine. It took a lot of walking around and like getting on a good regimen and shout out to the Mayo Clinic because those dudes at the Mayo Clinic, like, are the reason I'm not restricted to a hospital bed and that, you know, I can, you know, just get an at home nurse and you know, take medicine and when I perform, have EMTs on the side of the stage to even do this. So yeah, big shout out to them, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's what's up, man. Shout out to all the medical staff, all the emergency workers out there putting their life on the line for our lives, you know. Cause a lot go into it, man. We take for granted, you know what I'm saying? And you don't really appreciate things until you sitting there on that bed like, hold on man, what the. I gotta really put every, this shit. Putting everything in perspective and what's really important. Now another question I wanted to ask you, like even from myself, cause I'm part of the audience, I'm not a comedian. So this is a question for you really from me, like, what do you think us as the audience is a misconception or is misunderstood about standup comedians or what? The work that goes into the process of being a stand up comedy.

[Rip Michaels]

I would say that a lot of people think that they're just silly people, but comedians are some of the smartest, most intelligent people that you'll ever come across. Because we normally take tragedy and we find a way of making it funny or finding a different perspective and outlook to change it. And, and that is the misconception. Cause you just look at a person and you say like, oh, this person is just silly. And they can just do this. But it's a method to it that it takes 20 different times for you doing a joke on stage before it becomes an actual part of your joke. That we go through these things, you know, we just don't write it down and be like, oh, this is gonna be funny. Cause y' all decide who it's funny or not. I can write a million things, but if it don't work in this room, it's not really funny.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. Same thing with music.

[Rip Michaels]

Music. So you never. I think a lot of people think that you just get up there and it is a, it is a hard, hard craft to master. I will definitely tell you that. It is a hard craft to master. It's hard to find your voice and it is hard to talk about some of these painful things. Because when you really look at a joke, there's nothing funny about child abuse. No, but you see so many comedians talking about, my mama used to whoop my ass. You ever got hit with this? You ever Got hit with that. You've got a shoe thrown at you, like. And it's just. Those are real painful memories. You just found a way, and you taking a different perspective on it and making people be able to laugh. Now you give that person the power to let go of that pain. And you sometimes repair relationships like that. Now, a lot of people be like, you know what? My childhood is not that bad. You know, my mom wasn't that bad. There's other moms like that. There's other dads like that. That's not the only person that. I didn't go through that alone. It's just like, when y' all write a great song and you touch somebody, someone comes up to you and go, man, I felt that, man. I went through that same thing. I did a bit. I did this. I did that. Like, that. That was real when you said that.

[Memphis Bleak]

And that's what we do it for, bro. Cause it's just like you said, they make it a good song. All we do is think our thoughts, our pain, our frustrations, or our joys, and we write it down, and we hope the world receive it the way we. You know what I mean? We want them to. And when it works, trust me, that feels like the best day of your life. Cause it's not easy to take your thoughts, put it on paper, and make a thousand people agree with you.

[Rip Michaels]

No, it is not, man. And, like, if you watch my Apollo special that I did in Tempte de Apollo, that was probably one of the hardest sets I've ever done in my entire life. Cause the whole time I'm on stage, I can't breathe. And halfway through my. Like, if you watch. At the end, the ambulance had to pick me up. I collapsed on stage at the very end.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm definitely.

[Rip Michaels]

They edited a lot of it out, but it was bad. But was it? And that special was a special. I promised myself that I would finish because I had sold out the Apollo, and I had a heart attack right before, like, two days before the show, and I had to cancel. And that's the whole infamous thing where everybody's like, rip's going to the hospital. And he announced it, and that's the whole viral thing. And then I promised myself, I get out, I'm gonna finish it. And to sit there and be struggling for air the entire time, and then talking about things that were like. That weren't even real jokes that I prepared. But just talking about the journey and trying to make light of it, that was really hard. And I love everybody in New York for that. Cause they came and they applauded and they participated. And it was really, really probably one of the toughest sets I ever had to do, to muster through, man. But they were with it. And a lot of stuff I was saying was sad and for them not to feel sorry and understand that it was. And ride with me, that was fire.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, that was fire, man. I appreciate you even sharing your story. Cause, like, you know, you said you never did this. It was never about you, right? We never do it about us. It's about our journey. And who can we inspire to take the journey further and do better than we ever thought we could? So that's why I'm so excited and happy that you took the time out and to come to me to share it. You know what I mean? Cause you definitely enlightened me on some shit. I had no clue. Back at you, bro. I be watching Wild Natural all the time. Nick, my guy. Me and Nick had the same management when he had rapper dreams.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, okay.

[Memphis Bleak]

I wish I'd have took the comedian dreams. I'd have been right there with him. But, shit, the rap dream took me. But that's my bro right there, man.

[Rip Michaels]

You gotta take solace in that.

[Memphis Bleak]

And this is what I was gonna say, right? I would throw my producer under the bus, shout out my girl. I'm not gonna say her name, but listen, you see how you said my name?

[Rip Michaels]

Really?

[Memphis Bleak]

Not Rip Hamilton. I mean, Rip Michaels. It's Rip. Mike Hills.

[Rip Michaels]

Yes.

[Memphis Bleak]

When I text my producer, yo, we in. I think we getting this interview. I'm waiting to get the call back. And she like, who? And I just text Rip Michaels. She was like, damn, Rest in peace to Michaels, whoever he is.

[Rip Michaels]

And I'm like, no, he ain't.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's who coming through. She like, oh, shit. Like, I thought you were saying your boy Michael passed away. And I'm like, hell, no. Why would I write it like that?

[Rip Michaels]

That's hilarious. He can't make it today. Who else you got? Rest in peace, Mike. He ain't coming. Who else you got? Cause the show gotta go on.

[Memphis Bleak]

I thought that was funny. When you say, yo, my name. Not really. Rip. Like recipes, yo. But when people hear the name Rip Michaels, what do you want them to associate that with?

[Rip Michaels]

First of all, a lot of people think I just thought some hardcore name. And I think Rip is this. It's just short from Rippy. But nobody wants to be called Rippy. Like, no one in the world is gonna be Rippy. That's not a cool name. So I just took the PPY off. So my mom from Louisiana.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's only two rips that replace. Rip Hamilton from the Detroit Pistons was my favorite basketball player, and Rip Michaels is one of my favorite comedians.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, you got Rip Torn and you got Rip Van Winkle.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but they ain't Rip. They ain't rep the Rip, right?

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, they ain't rep it right. I gotta lose weight so I can rep it right. I done gained some weight. I look like Ripe Michaels now. They be like, look at that nigga. He ripe nigga sitting on this white couch with all them hips. That nigga a hypocrite. I'm sorry, what would I want them to. I think your question was, what do

[Memphis Bleak]

I want them to associate you with? Like, you know what I mean? When people hear the name Rip Michaels, what you want them to associate you with? With your career?

[Rip Michaels]

That's a really deep question, man. Elevation.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

I would want them to associate Elevation and togetherness and showing that we can break these barriers down, man. Because when you look at what God has blessed me to be able to do, like, I think half the people has never experienced the things that God gave me, the power and the things and the abilities to do like. And it's just to, like, just. I think that's what I would want. I would want people to understand, like, I took our people and not I took our people. When I say our people, it's not the ones that they tell us. This is the hottest, man. This. Go see him. Because we built this and we put this machine behind him, and this is the person. This is the one. I feel like I want people to associate. Like, you don't need just one. It's all of us. And collectively, we can do this. We do 18,000 people at State Farm Arena. We have done 22,000 people in a garden on a Wednesday with only three weeks of promotion when Rich Homie Quan passed away.

[Memphis Bleak]

God bless Rich Homie.

[Rip Michaels]

I did that. That. I turned my whole show around because his. His brother called me, and I turned my whole show around. I made it the biggest tribute ever. And I donated money to a family because the moment they told me, they was like, yo, Rip, we don't know what we gonna do. We know. We just booked him, and I just spoke to him the day before he passed away, and I was like, you know what? Take all the money. Keep the booking money. Cause it's like people asking for the deposits back. We had 10 shows ripped. I don't know what I'm Doing? I said. I was like, take the money I gave you. Keep all of that. I'm gonna pay you to back in on that. And on top of paying you to back in on that, I'm gonna raise money for you. On top of that, he was like, what are you gonna do? I was like, dude, just come. I'm gonna present y' all a check, we're gonna play a song, and we're gonna celebrate his life.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. That's dope, man.

[Rip Michaels]

And then people were like. But I was like, no, that's what we doing. It's not up to no one else. This is what we're doing. This is what we're doing.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's dope, man. Rich homie got that.

[Rip Michaels]

And then when I. When I tell you, we played the song. And that whole arena of when I tell you, it's not a seat you could possibly. It was people standing behind people.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah. His music gonna last forever.

[Rip Michaels]

And they played it and the whole. To watch everybody stand up and to be able to do something like that. And his family there. And then for them to stand up and like, that's my son. That's my family. And to see the look on their faces, that to me, elevation.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yes.

[Rip Michaels]

Showing people that we matter. Cause we do matter, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. All the time, man.

[Rip Michaels]

We gonna matter, man.

[Memphis Bleak]

We are the culture. We set. We said it, man. We are the. We are the people to follow.

[Rip Michaels]

And it's not up for them to decide who goes when and who goes where.

[Memphis Bleak]

We go together.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's just like. That's a written rule in my neighborhood. Coming up with my homies, man. When we travel somewhere together, as we all leave together or we don't leave, like, you know what I mean? So we all gonna go or none of us gonna go. That's how we used to do it, man. That's how. You know how many clubs I show up to. You ain't letting all of them in. I give you your money back, I'm not coming in. You know what I mean? And that's just how it is, man. I'm for the team, so I respect you with that. Cause I'm a team player from day one. I put the team first. There's no I in team.

[Rip Michaels]

Yep.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's 100%. So if someone was just to discover Rip Mike and they like, man, somebody told me about this comedian, man. I'm gonna check him out. What would be the first performance or moment you would point them to, to really understand you?

[Rip Michaels]

Who would be the first. That's a very. Man, you got some deep ass questions. I just wanna let you know.

[Memphis Bleak]

I try, I try.

[Rip Michaels]

I feel like I'm over here being interviewed.

[Memphis Bleak]

Shout out the producers. Cause she came through.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, you write like Maya Angelou. You was like, how's the concrete rolls coming from the justice jungle? Who came up as a delicate flower that is now you. You got some deep ass Jerry Maguire questions over here. When your heart was gone and your dad left, what size shoe was you wear at that time?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, I think I was a six and a half.

[Rip Michaels]

You got some of the best questions, man. You a made for. Man.

[Memphis Bleak]

Appreciate that, man.

[Rip Michaels]

Really, man. Like, it's like when you see people who have a talent and a gift, man, you have a gift and like you pulling it out of me, man, I don't think I ever told this type of shit to know. I don't know if I can cuss or not. I don't know if this is on the Disney network.

[Memphis Bleak]

This hip hop man curse, man.

[Rip Michaels]

I don't want to mess up the show.

[Memphis Bleak]

And you be like, nah, man, we good.

[Rip Michaels]

You got a Disney channel deal. I'm like, ah, I'm not gonna make that episode. They gonna.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's gonna be nobody Pooty Tang episode.

[Rip Michaels]

We both won't be here. Oh, okay.

[Memphis Bleak]

If it's on Disney, it'd be black. It'd be just the couch.

[Rip Michaels]

Hey, them Disney you were switching up and have Hannah Montati be like, hannah, when you chose Miley Cy, I couldn't wear this.

[Memphis Bleak]

They'd be like, yo, you gotta be there like this, Hannah. So tell me I couldn't do this. They'd be like, that hat, it's too gangster.

[Rip Michaels]

No. Yes, you can. Because when you created, what I've learned is like, I was able to turn down a lot of deals, like I said at the Live Nation table and be like, hey, we wanna do this with you and we wanna turn this. And I was able to be able to like, this deal don't make no sense. So you want me to take my stuff, bring it to Live Nation, and we split the gate together and you don't give me any Ticketmaster because you own Ticketmaster. You are just trying to sell me your marketing and you're giving me a cross collateralization deal, which means you're just not even really giving me money. You're just giving me a loan against ticket sales, which means that if I don't sell it, I got to pay the money back with interest and then I got to use your Production company, your marketing thing. So you're getting paid like nine different ways.

[Memphis Bleak]

Exactly.

[Rip Michaels]

And then you want me to split it? I'm not getting food and beverage. I'm not getting ticket rebates. I'm not getting anything. This is a terrible deal. This is a terrible deal. Who would sign this shit?

[Memphis Bleak]

Exactly.

[Rip Michaels]

But everyone does. That's crazy.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's crazy. Why are we like that? Why.

[Rip Michaels]

But everyone does.

[Memphis Bleak]

Why is our culture like that? Where they put the bird in the hand before the bush?

[Rip Michaels]

I think that, you know, we fall short of, like, believing we can do things. So I was able to turn a deal down and constantly turn deals down like that. Because I went out and built it. So when you build it, it's on your terms.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

So I wasn't like, hey, you know what? This is a dope idea. And I go to them like, hey, this is a dope idea. And let them go, hey, we're gonna put this together. We'll put this. No, I built it. So when you come to a person that's number two in the country on postal, doing 16, 17,000 and did it in 14 different arenas, you gotta. You can't come to me like that.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And they'll always try to tell you, like, oh, well, we can make it bigger. Instead of 16, we could do 30. Like I did 16 by myself. You don't think I could do 30 by myself?

[Memphis Bleak]

Exactly.

[Rip Michaels]

You don't think I could Do 40 by myself?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

Where are we elevating to? What's the elevation of the.

[Memphis Bleak]

What's the elevation of just helping me? Do you want me to do more shows that I did by myself already?

[Rip Michaels]

And you want half of what I'm getting just to open up 15? So I'm. So let me explain. If I'm gonna do. I'm doing 16 shows by myself with you, I could do 30 shows. But you won't have. So I'm back to doing 15 shows.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

So what was the point?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. That's why I tell people all the time, man. It's greater later, man, to check. If I look at it like this, if a person willing to give you a check up front, what is they gonna make on the back end? Cause nothing is free. Nobody ain't gonna just be like, yo, hun, take this million dollar advance and I'm a break even with this 600,000 back here. If I'm gonna give you this million, that mean I'm gonna make 3 million on the back end. And you just gonna take your million and be cool. You know what I mean? That's really 600,000 if you still live in New York after taxes.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah. And you know what's funny? I didn't even realize that, Right? Like, I was doing all this whole time wasn't about money. I didn't realize that. Like, I was dumb. I thought that all these people were selling out these shows. I thought that when somebody said, okay, come see me live, that it's them. Come to find out, I'm probably the only comedian to ever sell out his own arenas. It's always a machine behind him. It's always a different company that's actually doing it. And I didn't know that. I had no idea till I started saying, hey, Rick, we want to do this with you. And they go, well, we gotta go talk to this company first. I'm like, but you're.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep.

[Rip Michaels]

This isn't your tour.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Rip Michaels]

So you just the face.

[Memphis Bleak]

You're just a promotional guy.

[Rip Michaels]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, when you speak to me, that's the thing. You be like, rip, I wanna do this. I'm like, okay, what are you doing?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know that.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's a lot like that in all fashions of this business. That's like this part. You like, yo, can you curt do it? This is us. You see my production crew?

[Rip Michaels]

You gotta ask, man? No, but you got some real dudes around you.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, but this is us. Like, we built this. We created it. You know, I shout out Noriega for seeing something in me that I didn't see. Cause he, like, bleak. I'm telling you, you made for this shit. You need definitely.

[Rip Michaels]

You definitely are.

[Memphis Bleak]

And I'm like, hell, no. I'm not no journalist. I'm not doing this shit. And look, here I am definitely Nori. My brother. Thank you. But I'm a firm believer in building your own. Cause you get to own it. You get to make the decisions, and you get to drive the direction on where it's going. Cause when you sell out, they can bring it and bring your company, your image and your likeness, and carve it out to whatever they want the people to believe about you. When you own something yourself, it's your word, your way. And they gonna know it's all you. Because they gonna know who you are through your representation of your work, man. You know what I'm saying? So what you built and what you doing? You just saying the year I sold out 14 arenas, 16 shows. 14,000. You saying that like that simple, bro. I might not sell out a thousand

[Rip Michaels]

seater right now, you know, I guess I wasn't.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's not easy, bro.

[Rip Michaels]

I guess it seems. And for me, it seems easy because I never looked at it like that, bro. I never looked at it like that. I just always like, I want to put on the best show. I want to keep it affordable. Cause I want people to be able to buy tickets from it. And I want to show people that, look what we can do. And I thought that would bring just more people that would be like, hey, let's do this. And not just, hey, all right, now we did this. Let's go give it to this person so they can just. I didn't know. I didn't think like that.

[Memphis Bleak]

No, you doing it.

[Rip Michaels]

I didn't think like that. And I do it. And it's. God. Because I do it in like sometimes like this arena game and doing these things. Like, the Garden gave me the Garden. Because like, when you're just a person and you're just walking there like, hey, I'm Rick Michaels, I want to do the Garden. They're like, it's $500,000 to rent the Garden. And you're sitting there and they go. And they expecting you to walk out. Remember, like. Remember that scene in, what was it? Not Coming to America, Not Harlem Nights, Boomerang, when they was in the thing. And he says, this jacket is $10,000. And they don't pause. And he's like, what, you thought that was gonna scare me or something like that?

[Memphis Bleak]

Okay, you thought I was in the 52 law.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah. So when you get to these places and. And everybody's cool with me now, but when you get to these places and you're like, hey, I'm just. I'm R.H. michaels, and I wanna do this type of show and I'm gonna do this. And they go, who you with? Or who's your representation?

[Memphis Bleak]

What come with?

[Rip Michaels]

What are you doing? And I'm like, no, I'm gonna do the show. And they was like, it's 500,000. I was like, okay, cool. So what dates do you have?

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And it was like, well, we gonna need. And they do. In the beginning, they give you deals that don't make any sense. They'll be like, well, we need it all up front. And that just doesn't make any sense.

[Memphis Bleak]

No business.

[Rip Michaels]

No business.

[Memphis Bleak]

No business that makes any sense.

[Rip Michaels]

I had an arena to be so shitty to me that After I sold it out, the lady came to me and apologized. Damn. At least she admitted she apologized. She was like, I didn't believe that you would do any of the things that you said you was gonna do. And I'm sorry for, you know, everything and how I treated you. You sold this whole thing out. I think it was, like, two weeks. Cause they gave me dope. They gave me dates and stuff that. Dates they don't even want on the calendar. They just give you throwaway things. It's a Tuesday. Like, who does the Garden on a Wednesday in three weeks? Who the fuck is doing that?

[Memphis Bleak]

Word up. Unless you playing for the Knicks.

[Rip Michaels]

Like, the fuck who's doing that?

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah, it's not happening. That's a work day in the middle of the week, too.

[Rip Michaels]

Dude. The funniest thing about me doing a Garden was like, you know, we all think about the Garden is like, we doing a garden.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's the Mecca.

[Rip Michaels]

We doing a garden.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's a statement.

[Rip Michaels]

I booked that arena. I do the whole thing. And that's why I say you have solid people around you. I do the whole thing. And they start. You know, they. Like, every day they're telling me that this is not gonna happen. You only sold 50 tickets. You only sold 60 tickets. We need to cancel. They're going like, we gotta cancel this. Cancel this. And I'm like, no, just keep it going. Keep it going. Well, we're gonna need. Then every day they would say, well, you're gonna need this. Now, you paid the whole thing up front. Now we're gonna need this insurance. We're gonna need your coi. We're gonna need this. We're gonna. Just trying to give you. And you know this is not refundable. So if you cancel, do your refund.

[Memphis Bleak]

I'm trying to give you every hurdle to make you.

[Rip Michaels]

And then once it start moving, they start telling me who I can have on my show and who I can't. And then I was like, what? It's like, yeah, we don't. We don't want. I'm never gonna pull punches, man. I'm dying soon, so whatever.

[Memphis Bleak]

Don't, don't.

[Rip Michaels]

I'm just saying. I'm just joking. It's a joke. I'm just joking. But they were just telling me, you can't have Bobby Smurda. And I was like. And I was like, what do you mean I can't Bobby? Well, he's not somebody we really want here. And, you know, da, da, da. And he's got a criminal record. I Was like, so let's see, wait a minute. Half the rock artists you have have criminal records.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

Half the other people you have. So you're trying to signal this guy out. It was like, well, that's just, you know, our thing, and we don't want that. And I go, I'm going back and forth, fighting.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yeah.

[Rip Michaels]

And I'm going back and forth. You only have three weeks of the show. We're going back and forth. And I'm like, okay. So my publicist, Elise felt me, you know, rest in peace, Elise. When I went to the hospital, she passed away. So she goes, rip, they're not gonna allow him to perform. They sent a straight, no. Wow. So I go, okay, stop fucking responding to them. Tell them, yes, just stop responding.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And so when I get in the garden, guess who the fuck is in the garden? Bobby Schmurda. And they look at me and I thought, we told you Bobby Smurda couldn't play. I was like, yeah, I got the email.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

I walk away and they look at me and go,

[Memphis Bleak]

they don't know what to do.

[Rip Michaels]

So we all get in this room and like, they put me in this room and. Cause before that, I had an issue with getting in the arena. For some reason, they told me I couldn't get in the arena. And mind you, it's my company, my face on the thing. And they go, well, you don't have the ban. And I'm like, what band? It was like, well, you're supposed to get a band. Cause they change over security. So it's. If you do production, there's a band when you first get in to load in. And there's another band for entertainers, right? So they're like, well, you can't get in. You don't have a band. So security treats me like total trash. They tell me I gotta go out, da, da, da. And I'm like, I'm Rip Michaels.

[Memphis Bleak]

This is my shit. Rip Michaels paid a half a ticket.

[Rip Michaels]

Y' all playing with me?

[Howie Mandel]

Yeah.

[Rip Michaels]

And so then they was like. And then they started pressing me. More like Cops. So first it turned out to be like some kind of like, oh, okay. Then it went to like, aggressive, like, like. And I'm like, okay, cool. So let me call everybody that's involved in this arena and let's all sit.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

Cuz we need to have a meeting asap. So I'm sitting there and I. I'm sitting there with, like, everybody that matters at the Garden. I go, so, what did the money I gave you come with? That's the first thing I say. And they go, well, it comes with this, it comes with that. And I'm like, I just got one question. In that money I gave you, am I paying for security? And they go, yeah. So I say, oh, so this dude that's being an asshole to me and his staff are getting paid by me. So I'm paying people to treat me like shit. And I go, well, I'm like. I look at the guys and I'm like, you harassed me and I'm helping you feed your family. Like, I'm paying for you to be here. And I was like, I want an apology.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And I was like, I'm not fucking apologize for nothing. I say, so, well.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, you're relieved.

[Rip Michaels]

We're gonna do one or two things. We're not gonna argue with y'. All. We're gonna have none of these going back and forth. I go, either they apologize

[Memphis Bleak]

or they

[Rip Michaels]

go home and you relieve them. Cause what I'm not gonna do do is pay a whole staff to treat me like or. Because this is your arena. I'm gonna go out there and I'm. We're gonna cancel this show, and I'm going to tell every single person how I was treated. And they go, you're not gonna cancel the show. That's got 20 some thousand people out there. I was like, what you don't realize is those 22,000 people came to see me. I brought them here.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

And I did it in three weeks. You don't think I can walk out there, give everybody free T shirts, and tell them to meet me at the Barclays center next week?

[Memphis Bleak]

Mm.

[Rip Michaels]

And then they laugh, and I go, okay, Nick, put your shit on. Let's go, Glorilla, let's go. Let's all get in the car. Go. I'll explain it to y' all later. And every single entertainer gets in their SUV and starts to leave, and they go, okay, go home, do your show.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yep. Send the security home. I'd have relieved them asap. Time to go. Ain't no way I'm paying.

[Rip Michaels]

Cause I'm not gonna let someone dictate.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

Treat me like shit. Number one, tell me who in my community. Because I didn't have in the contract that you could dictate who I bring.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

Bobby Smurda went on. Killed it. Everybody had a good time.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right. Shout out Bobby Shmurda. Man.

[Rip Michaels]

And we played the Garden. That's right.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right, man. Now you can't. That's how.

[Rip Michaels]

And it was respectful.

[Memphis Bleak]

And that's how you earn the respect of those, too. Like, you know what I mean? You can't. I'm paying your staff. You treat me like shit. And I'm supposed to just be like, okay, that's cool. You know who I am now. We good? Hell, no. Everybody go home, man.

[Rip Michaels]

And that's why I say. When you say camaraderie as a team. I said all that to be like, that's right.

[Memphis Bleak]

The team, man. We stay together, man. We come.

[Rip Michaels]

Hesitation.

[Memphis Bleak]

Everybody's together.

[Rip Michaels]

I didn't even have to explain what was happening. I was just like, we out.

[Memphis Bleak]

Cause everybody with you. And that's how it's supposed to go. We come together, we leave together, man. Even though that just sound like some Toretto, Fast and the Furious shit, it ain't from that.

[Rip Michaels]

You kind of hit it with some drum line. One band, one sound.

[Memphis Bleak]

We die together. So what's next? You know what I mean? Outside of. I know you're dealing with, you know, personal things in the life side, but what's next for Rip in the entertainment world? What can people be expecting next besides the April 4th comedy jam at the Barkley Center? Make sure you beat him there. Don't meet him there. And if you outside, he might let you in.

[Rip Michaels]

First of all, my tickets start at 30, so I keep my ticket.

[Memphis Bleak]

Oh, man, they.

[Rip Michaels]

When are you gonna go see something for $30?

[Memphis Bleak]

Nothing costs 30. A bag of potato chips is $30 now. So you better get your ass in there.

[Rip Michaels]

Either it's $30, or they gonna give you the bag with nothing but air in it. And it's like $10 worth of chips straight up. You ever got that chip, you squeeze it. It used to be twizzled at the top. It's all air now.

[Memphis Bleak]

It's all air.

[Rip Michaels]

Crazy. All air. So now you're looking at the different things. So now I'm taking it to another space. I'm taking into, like. I've shot three specials. I got two more specials coming out. I'm showing people the elevation. So now I'm stepping more from behind the scenes like no one would ever. I would never speak like this. I was always the person that. You wouldn't even realize it was me who had the show. I used to put people in front of me just to stand there and be like, oh, that's the guy in charge. Just because I didn't want people to be to that, that was never my goal. So now I got a second chance at life. So I'm going to produce some great stuff. I got the specials. I got a podcast with my wife called kind of sort of Married. I got a show that me and Erica Minna are doing. I got two different movies with 5120 that we're producing. And I'm starting to constantly, constantly just come up with content. And I got like five different tours coming out. So now it's not only just the Wild out tour, it's the April Fool's Comedy Jam. It's the just Fooling Comedy Jam. It's the Wild. It's the one wild night, which is the festival. We're stepping in a festival space, and that's happening September 5th in Atlanta. And we're doing 60,000 people at a festival. And I'm taking every rapper and every. Every comedian that I know and putting them on one huge festival. And I'm making it for all ages. I want everybody to be able to come and have a great time and show that you don't. You don't have to go over here and pay all this money. And for our talent and our creativity and what we do that we can do these numbers and we can do this and change things. So the life I got left, that's what we doing. So you're gonna see one wild night. You're gonna see the off the rip. You're gonna see the Crowd work special. Another special I'm shooting at the Apollo. You about to say Erica Men a project. You about to see the new Wild N Out tour. You about to see Fall Back in Love tour. Like, you know, T.I. might even come back and do comedy.

[Memphis Bleak]

T.I. got a hot record. I don't know.

[Rip Michaels]

Yeah, he's killing him.

[Memphis Bleak]

He might be on tour for another season.

[Rip Michaels]

That was my show. When they booed TI that was the Barkley Center.

[Memphis Bleak]

That was bomb. Nigga said when they booed T.I.

[Rip Michaels]

because he called me out. I'm only saying that cause he went on 19 different podcasts and said, Rip set me up to get booed. And I did not. I just want to clear that I did not do that. He said people didn't know he was doing music. And he was like, oh, they thought he was gonna sing. No, they knew he was doing comedy. They listened. It just wasn't that night. And that's just what it is. I'm only saying it cause it happens to all of us, TI TI it happens to every single comedian. We all get booed it just shits. Any given Sunday, everybody.

[Memphis Bleak]

I got booed as a rapper. I wasn't even a comedian and got booed. So it happens to all of us. The boo happens. Make sure don't happens to you. You practice your shit.

[Rip Michaels]

And if you wanna come back TI and do it again, I got that same bag I gave to you last time. We would love to see you in Brooklyn.

[Memphis Bleak]

That's right.

[Rip Michaels]

April Fool's Comedy Jam. Then return to TI Yo, I appreciate

[Memphis Bleak]

you pulling up my guy, and I wish you many, many more years of life, success, blessings, health, and I pray that you get that heart transplant you desperately waiting for, man. You know what I'm saying?

[Rip Michaels]

I'm gonna highlight some of your boys. I could tell by the way they look at me like, we got you, Rip. 40 grand.

[Memphis Bleak]

What we trying to do?

[Rip Michaels]

I'll meet you now. I could just tell they was like, oh, nigga, Rip got the bag. We gonna make that happen, nigga. You gonna live.

[Memphis Bleak]

The Lee Avenue plug. The Lee Avenue plug come holla at us. I'm telling you, they can put the camera on your crew.

[Rip Michaels]

I could definitely know. I'm gonna go after the Barclay and get the check. I'm coming back here.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, chill, man.

[Rip Michaels]

I'm buying Hearts and Chrome Heart Jeans.

[Memphis Bleak]

Yo, you know what it is, y'?

[Rip Michaels]

All?

[Memphis Bleak]

It's rock solid podcast. It's Rip Michaels here, and we holding it down, man. Do say for life. Rock for life. Stay solid, stay true. Yeah. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows at. And you can follow me on any social media platform under the name Memphis Bleak. You see anybody frauding, flag them.

[Stephanie Young]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.