INTERVIEW: Carl Payne Talks ‘Jersey Love Comedy Show,’ Cosby Show, Malcolm-Jamal Warner + More

Summary

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The Breakfast Club: Carl Anthony Payne II Interview

Podcast: The Breakfast Club (The Black Effect Podcast Network & iHeartPodcasts)
Air Date: February 12, 2026
Guests & Hosts: DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God, Lauren LaRosa, and Carl Anthony Payne II

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Breakfast Club welcomes actor and comedian Carl Anthony Payne II—best known as “Cole” from Martin and “Cockroach” from The Cosby Show. Carl discusses his career’s evolution, the legendary Black sitcom era, classic Hollywood fame, and the personal, creative, and cultural pivots that have shaped his journey. He touches on the enduring impact of his iconic roles, his ventures into stand-up, mentorship, and upcoming projects—including his comedy tour and a one man show. The conversation is candid, reflective, and peppered with classic Breakfast Club humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Height of Black Sitcoms & Shifting Media Landscape

• Fame in the '80s/'90s vs. Today

  • Carl recalls the visceral, unmatched level of fame during the Cosby Show years.
  • [03:04] Carl: “I never forget, I was at a New Edition concert… all these people started coming down and it was pointing in my direction… But it was me.”
  • Charlamagne and Carl agree the collective experience of broadcast TV and Black-led shows fostered a sense of true community that rarely exists today.
  • [04:57] Carl: “The ‘80s was the best time ever... It was like a revolution. Everything was about fun, everything was happy… it was a movement.”

• How Social Media Changed Fame

  • Carl feels mass accessibility and social media’s constant exposure “killed the celebrity” and eliminated the mystery that once surrounded stars.
  • [06:37] Carl: “It used to be a club... you had to be talented… it was an elite club.”

• The Impact of Black Representation on TV

  • Cosby changed the game, inspiring Black viewers toward HBCUs and prestigious careers, showing images seldom seen before on primetime.
  • [07:26] Carl: “I was just blessed to be a part of it. It broke all kinds of color lines and barriers.”
  • Charlamagne positions this as a golden era whose disappearance left a void in mainstream Black representation.

On the Evolution and Value of Comedy

• Why Carl Started Stand-Up

  • He describes stand-up as the “scariest thing,” a direct act of vulnerability without the comfort of a script or character.
  • [13:10] Carl: “It was… reinventing. The next level... tackling my fears. Because you can get beaten down by this industry.”
  • He feels a deep responsibility to honor the craft, refusing to “just jump out there” because he’s a known name.

• What Makes Great Comedy

  • The authenticity and vulnerability comedians show on stage connects personally and universally.
  • [11:47] Carl: “I learned early on that people really do want to know. Like, you have to be vulnerable.”

Creating “Cole” and the Art of Characterization

• Developing a Classic Sitcom Role

  • Carl explains how “Cole” came to stand out among the ensemble cast on Martin.
  • [21:32] Carl: “I felt like... Martin and I [were] very close in terms of the characters… I gotta do something to separate us… There was a certain innocence about Cole, a certain naivety… [not] dumb, just innocent.”

• Chemistry & Improvisation on ‘Martin’

  • The cast would take from real life, improvise, and put their finger on the pulse of the culture, contributing to the show's authenticity and timelessness.
  • [10:26] Carl: “We get to speak how we want to… we bring the culture to the culture… that’s why certain people will be more impactful.”

• Iconic Support Characters

  • On Shanise and Big Shirley: Carl and Jess hilariously break down the relationships and the humorous depiction of larger-than-life personalities on the show.
  • [23:52] Carl (on Big Shirley): “She held him down… Big girl, big heart.”

Reflections on Loss, Legacy, & Industry Lessons

• Losing Friends & Colleagues

  • Carl shares deeply personal stories about the deaths of Martin co-star Tommy Ford and Cosby co-star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, touching on grief, maturity, and the tightening of his social circle.
  • [32:05] Carl: “The older I get, the tighter my circle… That person doesn’t exist anymore in my circle.”

• Big Lessons & Mentorship

  • He credits Tommy Ford with instilling business savvy and the importance of generational wealth and responsibility.
  • [28:25] Carl: “He put me up on being incorporated... No, you get the whole check. Pay yourself as a company.”

• Navigating Typecasting and Identity

  • While grateful for iconic roles, Carl is intentional about asserting his own identity and evolving beyond “Cole” or “Cockroach.”
  • [42:20] Carl: “That’s another reason I started doing stand up… people need to know who Carl Payne is.”

• Being Fired from The Cosby Show

  • Carl addresses widespread rumors about leaving the Cosby Show, clarifying it was not over hair or ego, but a misunderstanding—and admits the abruptness taught him about Hollywood’s unpredictability.
  • [46:46] Carl: “He thought I did it… like I put a perm in it… There was more going on at the time. But, you know, sometimes when you’re being rejected you’re really just being redirected.”

On Reboots, Legacy, and Giving Back

• On Martin Reboot Debates

  • Both Jess and Carl agree some moments can’t be replicated and “lightning in a bottle” like Martin would need specific, timely, contemporary context to be revived.
  • [26:13] Carl: “Some things you definitely just need to [leave alone], because you can’t capture the same lightning in a bottle.”

• Mentorship and Impact

  • Payne speaks about the importance of giving back, mentioning how speaking to youth—sometimes even in prison—becomes the most meaningful “legacy.”
  • [60:40] Carl: “Stuff like that... tells me I’m on the right path… God blessed me, giving me a craft that ties into my purpose... If I can use this platform to heal somebody, to impact positively, that’s legacy.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On old-school fame:
  Carl (04:57): “The 80s was the best time ever… It was like a revolution... Everything was about fun.”

• On community & TV:
  Charlamagne (07:05): “All of America gathering around the television when it’s only like three, four channels to watch one show... one episode of Cosby Show had 65 million viewers.”

• On transitioning to standup:
  Carl (13:10): “I gotta face [my fears]. I gotta do everything I set out to do in this business... I said, nah, this is gonna be— I gotta do this. And if I do it, I’m gonna do it at the highest level.”

• On the evolution of Black sitcoms:
  Carl (09:46): “It won’t [hit the same] because it’s oversaturated now… But the cream will always rise to the top.”

• On the legacy of his characters:
  Carl (25:00): “I feel like it was just representative of a time… it was relativity... I know him, I know her, that’s— it was relativity.”

• On grief and lessons learned:
  Carl (32:05): “The older I get, the tighter my circle… What it did teach me was how random and how short life is, man… You gotta cherish these moments.”

• On Martin & Tommy Ford:
  Carl (27:01): “Like, he was my best friend in real life, so, y’know, the timing of all of that was crazy.”

• On representation, impact, and legacy:
  Carl (61:52): “I did my thing, I did my thing thing… I left a positive impact on the world… my name is going to stand for something.”

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [02:48] — Carl recalls realizing his fame during the Cosby era.
• [06:37] — On the exclusivity and talent requirement of celebrity pre-Internet.
• [07:26] — The Cosby Show’s cultural and collegiate impact.
• [13:10] — Why Carl began stand-up.
• [21:30] — Creating the character of Cole.
• [23:50] — Big Shirley: legendary supporting character discussion.
• [26:13] — Can Martin be rebooted?
• [27:01] — Losing Tommy Ford and lessons on mortality and friendship.
• [46:46] — Setting the record straight on leaving The Cosby Show.
• [59:40] — Payne’s mentorship and giving back.
• [61:52] — On how he wants his legacy to be remembered.

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Carl Anthony Payne’s Upcoming Projects

• Stand-Up Comedy Tour: Hitting cities across the US, including Comedy in Harlem and Jersey Love Comedy Show ([64:09]).
• One-Man Show: In the style of John Leguizamo and Mike Tyson, combining acting/crafting comedy with personal storytelling, set for Broadway ([64:53]).
• Martin Trivia & Bingo Brunches: Fun, interactive events for fans ([65:30]).
• Website: Call Anthony Payne Entertainment (details at end of show).

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Closing Remarks

Carl Anthony Payne II’s interview is a powerful tribute to authenticity, growth, and the enduring influence of Black sitcom history. From “Cockroach” to “Cole” to pop-pop and mentor, Carl’s journey testifies to resilience, talent, and heart. The episode is both a walk down nostalgia lane and an insightful look at what makes the culture, careers, and community thrive—past and present.

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Listen and watch full interviews and more on Netflix and YouTube
Follow Carl’s work at: Call Anthony Payne Entertainment

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jess Hilarious]

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[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[DJ Envy]

That's right, it's DJ Envy.

[Jess Hilarious]

It's your girl, Jess.

Hilarious.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And I go by the name of Charlamagne, the God. And we are the world's most dangerous morning show, the Breakfast Club. You just finish listening to, you know, our podcast for the day.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And we want you to go watch the visuals on Netflix. You know, we. We're still on YouTube, but it's the clips on YouTube. But if you want to watch the Breakfast Club in full, if you want to see what you just listened to, go to Netflix.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Jess Hilarious]

Find us on Netflix.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Sure.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Mama quiero life un nuevo yo tamien.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Quiero uno con Verizon nos y vamos cuatro iPhone 17 sin intercambria todos vamos estrenar iPhone Conversion to familia de fruta.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Mas pormenos yeva Te quatro iPhone 17S.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Hinosa Nesacite Intercambio con cuatro lineas nuevas enciertos planes, unlimited visitors.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yep. It's one most dangerous morning show. The Breakfast Club Charlemagne. The God, DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Lauren LaRosa is here. Envy's around here somewhere.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I don't know where the hell he.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

At right now, but we got a special guest in the building. Paul Anthony Payne ii. This merch is very fresh, by the way.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah, I bought this for y'.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

All. Very fresh, very fresh. You got the Martin. Gina, Pam. How are you first of all, bro?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Good, my brother. How you?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You look good, man. You ain't Asian at all.

[Jess Hilarious]

No, he's not.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I do what I do what I can do, and I can do it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You played some very memorable sitcom characters, man. Like. Like, when did you realize people weren't just watching, but they were connecting with your work?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

When did I realize that there's a difference between connecting with the work and then, like, fame? Does that make sense what I'm saying? Right? Like. Like, I think I was at a New Edition concert, right? I never forget this. It was like during the height of Cosby, right? I was at a New Edition concert, and I walked in in the dark, and I think the lights had came up, right? It was like they were. It was like the opener. And then they were about to perform, and I was going to my seat.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What year was this?

[Jess Hilarious]

Right, Right.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's like the 80s. Early, early 80s. Early, early 80 s. Early 80s. And I was walking to my seat. I was getting ready to go to my seat, and the lights came up, and I'll never forget, it was like. I think Webster was there. Emmanuel Lewis, right? He was there. And I think, you know, they saw him and the crowd was going crazy. And then Eddie Murphy was there and, you know. You know, and then all these girls and all these people started coming down and it was pointing in my direction. And I was like, who?

[Jess Hilarious]

Who, who?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And I'm turning around like, who they see? And it was like chaos, but it was me. Wow. And then they had to escort me backstage, right? And I was like, that's the. The. The. Just that moment alone of. Just because I was like, oh, who they. You know, who else is here? I was like, no, you. And I was like, oh, damn.

[Jess Hilarious]

What are they saying? Cockroach.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. There was. I don't.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I couldn't understand what they were saying, right? Bottom line is that moment was crazy. And I never forget my best friend at the time, he looked at me backstage and he was like, Like. Cuz it was like, I'm gonna get all the laptops you know what I'm saying?

[Lauren LaRosa]

I was scared to death. I was shook. But he was looking like, oh, this.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Is gonna be great.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I say it all the time. 80s and 90s fame. Nobody will ever achieve that level of fame ever again. The world is just too different.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

80S, 80s was the best time ever. Like, if. If you was alive during the 80s and you're still alive now, then you know what I'm talking about. Like, the 80s, the 80s was just different. It was. It was like a. It was like a. It was like a revolution, right? It was like just everything was. Everything was about fun. Everything was happy movies was happy clubs. Everything was. It was a movement. I love the 80s. I love the 80s.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. That's what I don't understand about, like, when it comes to black culture, right? Like, we always talk about what we're missing.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

We had it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The eighties, the nineties, especially. I'm talking about just TV and film. The eighties, the ninies, it was positive. It was black people depicted in a right light. Like, I don't know what happened.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, well, come on.

[Lauren LaRosa]

A lot of things happen, man.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I think. I think. Well, first of all, you know, the. Every. Everything changes. Everything changes. Landscape change, Internet, that was huge. Social media, huge. And then it became like it killed the celebrity, in my opinion. You know what I'm saying? Like. Like, because then. Now anybody can be whatever, right? And then there's no. There's no mystery. There's no. There's nothing anymore, right? So it's like a lot of these things change, and that's.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That helped to me, shape the landscape.

[Jess Hilarious]

And back then, you didn't. You only knew a celebrity for their work. You didn't know their life. You didn't know who they were, who they were sleeping with. You didn't know if they did drugs or not or. You know, you could probably take a guess because how some of them acted. But I'm just saying, like, you. We weren't in their lives. You couldn't send them a dm, and they see it and you see that, they read it. You know, y'.

All.

Y' all weren't accessible at all.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Well, it used to be a club. It used to be a very special club that you had to be. Have talent to be a part of. You had to. You had to really have something, right? One of three things, if not all three things. And it was an elite club, and that was that.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? Like, before social media, to become a household name, you know, the kind of work you had to put in do you know the kind of just. And you're right, it was always about the talent. It was always about the work. And.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, but it was appointment viewing, too. I mean, you know, I was a Jehovah Witness, so on Thursday nights we was at the Kingdom hall, but we was recording Cosby show to come home and watch. So you think about all of America gathering around the television when it's only like three, four channels at the time to watch one show. Like, I was looking at some numbers the other day, and I think one episode of cosby show had 65 million viewers.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. It was incredible. It was incredible. And I was just blessed to be a part of it. You know what I'm saying? Like, it was super impactful. And I think the one thing. Not even the one thing, the thing they'll let you know how programming works and just the powerful impact of it. I mean, I think I don't even know the numbers offhand, but the amount of young black individuals that decided to go to HBCUs, right, decided to take their lives into a different trajectory, become lawyers, become doctors, to really put forth an energy and effort into. Not just like, okay, they wanted to be something different because we had. We. We didn't have those images. We didn't have that even though they existed. They 100% existed. We just didn't have that. And it broke all kind of color lines and barriers and, you know, something happened.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't care what y' all say. There was a switch hit where they was like, there's too many black people.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's a Simbad effect. What's the thing they call it when. When it's like. It's like you, You. What do they call it where it's like, now they act like it never existed. Right. You know, I'm talking about like, the different Mandela effect.

[Lauren LaRosa]

You know what I'm trying to say? Because Sinbad was one of them. Like, that was one of the things.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Like, it was like the movie Sinbad versus Anyway, it was part of it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What about on, like, the network? Like, power making decision side of it? Like, what do you think something happened, man, because, okay, like, I've heard you talk about, like, even with like, Martin, like, when y' all were going through things on y' all set, that execs. New things were happening, but they didn't really, like, step in and like, make sure their stars were good because they just wanted to get through the episodes. Like, so how did that lack of, like, you know, I guess empathy for y' all are understanding the impact from the network side. How did that get us to where we don't have, you know, a lot of these, like, big black shows on television?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I don't know. Almost Charlemagne. Something happened. Something happened, Something happened. I really don't know, I think. But I think everything happens in cycles, right? It's like, I feel like we. We probably see a resurgence of that just in a different way right now, because you got to look at it right now. There's all these verticals, the microverse, micro dramas and things like that. So I think you're going to see it again just in a different way.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Will it hit like y'?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

All.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah, it won't.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It won't. It won't. Because it's oversaturated.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's over saturated now. The cream will always rise to the top, so to speak, if that makes sense. But no, won't be the same because it's a different environment right now. You understand what I'm saying? Which is why, in my opinion, right, which is why, like, someone like Chappelle will make such a huge difference in impact, right? Because he's literally touching on and putting his finger on the pulse of what is happening right, right now. And to me, that was part of the. The secret sauce, or the success at the time of Martin, was the fact that we literally had our finger on the pulse, right? It was like it was you hanging out with her and hanging out with her, and then we put it on tv.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And it was like, we get to speak how we want to speak, we get to play how we want to play, and we bring in the culture to the culture, and we're pushing the needle of the culture. So, you know, in my opinion, that's why certain people will be more impactful right now, because. But the. But the climate of the country, the climate of everything right now is it's not that. It's not the 80s. You see what I'm saying? It's not. It's not in the music. It's not. It's literally not in every aspect of culture or life.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. I feel like there's a sense of community missing. Right. Even when you talk about.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Absolutely.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know how. You know, you talk about how all of y' all used to hang out, then it's on television, but we used to all hang out and watch y' all on tv. Right? It was a.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

We are.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is a community, like Martin, but it felt. Martin is a community.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

But it felt personal, right? It felt it felt like. Like what's. And that's the same thing with comedy, right? Like, what's personal is actually universal.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? And that's. That's one of the things, like, I had to learn when doing my comedy was, like, when I first started, I was just a student of the game. I didn't know nothing. I had to pay my dues, the whole nine. And I thought it was just about jokes. But then I, like. I, like, took another look at. And I was like, no, no. I got to treat this like its own art form. And I have to approach it like I did with my acting. I literally have to go to school again. I literally have to, like, pay my dues and be in it, immerse myself in it. And I learned early on that, you.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Know, how when you learn, you learn. You learn in the classroom, which is on stage, which is not a fun place to learn.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

But I learned early on that people really do want to know. Like, you have to be vulnerable.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You really have to. You know, And I was always scared of that. I was scared of that because I was like, yeah, they know. They don't know. They know, but they don't know.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You were scared to be vulnerable.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

100.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. Because listen, listen. The only. The thing about acting, you get to be vulnerable, but it's. But you're playing a character, so you can literally pour your heart and soul into someone else. And you got people to lean on. Right. Like. Like a great basketball team. I thought a rock the jazz, now it's her turn. But when you on stage, you naked, it's you by yourself, and you gonna share something that you really hope that they connect with. Yeah. On one level or not, it's like, you know, you're like, hey, I'm naked. You like this, you like that.

[Lauren LaRosa]

You know what I mean?

[Jess Hilarious]

So how long you been doing comedy?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I started. I started a long time ago, but I really picked it back up in 2017.

[Jess Hilarious]

Okay. Because I remember you. You were in one of the clubs. You came to one of my dates. Yeah, I was down south, and he came to the show, he saw me do comedy, and. And he was saying it. He was doing it, and I was like, oh, my God, Cole doing comedy.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I mean?

[Jess Hilarious]

But I just thought it was dope. What made you get into it, though?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Because it was the scariest thing, man. Like, you said, like, it was. It was. For me, it was a. It was a couple of things. It's like reinventing. It's like the next level of whatever. Right? So let's go back. Coming up in the game, you always saw whatever show. Oh, you heard that?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That is.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You could have played it off, though.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. Nah, nah, it was too loud.

[Lauren LaRosa]

It was way too loud. Way too loud to play it off.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It was like. Y' all was looking like, all right.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Put it this way. If you see me do this, then.

[Jess Hilarious]

Oh, that's something different.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's something different. Well, you know, because, you know, once you get to be a certain age, you can't pass gas.

[Lauren LaRosa]

You can't pass gas and just sit straight after.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You just be talking and just be.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Like, damn, give yourself a goddamn aneurysm.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Trying to fart.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Standing straight up.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You gotta lean with it, rock with. Was. It was. It was a couple of things. So, like I said, growing up, you always saw that there was always a comedian who was the anchor of a show, and then they would always support. Surround him with a great cast of actors. And so early on, I said, dang, that's the formula. That's it. And I had to ask execs and I would ask different people, like, why? Why is this the formula? And they were like, oh, because. And then when they gave me that, I was like, okay, one day I'm gonna do that. One day I'm do that, because that's the formula. But it's the scariest thing ever. And I was like, you said, I was scared to be vulnerable. I was scared. I was like, man, I. But then I. I got into a place where I, like, I gotta tackle my fears. I gotta face that. I gotta do everything. I said I was gonna do everything I set out to do in this business, in this industry, I said, I'm gonna do it. Because I also saw it as a means to a. First of all, whole nother revenue stream. Number two, open up a million other doors. And it's like everything that got me to where I was before, I had abandoned for some reason, you know, because you can get beaten down by this industry. You can get to a place where you, like, I don't want to do it no more. I quit.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And. But, yeah, I said, nah, this is gonna be. I gotta do this. And if I do it, I'm do it at the highest level. I'm not gonna be doing it like some of the other people out there who just kind of just think that because they got a name, they could just jump out there and do it or, you know, whatever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You never had the bug before. I mean, being around Bill Cosby being around Martin Lawrence. Like, you never had the bug to do it then.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Nah.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I mean, well, yes.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yes and no. Yes and no, because, again, I was just concentrating on doing my job, you know, like my role, whatever role I had to play and whatever job I had to do. And then they were. You know, they started calling me. The whole shows, they started calling me. Actually, you know who got me into this, who really got me started was. Was Reggie. Bro. Man.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Really?

[Jess Hilarious]

Oh, wow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. And I found that out recently. I actually thought it was another comedian, but it was actually him, because I actually started hosting and doing different shows and hosting and things like that. And then it was like. And that's really how you build your set. You know that. That's how you build your set when you put in the work. And yeah, he had put me on a show or suggested me to somebody, but I didn't know it was him. I didn't know it was him who had suggested me.

[Jess Hilarious]

Damn.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, I felt.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Told me he was supposed. Ice Cube was supposed to play that character. What character? Brother Man. Yeah, yeah. Somebody told me Ice Cube was.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I ain't never hear that, but, you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Know, comedy looks effortless when it's. When it's done. Rachel, how much of your performance was instinct versus, like, technical craft on stage?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, all of it. All of it. Like, it's. You got to combine it all. Because, I mean, you put it this way, living in the moment is. Is a lot. It's the best feeling ever, you know, when you got your finger on the post of the crowd and you really, you know. You know what I'm saying? You. You fill them out. Like, every crowd is different. Every audience is different. You got to know your audience, whether you. In Seattle, Utah, wherever. So it's like. But living in the moment, you know, and then. And then being able to. To apply all the technical things in that moment. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Because you could riff all day. You could riff all day, but what are you talking about? You still got to get into your material. Yeah. You have to have a set. You got to be able to talk about something like, you know, crowd work is crowd work. Okay, great. But, yeah, who are you and where.

[Jess Hilarious]

Are you pulling from with your. Your material? Right. So is it from years of you in industry? Is it you younger?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Is it you everyday life? Right now, I'm a pop pop. You know what I'm saying?

[Lauren LaRosa]

I went from UNC to og. You know what I mean? Like, you know, I was like. I thought I was still unknow you, OG man. All right, cool.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So how many grandkids you got?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

One, two, three, five. You a grandkid? For real?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying?

[Jess Hilarious]

And don't look nothing like it.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I'm like, I just go from real. My youngest son, I got four sons. My youngest son is 19. And, man, I tell you, he is Mr. Fafo. He is fuck around and find out guy all day long. And he provide, like, just real life every day. Provides me with everything I need. Everything I need from being like, coming here, being at the Delta lounge. And in the lounge.

[Lauren LaRosa]

We have a Delta lounge. We are living in a fascist society.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I'm like.

[Lauren LaRosa]

And this is where you choose to do this? This is where you choose. Maybe it's not a time, maybe there's not a place, but this is where you do this. I'm like. I'm sitting there eating my little minestrone soup, and I'm like, I can't make this shit up.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I can't make. This is my life. Every time.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I can't make this up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did he tell you he was going to go into protest?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No. That's my point.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm literally like.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And I'm looking around like, yo, is this. Is this joke? Like, this is really happening?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay. When he saw some on the news. He's reading the paper.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It just.

[Lauren LaRosa]

He.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I think he just chose it. Like he was one of those guys.

[Lauren LaRosa]

And I'm like, first of all, how.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You get in here?

[Lauren LaRosa]

But he got in here, and this is his audience right now. This is what he chooses.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you gonna let y' all people know with y' all Delta Lounge money.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I wanted to ask you, man. Cause you talked about, you know, how, you know, y' all used to take things from, you know, just being around each other and bringing to tv. And we heard. We saw Tichina Arnold recently say that's how her and Martin's relationship was on the show.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Right. Let me tell you something, yo, I stayed out of it. I was not that guy. I was not good at that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, at the jokes.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No, no, no.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Listen, listen. Let me tell you something. Growing up, that.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

But see, that's the thing that we missing right now. We was just talking about this earlier. Kids don't go outside and get their feelings hurt no more. You gotta get your feelings hurt enough to build up enough tough skin to have some stuff to come back with. Early on, when Cats was talking about my mama, I wanted to kill him. I want. I would. I didn't know how to just. But. But you. You go through that, right? You go through it and you're like, oh, no, you can't get mad. You can't. So, yeah, we used to play a lot of games. We used to play you can't get mad games all the time. But they would go way too far.

[Lauren LaRosa]

They would go way too far. And I know. I was like, yeah, I'm not in.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Especially her and Martin.

[Lauren LaRosa]

They would just go at it.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And I mean, she was. And then I think it was Tisha's husband at the time, Dwayne. He would. He would try to jump in, and Tashina was the best, y'. All. I don't know if it came from, you know, growing up. You know, when you grow up here in the city.

[Lauren LaRosa]

You grew up here in the city, and then you got, you know, you.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Got a lot of gay friends and things. They. They. They know how to cut on quick with it. They. And show. She used to be like. And Dwayne would say something stupid, and she be like, I'm sorry, I can't hear you, because you don't have a basketball in your hand, so.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't. I can't.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I can't.

[Jess Hilarious]

She never turned it off.

She.

[Lauren LaRosa]

She never turned it off. And then he would say something stupid and talk about. About what he did.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

She was like, I know. Oh, yes. You were almost to Nick. I know. Almost. You were selling out YMCAs.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Is that what you were doing?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Got a basketball background, but, you know.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah, but you know what I'm saying?

[Jess Hilarious]

I was like, feelings.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Feelings, yo. And that's why I be, like, eating my minestrone soup.

[Jess Hilarious]

You ever be laughing and. And then Martin or. I know you ain't laughing.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was definitely an agitator. I was definitely.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yo, for real, you gonna let us say that? Get a son. Get her. Get up.

[Jess Hilarious]

Damn.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So how did the Cole character develop? Like, because Cole was funny, dumb on.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

The show, but he didn't start.

[Lauren LaRosa]

But you know. But you know what, though? I'm gonna say he wasn't done.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's.

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, no, no, that's funny.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's funny.

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, because, look, look, here's the thing.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Here's. Here's how it developed. I felt like he and I were very close, Martin and I, in terms of, like, characters. Right. Starting off, and I was like, well, I gotta do something to kind of separate us because, you know, Tommy was a straight guy.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know, and you can see everybody else's thing. Right? Then I was like, okay. They was always. And that was at the time when all of the. Everybody. All the black designers was coming on, you know, cross colors, fubu, everybody. And so I was getting a ton of gear. Ton of gear. And I was like. And it was always dressing me real, real. You know, I was like, okay, let's start with the clothes. Let's start. And it's like, the thing as an actor, when you do your homework, you say, okay, let's build this character. Who is this guy? Who is this guy in. In this circle of friends? But who is he? You know, where did he come from? You know, who. And how does he fit in this. In this thing? And that's how I started building on him. And then I was like, there's a certain innocence about code. There's a certain naivety. Right? Like, so. Whereas you thought he was dumb. I'm like, no, he just innocent. He just. He believes everything. He lives in his own world. But it's okay because they know him there. He. The mayor. Got you. There's nothing you can't tell me he's not committed to. He believes everything he's saying. He might have smoked weed, too. Maybe.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Maybe.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Because, you know, when you see you got cats that, you know, used to, you know, and then they be like, let me tell you what we gonna do. We go get these niggas soup for free.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That element would have made a lot of sense.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Right? But I can't give you that.

[Tommy Ford]

You feel me?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

But I can put that in there.

[Jess Hilarious]

I felt like Cole was his most genius when he met Shanice. Cause Shanice was dumb as they come.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I was like, lord, yes.

[Jess Hilarious]

But.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Which was kind of funny, because it's like she took it to the next level. She. Yeah, she was dumb squared.

[Jess Hilarious]

Yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was her character always supposed to be dumb, or was that, like. Did you tweak that? Because it complemented your character?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Well, a little. A little. Yes. So, yes, we did tweak that to answer that. Yes. Yes. But I think they wrote it like that, too. They wrote it like, oh, that is his soul mate. This is the one that.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That gets him. That he has to look at. Like, people look at him. Make sense.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Jess Hilarious]

Because Big Shirley wasn't a soul mate.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

No.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. Well, yes, she was. Yes, she was. Yes, she was. Yes, she was. Yes, she was.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Big Shirley was definitely.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Of course, she held him down in.

[Lauren LaRosa]

More ways than once.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

She held me down. Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Big Shirley. One of the most positive depictions of a fat person on TV ever. Big girl that we never Saw her.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Big girl, right? Big girl, big girl.

[Jess Hilarious]

She was a real person.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, big heart. Not a she.

[Jess Hilarious]

Well, big heart.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

They never showed her on the show. They showed parts of her like.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what, though? They did show her one time early on. No. Yeah, early on. And I think it was during the fight party or somewhere around that type of episode.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't remember that one.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lauren LaRosa]

She fell asleep on the couch.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

She was a security. She was like, so literally, she.

[Lauren LaRosa]

She literally grew.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is big, Charlie, right?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Wait a minute. Turn around.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Is this black and white on boom?

No, it's not big, Shirley.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's secure. Yes, yes.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

She wasn't even big.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's my point. She got bigger as the show went on.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Y' all are big.

Got you, got you.

[Jess Hilarious]

She just a stick right here.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Oh, wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I always thought she was like my 600 PO.

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, no, no, she did.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

She got bigger as the show went on to the point you couldn't even see her on the screen.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's hilarious. Why do you think that humor still hits all these decades later? Cuz Martin's always on in reruns.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Like, you know what? To tell you the truth, I don't know. I don't know. See, I feel like. I feel like it was just representative of a time, like you said, of an era that. That represented fun. It represented, you know, everything that we all stood for. That. That, again, it was like, I know him, I know her. That's. It was relative. It was relativity. So.

[Jess Hilarious]

And then you see yourself in it. Cause, like, I seen myself as Pam. I'm always. I. I had a lot. I had a few homegirls growing up, but I used to hang with the guys and I would be riffing and cracking on them. And that's how I learned improv. I learned doing that, you know, from watching all four. Y' all was my friends too. You know what I'm saying? You know, so that. The nostalgia. The nostalgia of that made me like a comedian. Like, that's what I wanted to do, you know? And so with that being said, when people talk about, like, older reboots and I want to see Martin remade, I always have a problem with it because I feel like a time like that can't be remade because those are not the times that we're living in right now.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Right.

[Jess Hilarious]

We would have to touch on too many other things that would kind of blur the funny, you know, and blur the realism of what's going on.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And. And you know what's interesting about that, Jess, is I think that it could have been done at one time. It could have been. The timing of it would have had to been specific, right? Yeah, it could have been done. But you're right, certain stuff, you don't need to touch certain things. You definitely just need to, you know, because you can't capture that same lightning in the bottle. And you're right, it would have to be done in a way that is indicative and speaks to today. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I think for the show. I think we talked about this one time too. We talked about this early on for the show. The show could have actually continued to live on an infamy in a cartoon form because no one, no one gets old, no one dies and it stretches across generations. Like that would have been. And we had talked about doing it like that. So I don't know, I don't even think.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I mean, you couldn't do it now without Thomas. You can't.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That was the thing. That's why I said the timing of it. Yeah. You know, and like he was my best friend in real life, so, you know, the timing of all of that was crazy. But.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So he was your best friend in real life and you still didn't get in the comedy because he was a stand up too.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

But. But he wasn't though. He wasn't. No.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I've seen him on stage before.

[Jess Hilarious]

I've never seen.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No. Okay. No, no, that's what I'm saying. He was, he. He taught me a lot. He taught me a lot. He definitely taught me a lot about the business. Like, like about everything. So I think he was one of the people who influenced me the most coming up during that time. You know what I mean? Like, like when we first started working on the show, I think about a month or two after we started working, you know, he had like this Jeep, you know, the Jeep Wrangler joints, right? But then he like, everybody started buying stuff because we getting money now, right? Everybody started buying things. Then he flipped it and he got himself a Land Cruiser and he milked it out, whited it, everything. Like it was like uptown. It was like it belonged in front of Rooftop, right? And I'm looking at, I'm like, damn. And he had. The dude dropped it off and I saw him give this dude a check for like 15,000. And I'm like, what's that for? He was like, nah, that's just for the. You know what? I said, how much you getting paid? He was like, what you mean? I think we getting paid.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I said, we can't be getting paid the same.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You. I can't do that. You. You giving this dude you given just for accessories? Yeah, I can't do that. He was like, yeah, nah, nah. I said, how much you getting paid, Tommy? And then he was like, well, first of all, he's like, you're incorporated, right? I was like, huh? Immediately he was like, no, you're not incorporated. I was like, what was incorporated? He put me up on being incorporated. Incorporate myself. Like, no, you get the whole check. Pay yourself as a company, as an entity. That I was like, word. So I didn't lost all this money.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

For the last two months, you know what I mean?

[Lauren LaRosa]

Not that I'm gonna run out and.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Do that, but my point being. So he was teaching me a lot of stuff, man. Took me to the golf court course with him and he was like, this is where deals are made. This is. You don't want to do this later in life, trust me, you know? Yeah, he put me on. He put me on.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How did his death impact you?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It was rough. It was really rough because I think we would talk all the time, like every other day we speak, right? And you know, after the show, you know, we catching jobs here and there. You know, we putting each other in different films, we doing things with each other, right? Or if he's doing a speaker. He was very, he was very. He was a huge child advocate. He was a huge advocacy for, you know, our culture and just being black men in general, right? Being responsible, being response able. So he had just had knee surgery, and so he was talking and he was like, yeah, man, I'm in. I'm in recovery and, you know, rehabbing and this, that and the other. So I just spoke to him, you know what I mean? And then Tashina had called me and she was like, carl, you spoke to Tommy? Or she said something like, you heard about Tommy? And I was like, yeah, yeah, man. You know, he's saying. He said he's getting his knee, you know, he's knees is messing with him. She was like, no, Carl, no. I said, what you mean? She was like, you got to go to Atlanta now. She said his girl called him last night and was like, he's in a coma. I was like, she told him, I just spoke to him yesterday, stop playing with me. And so when I went down there, yeah, it was seeing him and seeing him like that was. Was. Was kind of wild, cuz, you know, you just speak to somebody, then you see him in the bed with the. And then the room had this aura and this feeling and a smell that I. I will never forget. You know what I'm saying? And, yeah, so it was. It was one of those caught off guard type things, and I know that it was just me, his wife, and the priest in the room at the end. Wow. You know, when they pulled the plug.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's all she wanted in the room. You know, she was like, carl, I need you to talk to the press. I can't deal with them right now. So I was like, all right. So I had to. I had to, like, keep all of my stuff together. Yeah. To try to be strong for those, you know? But, yeah, it was deep.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did you give yourself an opportunity to grieve?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Did you.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Are you still grieving? A grief is not linear by any means.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, no, I think. Y' all ain't gonna get me on here doing the. Tyrese, y' all.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Got the tissues on deck.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Whatever.

[Lauren LaRosa]

We're not doing that. I'm not about. He started zooming in, and.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

My shirt.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Got tight just now.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Not even out of here.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, man.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. Black men do cry. Not today, though. No. No. I have given myself a chance to grieve, for sure. I just think it's one of those things where the older I get, the tighter my circle, Guys. I don't have a lot of people in my circle because, you know, you start. You know what I'm talking about. You start weeding folks out. They weed themselves out for a reason. And then your circle becomes import, a matter of relevance, importance, and. Excuse me. All of the above. And it was like, so, you know that that person does not exist anymore in my circle. You know what I mean? Yeah, but. But what it did teach me was how random and how short life is, man. And you can't take nothing for granted. Yeah. You know, you can't take. So even now, like, just those who, you know, may have made an impact or who influenced you in some way, you know, you call. You got to call your people. You got to check on them. You got to just say, what's up?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Even.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Because, you know, you can still have friends that you don't speak to every day, but still, you got to just reach out to folks and be like, yo, you good? I'm just checking on you, my nigga. You good. All right, cool. Yeah. You know, but. And to live life differently, right, because it's random. It's super random. So you got to cherish these moments. You got to take time. I think we'd be so caught up in our bubble and our goals and we so focused on X, Y, and Z, but we don't take time to be right here, right now like, this fellow. Like, I'm like, first of all, congratulations to y', all, man. This is beautiful. How you got here? How you got here? How you got here? Thank you, South Carolina boys. Baby, you know what? He definitely didn't.

[Jess Hilarious]

He got 200.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

What happened?

[Jess Hilarious]

Nothing. He got $200 million.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

She said, Stop listening to them.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

They crazy either way. Big ups, big ups. You know what I'm saying? And I don't take this moment for granted. I don't take. God put me in this room right now with y' all for.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We appreciate having you. Absolutely.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? So.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So, man, you speak about random. Not to stay on this, but how did. How did Mr. Michael's death impact you?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I'm glad you brought that up. That's interesting. I had lost my father. I don't know if, you know, I lost my father. The day I buried my dad, the day that we was like, what. The day. The day I buried my father, the day they put him in the crematory where they. That same day, what. I had just left, and I'm sitting in a restaurant because we're all going to grab something to eat. My brother know, he was there, and I'm sitting there, had just ordered. My sister walks over to me with the phone and goes like this, Damn. And I was like. Like, you know, I mean, like, I can't process that right now because at first I thought it was a joke. I thought it was like a hoax, because you know how every now and again, there's always a rumor they'll kill us off. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Thankfully, they haven't done that to me yet.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But Facebook people, I don't know what.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It is, but I'm just saying I couldn't process it at the moment. Like, I literally could not process that at that moment. And what's crazy is how everybody was calling me, you know, like, sorry for your loss. Sorry for. And I'm thinking they're talking about my dad.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Right.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And they talking about Malcolm.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Because to them, what we represented was, like, the ultimate friendship. Right. This was something that. Even if. Even if they didn't know, you know, the level of whatever, but to me, they did think that they thought we were best friends in real life. So people were calling me, saying that. And, you know, it was a. It was very weird. It was very weird.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That was random. Used to be going random. That was.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It Was super random. And again, another reminder. Another. I mean, I don't know all the details. You know, I think he was on vacation or something. He was on vacation, and I was like, wow. And so my heart went out to his family. Like, I felt like, man, I can't imagine. Like, I wouldn't want to. You know what I'm saying? But I know his mother lost a son. You know what I'm saying? His daughter lost a father. Like, you know, their loss is nothing, you know, in terms of him compared to. You know what I mean? Does that make sense, what I'm trying to say? Yeah. I felt more for them, but I was also processing my own situation at that time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Probably. Probably your own immortality in a lot of ways, bro.

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. 100.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How do you protect your identity outside of the characters people love so much?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I don't try to protect it, to be quite honest with you. You know, I can't. I can't. I can't speak for people, right? Like, I don't. You know, it's like when you see somebody, like, if I do a good job and you start screen, you know, if I played a character. Excuse me. I can't say that. No, Right. I'm sorry. Yeah, you can say, all right. Especially. Jesus.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm saying, man, like, yo, this we.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

The world we live in right now is so crazy anyway. If I play a character that makes you, like, hate me and you see me on the street and you be like, I fucking hate you, you know, I'm like, oh, I did a great job.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You say you hate retarded people.

[Jess Hilarious]

Hey, yo.

[Lauren LaRosa]

See the clickbait? See the nonsense?

[DJ Envy]

We joke all the time on our show. People may think we hate on each other when we go back and forth, but the truth is, that's the way we show love. That's respect. That's knowing where the line is. And that's why this message from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate really sticks. Because real hate isn't playful. It's not jokes. It's not entertainment. The commercial during the Big Game showed a kid being targeted at school, quietly, but in a way that happens way too often. And what really hit was the response. Someone chose to step in and show support instead of looking the other way. We talk a lot about culture, about community and having each other's backs. And this is what that looks like. So if you saw the Blue Square commercial during the Big Game, take a second and really think about it. And if you want to show Support, go to bluesquarealliance.org to learn more.

[Jess Hilarious]

This episode is brought to you by the Burbs, A new Peacock original starring Emmy Award winner Keke Palmer. The mystery comedy series follows Samira, a lawyer and new mom who moves with her family into her husband's childhood home. While the peaceful suburb of Hinkley Hills may look picture perfect, it doesn't take long for the buried secrets of the cul de sac to be unearthed. Let's just say it's a Keep your friends close and and your neighbors closer to the situation. Every episode of the Burbs is available to stream now only on Peacock.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

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[Jess Hilarious]

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[Lauren LaRosa]

Stop it.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Stop it.

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, no, no. I'm. My point being. Shut the up. I was waiting for it. It came.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No, I think. I think. I don't make excuses. You know what I'm saying? Like, I live my life, and people who know me, people who grew up with me, people who know me know me. They know me. Like, and that's the difference. Like, when I go on stage, right? It's like, I'm so different. Even as a person, I'm so different from Cole. I'm not. I'm the furthest. I grew up in Harlem. Like, I'm the. I'm the furthest thing from Cole you could possibly think of. And people who know me know that sometimes people find out the hallway, you know, saying, like. Because, you know, but I try to be as nice and as genuine as possible. Like, I mean, I don't know if you've heard stories about me or not, and I don't really care, you know, but I know one thing is I'm always going to be my authentic self. So, you know, and it's just. It's just one of those things where it's like, I can't live my life worried about what other people think or how to separate that from that. My circle is my circle, family. You know what I mean? Like, those who I care about, those who care about me, that's the peace. That's where I need the peace.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Mentally. What is it like when you play a character like Cole and Cockroach and people only see you as that for the first time. Like, when you experience someone who really doesn't in real life, separate the two for the first time, how is that for you, mentally? Because it's probably weird to experience, like, for the first time, it.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It still happens for the first time all the time. Like, it happens every day. It happened in a parking lot across the street. Right. It's just wild. Like, when people encounter me or encounter that, they think you're that sort of like, you know, and. And they. And that's another reason why I started doing stand up, too, because it's like, they got to know. People need to know who Carl Payne is. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, they got to understand that everything I did was just a stepping stone for the next thing, right? But I was Carl Payne first, right? These characters. And that's what happens sometimes. You get stereotyped. You get stuck in some of these iconic characters or whatever, like. And every big star has gone through it, from Eddie Murphy to Sylvester Stallone to whoever, right? What's up, cockroach?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Got no goddamn.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I got excited.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What we talking about right now?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No, it's. It's. But. But honestly, I take it. I take it with a grain of salt. I don't. I don't. I don't get offended by it. Right. I'm never off. Right. I'm never offended by it, because I.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Feel like it's a blessing, too, though.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's what I'm saying. God put me in a position to make an impact. That's part of my. That's part of my legacy, right? That's part of my. That's part of what. My stomach is going wild, by the way. I feel like when you get put in position, right? When you've been blessed with favor, when you've been given a gift and you share that gift, because that's your. And that was one of the things Tommy taught me. He was like, your gift is not yours. My grandmother told me that your gift ain't yours. You know, growing up in the south, your gift is not yours. Your gift and your purpose are tied together, and when you're living in that, you know it. And you don't take that for granted. So when people who don't know me, that just goes, oh, I need. I got more work to do. I got more work to do. I got more work to do. Because, again, I was Carl Payne first. So now you get to know who Carl Payne is. When you come see me on stage, you're like, oh, he's Pop. Pop. He's a father. Yeah. He's a this, he's a that. And I can relate to that because he's saying the wild that I think, but I never say out loud or the thing that I go through all the time, but I just never. I didn't know you went through that, too. Yeah, yeah.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I got caught with my dick in my hand.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

[Jess Hilarious]

Like, relating to.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying?

[Lauren LaRosa]

Right?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know, figuratively, Please shout.

[Lauren LaRosa]

He gonna be like, so you got cool. You hate retarded people with dicks in their hand. What. What did I walk into?

[Jess Hilarious]

Your man over here playing.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You hate retarded. You know What? I'm stopping.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So when you got. You got let go from the Cosby show, right?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yes, yes, I did.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was it for having your dick in your hand or.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Jesus Christ.

[Jess Hilarious]

Please shut.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, I had my dick in my hand and I was talking to this retard.

[Lauren LaRosa]

You know, oh. While Bill was making cappuccinos and he had all these white women in the room. And I was like, what is this?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's so funny though? Is. Is back then there was two things. My dad used to use an example as an example. I don't even know if this is true. Yeah, he used to talk about a family member who didn't remove an earring. That's. So that's why he didn't make the pros as a baseball player. And you not wanting to cut your hair on Cosby show, you know, But I don't even know if that's true.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's not true.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It's not true.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I told a story once before. I told a story once, once before. And you know, I've only. So I don't do interviews a lot, so I've only spoke about it one time. What happened was, it was the ball headed episode. I remember that one, the ball headed episode. And the guy who they had working as the. The barber, whoever he was, right, he hot combed my joint. He hot combed it, right? To make it lay down so it could fit under the ball wig. Excuse me. And we, we didn't shoot in order. We shot like out of order, so to speak. Right. And my hair, they tried to get it back. It didn't match from what we had shot earlier. And you know, Bill had this thing about not, you know, natural hair and all of this other stuff like that and all of this, that and the other. And he thought I did it. And I was like, I talk to your man's in them. I do this, you know, And I feel like there was a lot more going on at that time because to be let go for something like that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Oh, no.

He thought you did what? Curled your hair back up?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Straightened it up.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, he thought I did it. He thought like I put a perm in it or something. And I'm like, now why would I do that? Like, that's crazy.

[DJ Envy]

He just had a bad day that day.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's. That's what I'm trying to say. Like, I feel like there was more going on to be let go for something like that. And I just never spoke on it. I never. I let people run wild with all kind of stories for Years. I don't care. But, you know, why would I. Like, that's the most arrogant thing for me. This. I won't cut my hair. Like, that's the stupidest thing ever. Of course I cut my head. I've been bald for real. But that's what happened. Wow.

[Jess Hilarious]

Damn.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And he thought I did it. He thought I did it. And I was like, no, sir, that's not what happened.

[DJ Envy]

That level spoke after that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I heard about that too. I heard y' all spoke and you. You cursed him out.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Well, I mean, because he was cursed.

[Lauren LaRosa]

He was.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Listen, I thought.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He don't curse.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Duh. Yeah. No, look, look, it was, you know, he's a very interesting man. Let's just say that He's a very interesting man. Sometimes, you know, people like ketchup when it's cold, I like it when it's warm. I don't like to put my ketchup in the refrigerator.

[DJ Envy]

So what was the conversation about? You fired me for cutting my hair. How was it? And what was it? How far after was that?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Well, first of all, it was. It was a very in the moment thing that happened that was kind of, you know, it was. It was. It was very high energy, high intense at the time because it was ridiculous. And then, you know, sometime later, saw him again and, you know, he had some very wild things to say then too, you know, which was like, interesting. Like, oh, okay, so jello pudding pops is just a commercial, just an act. I get it. I get it. But you know, again, I don't talk about old stuff. I don't talk about things that just is, you know, because I feel like this. There's a blessing in everything. Everything that happens, happens for a reason. And so what that did was at that time, it opened my eyes to a lot of things in terms of this industry, how it can be things that can happen. If you built for this type of thing. You know what I'm saying? But it also, like, sometimes when you. You being rejected, you. You really just being redirected.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? So.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Divine misdirection.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah. So. So at the time, you don't see that. At the time, you're just like devastated or whatever the case may be. And. And again, as I've gone on in life and I've been asked about this a million times, I'm not. I'm never going to disparage another man, his name, regardless. Regardless to how I feel about him, regardless to whatever happened then, you know, because I Feel like things that happened at that time was that time. I can't speak for somebody else's mental capacity or. Or whatever they're going through. I can't speak for nobody else, and I'm not going to speak disparagingly on somebody else. It happened. It was what it was. I did what I did. I didn't do that. And my life continued to prosper, you know what I'm saying? I was a part of. I've been a part of some great things. Classics, classic, you know what I'm saying? And so therefore, I already know God got his hand on me. You know, he's got something for me. I'm still here. I'm still doing my thing, so. Absolutely.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was that your last question about that? That's your first offense on, like.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

As. As far as I knew. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's crazy. Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? Like, as far as I knew, I. I never got, like, warnings about anything. I never got nothing.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But there are always stories about that being, like, a really tight ship. Like, I always heard this about the Lisa Bonet firing because they didn't want to write their pregnancy into the show.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And, like, listen, I'm so not into none of that. Like, honestly, I was just a kid having a ball.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

You know what I'm saying? I was a hood star, you know? I mean, like, I was. I was on the number one show in America having. Having a great time, and just. And. And just, like, I saw the interview that you guys did with him and, you know, the narrative that somebody else may have created or tried to.

[Tommy Ford]

Malcolm. Malcolm, you mean?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah. Like, I was never jealous of him. It's not my. It's not my pedigree. I was. Look, when you raised in Harlem, when you come for service, when you see another man shine and you'd be like, that's what's up. You see somebody pull up in a whip, be like, yeah, yeah, catch me on Saturday. I'm gonna have mine, too. You know? I mean, like, I was never envious or I was super happy and thankful to be a part of the show on a whole. Just in general, you know what I mean? But, yeah, no, I was thinking back on the question that you was asking. I think everything just happens for a reason.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. It kind of makes sense now, though, if there's a narrative that you're jealous of somebody.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

But you might just be waiting for the right opportunity to get you out.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Of course. Of course. But you see what I'm saying? But you're always the last to know about that narrative. Think about it. I don't know. I'm sure this has happened to everybody in this room in their career. When you're doing you and you're living life just being you, someone else is always going to feel some sort of way about that, especially if it's not their life. Right. Sometimes they see a light in you. Sometimes they see something in you that they will. I'm pretty sure you've been called arrogant and cocky and all these different things, but it's your confidence. And a lot of times confidence comes off as. As that, you know, especially to some people who may be a little insecure or not or whatever. And I'm not speaking on nobody in specific. I'm just speaking in general. And in this business, in this industry, you have to be like Mike Epps just said in his special, he was delusional. Right? So think about all of us. You got to be a little delusional. You got to be a little cocky to think that you're going to beat out a hundred, 100 other people for a role that's real. Right. To think that you're going to make it out of everybody on the planet. You're going to make it. You're going to be the one. You have a little bit of that energy. You're going to have to have a little bit of it. You're going to carry yourself sometimes with that energy, especially if you. If it's coming from a place of, this is God, this ain't me. Yeah. But others don't recognize that. Right. And so sometimes it gets misconstrued or mistaken. And again, you're always the last to know. Yeah. How someone feels about you. You're always the last to know.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Malcolm said in that interview, though, that you guys had gotten to a good place and y' all were having better, like, adult grown conversations.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

100.

[DJ Envy]

Look, look, we have kids audio, just if you want to play.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hey, I had the audio.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, we got the audio.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Are you still cool with Cockroach? Call Anthony.

[Jess Hilarious]

Hilarious.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Of course.

[Tommy Ford]

Cooler. We're cooler as adults than we were during that time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Really? Well, y' all didn't get along?

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, no, not at all.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This young eagle and.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, that's what it was. All right.

[Tommy Ford]

The original callbacks for Cosby. They flew in an actor from Chicago and flew in an actor from New York. Carl was the actor. They flew in from New York. So had I not auditioned for the show, Carl would have played Theo.

[DJ Envy]

So look at you every day.

[Tommy Ford]

And See, you took my part, and then I got to come back and play your best friend. So, you know, I think on one hand that was part of it. And he decided he had a huge ego, you know? Yeah, he had a huge ego, so. And I didn't come from that kind of place. The way I felt then and the way I feel now, you know, based on my career, if anybody, you know, should walk around with a huge ego, it should be me. And if I don't roll like that, I don't really. I have very little tolerance for people who roll like that. We really. We just never really got along back then. But, you know, we're grown now and, you know, and Carl's been through a lot. Like, his journey is, you know, it's.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

It's been.

[Tommy Ford]

You know, he's had a journey as adults. We've been able to, like, sit down and have conversations, and we're in a very cool grown man place now.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's good.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah. 100. I mean, I think it's interesting some of the things that he said. Charlamagne.

[DJ Envy]

That's water, by the way, brother.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

This is just water.

[DJ Envy]

Just regular water.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I know, right?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, that's a crazy. I'm like, that's a crazy.

[DJ Envy]

Makes water for their bikers and stuff, so. But they can't have regular water, so they make their own water for.

[Jess Hilarious]

And they just put.

[DJ Envy]

And they just put it in the same.

[Jess Hilarious]

Can I show you, too?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If you don't believe it.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I know. I'm just like, you know, you ever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Have to ask that question on the set of the Cosby Show. It's just water.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Wow. Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Please stop.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yo.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Oh, my God.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Oh, my God. No, I think it's interesting. I think it's interesting. Like I said. Yeah, we, we, you know, we were kids, man. We were kids. It was the 80s, you know, different time, different time, different energy. We come from two different places. You know, like I said, people don't. You don't always mesh. You don't always understand, you know, when you got different energies and things of that nature. You know what I'm saying? I think some of the word choices he chose was very interesting to say, like, you know, in terms of, like, what he felt, I guess, at that time that he felt like he should have been the cocky one or he should have been the one with the ego. The one with the ego or whatever the case may be. And, And.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And both of y' all had great careers.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Intolerable. And those kind of words and things of that nature is Just, it's very interesting. But again, I. We were kids. We were kids. You know what I'm saying? But again, I never ever had any type of. And people who know me, people who around back then, they know I was, had no, no hatred in terms of somebody else's success. I was happy to be a part of that joint, glad to be a part of. Blessed, you kidding me? And, and I worked for it. I didn't just, it wasn't handed to me. Like, I literally had to audition for. Over the, over the year following that, I had to audition for the part of the boyfriend, the this, the that. I kept auditioning back to back over and over and over again for all these other roles, including that one. And then when that one came along, I just happened to. I guess my persistent and consistency paid off in terms of that. But. Yeah, yeah, nah. But then, you know, you grow up and you start seeing, okay, we was kids back then, you know, whatever that was. I don't even know what that was, right? You go, what was that? And you see somebody else doing good and you're like, okay, you're a father now. I'm a father. We are. It's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, it. To me, it's kid stuff, stuff, right? Whatever happens. Like, then that's why I say when I do interviews or talk about things, it's like, why are we talking about something that happened if, you know, co workers and brothers. Brothers fight. Family fights. They don't get along. And then you got family members who never speak to each other again because they reneged in spades. They can't even come because.

[Lauren LaRosa]

And they still mad about dumb stuff.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Man, I don't have time for that. My life, man, I don't. I love everybody.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I only got a couple more questions, but what role taught you the most about yourself as a, as a man? Our role or environment.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

What role or environment taught me the most about myself? The role of life. The role of life, brother. The role of life every day. There's no. Because everything I do in terms of those characters, I put my real life into it in some way aspect or another. But life is always the best teacher. You know, being the role of a father, being the role of a grandfather, being the role of a husband, being the role, all these different things. That's, that's, you know, you family man, right? You're a family man. You know, there's always going to be something that humbles you. There's always going to be something that makes you appreciate what. You know, what you have, what you don't have. All of the above. And then you can take those life experiences and throw them into your comedy. You can throw them into a character. You know, it's easier sometime, like I said earlier, when you. When you're playing a character, because even though it's your face, it's still a mask. It's still like. You know what I'm saying? It's like you're. You're really pouring into something else. But when you're on stage, you're not saying, hey, I'm up here representing Jess. Hilarious. I'm not Jess. I'm just Jess. Right. You know? Yeah. So, yeah.

[Jess Hilarious]

And you're. That brings me to Young Villain because I. Me and my son watched it together. Right. And so that was my favorite.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's been my favorite. That's not my favorite.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

All right, cool.

[Jess Hilarious]

Because I wanted to answer the question for you when he.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah.

[Jess Hilarious]

Asked you that, but it's not my interview, but I was like, I feel like the role of the dad that you play in young Dylan is more so who you resonate with now, because you are pop Pop. You are the father. You're showing that you're also. Also teaching young Dylan the way of life. You know what I mean? And being his dad. So, like, that was a perfect role.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That was the perfect role at the perfect time, man. Like, it's like, I really didn't have to do no work, you know what I'm saying? Like, and I do that anyway. Like, I go around the country speaking to kids. You know, I'm very big on mental health. I'm very big on taking up the torch where Tommy left off in terms of just talking to the youth and. And trying to get them to understand. Not trying to get them to understand, but passing along my knowledge, passing along my. My game. Anything that could help them change their life. Like, I've had other communities. I've had people come up to me and say, like, Billy Sorrells, for example, Right?

[Jess Hilarious]

Yeah.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

He was like, do you know I became a comedian and an actor because of you? I said, what do you mean? He said, you came to my school. I was in the third grade. Wow. He said, and you spoke to me. You pulled me aside, and you know what I'm saying? And stuff like that. That's dope. Stuff like that. Or guys in jail talking about they. They were able to get through it. You know what I'm saying? Somebody was like, I was gonna kill myself. But then I started watching it's like, so that tells me that I'm on the right path, meaningful, that God has, like I said, blessed me, giving me a craft that ties into my purpose, which is about changing lives. Laughter is healing, right? And if I can use this platform or any other platform to, to, to heal somebody, to be able to change somebody, make an impact, a positive impact, to me, that's legacy, that's successful, to be able to affect people's lives positively, right? Starting with your own core at home, starting with your family. And then, then I did my job.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You just answered my last question. That's all I was going, it's all said and done. How do you want your, you know, contribution to the game to be remembered?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Just said it just that, you know, I did my thing, I did my thing thing and I left a positive impact on the world. And because I said that when I started, when I first started out, the thing that made me want to do this, my father, you know, it's weird family. My father has had a very positive. And no, it's all positive. It's all positive because sometimes when things happen to you, like you said, when you get fired or you get let go, you've been fired four times. But I'm saying you'd just be re directed. Right? I think there was an incident that happened when I was a kid and this will be in my book and in my one man show, so I can't give it to you right here. But something happened and I swore when I was in my bedroom because they were growing up in the projects in Harlem. It was different. It was different, different. And I remember we were doing these reports and they had us looking at the obituaries. Why would you tell a young black man to do a report on an obituary? And so I'm looking at this obituary and I'm seeing everything that I see around me in real life and I'm looking at this obituary and I'm being surrounded by all of this and this is like at the back of the Daily News. I said, you know what? I want to do something one day. I said, no, I'm going to do something. I'm going to do something that's going mean something. I'm going to do something in my life and it's going to mean something. And my name is going to stand for something. I'm not going to be a blurb on the back of the Daily News. I'm not. I'm going to make a difference and I'm going to do something. And everybody's going to remember my name. Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You did that?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Absolutely.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You did that.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Okay, check it out.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Now we time for the.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

For the. All the other stuff, right? Comedy in Harlem. Gotta come see me this week. Comedy I'm.

[Lauren LaRosa]

This is a New York takeover.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I know we did. You know, we had the most somber interview I've ever had in my life. Comedy in Harlem, you know, that's going down Friday. It's a New York takeover. Comedy in Harlem on Friday.

[Lauren LaRosa]

T Breezy. T Breezy Entertainment.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Where we at Saturday?

[DJ Envy]

Saturday the 14th. You keep saying Friday.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Saturday.

[Lauren LaRosa]

No, no, no, no, no. Friday I'm in Comedy Hollow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Okay, Saturday, Saturday, where we at in Jersey City?

[DJ Envy]

Jersey love.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Jersey love comedy show. We got two Ray, Rudy, Rush, Delay. We got a whole bunch. And I'm the surprise host. Surprise over. Yeah, I'm the guest host. I'm the guest host for the, for the weekend there.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And then Sunday, yo, I'm. I'm starting to do these things around. First of all, I'm getting ready to go on tour, so everybody got to go to my page. I'm gonna give it to y' all too, y'. All. So you can see where. Because I'm getting ready to do my one man show and it's coming to Broadway.

[Podcast Narrator]

Bow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Oh, that part.

[Jess Hilarious]

Wow.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Okay. Yeah. Because I love John Leguizamo. I love Whoopi Goldberg. Like, I love to where I could put my acting skills with the comedy, but take you on this whole journey, you know, with this catharsis.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I love that. Nobody did that. I haven't seen one since Tyson. Mike Tyson did one.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

That's. That's what I'm doing. So just, just understand what's about to happen. Your boy's about to take it there, understand what's going to happen there. So, yeah, I'm gonna give you all the dates for being on tour, but I'm also starting this other. Everybody started doing these little bingo joints. You've been to the little bingo thing?

[DJ Envy]

I've been seeing them a lot more.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah, yeah, I'm doing one on Sunday.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm doing a bingo brunch.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Martin Trivia.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Bingo brunch on Sunday in Brooklyn.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Where we at? Kurt. Captain Kurt. Captain Kirk.

[Lauren LaRosa]

1000 Broadway. And then I'm at your spot.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

What's about the mall?

[DJ Envy]

Oh, you're at the mall?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. Next week. Next week. What you doing there?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, they ain't call you about that.

[Lauren LaRosa]

What am I doing there? What am I doing?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Black stuff no more. I'm gonna do.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I'm gonna do my rendition of the.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Halftime super bowl show.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yeah, so I'm doing that.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yeah. I'm doing them all.

[Jess Hilarious]

The what's American Dream?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

American Dream Mall. I'm doing that next week, the 19th. Okay.

[Jess Hilarious]

Well, what I want to say is I love you and I appreciate you because I love you, too, Jess. I grew up watching you, and. And I never thought that I would, you know, think when you watch somebody on tv, you will grow up and meet them one day, right? And then I grew up watching you. And then you came to my show and you watched me and you laughed. Because I'm funny, nigga. So I love you. I appreciate you.

[Lauren LaRosa]

But you know why I came.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

And I appreciate you, too, you know? You know why I came? Because I saw something in you. I saw something in you. Like, I would see you online and, you know, and you know how it is. Like. Like every. Everything now is like. Is different. Different. That's all I gotta say. And as I'm studying the game and studying people, I'm like. And you know, you like, okay, who am I going to team up with one day, right? And does she have it? Because you see a lot of these Internet comedians and a lot of cats that was just blowing up on the Internet, they couldn't hold the hour. They couldn't hold it, you know?

[Lauren LaRosa]

And I'm not.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I'm not hating on nobody. I'm so. I'm gonna go see if you could do it. And I came and she delivered and killed. And I was like, she get busy. That's what I'm talking about.

[Lauren LaRosa]

And I think it's too.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

I think, too, because you saw it too, right? You studied it. You. You respected the craft. You respected the art. I think I do. I saw that in you. And you're. You're mad talented. You're mad funny. Congratulations. You're right where you're supposed to be. You on your way. You out of here. Thank you. For real. For real. Thank you.

[DJ Envy]

There you have it. Call Anthony Payne ii. We appreciate you for joining us.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I bought you some stuff.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah. What's the website, man?

[Lauren LaRosa]

What's the website, man?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Where's the website?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The blackest ever heard in my life.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Man.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Listen, listen. No, it's not. Yo, what's the website?

[Jess Hilarious]

Nobody know the website.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Call Anthony Payne.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Call. It's.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Call Anthony Payne Entertainment.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Call Anthony Payne Entertainment.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Call Anthony Payne Entertainment. T. Breezy Entertainment.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Lauren Lusa Charlemagne. The God. South Carolina Boys in the building. DJ Env.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Yes, sir.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Thank you for coming, brother.

[Lauren LaRosa]

White boy behind the board. I can't see all All I can see is eyes and red hair.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Yo, I can't.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I can't see. He's like.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

He's like that. What was that show when the guy with the fence. I can't.

[Lauren LaRosa]

I can't even see you. I can't even see you, man.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

My bad.

[Lauren LaRosa]

My bad, sir.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

My bad.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Morning.

[Public Service Announcer]

Hold up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. Y' all finish or y' all done?

[DJ Envy]

That's right. It's DJ Envy.

[Jess Hilarious]

It's your girl Jess.

Hilarious.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And I go by the name of Charlamagne. Tha God. And we are the world's most dangerous morning show at Breakfast Club. You just finished listening to, you know, our podcast for today.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And we want you to go watch the visuals on Netflix. You know, we're still on YouTube, but it's the clips on YouTube. But if you want to watch the Breakfast Club in full, if you want to see what you just listened to, go to Netflix.

[Jess Hilarious]

That's right. Find us on Netflix.

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Sure. When segregation was a law, one mysterious.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Black club owner Charlie Fitzgerald, had his own rules.

[Lauren LaRosa]

Segregation in the day, integration at night.

[Jess Hilarious]

It was like stepping in another world.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Was he a businessman?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

A criminal?

[Jess Hilarious]

A hero?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him. Charlie's Place from Atlas Obscura and visit Myrtle Beach. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Narrator]

You know Roald Dahl, he thought of Willy Wonka and the bfg. But did you know he was a spy? In the new podcast, the Secret World of Roald Dahl, I'll tell you that story and much, much more.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What?

[Podcast Narrator]

You probably won't believe it either, was this.

[Jess Hilarious]

Before he wrote his stories, it must.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

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

[Podcast Narrator]

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

[Public Service Announcer]

Talking to your kids about the dangers of vaping can be hard. Getting them to listen to hot gossip is easy. So here's some drama you could share with your kid. Dude, did you hear about Cassie and Jake?

[Carl Anthony Payne II]

No.

[Public Service Announcer]

But did you hear that vaping can cause irreversible lung damage and nicotine affects brain development? Nuh uh. You don't need to gossip if you want to have an open conversation about vaping. So if you want to get tips on when and how to talk to your kids, visit talkaboutvaping.org, brought to you by the American Lung association and the Ad Council.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is an I heart podcast, guaranteed human.