Cedric The Entertainer sat down with The Breakfast Club to discuss his new CBS Sitcom ‘The Neighborhood’, career and his thoughts on the comedy industry.
Cedric first got his start as a regular host on BET’s Comic View. He became a household name with breaks on the Steve Harvey Show, Bud Light Superbowl Commercials, The Barbershop movies and as one of the OG Kings of Comedy. This year, in addition to Cedric’s new sitcom, he has also appeared on Tracy Morgan’s ‘The Last OG’.
When asked to speak on the topic of industry competition (in light of Katt William’s recent interview on V103 Atlanta, Cedric said he could only speak for himself,
“I don’t really like that [competitive] energy when it comes to comedy because it is a business about making people laugh. You’ve got to imagine that everybody gets their shine the way that it’s supposed to come. This is one of them grown statements that I always tell people, ‘You can’t want another man’s blessings, ‘cause you don’t know they burdens.’ So, don’t want what somebody else has; you can’t desire that. If they hot right now, then that’s what it is and you cant tell someone, ‘well, you ain’t earned yours’ or none of that. Because any one moment in a room where the right person is there, that’s when it clicks and that’s supposed to happen for you.”
Cedric reflects on how the success of other comedians has caused him to rise to the occasion,
“Bernie Mac changed the money; Kevin Hart changed the money; Katt Williams changed the money. You like when people become arena stars because they raise the bar; raise the money; raise the expectations. You want people to get they shine because it lets you know there’s a slot open. That’s the way you look at it, you don’t be mad at nobody for that.”
The veteran comedian went on to discuss his support for young come-ups and those who’ve made it,
“When you walking out there, it’s you and the audience. It’s like anywhere from 300 to thousands of people with all these opinions; everything they had going on in they day and you on the microphone. Anybody that can do it on a large level, you just gotta appreciate that. Even if you don’t think they funny or not, you gotta appreciate that they’ve got the skill set to go out and deliver; draw an audience; draw a fan base, and then give them an hour; give them 45 minutes.”
So far, Cedric’s CBS sitcom ‘The Neighborhood’ is off to a strong start, generating 8 million viewers for its premiere.
