Deon Cole
I just like being able to voice my opinion. That's all comedy is. Comedy is just a different perspective. Perspective of what you think opposed to what other people think. I try to uphold it and make it educational as well as inspirational, as well as funny. All around, I think it's very important.Collection: Inspirational
I use this notepad onstage, mastering the art of not being professional. I'll do a joke that doesn't work on purpose, then go to my notepad and scratch it off, which becomes funny.Collection: Funny
Unfortunately, we live in a world where no mistakes can be made, and it's sad because you learn from your mistakes. If we can't make mistakes, how the hell are we going to learn?
Family Feud' is like the 'Steve Harvey Family Feud' now. It's great! I think a lot of game show people started looking at that.
Funny comes in different levels. Like not looking seasoned, or not looking prepared, the way that an actual comic should look, becomes funny.
Cops need dumb people. What if everybody was smart? Where would police be right now?
A lot of people look in the mirror and keep forgetting that. You're the most unique person in the world.
Growing up using Old Spice was everything to me, so it's huge to join the world-famous group of Old Spice Guys.
You can change the world, sometimes, with the opinions and thoughts we have as comics.
That's the whole point of anyone's standup career. It's to get people to listen to their point of view.
I want everybody to be blacker. Start talking black at work. You ain't gotta change your voice at work anymore.
There's nothing that I would never not talk about, but I would do it in a classy way.
Why do you have to go start a campaign, get me fired from the people who do love me, and now they can't see me because of something you couldn't handle? It just doesn't make sense. Just don't watch it.
I remember the times when I had nothing to do. So anytime I feel tired, I feel like complaining, I think of that, and I go: 'Remember, you had nothing to do.' So I get up, do what I gotta do.
I would love to direct. Hopefully, I could probably direct an episode of 'Grown-ish,' but I have to show them that I'm serious and put in the work and the time.
I'm the type of person who, if I'm driving my car and it runs out of gas, as soon as it stops I'm getting a gas can and walking. I'm not going to sit there thinking, 'What am I gonna do?' I'm walking.
I really like interacting with the audience, especially with 'Cold Blooded Seminar's' question bit at the end, because it gives the sense that we're here to learn.
I always thought that asking questions at the end was a cool way for doing a stand-up show. It's unique and different, and helps reiterate what's been said, as if we were in a class.
I make the time between shooting 'Angie Tribeca,' 'Black-ish' and movies for my stand-up. You have to force yourself to make time for it.
A friend of mine was watching TV one day and he just was like, 'I bet you want to do comedy,' and he was like, 'You should. I bet you could if you try it.' So I went to a comedy club and went on stage and never looked back. It just became a career when it became more demanding than the job I had.
It's two totally different things. Comedy is more therapeutic. Acting is more of an escape.
Comedically, man, I'm just trying to be on a page where I can just uplift people, no matter what it is. Just try to give them some type of upliftment and make them laugh. At the same time, make them think about something they wouldn't normally think about.
Black-ish' is my family forever.
I would do anything under the sun for Kenya Barris. Put that on a T-shirt. Hashtag it.
Comedy is like magic. If you don't see where the trick is going, it's entertaining.
Especially in this business, once one person latches on with the credibility, it becomes a snowball effect. Once somebody validates you, then other people start taking recognition of what you're doing, and then they start believing in what you do.
For every 15 jokes I write, only one works.
When you watch a comedy special, you see the glitz and glamour. But what you don't see is when it doesn't work and I'm getting heckled and all of that.
Every time I go work out material, I bomb more than I do good.
Sometimes a joke that's not working is just as hilarious as one that does.
I'll do a joke on purpose that really doesn't work just to show that that's funny.
Me trying to save the world isn't really what I'm here for. I'm going to try to do it on the sneak tip, but I'm not going to present myself in that way. I'm going to underhandedly try to save the world.
I never thought I could be a comedian, because I never thought I was funny. A lot of other people thought I was funny in the sense that, 'you're crazy.'
Kenya Barris is a visionary.
When it comes to writing, I don't want to cheat the people. I don't wanna rush that.
I really don't even remember the '90s.
Atlanta has always been one of my favorite places to come and get down. I don't come through a lot because I'm always filming and doing stuff, so when I come through, I come through.
I bomb all the time. You just got to keep going.
Looking like I don't have it together is actually an art that I perfected.
I just think that it's good to be recognized and for people to see what you're doing and honor you with it. That's always good but if you don't then you don't. You still can feel good at the end of the day with what you've given to people and what they're receiving and what you've got to bring to the table.
There's a difference between having a game show host and having a personality as a game show host - somebody that you know and respect that's funny.
I've been preaching it. I've been getting the word out. I've been telling people 'Stop talking white at work. Talk how you talk and if they fire you, you got a lawsuit. Simple as that.'
Everybody else is out being themselves at work, so I don't understand why black people have to change the way they talk in order to be accepted.
A lot people don't know that I'm a stand-up.
I'm a big cultural pusher when it comes to hip-hop, disco music, comedy, all that stuff that I love.
If everything is always magical, then you'll never have a magical moment. So you have to understand that when it comes to comedy there's going to be a lot of letdowns, but when that magical moment happens it's going to be worth all the letdowns. You'll appreciate the greatness more than you were expecting.
I love being a comic but I love acting as well. They're both very necessary avenues for me.
The clocks in my house are set to Pacific time, but my watches are set to Chicago time. It just reminds me of home and keeps me in that mindset.
Bernie Mac was a god in Chicago.
I moved into this low-income building in Chicago because all my friends lived there or the next building over rent-free. I had no rent to pay, no utilities, so I would save my money from standup. And then I started selling these jerseys I got from a hookup in Korea. I would pay like $10 and sell them for $300. I had money on top of money.