How Comedian Roy Wood Jr. Is Navigating Baseball And Show Business

Forbes

Comedian and CNN late-night host Roy Wood Jr. joined Jabari Young on The Enterprise Zone at the Nasdaq MarketSite. In the discussion, Wood Jr. discusses his new documentary with MLB, missing out on a Subway franchise, and how he’s approaching the comedy business with a “grateful” perspective.  0:00 Introduction and The Missed Subway Franchise Opportunity 1:55 Current Projects: CNN Show and Major League Baseball Documentaries 2:36 Investment Pick: Gaming  4:49 Soundtrack to 2025: Music Tastes and Sharing with His Son 6:23 "Going Going Gone: The Magic of the Home Run" (MLB Doc) & Baseball Culture  12:11 HBCU Baseball Program Documentary ("Road to the Swingman Classic") 14:18 Roy Wood Sr. Don Cornelius and Soul Train 16:34 Grateful: Wood Jr.'s Rough Start & Career Journey 23:00 Good Comedian vs Great Comedian  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Go get me a sandwich from Subway. Say those words and you may trigger a disappointing business idea from this individual.

00:08A $70,000 franchise that could have made him a multi-millionaire in his 20s.

00:13We'll explain more. Talking business with Roy Wood Jr. You're in the Enterprise Zone at the NASDAQ.

00:23Hello everyone, it's Jabari Young, Senior Writer at Forbes and I am here at the NASDAQ and I'm in the Enterprise Zone.

00:29I'm joined by Roy Wood Jr., comedian, TV host, CNN. Have I got news for you?

00:36I mean, man, listen, I respect the hell out of your story from where you came from, man.

00:39Thank you so much for making the show.

00:40Let me ask you a question. Why are you starting to interview with Payne from when I was a teenager?

00:47You know, before we started, you was asking me about Subway at the time.

00:52I saw the vision of Subway Salmon Shops in the 90s.

00:55I had to get it. I had to, man.

00:57Yo, the problem was that I was 17. I was graduating from high school.

01:02My mother is now 40 years in higher education.

01:05You're not going to come out of high school as a graduate and go, you know what we should do, Joe?

01:10It's we should open a sandwich. But I had worked for Subway for two years.

01:14So I knew what the money was.

01:15$300,000, right?

01:17Bro, there was no, at the time in the 90s, Subway was the Chick-fil-A of the fast, casual, fast food movement.

01:23And there was no Subways on the west side of Birmingham at all.

01:27And I'm like, Mama, $70,000 franchise fee.

01:31Let me skip school for a year.

01:33Now I know the word is gap year.

01:36I said, just let me skip school for a year.

01:38Get it off the ground.

01:39She said, boy, you better go on down to Florida A&M.

01:41And that's what I did.

01:42It worked out okay.

01:43And then years later, she said, go get me a Subway Salmon, right?

01:45Oh, man.

01:46Anytime I come home, she go, go to that Subway.

01:48You mean the one around the corner that we could have owned, Joyce?

01:50I didn't say Joyce.

01:52That one would get popped in the mouth.

01:53Oh, man.

01:54Hey, I appreciate you making the trip, man, brother.

01:56Thank you so much, man.

01:57Thank you for stopping her up.

01:57Absolutely, man.

01:58And congratulations on a year so far, man.

02:00You got the new show, right?

02:01Season two, I believe.

02:02Yeah, yeah.

02:02Season two, going into season three this fall.

02:05We're taking a break for the summer, you know, because CNN, and I don't have to tell

02:08you all, you know, the restructuring Warner.

02:10Get that set first, and then we'll start cranking out the new episode.

02:14So, in a weird way, I'm thankful that it happened the way it did because it opened up the window

02:21for me to be able to do all of this stuff with Major League Baseball this spring and

02:25just work on docs and projects with them.

02:27I love the sport of baseball.

02:29I get to kind of take my son with me to some of the stuff and some of the events that I've

02:32been able to cover.

02:33It's just been a beautiful thing.

02:35It just kind of worked out perfectly.

02:36Most definitely, man.

02:37We'll dive into that a little more in a minute, man.

02:39But first, right now, we're at the NASDAQ, right?

02:41You're going to give me a stock, right?

02:42What has worked well for Roy Wood Jr.?

02:44Like, what is something that you maybe want to buy, even, that you're looking at?

02:47You know what?

02:49Nintendo.

02:50Nintendo?

02:51Nintendo is one that I've always respected.

02:53That's over the counter.

02:53I just bought something for my daughter, too, because Nintendo Switch Part 2 coming out.

02:56Yeah, Nintendo Switch.

02:58I'm a gamer, and I was always told that you should buy within the stuff that you actually

03:02care and love or whatever, whatever.

03:04I really believe that when Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out, whenever it does come out, it

03:10keeps getting pushed quarter by quarter.

03:12I think that is going to drive PlayStation sales up immensely.

03:16I'm trying to use my investor voice right now.

03:17Sony.

03:18But I really do believe that, you know, I'm a PlayStation guy, and GTA for a long time

03:24was, that was the premiere game for the PlayStation, going back PS1, PS2, you know, GTA 3.

03:31So, for me, I like PlayStation.

03:35Yeah.

03:36I like that.

03:37I just don't think gaming is going to go away.

03:39It's not.

03:40I mean, they might stop selling the hard ones, and they might force you to download.

03:43That means you've got to buy more cloud space.

03:45I see what they're doing, right?

03:46Yeah.

03:46I would now, and to that point, I wouldn't be fooling with no GameStop right now.

03:50No.

03:51Because once they go full digital and everything, yeah, it's going to be right.

03:54But, you know, it's so funny.

03:54I still go to GameStop.

03:56I just love the nostalgia of it.

03:57I love going, I love looking around the store, and I take my daughter with me from time to

04:01time, trying to give her that last experience before they close down.

04:04You know what it is about GameStop?

04:06To me, GameStop is one of the last stores I've gone to where the employee knows something

04:11about the product they're selling.

04:13Yes.

04:14GameStop and Home Depot.

04:15Yes.

04:15They're the only two places you go where you know for sure, oh, man, let me tell you about

04:18this game.

04:18See, part two, you got it.

04:19I'm playing it right now at the house.

04:21I missed three shifts because I was playing it.

04:24Like, they are really passionate about, you know, what they sell.

04:27So, yeah, I'm definitely still a brick-and-mortar guy as much as I can for anything that I want.

04:31That experience, man, and your stand-up, you even say it.

04:34You know, those little micromanages, those little micro-interactions that you have with

04:38human beings, they're missing.

04:39It's like what Edward Norton said in Fight Club.

04:41These little single-serving friends that you get.

04:44And you just go in the store, hey, man, what do you need?

04:46All right, my name's Phil.

04:47And you never see that person again.

04:48Yeah.

04:49Well, what's your soundtrack to 2025, man?

04:50A lot is going on.

04:51I mean, you know, you see every time you turn on the news, there's tariffs, wars, but everything.

04:56What's keeping you creative?

04:57What's keeping you positive?

04:58What's the music that's been, you know, helping you so far?

05:00You know what, man?

05:01For me, I'm still a retro guy when it comes to music, man.

05:05You know, I have not had a lot of time to ingest a lot of new artists.

05:09Like, the newest artist that I listen to right now is Big X the Plug.

05:12And he's been around for a couple of years.

05:14I'm not going to act like he's new-new.

05:16I enjoy Kendrick, of course.

05:17There was somebody that I came up on listening as well.

05:20I like that young brother Isaiah Rashad.

05:23That's somebody that I enjoy.

05:24But, you know, raising a nine-year-old, I'm bringing him up through the different genres of music.

05:30So right now, we're down a classic rock rabbit hole right now.

05:34We've done a little bit of hip-hop, a little bit of OutKast, a little bit of LL Cool J.

05:37It's hard to find a lot of rap music that's clean, no guns, no drugs, no sex.

05:42Will Smith was great.

05:43That's why I say he's one of the best rappers.

05:44He did it all.

05:45He didn't say a cuss word one time.

05:47I'm like, you know how hard that is to do that nowadays?

05:50Right?

05:50And that's why I think he's, like, amongst those guys.

05:53Lyrics, maybe not the best lyricists, but as far as entertainers and rappers, I think you've got to put them up.

05:56Yeah, absolutely.

05:57Absolutely.

05:57So, you know, it's been fun discovering, you know, like Bruce Springsteen and Isaac Hayes and just a lot of the classic rock and 70s soul.

06:05We've been kind of down that rabbit hole.

06:06So I'm kind of going through this journey of reliving life again with my son and just setting him up with all the bass level.

06:13The standards, you know, the Elton Johns and the Diana Rosses and the That's What Friends Are For, the Dionne Warwick.

06:20It's like, you've got to know all of that stuff.

06:22You've got to know all of it, man.

06:23Well, listen, man, getting into some news, you've got two upcoming documentaries, right?

06:26You have Going, Going, Gone, The Magic of the Home Run, right?

06:29It's the doc that you're working on with Roku and the MLB, right, celebrating the best home runs in history.

06:34And then you have another one where you're going around different HBCUs and looking at their baseball programs.

06:40But starting with the MLB one, like, what's going on?

06:42I had no idea you were a baseball fan, so I started looking at your life.

06:45You were the heckler on the bench.

06:46I was a heckler on the bench in high school.

06:48That's how I started figuring out that I was funny enough to do stand-up.

06:52I went to, matter of fact, shout out to, yeah, give a shout out to Trevor Noah.

06:55A lot of people don't know this.

06:56I showed up for work for Game 7, Cubs Indians World Series, Cubs Guardians now.

07:02But I showed up to work because, you know, I'm here to do the job.

07:05Trevor comes up to me, he goes, go to the airport.

07:09Go to the game.

07:10I went to the game.

07:11I went to the game.

07:12No check bags, no nothing.

07:13Just traveling, just with a phone in my pocket, no charge.

07:16I went to Game 7.

07:16So to have an opportunity where Roku and MLB Studios reach out to me and go, yo, we want

07:21to tell the story of why the home run is so special to people.

07:26It's not just about the fact that you can hit the ball real far.

07:29It's the fact that so few people can do it.

07:31And it is the one thing that can, in my opinion at least, it can change the mood.

07:35Home run is the most beautiful act in all of professional sports.

07:38I put it above penalty kick.

07:39I put it above a slam dunk.

07:40I put it above Bo Jackson dropping the shoulder, trucking somebody on the football field.

07:44It's just this magical thing that turns everybody into a giggly little happy child.

07:51So we had an opportunity to talk with a bunch of former and current MLB players just about

07:56what the home run means to them.

07:58We talked to Albert Pujols and Peter Alonzo, Jazz Chisholm, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman

08:03all stop in there.

08:05So to be able to not only look at the home run present day and the home run derby and

08:09the history of the derby, but to also look at the cultural things that the home run, like

08:15when you think about what McGuire and Sosa did in 1998 and the way America was locked in

08:21on that home run race.

08:22When you think about Hank Aaron hitting 715 in the South, and this is a black man in the

08:27South, and he's got white men running around the bases with him who went to jail and he bailed

08:31him out, by the way.

08:33So it's an opportunity to just explore one of the most beautiful games through the simple,

08:39most beautiful part of it.

08:41So even if you're not a diehard fan of baseball, you understand the home run.

08:45You understand the home run derby.

08:46And it was just, I mean, man, I'm on cloud nine.

08:49I don't know what your sport is.

08:51Man, you know, I'm a big baseball fan.

08:52We had the commissioner, Rob Manfred, sitting right where you were sitting at.

08:55He was up in, and I was telling him last year I committed a sin.

08:58And I missed probably my first baseball game in the summer in years because I just got

09:02so busy.

09:03And this year I'm like, you know, I'm not missing it at all.

09:05I'm not missing the game.

09:06It's just something about baseball.

09:07You know, I grew up on it.

09:08You know, back at the time I told people, hard-hitting Mark Whitten when he played for

09:11the Philadelphia Phillies.

09:12Four homers and one game with the Cardinals, Mark Whitten.

09:16Mark Whitten.

09:17That was my man.

09:18I love, I just love his name.

09:20Hard-hitting Mark Whitten.

09:21You know what?

09:21Because that's back when black dudes played baseball and they didn't smile.

09:25Mark Whitten was straight.

09:26It was him, Dave Stewart.

09:27That's what made Ken Griffey so special.

09:29He just started smiling.

09:30Yeah.

09:30He was like, oh, you can hit, too?

09:32He was like, oh, we like Ken Griffey, too.

09:34Yeah.

09:34He had to, wait, you can smile.

09:36And now you got Mookie Betts.

09:37I was going to say, Mookie Betts is a smiler, too, like that dude, especially on the bowling

09:41lane, right?

09:41Get him on the bowling lane and smile, man.

09:43Yeah.

09:43Mark Whitten hit that ball like he owed him money.

09:46Man.

09:46I mean, it's like you can't miss baseball in the summer.

09:49Like, it's the longest games and it's like the most comfortable sport to go watch.

09:53Hockey, you're cold.

09:55Baseball, basketball, you got to try to beat the traffic.

09:57And football, it's just crazy.

09:58What I really wish people would understand, too, about baseball is just how much the rule

10:02changes have put the games under two and a half hours.

10:04It's fun, yeah.

10:05All of the gripes was about them three-hour long games, a bunch of pitching changes, all

10:08this talking at the mound, taking forever to throw a pitch.

10:11That's all gone.

10:12You can go to a baseball game and it can be shorter than half of these movies that y'all run

10:16in to go see.

10:16That's right, man.

10:17You know, I ain't hating on the movies.

10:19I like the movies.

10:20Right.

10:21But it's just a fun time.

10:22Well, you know what's missing, man?

10:23A good baseball movie.

10:25What got me falling in love with baseball was The Sandlot.

10:27Like, I tell people, like, That's your movie.

10:28That's my movie, man.

10:30Ooh, I didn't, I like The Sandlot, but Major League was my one.

10:36Yeah.

10:36Even though you go back and watch Major League and some of them players, it's not good.

10:42You can tell these was actors.

10:43It's weird watching it now because I'm watching Wesley Snipes and I know him as Nino Brown.

10:48It's like, wait, you were a baseball player, too?

10:50Somebody else will have to check this fact, but supposedly Wesley Snipes, it was either

10:54could not swing a bat or could not throw a ball.

10:57I don't think he throws a ball in that film.

10:59And they're like, yeah, we don't like your mechanics.

11:01It doesn't look real.

11:02Which is why I give such a shout-out to the producers of the movie 42 because, to me,

11:0742 was one of the most realistic representations of the mechanics of playing the game because

11:12most of the players on the field were actual NCAA college players.

11:16That's right.

11:17With the extras, like, on the field or whatever.

11:19Yeah, yeah.

11:19Like, it's a beautiful sport, man.

11:22Is it your favorite sport?

11:23Yeah, absolutely.

11:24I think baseball is life.

11:25It teaches you failure and how to forget about failure as you strive to be perfect even

11:29though perfection in itself is a mirage.

11:32Yeah.

11:33But it's the idea of always trying.

11:35And I think that's what makes the home run so perfect is that everything lines up perfectly

11:40in this moment.

11:41The velocity of the ball, the speed of the bat, the angle of the bat, the wind, the weather,

11:45the humidity, everything lines up and the ball is gone.

11:48It's one of the most beautiful things you can see.

11:50Can't nobody else do it.

11:51Yeah, man.

11:52Well, you know, it's so funny.

11:52They bring fans out to throw out, oh, oh, throw a half-court shot.

11:57You get the scholarship.

11:58How many fans they bring down to hit the homer to get some money?

12:00That's an answer, man, good idea.

12:02If they put it on a little tee joint, I think I could do it.

12:04You couldn't do it.

12:05I know.

12:05I saw the video with the HBCU and you couldn't even do it either.

12:08Yeah, you left.

12:09Oh, yeah, we're not talking about that.

12:11Dude, the college stock is a totally different feel.

12:15Yeah.

12:16Like, that thing is amazing because it's T-Mobile presents the road to the Swingman Classic.

12:21And so Ken Griffey Jr., for the last couple of years, has created a showcase game within

12:26the All-Star break where it showcases 50 of the best players from black colleges across

12:30the country.

12:31Not just black players, players who play at black colleges because scouts don't always

12:35travel there.

12:36They're not always playing other competitive teams, so they don't always get the looks

12:40they deserve.

12:41So Griffey goes, here's what I'm going to do.

12:43I'm going to set up a game during the weekend where the best in the game are here to guarantee

12:49that you all get some good looks and get some shine.

12:51And so we went around to four different colleges and we literally just started talking to some

12:57of the kids on the team, the coaches on the team, the old school coaches who used to be

13:01there just to get a feel for why baseball is important in these places.

13:05And it was just it was an amazing time.

13:08And we split that up into a couple of little vignettes that are airing every week.

13:12They're on MLB Network.

13:13They're on MLB Digital as well.

13:14People can check those out.

13:15The first one was Texas Southern, which aired last week.

13:19I think this week is Grambling.

13:22And then we go to Southern University and then Alabama State.

13:24But we're doing one of those a week leading up to the Swing Man Classic July 18th in Atlanta.

13:29Yeah, that's beautiful.

13:30Thank you for shining light on those, man.

13:32You know, not a chance that HBCUs in general don't get a lot of light shining on them.

13:36And on the baseball field, they definitely don't.

13:37I mean, football, yes, but not definitely baseball.

13:39And that's the thing about baseball.

13:40That's why I put baseball over so many other things.

13:42If the pitch is 95 miles an hour and you hit it, it does not matter who you play for.

13:48You crush the ball.

13:50Now, because the rest of your teammates may not be as good as you, the scouts may not want to always come

13:54because we want to see a collection of good players as best we can.

13:58So they tend to go to the bigger D1 schools.

14:00But there is a lot of great talent that has come out of historically black colleges that made it to the pros.

14:06So because of that, I think it's important for people to remember that and to know that

14:12and also just see and celebrate the culture of baseball, you know, from top to bottom.

14:17Yeah.

14:17When you think about, man, and take me back right fast, I mean, when you think about your life as a whole,

14:22I don't know how often you get a chance to do this.

14:24They always say as you rise to take a moment to enjoy your success, right?

14:27You're born in New York, you know, spent time in Memphis, but raised mostly in Birmingham, Alabama, right?

14:33And then, you know, your dad, right, Roy Wood Sr., gets a traffic ticket, identifies Don Cornelius,

14:39which leads to the Soul Train, right?

14:41I would love to dive deeper in that story, but I mean, that's just a phenomenal story in itself.

14:45We are just a family of bad investments.

14:47You had the Subway, you had the Don Cornelius investment.

14:49Just say I'm like my father and I don't have the vision.

14:53For the people who don't know the story, as quick as I can, my pop gets pulled over by Don Cornelius.

14:58He has a deep voice.

14:59My dad goes, you should come work at the radio station.

15:02And Don Cornelius duck.

15:03He quits the police force, gets into media, becomes a reporter at WVON, where my father's news director.

15:09And he develops Soul Train there.

15:10Starts the TV stations, the down hall, what y'all doing there?

15:14TV? Cool, I'm going to do something.

15:15He goes around collecting money from people to shoot the pilot for Soul Train.

15:19My daddy was one of the people.

15:21Came time to pay my daddy back.

15:23Don Cornelius go, instead of paying you back, why don't I just make you a producer in Soul Train

15:27and you can eat for the rest of your life?

15:29My daddy said, don't nobody want to watch black people dance for an hour.

15:33It's a terrible idea.

15:35You ain't Dick Clark.

15:36You better give me my money back.

15:37Yeah.

15:37I told my producer that story.

15:39He was like, oh my God.

15:41Here's the context you have to remember.

15:44Don Cornelius created Soul Train on the back half of the 60s going into the 70s.

15:48The 60s was not a good decade for black folks.

15:52A lot of fighting.

15:53A lot of riots.

15:55A couple of assassinations.

15:56So, to have a man come up to my father, who was a civil rights journalist and covered

16:01some of the worst things that have happened to people of color in our history, for someone

16:05to come to my dad and go, you know what would be cool, man, if we just danced on TV?

16:09Yeah.

16:10My dad was like, no.

16:10It's hard to wrap your mind around.

16:12No.

16:12It is.

16:13Yeah.

16:13We're in the middle of a struggle.

16:14But, again, when I heard that story, you said, I'm like, oh my God, his dad turned out

16:18an investment.

16:19I said, the subway, and then the Don Cornelius.

16:21But, again.

16:22I couldn't watch subway growing up.

16:23I couldn't watch Soul Train growing up.

16:25And you couldn't eat subway, right?

16:27You probably had, every time you had a subway, you say, I was just.

16:28Yeah.

16:29I was like, man, we got to go to Quiznos.

16:33But when you think of your career as a whole, man, and think about everything that you did,

16:37I mean, you started in the comedian business at age 19.

16:40And in between that, you still graduate from FMU, right?

16:44Yeah, yeah, from FMU, yeah, yeah.

16:45And then you go, and Jamie Foxx, and then Comedy Central, and then The Daily Show.

16:50Like, when you look at it right now, right, as you wait season three of Have I Got News

16:54for You, what's one word to describe your career?

16:58I'm grateful.

17:00Grateful.

17:00Why grateful?

17:02You know, I started in stand-up comedy, you know, as a road comic.

17:07My first nine years of comedy was in middle America, sleeping at truck stops, performing at

17:13dive bars, you know, it was a luxury to be able to be somewhere safe enough where you

17:18could sleep in your car.

17:20And when you're working comedy in that era, you open for a lot of different people.

17:26It's a lot different from starting in New York or L.A., where you're just with your tribe,

17:31and y'all do the open mics together.

17:33When you're on the road, one week you're opening for somebody that's on the come up.

17:38You know, I opened for Tommy Davidson in 98.

17:40You know what Tommy Davidson was in the back half and live in color and movies and, you

17:44know.

17:46And then the next week you're opening for someone who used to have it, but they don't

17:50know more.

17:50Or alcohol got them, drugs got them, some sort of addiction, a vice got them.

17:55So every week I had an opportunity to see what the future could be, be it good or bad,

18:01based on the choices I make.

18:02And you lay that with just being prepared and just working hard, there are a million

18:08comedians funnier than me, just joke for joke.

18:13But when you look at being kind to other people and making the right decisions business-wise,

18:20those things are just as important.

18:22And I'm just grateful that I'm still able to be here and do this for a living.

18:26This is something I did to deal with depression, bro.

18:29I thought I got arrested for shoplifting at 18.

18:3319, for stealing jeans.

18:35For stealing jeans.

18:36That it was Tommy Hilfiger on top of that.

18:38Don't nobody wear it.

18:40He's coming back, though.

18:42Tommy Hilfiger.

18:43Oh, well, then I'll buy some stock.

18:45Tommy jeans owe me one.

18:48That's what I thought.

18:49Well, I'm going to jail, man, so let me just try these jokes.

18:53And I've got probation and been doing comedy ever since.

18:57And sometimes it takes falling off the edge a little bit and finding your bottom to find yourself.

19:05And everything that I've ever done has just been to get me to the next thing.

19:10I just wanted to be funny enough to get on Showtime at the Apollo, bro.

19:13That's all I wanted.

19:16And I got Apollo.

19:17Almost got booed.

19:19But I met the booker there, who was doing something else.

19:22And then that helped me get Comic View, which put me on Comedy Central's radar.

19:27And then I started doing Premium Blend.

19:29That got me Star Search with Arsenio Hall.

19:32Well, man, if I did Star Search, maybe I can try and do Letterman.

19:36Got Letterman.

19:37Got Def Jam.

19:38Next thing you know, I'm on a sitcom on TBS for three seasons.

19:44Hit a patch after the sitcom, Sullivan and Son.

19:50I had a patch where nobody would book me but Conan O'Brien.

19:55I was the only person for like four years.

19:58And that's not a knock on any of the shows, any of the networks I work, but you can check my IMDb.

20:03The only person who put me on television for three, four years straight was Conan.

20:07Not Letterman, not Leno, none of these other cats.

20:11And that single appearance every year was enough to get me college bookings.

20:16And that kept me alive another year.

20:19Those college bookings and being on Conan and having that journalism degree that my mama made sure I went back and got,

20:24even though I had gotten arrested and was, you know, damn near expelled from school, if we want to be honest about it,

20:31that degree is what helped me get back in the mix at ESPN.

20:36And I was working at ESPN for free.

20:37Like, I'm just coming in every two weeks.

20:39Whoever need a joke, whoever need me to talk about sports, I'm with it.

20:43That's Jamel Hill and Michael Smith, Bomani Jones, Max Kellerman and all of them,

20:49Marcellus Wilde, all of them at Sports Nation, Michelle Beatle.

20:51Like, these people kept having me back.

20:56That literal year at ESPN was the basic training I needed to get the daily show audition.

21:03Same show I auditioned for in 07 and didn't book it.

21:07So everything was just connected to the next thing.

21:13And all I tried to do was be funny enough to be worthy of the next thing.

21:16And you don't know what pits you're going to step into, but you have to trust your talents and be kind.

21:24I left the daily show because I felt like if there was ever a time to do something else that was going to be whatever's next for me,

21:31this year is the window.

21:33The election year is the window.

21:35CNN, I didn't leave because CNN offered me a job.

21:37This show wasn't even on the table when I left.

21:39But you have to trust the same as when you slept in your car, the same as when Conan would be the only one to touch you,

21:46the same as when ESPN were the only people who would put you on TV.

21:51You have to trust that somewhere in these valleys you're going to come out of that if you stay sharp and you stay prepared.

21:57And that's what I did to look and be able to leave daily show and have an opportunity at CNN.

22:06I don't book the thing at CNN if I don't leave daily show.

22:09Literally, politics is so wild, there's not even an opportunity if MLB Network call me and goes,

22:15hey, do a doc on the home run.

22:17Go visit HBCUs.

22:19You can't.

22:19The daily show, it's respected because it's a relentless-ass job, man.

22:24Like, you literally, for eight years, I never had more than two weeks off.

22:29Ever.

22:31No more than two consecutive weeks off because the world is spinning everything.

22:36I don't have to tell you the headlines.

22:38Yeah.

22:38It's nonstop.

22:39So, it's great work.

22:42But when you feel like, well, there's something else or something different I want to do.

22:47All right, let me just trust.

22:49Because these other times when I felt that pit in my stomach, I got out of those.

22:53So, let me jump again.

22:55Yeah.

22:56And that's where the grateful comes in at.

22:58Because I keep landing, man.

22:59Yeah.

22:59Well, listen, man, I got two minutes left, but you got to promise to come back so we can dive deeper into your portfolio.

23:04But I'm going to end it, as I always do, on good to great, man.

23:07And I feel like you're in a position now to answer it.

23:10Write fast.

23:11What's the difference between a good comedian and a great one?

23:14A good comedian can capitalize on what everybody was already thinking.

23:21A great comedian gives you things you had never thought of.

23:24Wow.

23:26Both with laughs.

23:27Yeah.

23:28Yeah.

23:28I love that.

23:29Well, you got to promise to come back, man.

23:30We got talk business.

23:31Especially when season three of I Got News For You Come Out.

23:34You live right down the street.

23:35So, you can walk down here this time.

23:37Right?

23:37We're back this fall, man.

23:39It's smelling like September.

23:41They haven't given us the exact air date yet.

23:43But I'm sure somewhere in that fall premiere season we'll be back, man.

23:46Make it work.

23:47Yeah.

23:47Have me on the show, too, man.

23:48I want to come on this one.

23:49Yeah.

23:49Come on, man.

23:50Come on the show, man.

23:50But in the meantime, I want everybody to check it out, man.

23:53That's the other thing I forgot to mention.

23:54The Home Run doc is free.

23:55It's on Roku.

23:56There you go.

23:57It's free.

23:58Everybody loves free.

23:58July 6th, going, going, going, the magic of the Home Run.

24:03Free on Roku by Roku and MLB Studios.

24:07Free.

24:08Free.

24:10You got to pay nothing.

24:11I love it.

24:12T-Mobile presents the road to the Swing Man Classic.

24:15Also free.

24:17On MLB Network and the Internet.

24:20I don't find it.

24:22Why are we still telling people channels?

24:24Yeah.

24:25Google.

24:26Excuse me.

24:27YouTube.

24:27Yahoo.

24:29What's the search engine?

24:31I don't want to show favoritism.

24:32Google.

24:33They got stock.

24:33We'll say Google.

24:34InfoSeek.

24:34Is InfoSeek still around?

24:36Yeah.

24:36You're Ask Jeeves.

24:39Roy, I definitely appreciate the time, my brother.

24:42Let's get navigator.

24:43The man will keep you laughing.

24:44They'll keep you laughing.

24:45All day.

24:46All day.

24:47Roy Wood Jr. here at the NASDAQ Enterprise Zone.

24:50We're going to have him back next time.

24:52Appreciate the time, my brother.

24:52Thank you, brother.

24:53Absolutely.

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