Comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s Self-Portrait

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2024

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In just under a decade, comedian, writer, and actor Jerrod Carmichael has had a remarkably varied career. On the heels of his Emmy-winning HBO special Rothaniel, he embarked on a personal new project: Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show.

Carmichael joins us today to discuss the origin of the program (6:30), his early days making his NBC sitcom (10:57), and why he decided to broadcast a deeply intimate conversation on the reality show (13:00). Then, he unpacks his view of the camera as a vessel for honesty (17:10), the response from audiences witnessing Jerrod ‘Truman Show’ himself (21:30), and his three-decade history of storytelling (34:15).

On the back-half, Carmichael describes the artists who inspired his work (43:00), a formative performance in his first HBO special Love at the Store (50:50), and the evolution of his comedy (57:37). To close, he reflects on the central truth he explores in this new series (59:30) and how he hopes this art will at long last set himself—and his family—free (1:08:30).

For questions, comments, or to join our mailing list, reach me at [email protected]. This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios in Los Angeles.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Smart journalism, fascinating topics.
0:03.0	Words that describe CNN's podcast, The Assignment with Audie Cornish.
0:07.0	Last year, the Army missed its recruitment goal.
0:10.0	It had 65,000 spots to fill and came up 10,000 short of that target.
0:16.0	Why is it so hard to recruit?
0:18.0	How's the Pentagon responding?
0:19.0	And how are the voices of service members on social media shifting the balance?
0:24.7	Listen to the assignment with Audie Cornish wherever you get your podcasts. Pushkin. The This is talk easy. I'm Samfor comedian, writer, and actor Gerard Carmichael.
1:17.0	In just under a decade, he's had a remarkably varied and accomplished career. He's been the creator and star of his own NBC sitcom,
1:25.6	The Draw on Carmichael Show. He's acted in films like Neighbors Two, Poor Things,
1:30.8	and on the count of Three, which he also co-wrote and directed and
1:34.8	then of course you have his stand-up specials love the store directed by
1:38.8	Spike Lee 8 directed by Boburnum Rothaniel, which he released in 2022 and won an Emmy in
1:46.4	2023 for Best Comedy Special.
1:49.9	But Rothaniel was not your standard comedy act, it was more confessional than comedic, in part
1:56.5	because at the center of the special are a series of secrets Carmichael had long been
2:01.9	harboring, secrets about his own
2:03.8	homosexuality, about his real name, and perhaps most pointedly about his
2:09.1	father, who had a second family away from the Christian home,
2:13.0	Gerard came of age in.
2:15.0	All of that was laid painfully bare in Roth annual,
2:19.0	but it wasn't enough for Carmichael.
	...

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