Episode 260 Carry On Tommy Davidson



Tommy Davidson joins the #naplescaptainslog to discuss sketch comedy and sings us a tune! Check out his voice!

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PODCAST RECAP

Miss something on one of our episodes of the #naplescaptainslog? Don’t worry we got you covered! Here you will find a full transcript from this episode of the #naplescaptainslog!

Captain Brien: We are live. Tommy Davidson. It’s an honor, I appreciate it buddy. Thanks for joining me on the Captain’s Log today. How’s everything?

Tommy Davidson: I love how the shades went down.

Captain Brien: I gotta kinda look good, you know?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, you just went shade down, shades down.

Captain Brien: I’m with Mr. Hollywood so I have to look all Hollywood for you.

Tommy Davidson: Shades down!

Captain Brien: You know? So what’s goin’ on man? How was the trip into Naples?

Tommy Davidson: It was good. Now, it’s about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Miami.

Captain Brien: Oh, you flew into Miami?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, no, I drove into here.

Captain Brien: But you landed in Miami?

Tommy Davidson: Landed in Miami, stayed there a couple of days but as you’re driving here, you don’t want to pop a tire because you think you’re in Jurassic Park.

Captain Brien: You crossed alligator alley.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, no, no like a literal raptor will come after you. But a beautiful drive and glad to be here and just, this is a corner of this world that’s kinda cool.

Captain Brien: It’s a little bit of a secret place, right?

Tommy Davidson: I mean, you know, I mean–

Captain Brien: Everyone’s found out about it now but it’s a little secret little paradise.

Tommy Davidson: I mean, I mean if you can find a road here. You know what I mean? If you can find a road here because I don’t know how people got here without a road.

Captain Brien: Right?

Tommy Davidson: You know what I mean? But, it has everything you want.

Captain Brien: Yup.

Tommy Davidson: I mean, come on. And I’m having a good time here. And it’s a good place to live if you’re a pair of golf shorts. Lot of golf goin’ on.

Captain Brien: Do you golf?

Tommy Davidson: I do not.

Captain Brien: I know you sing.

Tommy Davidson: I do not, but golf, what is golf? Trivia, quick, quickly.

Captain Brien: Okay, tell me.

Tommy Davidson: The game golf, what is the game golf guys? What is the game golf?

Captain Brien: Koba, Vicky, tell us, what’s golf?

Tommy Davidson: What is the game golf? Why is it called golf?

Captain Brien: I don’t know this.

Captain Brien: Okay? I’m a captain, I know fishing, not golf.

Tommy Davidson: Okay, golf is called, well there’s three names for a rabbit. Golf, hare and rabbit. The game is golf. Rabbit, rabbit into the hole. Boom!

Captain Brien: Oh, I see, I see. That’s good!

Tommy Davidson: You hit the rabbit.

Captain Brien: More importantly–

Tommy Davidson: Into the hole. Now, I don’t play

Captain Brien: I asked you don’t–

Tommy Davidson: That’s the only thing I know about golf.

Captain Brien: You don’t play golf, but you sing. I wanna hear a tune.

Tommy Davidson: Oh yeah?

Captain Brien: Yeah!

Captain Brien: ‘Cause you got a beautiful voice.

Tommy Davidson: I mean you name the tune… Or should I just start?

Captain Brien: You could just belt out a tune ’cause this, we’re live.

Tommy Davidson: ♪ Carry on my wayward son ♪ ♪ There’ll be peace when you are done ♪ ♪ Lay your weary head to rest ♪ ♪ Don’t you cry no more ♪

Captain Brien: That’s amazing, dude!

Tommy Davidson: That’s a little thing from Kansas back from you know, we’re not in Kansas anymore but…

Captain Brien: How did you just belt it out like that?

Tommy Davidson: I mean I can’t do it again.

Captain Brien: Just one time, that’s all you got?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, hold on.

Tommy Davidson: Hold on, hold on.

Captain Brien: That’s amazing though.

Tommy Davidson: See the blood, the blood.

Captain Brien: I got goosebumps.

Tommy Davidson: Ha!

Captain Brien: It’s good. It’s amazing.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, well amazing things happen when the cameras come on.

Captain Brien: The thing is like you’re the king of sketch comedy. In Living Color

Captain Brien: I’ll take that. Obviously like unbelievable.

Tommy Davidson: I’ll take that.

Captain Brien: It changed the comedy world, right?

Tommy Davidson: It changed the comedy landscape.

Captain Brien: I mean that was the thing. Like, if you weren’t watching In Living Color, you weren’t cool.

Tommy Davidson: You weren’t up on it.

Captain Brien: Right?

Tommy Davidson: You weren’t up on it and still it’s out there, still doing the same things that it was doing before which is making people cry laughing.

Captain Brien: What do you think about sketch comedy today? How do you feel, it’s changed? The same?

Tommy Davidson: It’s not that much of it.

Captain Brien: No.

Tommy Davidson: It’s not that much of it. So we were, we were the stock of it

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: at the time. And us, Saturday Night Live, were the stock of the sketch. Um, I don’t know much about sketch now because there’s not much. Now it’s reality.

Captain Brien: Now it’s all on the internet, I think. All the sketch

Tommy Davidson: Yeah. and the memes today.

Tommy Davidson: All the sketch, and… Okay, you’re right.

Captain Brien: Right.

Tommy Davidson: In the, what am I talking about? What am I talking about? You are absolutely right. And there is a lot of

Tommy Davidson:Well, the thing is. brilliant kids out there doing stuff.

Captain Brien: You were thinking about network sketch and I get that, there isn’t. You’re right.

Tommy Davidson: I mean, you know the internet wasn’t there.

Captain Brien: Right.

Tommy Davidson: So we had to do it that way. But, there is a lot of stuff.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: And a lot of it sucks.

Captain Brien: That’s out there.

Tommy Davidson: It really sucks.

Captain Brien: You know what’s hard for me to follow?

Tommy Davidson: A lot of it sucks, dude.

Captain Brien: The kids watch these YouTube clips and these memes.

Tommy Davidson: A lot of it sucks, man. Get outta here, man! A lot of it sucks.

Captain Brien: My kids would do it, like they’ll watch.

Tommy Davidson: But, some of it is really good.

Captain Brien: Some is.

Tommy Davidson: I mean, some of it is really good, and it doesn’t matter your age. My eight year old is watching stuff, And I’m going, “Wow, that’s really good. That’s really good. And who am I to say it sucks or whatever, because sucks is a matter of perception. Your age group, I mean, I suck. You know?

Captain Brien: Well, what do you suck at? Nothing! You can sing, you can dance, you can tell comedy.

Tommy Davidson: I suck to my 12 year old.

Captain Brien: Oh yeah, you’re not as cool.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah.

Captain Brien: I know, they don’t . You’re cool with the whole world but to your 12 year old, you’re so lame. I’m the same way.

Tommy Davidson: I think I’m so fancy. I’m showing up.

Captain Brien: You were hanging with P Diddy.

Tommy Davidson: My son’s friends are looking at me like who’s the square?

Captain Brien: Right. You’re such a nerd.

Tommy Davidson: And I’m like, are you talking to me? I’ll bust you in your face.

Captain Brien: They don’t get it.

Tommy Davidson: I’ll bust you in your face, shorty. But, you know what? I love them.

Captain Brien: Of course.

Tommy Davidson: What are you kidding me?

Captain Brien: It’s amazing. Because they are me.

Captain Brien: And they are you without even realizing it. They get all the seeds, the juice. They know everything that you are knowing.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, they turn me on to stuff. Good stuff that I didn’t even know, you know, that they give me. And, I can get that from the internet. I can get that from social media by just watching them.

Captain Brien: I agree.

Tommy Davidson: It’s just so much.

Captain Brien: When you said that some of the sketch comedy stuff on the internet sucks, it’s just different. Like to me, I don’t get my kids will watch a clip that has five million views and they’ll show me. They’ll be like, “This is so funny”. And, I’ll watch it,

Captain Brien: And you’ll be like,

Tommy Davidson: And you’ll be like, “I don’t get it”.

Captain Brien: Yeah, that’s really not. The guy was really good at editing, and he kept your attention for 30 seconds. So you liked it. But, I don’t really know what the message is or what’s funny.

Tommy Davidson: But they do.

Captain Brien: They don’t either. I think they like the quickness. The snap, the boom!

Tommy Davidson: It’s popularity, you know? It’s popularity. It can get scary. Who’s the lady? The woman that comes into the screen?

Captain Brien: That does the weird?

Tommy Davidson: Like, Rich Bitch. You know, she got kids doing things. You know, “Jump out the window!”

Captain Brien: The tea. The girl that does the tea.

Tommy Davidson: What’s her name?

Captain Brien: You know the tea girl?

Tommy Davidson: She’s like, “Jump out the window now!” It’s scary.

Captain Brien: She has a scary face.

Tommy Davidson: They’re in kids rooms by themselves, and the kid is on the computer doing homework, and, “Jump out the window, now!” It’s like so crazy .

Captain Brien: What’s one of the most memorable experiences you had in comedy coming up? You’ve been doing this how many years now?

Tommy Davidson: 35.

Captain Brien: 35 years. And mostly touring that whole time as well. If you take a movie break

Captain Brien: All the time. or something like that. But, 35 years of comedy.

Tommy Davidson: All that time.

Captain Brien: How did you start and what’s one of your most memorable experiences?

Tommy Davidson: I started in a strip club in D.C.

Captain Brien: Really? As a stripper?

Tommy Davidson: As a friend, no, as a stripper. I was with Chicken Dales.

Captain Brien: ‘Cause I would watch you.

Captain Brien: I’m just kidding.

Tommy Davidson: A friend of mine said you should be doing comedy. He worked at the club.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: He called the manager and said, “I know a guy who’s funny.” I walked in, the guy said there’s the stage. And I looked at my friend. I said, “what do I do?” He said, “I don’t care, just get up there.” And, I haven’t stopped.

Captain Brien: Really?

Tommy Davidson: And all of a sudden, I’m in your car.

Captain Brien: Really?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah.

Captain Brien: ‘Cause the people tell me all the time, “Oh, such and such is funny.” And to me, I’m like “Oh, that’s good. “I’m happy they’re funny. “Put them on the open mic and let them do some comedy, “it’s not the same.” So, that person was really, they either believed in you so much at that minute, because I hear this all the time. “Oh this guy is so funny, you should meet him.” I’m like, “Is he a comedian?” “No, but he’s just hysterical.”

Tommy Davidson: He’s funny, yeah.

Captain Brien: That’s one in a million, dude.

Tommy Davidson: He was right about me.

Captain Brien: You’re one in a million. That just doesn’t happen.

Tommy Davidson: And I didn’t know. I’m an anomaly.

Captain Brien: You are.

Tommy Davidson: I’m an anomaly.

Captain Brien: I don’t want to repeat that.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah. I’m an anomaly.

Captain Brien: Oh, man, so.

Tommy Davidson: Get it? Break that down. Almond. Ahmanomy. Anyway.

Captain Brien: No, I can’t. So you stepped on the stage

Tommy Davidson: That’s going viral. and how did it go?

Tommy Davidson: I killed.

Captain Brien: You killed!

Captain Brien: Killed. Again, never happens.

Tommy Davidson: From the beginning, from the very beginning, killed.

Captain Brien: Did you have a joke set? Or did you just talk?

Tommy Davidson: Nah, I just kinda talked but it was kinda there.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: And I just, from the first thing I said, they started laughing.

Captain Brien: Right away?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah. I wasn’t even old enough to be in the clubs, man. I just started killing from there from there, And went from there to New York.

Captain Brien: Did you ever bomb?

Tommy Davidson: I’ve bombed on stage. I’ve bombed off stage.

Captain Brien: Yeah .

Tommy Davidson: In life, but never bombed on stage.

Captain Brien: Wow, that’s amazing.

Tommy Davidson: Never bombed on stage.

Captain Brien: I think it’s the way you interact with the crowd, you read them. You read the audience as good as anybody’s ever done. And, I think that’s what the success is. What do you think?

Tommy Davidson: I think so. I’ll give you a good example. Off The Hook Comedy Club. Now as a comic, okay? As a comic my eyes like a quarterback’s.

Captain Brien: Sure.

Tommy Davidson: So, I’m reading the defense. The defense is the audience. It’s me versus their mind, to get into their mind something that’s humorous, that makes them laugh. So I have to look at who’s there, what’s there.

Captain Brien: Yep.

Tommy Davidson: And, go from there. I can’t just go, okay I’m going to do my act, you know that’s me. Everybody has their own individual thing. I can’t just do what I would do in New York or do in Brooklyn in an all black show. I can’t do what I’d do in Texas.

Captain Brien: Hey Josh! Hey Danny! What’s happening?

Tommy Davidson: What’s up, Joshua?

Captain Brien: We’re going to do breakfast with you, buddy. We’ll see you soon. So you’re reading the audience.

Tommy Davidson: Maybe, maybe Josh. Maybe. I know how to dial in.

Captain Brien: Yup.

Tommy Davidson: I’m like Tom Brady, man. Okay, I’ll send a tight-end this way. I’ll take this person outward this angle. I’ll try it, I’ll do this bit. So I have a catalog of plays that are here, and I can scramble.

Captain Brien: If you need to.

Tommy Davidson: I’m an excellent scrambler, too. And so, that’s how I bring shows together. That’s comedy technique from me. Everybody has their own approach, that’s mine.

Captain Brien: And how much writing do you do?

Tommy Davidson: I do writing for myself, by myself, and I do it here. It’s interesting. I don’t have a team of writers.

Captain Brien: And, you don’t write down literally on paper? I do, I do, I do.

Captain Brien: Oh you do, okay.

Tommy Davidson: I do write down on paper, but I gotta be working on a special or something. The rest is just in here, you know?

Captain Brien: And during the performance, how much is…

Tommy Davidson: ‘Cause of guys like Carlos Mencia around.

Captain Brien: Ad lib off the cuff? And how much is material that you’ve horned in and worked on that for a long time?

Tommy Davidson: It depends nightly.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: It depends nightly.

Captain Brien: ‘Cause every show you do is different. Like, you always mix it up. Some guys go, like you said, they’ll tell their set and they’ll run with it the whole show. But yours is kinda crafted, I think along the way.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, our kid wasn’t crafted off a pornographic disc from the Care Plus Kids. That was Chip Rock, circa 1991. Yeah, see?

Captain Brien: Yeah, I get it.

Tommy Davidson: Cancel the . So, that’s what happens with me. It’s something that I worked on for a long time. And, what I do is, I take all of the different comic techniques, and I blend them into one. And, I actually bit that from Bruce Lee.

Captain Brien: Oh.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah. So, Bruce Lee took all of the different fighting styles, all of the best of them, and then made his own style. Jeet Kune Do. So he took karate, judo, all of those, and then took the best out of them, and made a style.

Captain Brien: And that’s how you formulate your comedy show.

Tommy Davidson: That’s how I do my comedy.

Captain Brien: What’s one of the most memorable…

Tommy Davidson: No puppets.

Captain Brien: None.

Tommy Davidson: ‘Cause I’m just not good at that.

Captain Brien: Right . Least you’re not good at something.

Tommy Davidson: The guys who’re good at that, oh my God, are good at it.

Captain Brien: I’m happy you’re not good at one thing, ’cause it’s embarrassing. You’re in the car singing, dancing, talking, give another brother a chance.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, yeah, no puppets.

Captain Brien: You gotta have a…

Tommy Davidson: The puppet dudes are off the hook.

Captain Brien: They are off the hook.

Tommy Davidson: I would’ve said that anyway. I would’ve said that anyway.

Captain Brien: Yeah, no, I get it.

Tommy Davidson: I would’ve said that anyway.

Captain Brien: It’s gone a long way with the name. It’s been good. It’s a double, uh,

Tommy Davidson: Watch out! No, I’m kidding.

Captain Brien: Let me ask you a question. In your career, what’s the one thing you’re most proud of that you’ve done.

Tommy Davidson: I’ve stayed as Tommy Davidson’s, Barbara Davidson’s youngest son.

Captain Brien: Okay.

Tommy Davidson: And that says,

Captain Brien: Along the way.

Tommy Davidson: That says a lot. That says a lot. That little boy.

Captain Brien: You’re the youngest of how many?

Tommy Davidson: I’m the youngest of three. And that little boy saw so much, and went through so much. And that family

Captain Brien: Because you’re…

Tommy Davidson: Went through so much. That for me to still be her son, to still be what she created in me.

Captain Brien: Because, people may not know the story. I don’t even know if I knew it before today. I think I’ve heard the story, but you were abandoned as a baby.

Tommy Davidson: Mmhmm.

Captain Brien: Was it? What happened? Is it a dumpster? What was it?

Tommy Davidson: No, it was a pile of trash on the side of a house. It was a random, kinda, finding of me. And, that, I’m sitting here now.

Captain Brien: Wow. Unbelievable.

Tommy Davidson: It really happened, it’s not something that I’ve talked about a lot. But, now I’m talking about it a lot.

Captain Brien: As a baby you were abandoned. Your mother who raised you is not your biological mother.

Tommy Davidson: No.

Captain Brien: She adopted you and she found you.

Tommy Davidson: Mmhmm.

Captain Brien: Unbelievable. Unprecedented.

Tommy Davidson: And, I had nothing to do with it.

Captain Brien: Nothing.

Tommy Davidson: Nothing to do with it.

Captain Brien: You were a baby, you were an infant.

Tommy Davidson: I had nothing to do with it.

Captain Brien: How old were you?

Tommy Davidson: They think I was almost two.

Captain Brien: Wow.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Wow.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, somewhere around 18 months.

Captain Brien: And then, for her to raise you and, I mean, that’s just, she has an amazing heart.

Tommy Davidson: It’s a good story and it’s true. And, with all the bad stories that are out there, I’m glad to be able to represent a really good story.

Captain Brien: Right.

Tommy Davidson: Watch the news for one second, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Captain Brien: I agree.

Tommy Davidson: You’ll know what I’m talking about.

Captain Brien: What were the loopholes? How did she navigate the system to be able to adopt you? When you find a child today it doesn’t work like that.

Tommy Davidson: Well, she’s wicked smart.

Captain Brien: Okay.

Tommy Davidson: Always has been, so, she was able to finesse that back then, and make it work, thank God. I am definitely her greatest achievement. Her and my brother and my sister. Were her greatest achievements because she passed onto us the way she rolls. The way she rolls is, hey, man, everybody’s the same. Everybody deserves a decent shot at whatever. Don’t wait for the holidays to be happy, make it everyday.

Captain Brien: That’s how you live your life.

Tommy Davidson: That’s how she rolls.

Captain Brien: Every time I’m with you, you’re smiling. Every time I see you, you’re happy. It’s contagious. I mean, it really is. Which is obviously why you have a successful 35 year career in comedy.

Tommy Davidson: It helps.

Captain Brien: Or in anything, I mean. To be able to do something for that long, like, negative people with negative vibes, they don’t exist that long.

Tommy Davidson: Not from what I’ve seen.

Captain Brien: Yeah.

Tommy Davidson: Not from what I’ve seen, but, there’s two sides to the world.

Captain Brien: Of course.

Tommy Davidson: There’s the negative charged, and sometimes they go on forever.

Captain Brien: It’s shocking when that happens.

Tommy Davidson: Sometimes they go on forever, and sometimes you be like, “What am I doing? “What am I doing wrong?” You’re not doing anything wrong.

Captain Brien: But, your time will come if you stay positive.

Tommy Davidson: Yeah.

Captain Brien: Always.

Tommy Davidson: That time being right now.

Captain Brien: That’s right. And you could see him at Off the Hook comedy club all week. Tonight.

Tommy Davidson: Right now at this moment.

Captain Brien: Saturday and Sunday.

Tommy Davidson: Diane, how you doing, girl?

Captain Brien: Diane Lewis. Anthony.

Tommy Davidson: Anthony Angelini. Yeah, I got that right!

Captain Brien: Go see it. Of the Hook comedy dot com, get your tickets.

Tommy Davidson: I see you Lewis. Thank you for watching, bro.

Captain Brien: Tommy Davidson. We’ve been friends now for, how many years have we known each other?

Tommy Davidson: I’m gonna say 11 or 12.

Captain Brien: 11 or 12 years?

Tommy Davidson: Yeah, something like that.

Captain Brien: It’s been an honor to be your friend.

Tommy Davidson: Pre Fab Homes! Okay, but go ahead.

Captain Brien: I’ll tell you, it’s never a dull moment.

Tommy Davidson: Pre Fab Homes, man!

Captain Brien: Who’s more hyper in the morning, me or you? ‘Cause you told me to turn it down.

Tommy Davidson: I think we’re tied. Yeah, we’re fencing.

Captain Brien: You told me like, “Dude this is too much, hold on.”

Tommy Davidson: When he came to pick me up at the hotel he just flew into my focus, “Hi there!” “How’s it going, man? “Oh, I’m up! “Things are good! Hold on my kids! “Yeah, get in the Uber, get out of here!”

Captain Brien: Guys listen up. I got Tommy Davidson on the Captain’s Log. Don’t miss him at Off the Hook, and guess what, we appreciate you watching. Tune in every day. You can always like and share. But, more importantly, go to any app and rate us. If you like the show, give us a five-star. Even if you’re just rating Tommy, I’m sure he’s five-stars.

Tommy Davidson: You can rate me, you can rate me.

Captain Brien: And have a good time. We appreciate you watching. We’re gonna be live now on B 1 0 3 9, tune in. We out!