'It’s the closest to home': Birmingham-native Roy Wood Jr. reflects on start of comedy career while in NYC

WVTM 13 NEWS AT 630 STARTS NOW. THE FLIGHT FROM BIRMINGHAM TO THE BIG APPLE IS ONLY 2.5 HOURS, BUT PROFESSIONALLY, IT’S A LONG, LONG WAY. YEAH. JUST ASK COMEDIAN ROY WOOD JR. HE’S A STAND UP GUY. THE BIRMINGHAM NATIVE NOW LIVES IN NEW YORK AND HE’S GOTTEN A LOT OF ATTENTION AFTER SOME HIGH PROFILE PERFORMANCES. I’M WELL AWARE THAT NOT EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM KNOWS WHO I AM. OF COURSE, WE’VE KNOWN BIRMINGHAM NATIVE ROY WOOD, JR FOR MANY YEARS. WE MADE THE TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY TO CATCH UP WITH THE COMEDIAN WHO’S HOTTER THAN AN ALABAMA SUMMER RIGHT NOW THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. PLEASE WELCOME OUR FRIEND ROY WOOD, JUNIOR. HE TOOK US TO A PLACE THAT’S NOT ONLY SPECIAL BUT ESSENTIAL TO HIM AND HIS COMEDY PEERS. THIS IS NOT BIRMINGHAM. NO, THIS IS NOT BIRMINGHAM. THIS IS NOT BIRMINGHAM. IT’S THE CLOSEST TO HOME, THOUGH. THIS CORNER IN THE COMEDY CELLAR IS WHERE ALL OF THE COMEDIANS KIND OF COME AND COMMISERATE. THIS IS OUR LOCKER ROOM. SO, YOU KNOW, IT’S IT’S THE CLOSEST THING TO THE STARDOM. BROADWAY ROOM THAT NEW YORK HAS TO OFFER. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST JOKE? I DON’T REMEMBER MY FIRST JOKE. LIKE FIRST EVER JOKE. BUT I REMEMBER WITHIN MY FIRST SET, I HAD A JOKE ABOUT I WAS 19. AND SO I WAS MAD BECAUSE MY ROOMMATE WOULD EAT SOME OF MY FOOD, BUT NOT ALL OF IT. EAT ALL OF IT. IF YOU’RE GOING TO EAT IT. I HAD A 7UP. HE DRANK SIX OF THEM. I HAD A ONE UP. HEY, NO, DON’T LIE. THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD. IT WASN’T GOOD. BUT IN 1998, THAT’S WHAT I HAD. ALL RIGHT. THAT’S THE BEST. THAT’S THE BEST I CAN DO. ROY ENDED UP GIGGING HIS WAY THROUGH COLLEGE, AND HE’S VERY PROUD OF HIS JOURNALISM DEGREE FROM FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY. IF YOU WANT A DEGREE SOMEBODY RESPECTS, OH, YOU GOT TO GET YOU ONE. AT EASE, BABY. BUT THE MATH WASN’T MATH THING WHEN IT CAME TO HIS POTENTIAL PAYCHECKS. IT FISCALLY MADE MORE SENSE TO CONTINUE COMEDY AFTER COLLEGE THAN PURSUE A STRAIGHT UP CAREER IN JOURNALISM. MY LOVE WAS PRINT. PRINT DID NOT PAY. I HAD TWO PRINT OFFERS FOR 14,000, BUT MY PROJECTIONS FOR STAND UP I WAS GOING TO MAKE 17 THAT YEAR. 22 THE NEXT YEAR AND THE SECOND YEAR I ENDED UP MAKING 27. SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU’RE LIVING IN BIRMINGHAM LIKE I WAS LIVING OFF THE ALFORD AVENUE MAN, MY RENT WAS $525 FOR A TWO BEDROOM TOWNHOME. I CAN MAKE THAT WORK WITH $27,000. WHEN I WATCH YOUR SHOWS, YOU’RE A STORYTELLER. DOES THAT JOURNALISM DEGREE HELP THE WAY YOU SET UP STORIES? I’M NOT HERE JUST FOR THE LAUGH. I’M TRYING TO CONNECT DOTS. IF I CAN. AND I JUST THINK THAT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT’S JUST INHERENT IN THE CRAFT OF JOURNALISM. THEY JUST NEVER LEFT ME LIKE, ALL RIGHT, I’M A STAND UP, BUT ALSO WITHIN MY JOKES, I’M TRYING TO INFORM YOU. I’M TRYING TO GIVE YOU NEW INFORMATION. I’M TRYING TO GIVE YOU A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT SOMETHING. AND AT ITS CORE, TO ME, THAT’S WHAT JOURNALISM IS. THE APPLE DIDN’T FALL TOO FAR FROM THE TREE. ROY’S FATHER, ROY WOOD SENIOR, WAS A PIONEERING JOURNALIST IN BLACK RADIO DURING A PIVOTAL TIME FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS. I’M NOT MY FATHER. I’M NOT EVER GOING TO BE AS POIGNANT OR AS IMPACTFUL OR AS SURGICAL WITH THE WAY HE ATTACKED ISSUES. I CAN BE FUNNIER THAN EVER, THOUGH. FALLING INTO THAT. WAS HE FUNNY? MY DAD WAS HILARIOUS, BUT ON THE MICROPHONE AND HE WAS SERIOUS. I HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT THEY’RE GOING THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO GET YOU AND Y’ALL GOT TO BE READY AND CUT, MAN. YOU HEAR THAT? LIKE HE VERY SILLY. BUT NO, NOT, NOT, NOT ON CAMERA BECAUSE IT WASN’T A LAUGHING MATTER. YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T EMBED YOURSELF IN THE VIETNAM WAR, THE RHODESIAN ZIMBABWE CIVIL WAR, THE SOWETO RIOTS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. YOU CAN’T BE IN THOSE FOUR WARS AND STILL HAVE A COUPLE OF CHUCKLES IN IT. CHUCKLES IS GONE. THEY’RE GONE. AND AND HIS MOTHER, JOYCE, PROTESTED FOR EQUAL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION. AND FOR THE LAST NEARLY FIVE DECADES, WORKS AS AN EDUCATOR AND ADMINISTRATOR AT HISTORICALLY BLACK INSTITUTIONS LIKE MILES COLLEGE. TO MY MOM, I SAY THANK YOU FOR FOR EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR ME. THAT WAS ROY SHOUT OUT TO HIS MOM AT THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER. HE GAVE SOME OTHER SHOUT OUTS TO ME WHILE IN AMERICA WE HAVE AN 80 YEAR OLD MAN BEGGING US FOR FOUR MORE YEARS OF WORK. BEGGING. SOME OF ROY’S JOKES WERE RECEIVED WITH MIXED RESPONSE. LOOK LIKE EVERYBODY GOT A LITTLE PIECE OF THAT SETTLEMENT MONEY FROM FOX NEWS. WELL, PEOPLE A LOT OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT LAUGHING AT THE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER, THEY SIT NEXT TO THE PERSON I’M TALKING ABOUT, OR YOU WORK FOR THE COMPANY THAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. IF YOU WORK FOR FOX NEWS, YOU CAN’T LAUGH AT MY DOMINION JOKES. YOU GOT TO HUSH BECAUSE YOU CAN KEEP YOUR JOB. AND FOR ROY TO KEEP HIS JOB, HE DOES A LOT OF HOMEWORK AT THE COMEDY CELLAR. HIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME. THESE ARE REAL PEOPLE IN THIS CLUB. THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO THIS CLUB, THE PEOPLE IN NEW YORK CITY ARE REGULAR, EVERYDAY PEOPLE. THEY’RE NOT POLITICIANS. THEY’RE NOT LEGAL, POLITICAL. THEY’RE NOT MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA. IF I KNOW IT’S FUNNY. SO YOU STARING AT ME AT A BANQUET. GO MAKE ME THINK THIS IS NOT FUNNY. I KNOW IT’S FUNNY. I DID IT THREE WEEKS IN A ROW IN NEW YORK CITY. ONE OF THE HARDEST PLACES TO GET A LAUGH. HARDER THAN THAT ROOM, I IMAGINE. THE TIMES UP HERE AFTER SHOWS WITH YOU KNOW, YOU AND OTHER COMEDIANS ARE PROBABLY FUNNIER THAN ON STAGE. YOU KNOW, THE TIME IN THE COMEDY CLUB WITH THE OTHER COMEDIANS IS PROBABLY THE MOST HONEST AND REAL CONVERSATIONS. YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE BEEN TV SHOWS IN THE PAST THAT HAVE TRIED TO CAPTURE WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS TABLE. I STILL DON’T THINK IT DOES IT JUSTICE. IT’S TOO IT’S HARD TO EXPLAIN. YOU JUST YOU JUST HAVE TO BE HERE. OH, IT WAS FUN TO VISIT WITH ROY AT HOME, AT HIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME. HE DOES COME BACK TO BIRMINGHAM A FEW TIMES A YEAR. AND I ORIGINALLY MET HIM AT THE MAGIC CITY CLASSIC A FEW YEARS AGO. IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT TIME SITTING THERE AND GETTING TO KNOW HIM. WHAT ABOUT THE DAILY SHOW? WASN’T HE BEING LOOKED AT FOR THAT? YEAH, HE IS UP FOR THE GIG TO BE THE PERMANENT HOST TO REPLACE TREVOR NOAH, BUT HE RECENTLY GUEST HOSTED FOR A WEEK, GOT THE HIGHEST RATINGS AS A GUEST HOST HAD RECEIVED. WE TALKED ABOUT THAT AND HIS BIG PLANS FOR BIRMINGHAM FUTURE.