Sunday, May 15, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Making History
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011
My Big Brother
Yes, that little beige ball of laughter is me as a baby! Forget about the huge forehead and the two little teeth playing peak a boo. Never mind the pj's with the feet in them (baby penitentiary). This story is about the boy next to me. The little brown skinned baby with the almost perfect Jackson 5 afro (Just a side note he loved his pj's with the feet in them.) is my older brother. I absolutely don't know what I would do or where I'd be if I never had him as a brother. Through all of the ups and downs that most siblings go through I wouldn't ever trade in my brotherhood experiences. I remember as kids he would do something to me or I'd snitch on him and we wouldn't be friends for a while. Maybe an hour would pass and then one of us would ask the other "are you still my friend?" then we would move on to being best bud's again. I remember a fight we had as teenagers and it lasted for a long time. It reminded me of a movie fight, soon as you broke it up and you thought things settled.... BAM there goes a chair, there goes the peace! Through all of that we still loved each other.Now, we are adults but I think about our childhood days. I think about where they went and how it feels like time just flew by. He has children and I live in another city. I'm a stand up comedian and he's a musician. We have some of the same ideals about life in some aspects and in others we're night and day.
My brother is part of the reason I am who I am today. He was the one who snuck a Richard Pryor cassette, and a Eddie Murphy RAW VHS into the house. He was the funniest person to me growing up. He was my super hero growing up. He had jewelery, curly hair, women, and he was a DJ. I remember getting into a nightclub at like 16yrs old and sitting at the bar looking stupid. The bartender asked me what I wanted and I said "An Orange Juice", in my best smooth adult rendition. I drove him and another friend to the club so he could spin. My brother was the best DJ in the world in my eyes. I would wait until he left the house and try to mix the same songs he mixed. Of course it never worked out right but I tried. My brother was and still is very innovative. He is the only person I know to record a radio station on a 8 track tape! It was Yo Eight One O am radio station that he recorded on these huge 8 track tapes.
My brother is a music producer, song writer, as well as a artist. His latest project is called The Way. You can find two singles on iTunes. My brother is like McGyver. All he needs is a socket wrench a pack of gum and his reading glasses. He'll build a house in no time with little to nothing. All of his music is awesome, heartfelt music. I thank my big brother for everything he's done for me and been to me in this life. I wish I could rewind the time to being kids again and never grow up just so I could snitch on you some more lol, just kidding.
Some of you may know my big brother as Mudjones and others may know him as Tyrone Harley. I can say I know both and a lot more. I love you bruh! CHEERS!!
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Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
It all started back in......
It seems like yesterday when my life took a turn for the best. Flip cell phones were still a hot item. I had the first video phone with chirp so of course you couldn't tell me nothing. I was a fresh college graduate, newly single, and in my mind one of the sharpest know it all (s) out alive.
Earlier in my Senior year I watched a Jamie Foxx comedy special called "I Might Need Security". This DVD brought meaning to my existence. After all I've loved stand up comedy ever since my older brother snuck a Richard Pryor cassette tape into the house when I was a child. The famous joke that I remember most is when Richard's Heart was talking to him. Oh my god; I didn't know anything about a heart attack, cocaine, or the ills of pork. I did know funny. That joke had me in tears I was laughing so hard. Then my big brother who was inevitably (my comedy pusher) brought in Eddie Murphy's Raw VHS tape. I know by now I'm sort of telling how old I could possibly be with all of the obsolete technology. At any rate Eddie Murphy Raw was an amazing event. I'd never seen anything like it. It intrigued me.
I was a very shy person but I was a very silly person. If I got comfortable around you I'd surely open up and have you in stitches. I loved to make people laugh especially the grown ups. Once I got an adult to laugh at me I could almost get away with anything. I once made my mother laugh right before a whoopin was about to take place. In my mind all I had to do was get her to laugh and the near death experience would pass by. Did she laugh yes did I get whooped yes! The fact that I made her laugh kept the whoopin short. Because the reason for me getting this whoopin made for at least a hour beat down.
Teachers, co-workers, and friends always said that I should be a comedian. I would always shuck it off because A: I was super self conscious B: I didn't believe I could be anyone of that magnitude and C: People wouldn't like me. This is what I thought for a long time. Something happened around the time I watched the Jamie Foxx "I Might Need Security" special.
I was fresh off of a internship which was a good introduction to the cold world of Corporate America. The CFO cursed me out one day for something I had no control over. It really got under my skin because this same guy wouldn't have said anything to me in public, passing by on the streets. I saw then that either I was going to have to take this crap for the rest of my life or make some changes. At my intern I met a guy who had a lawn care business on the side. I asked him how could I do something to sort of keep me from relying on Corporate America for everything. He told me "Find something you love and that you're good at then make it a business". It didn't hit home until the Jamie Foxx comedy special. I knew then what direction I needed and wanted to go into.
At first I got into comedy for the fame and money! Oh how soon I was broke from that ideology! My 1st show was at a Labor day event back in 2004. I loved that day and it will always be dear to me. I look forward to doing it again just to prove to the youth that anything is possible. The 1st time on a comedy club stage I thought I had made it. The funny thing is so did my friends and family. That was until they saw my set. If you want to call it a set. My brother told me last year that he didn't want to tell me early on but he didn't think I was funny. He went on to say that now he knows that I am hilarious. Which made me proud.
As it's now 2011, and I've met many people. I've burned many bridges and I've maintained many more bridges. I've performed all over the country and abroad. I know and understand that I still have a long way to go. I'm still a student and will always look forward to progression. The headaches, lonely nights, and broken hearts I've received from comedy have been well worth it. I can't say the same for the corporate side of my life. I've made more money in Corporate America and I'd trade all that money in to live, breathe, and eat my passion 24/7. It will happen for me. It may not be today, tomorrow or next year! But before I leave this EARTH it will happen!
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