Mr. Five has brought his jokes from Savannah to Atlanta, and he knows how to get the crowd to show their teeth with his savvy comedic style. He spoke with rolling out about what got him into comedy, what makes a good comedian, and gave advice for aspiring comedians.
What got you into comedy?
You know how you’re in school and you’re making jokes on the back of the bus? I was always good at it. Everybody thought I was funny. I didn’t know you could get paid for it, but now I know.
How does it feel being a comedian in Atlanta?
This is f—ing awesome. It was light work tonight, but at any given moment you don’t know who might walk in there. You see these people, you look up to these people, and you want to be like these people. That’s a real thing. The best form of flattery is imitation, but we ain’t stealing no jokes.
What do you think makes a good comedian today?
You got to have a little stage presence. I don’t care how many followers you have. If you don’t have any stage presence, you can’t hold a crowd. There’s no sense in you doing this. You can have two million followers but [it won’t matter]. Just go for it; go for what you know. That’s all I do.
Do you have any advice for aspiring comedians?
If you’re going to start, don’t stop. If you start something you have to finish it. I don’t care how you do it; there’s no age limit on this. Samuel L. Jackson didn’t make it until he was 40-something years old. I’m [turning] 43 on Friday and I’m out here grinding.
