Michael Jai White, writer and star of Black Dynamite, visits Adam’s studio today. His film is an homage to 70s Blaxploitation movies, so the guys immediately begin discussing 70s stereotypes and cheesy movie tricks. Adam recalls scenes from The Six Million Dollar Man and says, ‘I shoulda known I was gonna be a comedian when I started complaining about this shit at age 10.’ Michael reveals that for some of the car stunts in his film, they actually took stock footage from Sony pilots that never aired. Eventually Sony bought the movie back, but Michael jokes it’s probably get the rights to their stock footage back. Adam reveals his idea for The Pilot Network. ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to watch everyone’s shitty pilot? […] The networks already spent the money on the show.’ After speaking more about the success of Black Dynamite, both locally and overseas, Adam asks him about Kentucky Fried Movie. He remembers watching it with Donny on VHS over and over again, and they share laughs about their favorite clips from the film. Michael loves ‘Fistful of Yen,’ Adam loves ‘Cleopatra Schwartz.’ Since Michael is now beginning to direct, Adam says ‘You’re gonna be the funny Tyler Perry.’ Adam says he saw Diary Of A Mad Black Woman and thought it was not even good enough for a TV movie. Michael also compares it to a black soap opera, but since he has worked with him, he says Tyler Perry works his ass off. Adam suggests ‘he should take his time and just work on one funny script.’ A caller from Wilmington, North Carolina reminds Adam of the time he was filming Dawson’s Creek while simultaneously working on Love Line. He was absolutely exhausted, and the person who called in was the person who actually had to keep waking him up to drag him to set. Michael says there must be something strange about Wilmington. Steve Buscemi was stabbed there once during a fight, Michael’s entire crew was jumped, and even he got into a fight which he hadn’t done in a long time. Adam remarks that part of the beauty of Black Dynamite is that Michael is unrecognizable in his performance. Michael is glad for this because it allows him to act dramatically in other films without it being distracting. They talk a little bit about the brilliance of Leslie Nielson, who delivered ridiculous lines in his completely self-serious tone. Other comedic inspirations for Michael include John Cleese, Peter Sellers, and early Steve Martin. The last portion of the podcast is dedicated to Michael explaining his rough upbringing, and how he eventually broke into Hollywood. Growing up in Brooklyn, he had to be a ‘closeted Monty Python fan.’ He was a tough guy who got into a lot of fights and grew up fast. Eventually a motivational speaker came to his high school and convinced him to go to college. Even to this day, he goes around returning the favor by being a motivational speaker and teacher himself. Adam relates to having a fractured family, and they go on to speak about the irresponsibility of absentee fathers. Adam asks why people turned on Bill Cosby when he told people to pick up their pants and start raising their kids right. Michael says that as long as some people actually listened and changed, it was worth it even if there was a bit of backlash. To wrap up the convo, Adam offers to hold the focus pads for Michael since he’s a martial arts expert. Also be sure to see Why Did I Get Married Too (now in theaters), and purchase Black Dynamite, now on Bluray and DVD. Produced: Donny Misraje Audio: Katie Levine Search: Logan Moy Build and Edit: Katie Levine Show Summary: Matt Fondiler
