Reflecting on Legacy and Advice

It's time for mad. reewind Mad rewind Yeah with your hest. Brand Hell and welcome to another episode of Mad Reewind. Dear lovers of everything, comedy and hilarious, do I have a treat for you today? I have a fantastic human being and somebody that I am now claiming to be my friend, whether he likes it or not, deal with it Today I have Mr. Orlando Jones Hello Orlando. What's happening, Brndy? What's going on? It so was thankful, you agreed. So come on Mad Rind, I hope. Of course, absolutely. Mad TV, what a chapter Wh you're currently filming somewhere. I don't I don't think we can say where you're filming, but you're where are you at at the moment? I'm in Brooklyn Okay, very nice. Yeah. Yeah yes. I'm enjoying it. New York is behind me And we I'm hanging out at the water in Brooklyn. It's my day off. so H, I'm glad everything worked out so I could catch up with you Well, thank you. This is going to be a great conversation. So I'm just going to go ahead and jump in And we'll get the conveyor belt rolling. So M, fans of Mad TV. As an original cast member and writer Orlando Jones appeared in the first two seasons of Mad TV, appearing in forty three episodes from nineteen ninety five to nineteen ninety seven. Some of his impressions included Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, Dennis Rodman, IceCube, Ike Turner, and Andre three thousand to name a few original characters included Ivan Hicks from Lowered Expectations, Oh my God, Ivan.own husband Robert from That's My White Mama Empowerment Pion host Toby Robins, Kabana Chat band leadader, Dexter St. Croix. Croix, right? Yeah, St. Croix, Yes, Dexter Yes Reverend Lamont, Nixon Fatback and Curly Dog. Yes. The land has also appeared on Sleepy Hollow, Black Dynamite, Swagger, Raven's Home, American Gods, as Martin Eddie on Abbott Elementary, and also on Family Business, New Orleans, on BET and Netflix Orlando has also appeared in feature films like Office Space, The Replacements, Drum line, Time Machine, Biker Boys, Trouble Man, and the upcoming feature Live T Die He has also lent his voice to Father of the Pride, Halo two and Halo two anniversary Please welcome Orlando Jones. Yay! Parade l The Arsenal is fantastic. Look at you. so impressive I'm I'm gonna to dive right in Orlando When did you know you were funny? Oh. I think u In class. I think I might have figured it out in class, maybe I think that was probably third grade Mrs. Perillo's class It was the moment And because you were also a writer, I'm going to add in the other question to you is when did you know that you're like, I can be a writer as well Oh I know that's Time, time jump But I still want to know while I'm here. I don't I think I think writing sort of just became it was a function of necessity moreore than anything. like you it wasn't like nobody was writing roles for like You know, sixteen seventeen year old you know, kids, let, you know, let alone sixteen, sevententy year old black kids from the South. that that that role didn't exist. You know, maybe a kids from New York or you know, or LA or whatnot. So There was a desire for material and so you know, I thought who better to write it than myself and I sort of I think writing is something you just you do. I don't I don't don't you know, I don't think it's something that someomeone must bestow upon you. I just sort of jumped in and you know, I got a job writing on, you know for NBC in a different world very early on. so it was It was successful for me, but I I jumped in previously to that Okay. so growing up, did you have family members that were funny? that that inspired you or that you wanted to make Dim laugh. Yeah, I think it was always a funion making my mom laugh was think I think part of it U, but my you know, my mom is pretty funny. My dad is a very funny, very charismatic dude. There There are lots of people I think around who are My grandmother was also a very charismatic figure. so I think I was surrounded in family members who were funny and charismatic and whatnot, but I was You know, I was watching for a while And also I think developing my own sense of humor, which is very different than theirs Okay Did you ever make fun of your parents? 'cause I did mine all the time and then I knew I could get away with things. Oh yeah, of course. yeah, I torture them all the time. I still do. There's no ye, that'ss what you do with family. I mean You said They call that love, I believe. That's the four letter word Um Wh were your comedy heroes when you were a kid Yeah, I u I really liked u differentere people for different reasons. So I loved WC Fields. I love his His cadence was really funny to me. I liked I'd like to Let's see Linny Bruceces. brashness. I sort of enjoyed Shelly Berman, I thought as a writer was interesting. Steve Steve Martin was very goofy. Bill Cosby was a A really wonderful storyteller U Richard Prior, Red Fox, Moms Mayy was probablybably one of my absolute favorites And I really loved comedy and I had all of those albums so I really listen to a lot of it and You know, and with my friends and whatnot and we had our favorites. but at that time, You know, it was about, you know, records and, you know, CD's and stuff that you got your hands on and you would listen to it So when you would be listening to these albums with friends, would you start doing impressions of them? Yeah, I mean I could definitely do all the voices for sure, you know, depending on I mean, I mean, Cosby was probably the most fun to do just because of the the nature of how he speaks, you know, he just He has a particular cadence, particularly when he's in performance mode, it's almost like he sings I did not want Dale You know, and also the way he, um He uses different tones in a story Bothering with you You know, like he He really does use a range of different sounds to get you giggling and in sort of the spirit of the laugh. He's like brilliant at that So those were the ones, you know Okay. D Were you like a theater kid or an improv kid? or can you explain to me your comedy education journey and who sent you on that path You know, I was always just kind of joking around with my friends you know, family or what have you. and obviously When we were in camp or, you know, I was always in the singing group or the some, you know, group, but, you know, theater att least during, you know My very young years was not really, you know, what happened. I was more into sports to be honest with you. I played I ran track and I played basketball Okay. playlay football couple years and Baseball was my dad's sports where I sort of avoided that Um I u I took a public had a public speaking teacher name was Gladys Robertson And Gladys She's the only teacher ever had the cursed And she basically told me that I was going to sit down and shut the F up and and do what she said do. And she wanted me to be on the debate team. And that's how I wound up on the debate team. and then I won the national championship. and so that sort of catapulted, you know, Yale drama and drama school offers and all that kind of stuff And I think she was probably the person that really that understood it in a way that I didn't and she was adamant U And so I performed the Butter Battle book by u Theodore Sus Geisel. Doctor says And Dick Gregory has a wonderful book called Nigger And those were my two performances And so yeah, that That kind of opened the door and it took off from there Okay I love that. did she ever know that you became successful and how and Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Yeah, because, you know, When I left and started writing on a different world, I was still a teenager and I'd already had my ad agency before then. So my commercials were running Um, you know, my make my M McDonald's, you know, Michael Jordan, McJordan's commercials running, my food line commercial was running, u The Mazda commercial. So I had various ads that were already running regionally or nationally already So and while I was writing on a different world and I spent my first five years writing and producing sitcoms, I wrote the The pilot of Martin and Martin Lawrence's show. So while I was doing that I was behind the scenes, but I was still doing all my commercial stuff. And so is that what you were doing when you got becauseuse wasn't there like a cattle call, like a national wide cattle call for Mad TV? Is that what you were doing When you found out about the audition for it You know, I was there was a new network that I had launched called FX and we had launched it out of New York and, uh I was just leaving FX actually because I'd done the show. I'd launched my show It was fun and I had a good time, but I was like, I don't want to do this forever And I decided and I went into audition for Mad TV. But yeah, I think there was like one hundred and sixty people there or something crazy and better And that that was how I started. and I was out in LA for the weekend and took my car out of storage And I drove to this Mad TV audition while I was staying at my buddy's house Okay. so Before I go back to M or before I really get into Mad TV, can you share with me your experience on how you landed your first writing job on a different world Sure. U I um I was in college and I had my ad agency and was doing pretty well with that. And I had an opportunity. I got flown out to Los Angeles to be on a television show called two hundred twenty seven and to play an actor on that show. And when I came out and did my test for network I met with a manager and the manager uh mentioned to me that they were looking for young writers for the new season of a different World and asked me to write a spec script. I did U they flew me out to meet with the two executive producers And they hired me in the room and u Then I moved out to California and that was that. So that's a That's how I got my writing job in a different world. Susan Fails and Deborah All hired me as a writer Oh wow That is. I'm always in awe of everyone's journey on how they've They evolved in how they got to one place to another and just the mechanics of that. So thank you. Um so Kind of now jumping into Mad TV, you said that you know you had all of these people there and it was like a mad house. Do you remember what the audition process was like for you Yeah, you know, I remember I think it was Deborah Langford and Quincy Jones and then I think it was Fact and Adam, the two showrunners and than the casting director or something And you know, I remember thinking yeah, I just didn't want to read with the casting director. They kind of gave you the material and I was like, I don't want to read with this, you know, casting director So I was like, Look, I'll just do all of the characters and then and That'll and that's my audition So that's what I did. And she they're like, ah, you know, very funny. and Qucy Jones said,, you do you do any more other characters? And I said why don't you just toss the character out and then I'll just do it? And so he laughed and he was like you know, East Coast rarapper, you know, West cooast rarapper old man about you know, whatever. So he threw out, I think those three or something like that. And I did those three and, you know, he was he was laughing hysterically and then Deborah Langford knew me as a writer from a different world and Rock Live and the Simbat show and whatnot. And so she was like You know, would this be interesting to you because I know you wrote and produced situation comedies and this is a sketch comedy show And I said, yeah, you know, I love Mad Magazine. I grew up in Mad magazine. it was, you know My favorite magazine as a kid, Barbara Spy, you know, Sergio Agonez as an artist, you know, it was you know, to me, amazing. those sacred cows, it was everything I wanted. It was like a rebellion and a magazine. So That was that. and they hired me and was in therigin I was in the original eight and that's how I got there. It's crazy Now, did you know Quincy before this audition or did you meet him there? No, I didn't know Quincy before they. I met him in that audition Okay Um And so now that you have landed Mad TV. Would you mind doing some of your character voices? Like the Kabana Chat band leader, Dexter St. Croix or Ivanhill hold on, I'm so sorry.' Dexter. First of all Say Croy. sayay Croy Like the island, honey Mhm Okay, I just didn't want you to You know, mess it of some people they don't know what to say, you know what I mean? they're so mesmerized by the music you know, that it's too much for them because I knowm I'm spicy. I'm moving ciete, that that goes without saying. But sometimes, you know seeeeing these areolas is too much I won't ask you to show the stomach. Of course not, but I know you're nasty. I know you're thinking about it. you imagine it. I see you. you know the little b it around your head. You ain't fooling nobody No We see you, nasty. G got several point accounts. I bet you do. I bet you do those. What about Ivan Hicks from lowered Expectations? I Ivan Yeah My favorite colors. Oh My favorite fruit is orange My favorite movie is baseball. I love Iry. He's such a nerd. He was adorable and the lowered expectations sketches are just They hold up. They hold up to this day. They were probably the most the most fun. I have to admit. I had a drunk guy that I really loved doing. and I remember And all he was doing was dancing and belching and then he throws up That's I In fact, I think he was dancing going, Look at what you got N at what you got Lg it. Oh Just I really enjoyed Baduda was another one I did I Iron Baduda. You know check this out And he's It keeps doing it until I v you like me now. That was the go It's stuck longer, wait, wait that I got it I gotta They'll do it. Oh my goodness. Don't you dare? How do you like me now? That was That was the buna I love Lord is man. what a time. Now going back to your character, that projectile vomited. was that wasas that like pea soup from like the exorcist or what wasas it practical or was it a tube? How No. It was purely faked Okay. Yeah, the whole notion of it to me was There's always some guy at a party who has You know who has literally just dranked themselves into a fury And they've belched and kind of thrown up, but they're so drunk they don't know it they don't get it. And they're just dancing having a good time at the party until the moment hits them and they have to run behind the sofa. And And so then you could do the sound and, you know, you just got to do the, you know, convulsion, you know you know, you could really, you know, make it sound like the guy is giving it up So that was always the joke was that Just get to the sofa with enough force. to make it feel like he really went crazy. once he made it there. And then' stupid enough to upload that to his dating profile. Like, who's gonna look at that and be like, ooh, that guy, he's hot? I want his number. Hello. You're right, exactly. No one, No one wants his number. Absolutely no one. Okay, so Since you were an established sitcom writer before you came on Mad TV, how involved were you in the sketch writing process Um It was I was definitely involved. because of the nature of So basically what we do is everybody would pitch their ideas and then those ideas would get picked And then you would go off and write it And then before we shot it, everybody would sort of You know gang in and, you know, make changes fast now but approve the final changes That's what went in the script and went out through the cast But after the table read The cast would then have to rehearse it. so we would put it on its feet. and of course, for John Blanchard, we would change it around U, you know, a lot of times, you know, or state our objections or additions or what have you And that was essentially the process of how the show got put together. The trick was to shut your mouth was really the big trick because You know, the writers always complain about the actors and the actors always complain about the writers. And if you're in both rooms, you know what all the complaints are, but you can't tell anybody. So you just kind of have to be quiet. So that was most of my job was just shutting up and trying to stay out of the way But I didn't have a carte blanche just do whatever I want. In fact They mostly chose stuff that was for other people So I actually didn't do a whole lot on this show. I think I probably did the least of the cast because most of my contribution was on the writing side. I felt earlier. And then the character started to pop and that sort of happened. But at the time I thought, you know, I didn't take my contribution as a as talent was very big at all Now, did you have a process for creating a character Well, I mean, there was always certain things that you would just see. but a lot of times in the sitcom writing process, one of the things that you quickly learn is You know, there's a difference between how I'm funny and how you're funny And if I'm writing for you, then my job is to kind of figure out how you're funny and figure out what your cadence is, which is Differe than my cadence, right Um And so that's the central part of the sitcom writing process is understanding your cast and how your cast delivers, each one delivers a joke so that you're writing within their cadence U And then the second part of it is knowing that Whomever the showrunner is has a very specific vision of the world and the characters And your job is to kind of write in what they would have written So they don't have to too much work. between dealing with the studio and the network. So it's heavily about being able to mimic that writer and mimic these voices very, very well. So on Mad TV It was very easy for me to lock into what other people were funny with and deliver that in a way that They could then take it and make it their own because it was written in their rhythm. Oh. Right. So that was That skill as a writer served the cast better than me. But that's just the nature of this type of show, right? So that's just kind of the way it happened. And you know, I was fine. I had a great time and, you know, I loved my castmates. We had a lot of fun together Speaking of character building, we have arrived at the sponsor portion of the podcast, Madie Wine Wow ms. So this is for the Crow. The Crow is a comedy club located in the Bergamont Station Art Center in Santa Monica. It also happens to be a super inclusive five hundred one C three nonprofit theater. I highly recommend catching a show, a class, an open mic or even enrolling your kids in their summer comedy camp. No matter your age, there's a space there for you with their full comedy school for not only adults, but they also have comedy classes for teens and kids too Or maybe you just want to go see a hilarious show at one of their two theaters, basasically work on your craft during the day and go laap your ass off at night. Please visit crowcomedy dot com for classes, shows, and tickets . That's my cross sound C? Not even close. Somewhere there's a crow guard son of a bitch I sound nothing like that I've been doing it wrong this entire time. Right. Jesus calls himself a comic Dam These races against crows. What . They all agree He hates these pinions. Yes. hates these pants Hilarious When you can get a Steve Martin quote in you guys From the jerk, of course. Yes Um Do you have a favorite sketch or character that you ever created You know, I enjoyed the Reverend Lamont Fatback. Yeah H? Can you still do his voice Was it? I think it was Amen and amen, praise Jesus I don't know who yet The Reverend LMont Lewis I than was a real pitchman He really sold his soul to somebody. And he reminded me of the prosperity preachers that I encountered in the South that it was like the ad sales was incorporated into the sermon and it just made me I just thought it was such a hilarious thing because it was clearly what was going on, right and the product was TJ Mosley Carars Vise. That's why I put it in the sketch 'ause that's what I heard the Reverend pitch, TJ Mosley, Caris Felis And I fell out laughing. I literally was like, did anybody else hear what He just said? He just said, TJ. what does that have to do with Jesus and I could not stop laughing. so I thought, man, a character who really takes that to the next level in every aspect of the sermon is, you know He's got a product that he's plugging in the middle of his sermon and, you know The choir then does the big plug. It just it just made me giggle that he was constantly doing that. And so we did multiple of those. I think we did one where he was on trial. And u The judge dismissed it because he was able to get hotel rooms and Waikiki for ninety nine dollars You know, so I loved him. He was fun. Let me just think. I was probably more focused on You know, I needed my ee turner to be really Lawrence Fishburn spepecific Hm. and between the Samuel Jackson and then The gump fiction one was fun because it was a mash upp. I'm doing Bub a gump But I'm also doing Samuel Jackson from from pulp fiction So You know He's like asking for shrimp with a Jerry curl. And a shotgun Uh Th those were fun to create just because they're You know, it wasn't a typical I'm going to do an impression. It was like I want to mash up two people and And because that was the whole thing, gump fiction. I'm like, oh, I'm going to take my character and make it a mash up too, right? And So that, you know, for me, that was probably the most fun because it wasn't what was normally done in sketch comedy, right? It was It was something a little the left to center And the Navajo preacher. Yeah. the not the guy who buys the the NFL teams then changes all their names Uh I love that dude, you know the chief, the Indian chief was had the whole thing. He had the whole look. He was hilarious. I liked him Don't mry Very, very straight way talk Booming voice. veryery funny Do you have a favorite moment or moments that still stand out to you all of these years later after you've left MadTV You know, I talk to my brother Arie Lyang a lot and we tend to race through a bunch of Mad TV memories in about a fifty minute call,'s our favorite thing to do I mean, look, there are a number of things that I probably shouldn't admit to. you know, we we may or may not have found ourselves in a situation where we were on Mount Rushmore and, uh The park was closing and You know, we we left our mark there Uh, and then, uh you know, you Feral tell. No, no just, you know, you know, we said a prayer and we went our merry way I definitely have some crazy, hilarious memories of that entire cast, you know, traveling to press junkets on you know, Rupert Murdoch's private jet and just the the hilarity of Nicole Sullivan and You know David Herman and J Brian just the mix of all of us. It just was a mad house, but a lot truly hilarious because you know, as a as a group, you know, we were a new show, nobody really cared about us that much, but I think I have wonderful memories of that. I remember us shooting the promo for The very first episode and I was doing my grandparents as characters I vividly remember doing that on a Hollywood street and it was like, huh I'm standing on Sunset Boulevard. Doing a sketch comedy show, doing my grandmother and my grandfather as characters. This is weird, but crazy, but I have a vivid memory of that. Oh, I love that. That's fantastic. And did your grandparents were they were they still alive? Were they able to see you do that Do they say? No, it's I do this Vietnam vet and he's talking to himself, but he's talking to himself in an argument between my aunt Dolly and my uncle Cecil And so and my Uncle Cecil has a stutter and my auntle Dolly would have whipped his ass immediately if he had said anything she didn't like. So he needed to have a stutter because he was not in a safe environment. I do those two arguing with one another as this sort of Vietnam vet who's a little whacked out. My parents saw him and was like What They knew exactly who it was and obviously burst out laughing, but U Unfortunately, my uncle Cecil and aunt Doolly had passed by the time by nineteen ninety five, I think that was Okay Do you have a like a moment that you are just that still stands out to you that you're really proud of, that you accomplished when you were on that TV Oh God Not really. I don't think that the way I think of of of being an artist in those terms. I think I think of being an artist as Um, an evolution in many ways And I think, um Hopefully you continue to work at and honeone your skills set. For me, being on MatTV was a huge step because it was going from being predominantly behind the camera as a writer producer to really being predominantly in front of the camera but also in front of the camera doing comedy You know what I mean So For me, it was a you know, that was the big evolution and just being able to go from you know, writing being a writing producer on the Simbad show on Fox T you know, doing sound effects in New York and launching the FX network are going to um, a sketch comedy show was this it was sort of Three very different things within a period of time and I was you know, very much, you know, just trying to become better and more diverse as an artist. and I was fortunate and blessed that circumstances allowed me to really to do those different things and you know, I never got pigeonholed. I was just I was just really fortunate. But I don't think of it as an accomplishment any of it. I still don't really feel like I've accomplished much of anything actually I feel more like I really feel like the best is yet to come. That's kind of how I see it I love that answer. That's solid Did you ever have a sketch that you wrote or a character that you created rejected Oh yeah, one hundred percent. M of didn't stand out to you that it was like, how could they have not like, why did they pass on this? It was brilliant. H You know I got in trouble for a couple of sketches. Um I got csed out about a couple of impersonations He And I had a I got a couple of sketches cut A couple sensor and a couple total cuts. Um Shimers's loss got cut U The story of a manh. You can find it on YouTube, kids Google it I think you might be able to find it actually Yeah. Sim is lost the story of a man with a sense of justice but no sense of direction I thought that it was hilarious Um, So For me Great Chucko, but sadly pulled because someone said it was anti Semitic So that went away That's why I got the call from Quincy Jones like Stop it Stop writing stuff that's problematic. and then I did a Bill Cosby sketch And then I got called down to the office over that one U and I had to come. I thought I was going to see Bill Cosby because They said I was in trouble. But when I got there, it was just him on the speaker phone And when I walk in, it's just a conference table and like a couple people standing in the back And like I hear him say, Is he here? Is he on And um I guess Bill And he goes, I just want to know W wereere you making fun of me or the media? And I was like Uh, the media. And he was like, okay And they were like, okay, you can go And I was like, that's it I hadn't really thought about it, but I portrayed him as a pimp. Oh in a show called Cosby's Crib because the story was is that Cosby was never black enough Right And so the joke was is that Cosby finally answers his critics by doing this super black show. where he's no longer a doctor and his wife's a lawyer, he's actually a drug dealer And he is teaching his kids how to make money selling narcotics and not pay taxes And then the critics say it's an amazing show and the whole thing and he ultimately loses his mind at the press conference and goes after the critics for being so hypocritical that they now call this ridiculous show that he did, you know, black enough. And that was the totality of the sketch. So we were obviously making fun of the media, but I didn't expect to get called down to the officers at William Morris And, you know and asked directly from the man himself. So you know, I was getting into trouble like that And I did I pissed off Eddie Murphy ' I made him a waiter in a Chinese restaurant trying to get a job on the Eddie Murphy story. Spike Lee, who was directing it, wouldn't cast him because he had cast himself in a roow Phil Lont does a dead on spikely. just like a dead on spikely How baring is Eddie Murphy was furious with me overver that. Curious He I you know What could I say? And yeah, those are some of the good ones. I mean if you didn't piss nobody off in our mind, you weren't doing it right. So Exactly. So when did you know it was time to leave MadTV You know C I think there's always a bit of an unholy alliance between U peopleeople who are both writers and performers because There comes a point where you find yourself consistently being asked to give away the writing part for free H And You know, there are so many wonderful writers that I have no problem hitting my mark and saying the linees on the page. In fact, I very much enjoy that Often, particularly on the comedy side, you get asked to rewrite those jokes. you know, or put your spin on it, right? Which means you're rewriting it. And I really when they asked me to do that on Mad TV, I was just like, I've been a writer's Go member for a long time. I'm not comfortable letting you take credit for stuff I wrote So that was really, I think for me the thing And, you know, I wasn't a cheap writer. I was an expensive writer comparatively to the other writers And you know, they could hire multiple writers for what they were paying me And they wanted to do that. And for me, if I'm not writing and performing, if that wasn't the opportunity anymore and it was just you know, only doing sketches It wasn't as appealing as it was to me in seasons one and two where I was able to do that. So You know, I kind of thought let me let somebody else take this slot who's going to be excited to be here and you know, just be a cast member as someone like myself who's you know, taking up, you know, space on both ends of the puzzle. So And, you know, I was fortunate enough that byy virtue of that, I was able to walk away and you know and and not have, you know, a bad ending to my mad TV story What did you go to do after you left Mad? Did you go directly onto something else? Yeah, u I u I did an overall deal Okay for myself and then I immediately went and did three movies backack to backack. I think the first one was for Larry David. Larry David had just finished Seinfeld and he was directing his first movie called Sour Grapes So I went and did that And then Quintin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez were they'd done their Dust Holdawn franchise and they were getting ready to do a prequel and a sequel. So I got cast in that and I went and shot that movie immediately U And then I got cast in another movie you know, again, sort of all on top of each other. and I went and did that so You know, I kind of spent my first year shooting films and then I jumped in and was you know, writing and producing and, you know my feature career sorted took off and And that was, you know, next thing I knew I was doing Liberty Heights and Magnolia and you know, with, you know, Barry Levinson and Adrian Brody and all those folk and And you know, and and then it was a different game, right? So suddenly you're uh, you know, at the Oscar parties and you know, you're in the award world and you know, that happened sort of very quickly based on a variety of sort of films So by two thousand or so, I was really focused on the blockbuster side of things, evolution and time machine and stuff like that. And just realizing what the parameters were with those type of films versus You know, the freedom I had on Mag TV to do the crazy stuff I was doing And I really I missed it and wanted to get back to stuff that I felt was, you know, less constrained by the economics of what those budgets cost and what they need to recruit globally and You know, and what the ratings are, you know, I got in trouble on the replacements because I did a joke with Gene Hackman where I say, Coach, it looks like I just jacked off an elephant And u That was going to give us an R rating So I thought a hilarious joke Hackman and I were dying laughing, but you know, the studio was not happy with me because Just based on that joke, we were about to get an R rating and they fought it and we managed to get a PG thirteen. but that's the difference between a considerable amount of revenue. as to whether or not you get one rating or another, right? PG thirteen movies make a lot more money. so Just dealing with those sorts of components throughout, I was like This is nuts And this all makes sense. And so I'm like a little sponge right now and I'm absorbing everything that you're saying because I'm like, this is this is so fascinating and I would have never thought that it was like one joke that could move you to the next tier like that. Yeah, I mean And also You know, it's by virtue of who you're playing with. so that, you know, you start to Just so many things change You know, Keiano had done the Matrix. you know, the Matrix had exploded. This movie was after the Matrix. We were doing the replacements you know, we were in Baltimore R's football camp. So you know, just the m the whole notion of, you know twoo months before the movie starts, we're gonna to put the guys in football camp for six weeks, right? And get them ready for that. And you just the whole craziness of it. it was just a different you know, at different time in the sort of Hollywood ecosystem and You know, you know, having gotten to do all of it, it was, you know, it was it was pretty crazy now now that I look back at it So when you left, Mad And all these years have gone by. didid you keep anything from M TV? And if so, do you still have it The thing I normally keep is all my seat backacks Okay From the director's chairs, I usually I have all of those I usually keep that. I think I have A mug And I think I still have The original press shots of us Okay. Mbe a couple of those. And I until it got stolen from me, I had U a whole Mad TV spi versus Fi. a thing signed by Sergio Aragonez that I got the first Cicon that he took me to because he took me to my first Cicon. Because you were friends with him, right Well, I met him doinguring the show and he came down, you know, to the pilot and the whole thing. So I got to meet him and I was of course very excited. He mentioned Comicon and that he was going and I didn't know what Comicon was. And he was like, You love You know, this art, you should come and come to do Artist Sally with me. And I was like, okay. And so we drove down to San Diego and I went to my first caracon with him and walked Artist's alley and and bought all sorts of stuff and that I, you know still have to this day. But yeah, I got sort of introduced to the magic of Comicon through him And yeah, it was one of my great Hollywood memories was is getting to do that with him So I'm going to skip ahead on a few questions just because of what you just said there, which I was like, hey, do you have anything you want to promote? Like you can pull on promote. You have I'm about to be back at San Diego Comicon, of course at the meeting place of one of my comic book idols. likeike you got to understand, Sy versus Sy was so hilarious to me. becausecause it encapsulated so much of what my day to day experience was, right? I'm a young black kid from the deep south. There's a black spy, there's a white spy. Right? The two are always trying to one up each other. I'm watching that play itself out in so many ways in my life It was just a game between the two of them ultimately. I thought it was so poet that it was captured and it was in this magazine and it never had anything to do with anything political. they never said anything political, but it was so obvious to me what it was and that he was able to convey that in that imagery so simply in a way that any kid picked it up. mee and my friends picked it up. My black friends picked it up, my white friends picked it up. We all got it. You know what I mean? My Asian friends, my Latina everybody was like ing, right U, and we've joked about how it can expand by being in more colors, right that if you did the Beneton version of Spy versus Sy, you have all these other colors in the fight, right And that was the joke of it, but So to be able to experience Comicon with him and meet all these other artists who I didn't know at the time and get it, you know exposed to millnium comics and all that and you know, Reginald Hudlland and Dennis Cowen and all those guys, you know, it was really sort of a magical experience for, you know, a nerdy kid like myself. So I'm gonna to be back there. Matty V panel Mad we wind, but it's the cast of Mad TV and where' we winding whereere we winding Mad. So let's see you've got to do that for legal reasons. Of course, but still I'm sure Nicole's coming and u I hope Ion. Oh Moe Collins Donald is magical. so is Moe Collins. I didn't get a chance to work with them. so I'm just excited that this many, you know, Mad TV people are going to be able to building at Mat Re. Josh Myers. Oh, yes, Josh is coming through. I love it. Is Nicole Selly coming through Nicole Sullivan will be there. Deborah Wilson will be there. Oh the goat. Deborah Wilson, more mad TV episodes than anybody. Wow Lur. and blame capac Yay. Okaykay. a lot of the crew Blankcaach, you know, Blankcapatch was a writer at the time with Patton Oswald. They were a writing team. And they work together on the show. That's actually how I met them originally was together as a writing duo. And I remember blame wantning that I remember Pattent want, sorry, wanting to act and how, you know, he's finally gotten that opportunity. I'm's so excited for him. I love Patton Yeah But the panel, I can't say more at the moment because I'm playing by San Diego Comcons rules. that's right. We can't tell you where, right? Let's say what date, what time or what ball room, but it's going to be incredible. And that's when I met you last year. Orlando was at San Diego Comicon. It was such an incredible panel and we're going to do it again this year and it's going to be bigger and better. No doubt. that was a lot of fun. I spent the day with Phil Lamar and David Herman that day. They were running around doing the Futurama and the Simpsons and Matt was there and he was Drawing caricatures for anyone who asked a question in the comicon line. So you know I got an that line you got into the Q and A line and blew some shit up. It was It was incredible. A lot of fun. I mean and also just, you know, I used to spend a lot of my days with Phil and David. so it It was really a good time. And I got to see the absolutely magical and brilliant Alex Borstein What an what a chameleon. I'm So I love her work so much. So yeah, we've spawned some greats you know, and I love the fact that we get to do Mabby Wine and talk about it, but also that you know, we get to go to cons and see our fans, you know what I mean And I do see Alex every now and then. And so I am in the process of stalking her. I will get her on this podcast. It''m wor G to. And Will Sassso working on W too There's lots of balls that are rolling in different vers. So Can you tell me, do you have any advice for anyone starting out in comedy today Oh wow I mean Today people are just posting I mean, to be that that's just what it is. I mean, I clearly you know, you can you can do so Uh, Vese would v YouTube. so the metrics are there, the first in the puddin. so Yeah, I mean If you're a writer and stand up and you're shooting your sets and posting them up. I've seen several comedians really make a name for themselves utilizing YouTube. so I I think that that's a premier way to do it You know and There's no barrier to entry, right? There's no There's nothing stopping you so lease there There's nothing I think can stop you. It's one of those things where if you really want to do it, you just kind of figure a way. and everybody has a different path. so it doesn't matter what story they tell you because that ain't your story. That's their story. So I'll try to be cautious about tellelling people what my story was because my story is so exclusive to me U And what my skill sets were and I had more than one skill set. so you might not be me. You know, you might not be a a chameleon in the way that I was, right? And you don't have to bait. so that's not even necessary. so It's most important for you to be you. And I think the advice I most give you is the most unique thing about you is you and your particular story And if you stick to that You'll be okay And if you don't have that story yet 'll you'll have it later. I definitely remember feeling like You know, my parents are still married. I, you know I have no trauma to speak of. like I don't have My story doesn't feel interesting compared to this person who, you know, had no dad or this person, you know, who went through this, right? And I definitely you know, felt that like, man, I sw is not very interesting in that way And then I realized, oh, wow, most people didn't have that experience Oh, your story is interesting in that It's not typical And I was like, o, what but time, I couldn't see it because I was so an envy of someone else's story that I often missed, I think the magic within my own. So I encourage people to to focus their attention heavily on themselves, their family, what's in their immediate circumference U you will often find the bones to the great Comedy, stand up story you're trying to tell in the relationships that are in front of you not the relationships that you imagine. And everything that you just said right there is gonna to resonate with somebody and that is my goal And so that is a perfect answer. So thank you so much for that. And do you have any parting words that you would like to say to fans of Mad TV Man, I don't thank you. You know, I I you know, as a fan of Mad you know, magazine, um, and The excitement I had about being on, you know, Mad TV was was super genuine. It was, you know, It's a lovely time and You know, it it There' a crazy moment in my life. But not one that I regret or think of negatively, I know not every one of my castmates had the same sort of experience on the show. And that kind of makes me sad actually. I was fortunate and privileged in so many re in ways that, you know, I didn't have some of the negative experiences that they have, but I just feel like Matt TV represents such an extraordinary cast of talented people really, really, really talented people. and I don't think SNL has anything on us in terms of talent. I don't believe that at all. And I believe that the talent for Mad stretched so wide from that writer's room to you know, our the folks who in the post part of the process have gone on to be comedians, directors, writers, folks like yourself you know, to birththing, Ky and peel and, you know, all of that. Like, you know I remember, you know you know, Michael King coming to me saying, I need advice, man. what you know, how have you been able to do different things, right? I just feel like You know, there's some really special things about, you know, that what it represents. So I'm just grateful to the fans that they stuck with it and somehow they got us and we were the Definitely the weird kids. We went to Saturday night Lve kids or the state, you know or any of those. We were kind of our own thing. and You know, I wanted to do sketches that were super fast in three minutes, you know, and I got to do all that stuff as a writer. It's just Like I said, I had a great time. I'm so grateful to Quincy Jones and you know, David Salzman and that whole crew gave me that opportunity You know, largely Quincy because I know he's the person who really kind of handpicked me and put me on the show Uh, God rest his soul. He was, uh He's an awesome cat, so I really miss him Now. Where can fans of Mad TV find you on social media? The Orlando Jones, I think is what I am on just about everything They give people stupid blue check marks these days, but I don't know what that's supposed to mean. But if you see a bunch of hashtags Troollando And a bunch of stupidity that that Thats you found me. That's that's the R guy. Well Orlando, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Of course. And you have become an inspiration to me, a buddy, and a friend Ever since I met you in person on july twenty sixth of twenty twenty five, which was the Mad reewind panel at Comicon. and so Um you've a You've you've become a big brother to me that I never had before because you've had to listen to me cry about a lot of things. I'm like it's so hard. It's hard. It is hard. It is. But I love you so much. You know, I I feel like I've been really blessed to have this amazing group of fans. And so because of that, I don't think I've really been able to have a bad day in my life because at some point somebody It' And they you know, they're excited about whatever it is, you know drm line, American gods, theL, whatever, you know, whatever that is. But for me, it infuses my day with so much joy. and For you to sort of keep this, you know, mad TV legacy alive and this sort of group of people in your time working on it for far longer than I did. I think you worked on it for like nine years. I was on it for two. And Deborah who is a journeyman comedian who did it for so long, you know, for me, the least I can do is try and you know, participate and shine a spotlight on the incredible talent that was on the show. And, you know, I just applaud you because I think some of the most amazing stuff that happens happens because of fans. So Thank you for being both a very talented and funny lady in your own right, but also for being a genuine and earnest you know fan of Our crazy show. Mad TV. What? And now we have a pan all next month.oo Right Suni years in a row, baby. He I don't know Yeah, may or may not be able to announce something amazing. T knows C you know, month. So we'll see we'll see. But we are at the credit portion of the podcast. We have made it to the end of our journey. Orlando, thank you so much for taking the time to come talk to me. And I just w to roll through this really quick that Mad reewwind is recorded via the stududio venue just south of fancy downtown Burbank. Please visit the stududioVenue. com for all of your podcast needs. Mad Re Wind is produced by Dan Holden and Lily Romero Engineered by Kyle and Tsa Tucker, edited by Kyle Tucker and hosted and executive produced by me, Brandy Stilwell.. Thank you so much for spending your time with us. We are a little train that could. I appreciate you because I know that you have other choices, other podcasts to listen to. so please like, subscribe, share talk about as hashtag us. And yeah, than you. thank you Orlando, so much love. Can't wait to get a giant hug from you next month and for coming on the show Thank you everybody. I love you, EXoXO. Thank you, bye. We Camicon It's time for