RSOTS | Rita Brent on Writing For Cedric The Entertainer and MORE

0:00Hey y'all what up this is your boy Rick Smiley and if you've been a fan of the Rick Smiley Morning Show First of all, thank you I want to drop you an invite to something a little more personal. It's called the Rick Smiley on the spot We laugh we talk about life relationship faith family and stuff We don't always have time to unpack on a morning show. So since you're here, let me put you on You're about to hear a moment from the Rick Smiley on the spot where we take the conversation beyond the morning show So so was you always creative and funny Around the house or who was the funny one round house because it wasn't me it was my uncle. Oh, it was I was in the funny one in the class I was the lapper. I was always instigating Trying to get the roast going so were you the roaster or the roasty the roasty Well, I guess in retrospect, you know now that I'm a comedian all my classmates Remind of me a goofy stuff that I used to do you know in school because I played basketball so I was always One of my clap one of my I was a sharp shooter not necessarily a step curry but more like a more like a Steve Kerr, you know

1:03Or a Robert or when you hit the big shot. Can you still can you still put it in there? I'm gonna say no shot with no pressure. Well, yes to that But I played like three years ago and it was me and all boys It was like the comedians versus the musicians and Jackson. We decided gonna get together play a pick up game Just just a nice game, but they brought in a boy off the street Okay, and he was on me and so after about three after I hit about three three is on him He got upset and he elbowed me in my breast. Oh, and I went down and that was the injury that took me out So I've been it's done for about three threes though. Yeah, he was like now I ain't cuz I was on the girl out there on the court, right? Yeah, that was a That was a flagrant file, but when nobody to call it, you know, so I retired Yeah, but you know my teammates used to say stuff like you know You were preaching the locker room and do all this funny stuff and right, you know I guess you spend so much time with folks, you know You cannot determine who's gonna be the funny person in the group and then Rachel's pick I guess I you don't want that people don't want to sit next to out of funeral. Oh, yeah funeral church

2:06I probably can sit next to you at our church. Mm-hmm. I don't recommend that But who me are you? Well, if we sit next to each other at church or if you know who would get up and walk out because Okay, who it will probably be me see because you can keep a straight face You are instigator and you pitted with a straight face. I can't I don't have no poker face I wear my emotions on my face. So yeah, I probably ended up being a war getting trouble Yeah, I got in trouble that church in my adulthood Preach again, you know me look cuz he was preaching like he was really in service like Jesus is calling Who's calling Jesus and I had this little screenshot Like Jesus calling and I just kind of turned around and shot him made it look like Jesus was actually calling my phone. I did like this It rolled behind me the whole world went down and I turned around with a straight face and he knew I had a deal something Yeah, I can't I can't deal with a bad praise dancing in church. That's when I get to Yes, about that woman is so so redo

3:08You asked actually writing the bill Our co-write co-sponsor in the bill Uh with the church of God and Christ On the praise dance angel and then speak on that Yeah, I think I think that's a question that I've been asking for years is it what age do you stop praise dancing? You know and the truth is I think if you wear a slip you probably should be praise dancing You know you have to take your teeth out to brush them. You probably shouldn't be praise dancing. Okay. You know I mean All the writers all of that you shouldn't be probably let it let it let it go on here to the young ones You know, but I guess they trying to stay in shape, but I just don't like angel and uh and praise dancing you're asking to stop wearing leotards I'm gonna say I'm gonna say 2021 21 21 you need to go ahead and wrap it up right? Mm-hmm right? Okay, because you know stuff start hanging and then it's just It's not godly right yeah, okay. I feel you on that one

4:08Yeah, they they they be doing a lot of praise dance Doing doing too much in the churches Jackson State drum majors Marching the casket out of the funeral Like the whole that whole thing is so annoying then crowning the deceased I share wear a crown I want Jesus to crown me don't don't put no crown no tear on my head But have you seen the It's footage of there was a drummer he played the drums and at his funeral they had him propped up on the drum seat I swear for god they can say the Africans out that was he had America regular black they had him propped up With the drums dick. Yeah, he had on He had on a suit, you know them yeah, they were the suits to run DMC used to wear and he yeah They had him propped up on the drum seat actually that's how I want to go Really I think once I saw that I was like this that's how I would be a propped up and I come to the funeral home and one of them sticks

5:08Follow them that snare I Sweat they're gonna have to take me out of there. I want to be in my army uniform Yep, they can put the flag on the snare drum. That's how I want to go. That's be real elaborate extravagant I don't know boy if you know, yeah, yeah, I feel the same way like like when I go I want y'all to tear the church up Show people that you love me back with flips crann I want somebody to run down the aisle and dive out the wonder like that lying on the Wizard of Oz. Yes I want people to go on and say whoo. I want them to tie and sweat. I know that was a service right there. Yep He was love. I wanted to dive diving in a little hole, you know, when they let you down. Yeah, within the diving hole All of them yeah, yeah, and then and then they start putting an extra putting going as far as putting the dirt on them That's right. Are you serious? Yeah, take me take me now. Yeah I thought I won't let me know it's real. Yeah, so you grew up church, you know, uh playing, you know, alongside your mom How much influence did that?

6:08Uh, you know, have how did you get into entertaining? I would see what you want to be a comedian. Well, I'll sing a handily credit my mother for Cultivating my entertainment interests, you know, because she could have said You're a girl. You don't need to be on the drums, but at no point did she say that at no point that she Bring gender into the equation, you know, she said you a good drummer. You gonna play the drums Which was odd because I was in the band, you know, I've talked band and a lot of parents are like my girl cannot play the drums Not knowing that being the only girl you actually stand out more Uh, so my mom like when I was doing talent shows as a youngster she would play piano for me While I was singing the greatest love of all and yeah, fantastic son. I could see it in the stars Across the sky was doing all of that when the talent shows and my mother was right there with me And by the time I turned 26 I decided to shift a little bit because I thought that I was going to end up playing drumset for a prince or Beyonce Yeah, and it didn't work out that way, but by the time I turned 26

7:09I said that I wanted to be a comedian. I was just at a show a random show and there was some comedians performing and all of a sudden I started holding it. It was just like they were having an open mic competition or something like that And I didn't even know that there were spaces in Jackson where people were doing comedy And so I was just I just happened to be there that night and I started getting butterflies and it was like guy I was like this you can do this is something you want to do And I look back at my Facebook members I had always been saying that I wanted to be a comedian and then that next week I got on stage at the five minutes. I got $25 for five minutes My mother had just left church and she was on the front row with a whole church outfit on in the club watching me from my very first gig That's how supportive she is. Yeah, and yeah, that was uh, that was 12 years ago. I remember those nights And so 12 years in the game. Yep. Yep, and you killing it one of the funniest female comics on this earth Thank you Ricky. Yeah, love to see you perform And I get audience just right too Yes, and I had to learn from the best you know because when I first started performing with you

8:12You would host and you might do 30 minutes up top. And so my brain. I'm like. Oh my god I got to follow Ricky smiley, you know, but it made you better you can't out and kill Yeah, and I appreciate you doing it, you know, because you just let me out there But it's like you got the crowd warmed up, you know Got him primed for me and then by the time I get out there the energy is so high But you know, I think that was some good training I don't even know if you were doing it on purpose, but it was some great. Now I mean just going out there hosting You know, you got to give them something and then and then my job is to set them up for you Or whatever and you would go out there and just take it it was easy. Yep. It was easy And then you also trained under center in the tainers well That's right. I met said in Colleen, Texas right back in I think it was 2019 It was right before the pandemic and opened up for him in Colleen and him and his manager KB were like, you know We gonna take you on a road with us And from that started performing with said and and I remember one day we were in Florida This this club called off the hook

9:13This was like my third or four gig with said yeah, and I'm off to the side and I hear punch ups You know, so we give each other notes all the time and I hear all these punch ups and I wrote them down And I texted my mom and I was like man, I want to give said these punch ups But I don't know what he gonna say. She was like the most he can say is no and not using So I gave him the punch ups and he used him the next night and they worked and he was chill about it You know said just real chill. You're like yeah, yeah, I didn't work that pretty good. You know saying Say it wrote the Darrell to you told me yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, two months later He called me to write for him for the Emmys and that's how I got into comedy. Yeah So I had to credit says it's entertaining. So all of these things I've been writing for the Grammys people choice That's that's all said because he opened it door for me. Yeah, you're a genius And I used to open for say it too, and it was a great experience KB wouldn't with him at the time it was just me him and swan Erick Rome. Yeah, yeah, and there. That's like that was like my first manager You know, yeah driving St. Louis eight hours for four hundred dollars at mannings

10:17Said swan your remember mannings. Yeah, I would be in there with a suit on with my coming to club routine And we was in the hood Back back in the day. Well, that's how you get good though performing in the hood absolutely Yeah, because you got to perform through people at the bar talking electric slide playing cards Shooting You know, you know, you've been on stage and the day everybody was right there We take around it and the corner's office and you still got to do your sit to get paid I ain't gonna hold you to have me in Atlanta a couple years ago. What I was on stage You know, did my thing when I came out the little it's it would you call the CSI thing? Yeah, they were out there So much that got shot while I was doing my jokes come on We earned these stripes. Yeah, so I'm asking a person of course, and what was it like, you know, being a kid in church You know, you know growing up in the church and then uh You know coming out How did they have an effect on you your parents your relationship? What was that like with the church people say how will you

11:22Proceed or did they receive you or did they reject you know? Yeah What was that whole experience like so I've come out of the closet twice in my life the first time was I was 10th grade For the full conversation subscribe to rickus mounted on the spot on all major podcasts platforms to listen Visit urban one podcast.com or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcast