-We're back with Michael Che. Congrats on the special.
I enjoyed it a great deal, as I do with all your work.
-Did you really watch it? -I did.
I watched the whole thing. -I appreciate it. Thank you.
Was it better than "Squid Game"?
-It was better than "Squid Game."
I remember the whole time, I was like,
"Pound for pound, this is better than 'Squid Game.'"
You shot it in Oakland.
I know a lot of thought goes into that,
where you're going to shoot it.
Why did you pick Oakland?
-Well, I picked Oakland because Oakland's a lot like New York,
but it's on the West Coast.
-Yeah.
-I kind of just wanted to pick a city
that I thought was gonna
take good cares of the COVID precautions.
You know what I mean?
Like, I didn't want to do it in Alabama.
[ Laughter ]
A guy liking his hand and shaking mine.
I'm like, eughhh.
-You're right. That was a good, safe choice.
-Yeah, Oakland was kind of like, you know,
it's a hip, together city.
I figure they probably would be fine with
wearing masks and getting the vaccine.
-Is it okay, can I talk about something in the special?
I don't want to like, burn material, but...
-Please. It's longer than "Squid Game."
[ Laughter ]
-I did enjoy a great deal that you admitted to not --
there was a moment where you changed your mind about masks,
which was right around,
people told you you could stop wearing them.
-That's true.
Last spring, everybody was like,
"Oh, we're gonna have a maskless summer."
And I was like, "I want my mask now."
'Cause that is not what you want to hear.
It's like when a woman says "You don't need a condom."
Like, "I need two condoms."
[ Laughter ]
I wasn't even thinking about a condom
before you said that nasty...
You need to be more careful, lady.
-You know, we have Adam Schiff is coming up next.
I'm gonna ask him some questions about January 6th.
You also mentioned January 6th in your special.
That was a bit eye-opening for you.
-It was. I really, thoroughly enjoyed it.
[ Laughter ] -I did.
You guys got to understand, for a black guy, like,
we don't know all the rules,
so when I see a bunch of white people storm the Capitol,
I'm like, "You can do that?"
[ Laughter ]
Think of the possibilities!
This whole time, I thought
we had to loot at Louis Vuitton or the Gucci store.
Nope. We could steal the Constitution.
Wait till that next rally happens.
Next protest that black people have, ooh, it's gonna be fun.
-I guess, because Thanksgiving's coming up,
you mentioned your mom.
I know that she's hesitant to get the vaccine.
Has she changed her mind?
-Uh, I don't know.
I'm not allowed to say, maybe.
Maybe she did. Maybe she didn't.
-Okay.
[ Laughter ]
-I'm trying to get that pie, man.
-Yeah, exactly.
But you explained -- -She was skeptical.
She was skeptical to get it initially,
because her neighbor got it and then died,
like, two days later.
Yeah, he got hit by a truck, and she...
[ Laughter ]
She thinks the vaccine's unlucky.
[ Both laugh ]
There's a lot of people in my family who, like,
won't get the vaccine.
I got an aunt, she won't get it either.
She got one foot. She's afraid to get the vaccine.
She lost her foot drinking Pepsi for breakfast.
[ Laughter ]
But she don't know what's in the vaccine,
so she's doing her own research.
[ Laughter ]
You know.
-But you do admit that there is a reason for skepticism.
-Of course. -That people who are --
-I was skeptical.
Look, I'm vaccinated and I was skeptical.
-Yeah. -Because it was free.
I was like, "Free medicine? In America? Since when?"
I didn't trust it. They was like, "trust science."
I was like, "Well, I trust history."
And history says, if this thing worked,
you'd be charging us for it.
It the vaccine was $3,000,
I would have been like, "Yeah, that sounds about right."
That's pretty American. -Yeah, absolutely.
You know what's the funniest thing about
watching a stand-up special, having done one,
is I think the structure of a special is really important.
I think that's what makes it special, often,
and the end of yours talks a lot about mental health,
especially mental health in the black community
and just how much it's changed and how awareness
has actually been moving in the right direction.
-Yeah, I call it "sarcastic optimism."
You guys know what that is? Sarcastic optimism?
It's optimism, but sarcastic.
[ Laughter ]
-It tracks. -Yeah.
Because it becomes, like, this big conversation,
"Oh, black mental health."
I'm like, really? You just found out we had brains, too?
Why wouldn't we have mental health issues?
It's just things that you never really think of
until you actually think of.
These aren't black issues, these are human issues.
-Yeah, and it's really nice.
You do a very nice job --
again, I don't want to give anything away,
but it ends very funny, but it must be --
do you like dealing with an issue and finding humor in
something that maybe people would have thought
"Oh, that's not gonna be fun to do onstage."
Because it's deeply funny, but it will resonate with me.
It's gonna stay with me.
-Yeah, I always like that.
I always like our audience coming to the show
and walking away like, "Hey, I never thought of that."
Even if it's a bad joke.
'Cause some of them are bad jokes.
I'm not gonna lie to you.
No one's perfect.
But I always like that.
I always like looking at things in a weird way
and going dark, going bright, whatever.
-It's a nice balance.
-This is the most painful thing in the world,
to talk about your comedy.
You feel like the biggest fraud. -I will say,
it's really hard to talk about a special,
'cause really, the answer is like, just watch it.
So I apologize. -That's perfect!
Just watch it! -Just watch it.
I promise, you won't regret it. -Thank you, Seth.
-You won't regret it. Michael Che.
"Shame the Devil" is streaming now on Netflix.
It's fantastic.