Mr. George Wallace, welcome
to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Dr. George Wallace. Let's get that clear before we start.
-Doctor. Dr. George Wallace. -Don't you feel better...?
Don't you feel better since you're talking to me?
Oh, no, I do already. Dr. George Wallace.
I'll take it. (laughs)
'Cause I remember when I... when I...
I mean, when you... when you first start doing stand-ups,
you hear the names, you hear the biggest names, the pioneers,
the people who did it, the people who are still doing it.
And for me, one of the names
that always stuck out was "George Wallace."
You have been the comedian's comedian for the longest time,
but you also crush it with the audiences.
I mean, from the days of Jerry Seinfeld
in the clubs grinding away,
all the way through to you having a Vegas residency,
you are Mr. George Wallace, Dr. George Wallace.
I'm sure it's a doc...
Is it... is it a doctorate in comedy?
-What is it a doctorate in? -Yeah, see, you got it, man.
And so you be thinking. I'll be thinking.
Doctor of Comedy, George Wallace.
And you mention Seinfeld. You know, we started out
hitting the clubs, four, five clubs a night.
Do you know to this day-- we've been best friends for 45 years--
to this day in New York City
before the, uh, the, uh, pandemic,
we still go to the clubs, four, five clubs a night,
and try... try out these new jokes.
There are few comedians I know who love
and perform stand-up comedy as much as you do.
And then the pandemic hit, and I was like,
"Where is George Wallace and what is he doing?"
Well, since, uh, March 14, I shut down my TV show at Netflix,
and I came to Atlan... Wikanda.
That's... wikanda. That's Wikanda.
That's Atlanta. Have you...? Listen to me.
First of all, speaking of your country, I've been there.
The most beautiful country in the world, and I love it.
Table Bay. What's the name of the beach I hang out?
Is it Camps Bay? That's the beach I hang out at?
Yes, yes, yes, Camps Bay.
I Know you're from up in, uh, Johannesburg.
I enjoyed your country so much, and I just wanted you to know,
you're in my country now. Have you been to, like...?
-I'm in Atlanta right now. -Yes.
-Have you been to Atlanta? -Oh.
Oh, of course I've been to Atlanta.
Now tell the truth. When you got off the airplane,
did you go, "Holy shit!"?
You never saw that many Black people in your life, right?
-You're from... -(laughter)
Hey, hey, you're from...
You know... you know what I used to say?
You know what I used to say, George?
In Atlanta, and you go, "What the hell!"
There's so many Black people. And you know the story
on Atlanta being the movie-making
capital of the world.
Like, um, the Black Panther--
they wanted to make that in Africa.
And they actually went to Africa to make the movie,
but when they got over there,
they didn't have enough Black people.
So they called Delta and fly them right back to Atlanta.
(laughter)
There's so many Black people here.
So I just wanted to bring that up.
But yes, what am I doing now?
I'm still writing jokes and having fun.
And you know one thing I do-- I keep my legal pad with me.
I continue to write new jokes every day.
And-and that's what I'm doing.
How do you... how do you stay so relevant, though?
My job is to keep up with times, and I'm dealing
with this pandemic here in Atlanta for the last few months.
I've been writing a book.
I wrote a new book called Bulltwit.
-Yes. Yes. -Bulltwit. They'd say,
"Why Bulltwit?"
'Cause, I said, "They won't buy a book that says 'bullshit,'
so put 'Bulltwit... and Whatnot.'"
And these are my ramblings for so many... so many years.
Just stupid stuff off my head.
And I was wondering for years before I started doing Twitter,
-why should I give away my jokes for free? -Right.
Then I thought about it. I said, "You know what?
If I do this, and I got to..."
It's not real jokes.
It's just little thoughts from the mind.
And if I do this, um, the whole world gets to see me.
You know? Otherwise, they have to come to Las Vegas.
But right now, I'm glad I did it.
Now we've got almost a million followers,
and every day, we get to chat with people
and laugh and have fun.
I feel like that's what makes you fresh.
That's what makes you funny.
I'd love to know... 'Cause I mean,
you've got the book of your tweets
and the rants and the ramblings.
And I feel like in many ways,
that's how you formulate your show in Vegas.
'Cause you have one of the longest residencies of all time.
You are the Vegas guy.
Why did you choose to just stay in Vegas?
Like, why do you love Vegas so much?
Trevor, I am so happy to live my dream.
I've never wanted to do TV. I never wanted to do movies.
When I was a kid, all I wanted to do
was work Las Vegas, Nevada.
All I want to do is entertain people.
You know, it's... it's not...
And you're talking to, by the way,
the most successful comedian ever: me.
It's not... it's not how much money you make,
-it's how you enjoy life while you're... -Yes, yes, yes.
And I'm enjoying my life and I went to Las Vegas,
and I've broken records there.
I've worked longer in Las Vegas, I've done more shows
than any African American, because I went to Las Vegas,
and I don't work for the hotels, I own my show.
I do the... (audio drops out)
-That's what I'm talking about. -I write the jokes.
So it's pretty-- and I love what I do.
As you said, you are the longest African American performer
in Las Vegas in history.
But there was a time when you were doing comedy
when black performers weren't even allowed in the club,
when you had to go and perform
in places where they wouldn't even want you to perform,
but you still found that joy, and you had comedians
who rallied around you, black, white, everyone was doing it.
Talk me through that. Like, was there never a point
in that period when you were like,
"Maybe I should pick another career,
maybe I should do something else"?
Oh, hell no! You know what I do every night, Trevor?
I'm so blessed, I go out on that stage every night,
and I just lie, I just lie.
I just make up shit. I just lie.
I thank God... I tell God every night,
"Just let me be the greatest bullshitter ever."
But right now Trump is kicking my ass
in the bullshit department.
But... Trevor, to answer your question,
uh, when I started, um, comedy back in 1976,
there were very few black comedians.
There was Redd Foxx and there was Richard Pryor, of course,
and a few others, and I always wanted to do the comedy,
and, uh, I, uh, I said I'm gonna...
I never thought about doing anything else, you know?
And I was making a lot of money.
Now, you live in New York City. Before I was a comedian,
I was, um-- 1975, all of the billboards,
the spectaculars at Times Square,
all of those advertisement boards,
I was vice president of that company.
So I was making in '76, making, like,
$75,000, $80,000 a year.
Wow. Are you being serious right now?
Yeah. That's not what I want to do.
I wanted to tell jokes and go on stage.
And I don't care about money. The money will come.
And to be able to go out and then do The Tonight Show,
so when I did The Tonight Show,
I'm one of the very first blacks to do The Tonight Show.
So, I did The Tonight Show on a Thursday.
The next night I was on stage in front of 17,000 people.
That was back in the day when you did The Tonight Show,
that was it.
Then I went on, I wanted to learn
how to become a comedian,
so I opened for the likes of, uh, Natalie Cole,
Uh, Diana Ross.
I worked Caesar's Palace.
I wanted to work every kind of stage.
There used to be a time when comedy and music,
you couldn't separate them.
Every single musician in the country
had a comedian opening up their shows.
You were one of those comedians, performing...
First of all, do you miss that?
And secondly, why do you think that stopped?
Well, it became-- it's a different time,
because we have comedy clubs now,
so comedians go to comedy clubs and work.
But back in the day, when I was opening, you're right,
a comedian would open for singers.
What happened to me, I enjoyed what I was doing,
I started-- most comedians get to do 20 minutes.
I never had that opportunity.
I worked with Diana Ross, I started 20 minutes,
she says, "Take it to 25, 30."
I was with Tom Jones for, uh, five and a half years.
He made me do 45 minutes every night, and I loved it.
And then they-- the most difficult part about opening,
uh, let's say with a guy like Tom Jones,
the same 500 ladies came every night.
He told me that, "Stuff got to be good, Mr. Wallace,"
because the same 500 ladies will be coming every night,
and so it's gonna be empty down front.
Do you know, for five years,
every night those ladies were at my show,
throwing underwear at me,
and that's what taught me to be a great comedian,
learn how to do a different show every night.
I just love people.
I got the greatest job in the world, Trevor,
and I do nothing-- I just lie, I just make up shit.
Well, my friend,
not only are you one of the greatest comedians
for doing that, I think you're very fully qualified
to be president of the United States.
So, uh, if you ever get tired of Vegas,
you know where you can start your next residency
if you want to lie all the time.
Oh, right there at 1600, I could be president tomorrow.
You know, the first law I would pass:
Chick-fil-A's gonna be open on Sunday.
I don't give a damn what they say.
Chick-fil-A will be open on Sunday.
That's the first law I'm gonna pass.
Second law, second law I'm gonna pass:
Steve Harvey ain't hostin' shit no more, okay?
Steve Harvey ain't hostin'...
Let me...
-Oh, man. -But listen,
let me tell you more about this book here.
This book is something that most people should get.
It makes a great Christmas gift under your tree.
You know the person that has everything,
-what do you get them? -Yeah.
You get them a book that'll keep them laughing.
And, Trevor, I be thinking.
I did not go to amazon.com,
because they take half your money.
But georgewallace-dot... go online and get this book,
because you need laughter in your life.
And when you stop laughing, you stop living.
That's all you got to do, my friend.
Thank you so much for taking the time.
I hope to meet you, officially, in person,
in the flesh one day, but until then,
I'll make sure everybody gets the book.
We're gonna get it from the website,
and the next time we meet, we will continue to talk
about both Wakanda and Cape Town, South Africa.
Thank you for saying that, too,
you want to meet me in the flesh.
How the hell else are you gonna meet me?
People can say some stupid shit, right?
(laughing)
Now you meet like this. This is how you meet now.
Hey, Trevor, you got to...
you got to know that I'm an asshole,
so I never close the show without saying: I love you,
and there's absolutely nothing you can do about.
(audio drops out)
Oh, man. George Wallace, I'll see you around, my friend.
-Look out for yourself. -You got a deal. You, too, now.