- I'm Wil Fulton and welcome to "Ride With Me."
The show where we talk to people we love.
- I graduated high school in the Masonic Temple.
- About the places they love.
This list is very bar heavy.
I'm very into it.
- Well, my life was very bar heavy when I lived in Detroit.
- [Wil] Today, we're catching up
with actor and comedian Sam Richardson.
- I always appreciate when someone from Detroit
puts their mark back home in Detroit.
- We're gonna get his recommendations
for Detroit's Cass Corridor.
And, of course, I'll be heading there myself
to check them out.
So come along and ride with me.
Hey, Sam, what's up? How are you?
- I'm so good.
- So, Sam, where are you taking us today?
- Today, I'm taking you to Detroit's Cass Corridor.
It's part of the New Center area of Detroit.
I grew up in New Center area,
but I grew up in an area called Boston-Edison,
which is even a little bit further outside of
what New Center is.
I think people, when they think about Detroit,
they think about like "RoboCop."
Look, don't get me wrong, there's parts of Detroit that are,
you know, incredibly neglected or purposefully,
I'll say, disenfranchised, or like purposely, you know,
allowed to dilapidate and all that.
But there is a rich history and there's such a beauty
and there are thriving parts of Detroit.
And I feel that's never shown as part of Detroit.
A lot of Cass Corridor developed 100 years ago,
but it's a historic part of the city where people live
and just like live everyday life.
It's very European in that way.
Where, you know, if you go to Budapest or something, like,
you know, you're walking around castles, you know.
Over there, like there's a castle
and it's got like a McDonald's in it.
They don't have that in Detroit. It's not the same.
But like, you know there's a history to the city
that you're in.
- If you had to do a very quick TV spot
for the city of Detroit in the style
of like a used car commercial, what would you say?
- It'd be like, come on down to Detroit City.
We got everything you need.
We got pizza, we got beer, and we got good times.
If you come here right now,
I'll make sure I pick you up from the airport myself.
That's a Sam Richardson promise.
- I love that. That's so perfect.
They should be paying you.
- Yeah, they really should. I've been asking them.
There's so much to Detroit,
and there's so many neighborhoods, and so much there,
that like so many people have different Detroits.
But I mean, of course there's a universal
that we all share.
But like, you know, it was always hard to be like,
this is what Detroit is, 'cause Detroit is so much.
But we're always like pigeon-holed into like this one thing.
So this is Detroit.
- All right, so what is our first up?
- Right, well first up is Temple Bar.
Anybody who's seen the show "Detroiters,"
you'll recognize that bar 'cause Temple Bar
is the bar that we go to
almost every episode in "Detroiters."
- [Wil] Oh for real?
- Do people come in here
and they're like this is the "Detroiters" bar?
- So it's old school and it exemplifies
like sort of like what I deem like a Detroit bar, you know,
like those sort of dive bars.
It's just a very cool interior in there.
Also Temple Bar held strong when Little Caesars Arena
was going in, they were buying up all the space
but Temple Bar didn't sell.
So if you go into a game there,
it's probably full
because everybody loves "Detroiters" so much.
It's what, in my head,
is what a bar is supposed to look like.
- In Detroit or just period?
- Period, but especially in Detroit.
- [Wil] Are those real chips or are those props?
- Okay how much is one?
- This is like a local brand?
- You know what? Keep the change.
Thank you.
So I wanna ask you, I know it has become the bar
from "Detroiters."
Is that a point of pride for you
that you can go and, you know, some places that you love
and put them on national TV?
- Very much.
You know, I think like one of the main goals
of "Detroiters" was to kind of show Detroit
in a way that it hadn't been seen on TV
and like make it a real place.
- Can you help us settle a bet?
- Sure.
- Excuse me, we're talking.
- So I'm very proud of of being able to show
all these neighborhoods, and like these homes,
and these businesses,
and kind of give them a sort of nice polish
and like a presentation.
And I'm very happy and proud of like "Detroiters"
and people from Detroit are proud of it.
- [Wil] All right.
- And I'm glad that people outside Detroit get to see it
and and are drawn to it.
And want to even learn more about it.
I feel very proud of that.
- Whoa, sweet, thank you.
All right, wo where are we going next?
- Next up is the Masonic Temple.
I mean, if you're a conspiracy theorist, boom,
that's exactly what we're talking about.
Like Knight's Templar, Freemasons, that sort of thing.
So there's like traditions and rituals
that they do in there, but really it's a fraternal club.
In the Masonic Temple of Detroit,
it's like a 200 year old, sorry, 100 year old building.
It was built in 1920.
Not only is it this temple where, you know,
Freemasons have their club, but it's also a music venue.
There's a stage in there.
Like, so you can see concerts there.
There was a roller rink inside of there.
I graduated high school,
our graduation was in the Masonic Temple.
I also saw "Dreamgirls," my first musical I ever saw.
And like live and in person was there.
And I saw that, I think I was about maybe in fifth grade.
And I was like, oh, I wanna be an actor.
That was like one of the first place,
that was like the place I was where I was like,
I kind of wanna do this.
Also for season one of "Detroiters,"
our production office was in the Masonic Temple.
So, a lot of history for me in the Masonic Temple.
- [Wil] This is where Sam Richardson
made all the big decisions.
Sorry, sir, you're cut.
- Also I died and I was resurrected in the Masonic Temple
using a ritual.
So-
- [Wil] Oh, I had no idea, yeah.
- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Calves blood.
- Okay, what's our next stop?
And I really hope it's another bar.
- Yes.
So next we've got Motor City Brewing Works.
Now I don't know if you've ever heard of
the beer the Ghettoblaster.
I think it kind of ships everywhere now.
- But that's from Motor City Brewing Works,
little touch of Detroit pride there
that kinda goes everywhere.
- [Wil] I know the Ghettoblaster
is what I would call a crispy boy.
It's great, it's great for drinking all day, right?
Something that-
- Exactly, and that's the key.
Is you wanna find a beer that you can drink all day
from morning till night.
- [Wil] To Sam Richardson.
- And also like that bar has a great outdoor area too.
A nice like little gated-in patio.
And it's a great hangout spot.
- [Wil] Cheers to the city, what a great time it's been.
They have some pretty good pizza too, I heard, there.
I don't know if you eat there.
- Yes, they have some really good pizza.
Detroit pizza, that's a point of pride.
I think Detroit was just named best city for pizza,
which, I mean, we already knew.
So all this Chicago and New York talk,
I'm like, yeah, I guess.
But Detroit pizza is where it's at.
- Okay, so where are we headed now?
- Okay, now here comes Third Man Records.
There's a man named Jack White
who is a cool rock and roll individual who is from Detroit,
started with the White Stripes.
And now is like just plays music
with a whole bunch of people like Loretta Lynn
and like, kind of all people.
But he started this record label called Third Man Records,
the store, there's a brick and mortar store in there.
And it's really cool in there.
It's got a black and yellow theme to everything.
And in there is a great record store,
but you can also record and press a record in the store,
which is remarkable, really cool.
- [Wil] I'm Wil Fulton and welcome to "Ride With Me."
Could we try the guitar and the pedals?
- Absolutely.
- [Wil] Oh sweet, okay.
- I always appreciate when someone from Detroit
or Detroit affiliation puts their foot and their mark
back home in Detroit.
(guitar strumming)
- [Wil] Oh (beep), I don't really like that one.
What is Detroit's music scene? What is it like?
- Well, Detroit is known
for like a lot of different kinds of music.
Motor City, but Motown, first and foremost,
what Detroit is most known for music wise,
is the sixties Motown sound into the seventies.
You know, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder's from Detroit.
Like so so many Detroit artists who are like now
the epitome of music in the world.
Also Detroit had a really cool rock scene.
But Detroit's also very famous for house music.
So Detroit had all these different musical influences.
Growing up, I would just go to bars
and like listen to the bands, kinda all over.
Be in Hamtramck, be in Cass Corridor,
be, you know, downtown.
It's a very musical city.
- I would love to see you and Jack White,
who is also an actor,
do kind of like a buddy cop film in Detroit.
- I mean, I think that would be pretty terrific.
I've yet to meet Jack White,
but I hope the first time I meet him
is on set of our buddy cop movie.
- What do you think it would be called
if you guys-
- Black and white.
- Okay, there you go.
- But my character's name is Greg White.
- [Wil] Okay.
- And his name is Marcus Black and everybody mistakes us.
- This is all kind of leading up to maybe me
having a slightly fuzzy memory tomorrow,
which reminds me of your show
"The Afterparty" on Apple Plus.
- Yes.
- It was so much fun to watch.
It also seemed like one of those shows
that was just a blast to make.
- It really was.
I had such a fun time on that show.
Chris Miller wrote this script as a movie,
like 10 years ago.
And then it got turned into a series for Apple TV Plus.
But it's so brilliantly crafted.
It's a high school reunion, murder mystery.
Everybody's telling the same events,
but through a different style of film.
So then everybody gets their chance to lead
and like kind of be the focus.
And Chris and the writing team made the clues real.
It's a true solvable mystery,
if you're paying attention to the clues.
And there are clues given to you
throughout the whole series.
if you haven't seen it yet, Apple TV Plus, "The Afterparty."
Very proud of that show.
- Very fun, yeah, I did not solve it,
but I'm really dumb with that stuff.
So that would-
- Yeah, that's fair, that's fair.
Also, if you're not good at solving mysteries,
stick around for the comedy.
- Amazing.
Well, I have to ask you, are you a fan
of the Irish exit or are you more like
you like to say goodbye to everyone?
- I like to say goodbye.
- [Wil] You do.
- When I Irish exit, I'm always like,
I wonder if they they're mad at me.
So I can't Irish exit, but I'll Scottish exit.
- What's that?
- Bye.