David Alan Grier has certainly come a long way from his In Living Color days. He's done tons of movies, he kills in Poker, he's a two time Tony nominee, the author of the book “Barack Like Me,” and he was even on Dancing With The Stars!
The one thing that shines the brightest amongst his many talents has got to be his brilliant humor, though. DAG is coming to the Irvine Improv tonight through Sunday, but we were lucky enough to partake in one of his greatest talents in person–read the interview after the jump.
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OC Weekly (Ali Lerman): I'm sure everyone asks this so let's get it
out of the way. Chocolate News? Any chance at all? Maybe a web series?
David Alan Grier: It's done. Everyone asks me that all of the time
but it's cancelled. I'm gonna keep doing what I do. Is there a possible
special? Maybe it'll be me and another name, another formation, another
suit. But I'm still here! I'm still kickin' it!
I was just thinking that a “Licorice Stick” Christmas album with a
video would be amazing. You and those leopard man-panties? Very sexy.
Yes! Thank you so much! [Laughs.] I hear what you're saying honey!
I have an embarrassing question to ask via my father. Be warned…it's embarrassing for me to even ask it.
Oh my gosh. No, I did not go to school with him.
Ha. You're a touch younger and don't judge me based on him. He asks, “How many snaps would you give the Fly Girls these days?”
Oh wow! I'd give them a brisk handshake. You know, we're all older.
There have been a couple of times when a portly handsome middle-aged
woman goes, “David it's me! I was one of the Fly Girls!” I haven't seen
them lately. Deidre was one of the original Fly Girls and we're friends
on Facebook. She still looks fabulous! I'm more worried about me! I'm
trying not to sag, drop or break!
As if! How's the cooking been going?
It's been hard to cook because I've been so busy with the show but I
started a cooking blog called Chocolate Glutton. I
think some people think on the blog I'm going to be funny, but it's
something I'm really serious about. When I did Race I would cook like,
once or twice a week for the cast of only four people. James Spader
would be like, “Yeah, I'll take some of those short ribs!” [Laughs.]
I admit, I thought it was going to be funny too. But when I got on there I was like, this guy can really cook!
I'm not bull-shitting! Also, I've just gotten into ice cream. So I've
been making a bunch of ice cream. My daughter Lulu and I are going to
go to Thanksgiving dinner and we're going to contribute the ice cream.
Chocolate chocolate chip! We actually made it by hand and it's a very
rich recipe. That's how you get em', that's how Ben and Jerry's got em'!
Am I getting too technical already?
Ha! No please go on. If Lulu can make ice cream, then I can too. Give me the secret!
Seven egg yolks. It's twice as much. It's twice as heavy as any ice cream your ever gonna buy. It's like, oh my gosh.
So you're like, waiting to die after you eat it?
Uhhh….you know it's like crack. You don't smoke it every day.
Gotcha. Since your range is so broad with acting, what do you lean towards liking the most?
I lean towards trying to do the most exciting thing. A lot of stuff
gets in front of you by planning and preparation and it took almost
three years to get Chocolate News on the air. There was a lot of
development. I'm working with stuff now but in the meantime, I work with
Diane Paulus and Jeffery Richards on Porgy and Bess. To have the
opportunity to do this, well I really wanted to take advantage of it.
When does Porgy and Bess start on Broadway?
We open on Broadway January 12th so I've got like two months of road gigs before I go away for like, a year.
Damn you do a lot! I also didn't know you were the voice of the Kobe Bryant puppet in the Nike commercial!
[Laughs.] Yeah. I was my voice though and I was playing Kobe. I
called him though and he gave me notes on how he talks and how he acts.
So being that you are from Detroit, are you a Pistons fan or a Lakers fan?
Lakers man! Because the Pistons don't actually play in Detroit, that's why.
Hmmm I see. Thoughts on the lockout?
It's depressing as hell. I wish it would stop. I just want to see people play.
I concur! What do you have in store for the good people of Irvine this time around?
Well it's always new stuff. At lot has happened since last year! You
know what I try to do is say, once a year let me write just one good
joke.
Ummm…yeah. I highly doubt you only write one joke a year. Most everything you say is comedy.
[Laughs.] You're like, yeahhh no. I love performing! It's something I
really cherish. Irvine is pretty much one of my favorite clubs. They're a
good crowd and I love coming back there. You get the best of
everything. You get to sleep in your own bed, great audiences, and great
management. It's a good club and it'll be fun!
We couldn't agree more! Get tickets now see David Alan Grier at
the Irvine Improv Thursday (10/27) through Sunday (10/30) before it
sells out! Check out DAG's website for videos and schwag at
www.davidalangrier.net and follow him on Twitter @davidalangrier. For
tickets log on to: www.improv.com. The Improv is located at 71 Fortune
Drive Irvine, CA 92618 (21+ over)
Ali Lerman knows much about comedy, basketball, and celebrating Wu-Tang Wednesday. She’s been writing for sixteen years and still calls her mom with grammatical questions.