Emmanuel Jochi

Yeah, I didn't know he co-wrote that.

Wow, okay.

The crime of being Richard Pryor.

That was going to be my next question.

So he survives that, but probably with, like, horrendous burns.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Because when you told me the way in which you did it, I'm like, oh, this is, that is a suicidal act.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right.

It's like he has this grounding presence in his life.

Yeah, I could totally see a one in which his grandma is this grounding presence that reminds him where he comes from and connects him to his childhood in that way.

Yeah, like that it hit close to home, actually, for your dad and for others, other people.

I mean, it feels ridiculous to say this because it's so lower stakes than what we've talked about, but it's like...

Nobody wants to be the black guy at a white dance party in the middle of the circle.

You know what I mean?

In the middle of the circle of everyone looking on you and displaying that way.

There's something about that sort of experience, whether it's you're performing on stage in front of millions of people, whether it's you're a doctor like your father was.

There's something about finding success and realizing that that success means that you have to exist in a society that your whole life has never wanted you, still doesn't really want you now, is being made to accept you.

And...

Like, facing a choice, you either sort of fully embrace it, you lean in, and you end up changing yourself, probably in ways that are so small, right?