Roy Wood Jr.

And the audience went with me on it.

And it was like a deeper, emotional, kind of painful thing to talk about.

And without telling the whole joke, it's a story about how

there was a murder that happened in Birmingham and I know the victim and the convicted killer and the confliction you feel of knowing this person who did not pull the trigger, but was there.

And because you were there, you are a murderer in the eyes of the Alabama justice system, right?

But then also feeling the pain and pity of this man who was killed, who literally helped my career in ways that like him and his son, they ran a black owned music store and they carried my prank phone call albums on consignment.

The sales I ran through that is the only reason my album got into every major music outlet in the state was because of the numbers, the sales numbers they reported.

Yeah.

on my product, which ultimately helped my growth, helped my career.

So, dang, this person who helped me is dead.

Dang, this person who I know deep down made a mistake is good, but he's locked up for killing.

Who do I feel sorry for?

So that's the baseline for a larger conversation and joke about criminal justice reform.

That joke was the genesis point of me going,

Oh, pain is a tool.

Sorrow can also be woven into this fabric of what you're presenting.

I always thought sorrow and pain was for a one man show and for something much deeper and confessional and black box theater.

And it's like, no, you could probably do this and make it work.

Then you start looking at what Ali Sadiq has been able to do.

And the fabric that he weaves on stage with storytelling, I'd still say Ali Sadiq is the best pound for pound, joke for joke right now doing the craft.