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Chapter 1: What was Rudy Rush's journey before social media?
hey what's up welcome to the power and the punchline this is where the power gets honest and the punchline actually means something we talk leadership culture influence and real life no fluff no filters i'm rudy rush let's get powerful
Ladies and gentlemen, we are here live and in person together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Punchline. He thought we were the same person. No. Somebody did say that. Somebody's in the Instagram. I was like, I thought it was you. Yo, you know what? I would love to be mistaken for you when she did that star treatment. You know what I mean? You ain't ready for that, though. Tar here, right there. All day.
Every day. Every day. So today's episode is going to be different. It's going to be special. Today's episode, we're going to talk about a prodigy. Talking about before social media, even right before the internet, someone rose to stardom. Someone had a story to tell. I'm talking about from Def Jam to the Red Carpet Showtime and Get Polite.
We're going to talk about the journey of my guy, my co-host, Mr. Rudy Rush. When he said prodigy, I thought he was talking about like Kobe or Kevin Garnett or something like that. LeBron is too young. He was here during social media, but... No, definitely, man. It's been an interesting 30 years plus in entertainment. And, you know, I'm excited about talking about it a little bit.
This is the first time I've actually kind of, you know, opened up here and there about some things. But, you know, being on this show with you and, you know, I feel like I'm at home. So I can kind of stretch out a little bit, talk about some things that maybe bothered me or I don't know. Because I don't know what you're going to ask me. So this was like therapy. Yeah. Yeah. yo, you know what?
And I've been, so yeah, I like that. Yeah. Without the bill afterwards. So the first thing I'm going to correct you on, buddy, you talked about 30. I mean, let's let the people know
you're 75 41 and a half you know i mean but no uh like a lot of people think i'm a lot older than so let's start with their possession man yeah yeah you came up when comedy was a different game it was you know i'm not talking about the internet comedians who i'm not bashing i'm just saying it was a different game right you came up when death jail was a proven ground bro yeah like
Like, we all know some of the stories behind the scenes of some people that didn't make it on the HBO version. Yeah. We know some people that had to go before Bernie Mac. We know some people that had to come after Rudy Rush. I know that story, too. Talk to us, man, The Prodigy. Talk to us about doing it first in New York City before you could even get to Death Jam.
Like, talk to us about the first stage, Rudy Rush everywhere. So it was crazy because I worked at a law firm right out of high school. I got a job in midtown Manhattan at this place called The Buff. It's a longer name than that. And it was cool. I started out in the mailroom, you know what I mean? And quickly, like within three months, I got a promotion to the reproduction department.
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Chapter 2: How did Rudy Rush become a recognized name in comedy?
They love him. But he was like, man, I gotta get on that stage. Just like I would if I came somewhere and was like, yo, when I get five minutes, this is nice. And they were like, you got to ask the kid because they were saving me for last. And let me tell you something. This guy comes to me. He's like, hey, he looked like a bum off the street. He had the big mustache, the hair comes up.
He had that. And you know what I'm saying? His teeth wasn't the greatest. I mean, but Billy was a great dude. But listen, I looked him up and down. I said, yo, knock yourself out. And, you know, at that time, I didn't know who he was. I'm going to find out. Billy was the headliner. for Friday nights. Killed it. I mean, turned the place upside down.
My mother's taking her glasses off, wiping her face, everybody in. So, you know, let me end the story by saying the night was the biggest success of my career up until the point where things started happening, of course, on a national and a high level. But at that time, my career could have been over because who's going to follow that? Got it.
I mean, in this day and age, there are comics who 20, 40 years under their belt couldn't follow that. It was that good. But what I did was I got my first lesson in comedy. I read the room. I felt what I was feeling in my heart, honestly. And I came up there to use the language that, you know, this is a clean show. But at the same time, I said, this is my first time on stage. Y'all put me on that.
And the room exploded. You got this young kid saying that. And then laughed, I swear, for at least, it felt like 10 minutes because of the fact that that's what they were feeling too. So, yeah, so that was the beginning of Rudy Rush. Actually, Rudy McCallum is my real name. So Rudy Rush, a month later, became the name. So let's go there, man.
Let's talk about the name because, you know, Jamie Foxx, shout out to Foxx. Yes. Is Eric Bishop. And he said in order to get booked... consistently he needed a neutral name because Jamie Foxx was guaranteed to get on the roster list and Eric Bishop sometimes would have made it sometimes would have so was that Rudy Rush? Or was it the hype? Like, you were a superstar to make it. I was feeling it.
Like, you know, like the first month, I was good. You know, I was really good with the club. About 40 people each week would come and check me out because the word was buzzing around the office and in my, you know, social circles. And so people would come see me, but it was like, give it up for Rudy McCallum. It just wasn't, even as I was coming to the stage, I just wasn't feeling it.
When I was younger, I played basketball in the city of New York and I was very popular for a young guy. I was one of the top 14 and under players when I played and went to high school in Charleston, South Carolina after that. So I had to leave for that. But before then, I was one of the top players in the city. When I was younger, the older guys used to call me.
They was like, hey, little guy, I used to play with them. And they'd be like, what's your name? I'm like, Rudy. They'd be like. Rooney Rush, Rooney Rush. I write it in my notebook. That was a little tag name I had when I was scribbling my notebooks at school.
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Chapter 3: What lessons did Rudy learn from his first performance?
The matriarch, you know what I mean? They had those essences. But for the most part, you're right. It's a different ballgame from the barbecue to big stage. Yes, sir. So let's talk about deaf comedy. I think for everybody that is watching, if you're listening to this, we don't connect if you didn't watch Def Jam.
Like, if you didn't sneak and watch Def Jam, you should go off like 13, 14, and I want to be hearing that in the South. I got to go to church tomorrow. We'll talk about what it was like, one, to audition if it was an audition. You were the golden child. Russell probably asked me, he's like, Hey, Rudy, come on through. You probably just got this morning up there.
Talk to us about what that's like behind the scenes for people that don't know. So first of all, people need to know this.
Def Jam, before the Chappelle show, before Friends, before any show, Seinfeld, any show that you think is important, Def Jam, I don't believe since Def Jam there's been an appointment set show where people would wait till after Def Jam to go have a nightlife on Friday evening and wait for...
Def Comedy Jam would come on and they would go out after that and be up in the club talking about, did you see? Did you see? So that's the big impact that the Def Jam machine made. So getting there, though, for me was quite different. My mentor got at a barbecue and she rang, you know, Brandon on her side, who's done this little stint at this comedy club in New York.
And he's like, well, let me see how good he is. I live out in Jersey. I want to take him to the Peppermint Lounge, which when you say peppermint, you think sweet little peppermint. and people like, you know, and I'm killing, I'm killing the New York comedy club, son. Take me to the Peppermint Lounge. We go to the Peppermint Lounge. It's about maybe 400 people in Newark, New Jersey.
I think it was East Orange, New Jersey, which is worse than Brick City. Tell it. It was packed. And I'm talking about every thug, gangster girl in that city and town. Queen Latifah was in there. Now, she was famous, too, at the time that she wasn't the Queen Latifah that she ascended to. She was rapping Queen Latifah, famous now. And let me tell you something. It wasn't a good night.
This guy brought me out to pick me up from the train station in Jersey. I was supposed to stay at his place. You know what I'm saying? And let me tell you something. I bombed.
terribly but i got saved because queen latifah came over and she saw something in me to make her come over and say no and i mean is i actually worked for her later on on her talk show the first one but um she was like you know what you know what you got attacking different you were so good and you just a baby like she just touched me on my face yeah i could sue you for that
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Chapter 4: What challenges did Rudy face in the entertainment industry?
They needed that energy from 7 o'clock. But people like, yeah, but, you know, 3 o'clock. Oh, yeah, I'm on the ticket. Yeah, I'll go see the Jeff Conley again. You know what I'm saying? It was people who weren't working or people who just didn't have, you know. Just really were night people. Night people give it to you. You know what I mean? And so it was just different, but I always excelled.
And so that night was my night because I stepped up. And unfortunately, that was the night that comedian Shucky Ducky and Chris Rock, there was a thing that happened and it kind of didn't fall favorable for Shucky Ducky propelled me. to being the headliner of that show when it came out. So that was an excellent night for me. So that was the best part of it.
And then LL was at the after party and me, I'm hanging out next to LL. He was like, yo, I don't remember you, kid. It was funny. I was like, yo, you heard of it? I thought it was funny. Take my shirt off, too. Okay. It was an excellent moment, man. I was hyped. It was like I've arrived. And that wasn't my first television credit. I did a part with Comedy Hour, which wasn't a popular show.
But Def Jam, man, it just took me. It was out of the stratosphere. And I had a hairline, too. So that was the best part, too. That was the last time you probably. It was. It was a long time, bro. It was very. No, it was excellent, though. It was excellent. We're going to go inside information story time with Triple OG, Rudy Rush.
You just kind of glanced over this shucky ducky quack quack, by the way, and Chris Rock story. So this is our show. Yeah. We can talk about it. Ain't nobody coming for us. Ain't nobody going to come out here and smack me and say, keep my name, my what and my name on your mouth. No, we're going to tell the truth. No, no, no.
So for those that don't know this story, and there are a lot of people that remember Shucky Dutcher. Quack, quack. Let's talk about it. So basically what happens with Def Jam, and a lot of people don't know this, so you always see this show and you see the host and you see three cons. Mm-hmm. But in actuality, when we take the show, it's a host and it's for comics.
And everybody's told ahead of time that someone is not going to make the cut. So that pressure is put on your plate before you even get on stage, not after they touch.
before that so you don't get that comfort of like oh i made it oh guess what no you got to step up and show up so there was dominique if you don't heard from tom joiner and chappelle show and there was also another guy from philly named ronnie long i'm not sure if he's still doing it but i hadn't seen him in a long time but ronnie long was on it was his first time taping and we and every show
The year that I did it, every show had a guest host. Martin was no longer there. They had Ricky Harris, Joe Torre, and Adele the year before. And then, you know, after Martin, Joe Torre. But this year they had special guests. And our special guest is Chris Rock, which was a big, big, big deal for us. Yes, absolutely. Because Chris was the GOAT of comedy at that time. There was no Kevin Hart.
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Chapter 5: How did Rudy navigate his relationship with Steve Harvey?
And Steve, you know, would tell me what to do. Like, you know, hey, don't razz the crowd. I don't want you getting into it, people. So I couldn't make fun of people, which I never did anyway. So I would just play along with the band. do other things, bring people on stage to sing or up to the front of the stage. I was just so into the job. I mean, just imagine, 23 years old.
I got all the energy in the world, you know what I mean? So I can go like an energizer buddy. So it just kind of worked me into that, which shortly became a situation where they had the McDonald's Apollo Kids Tour, where we discovered the likes of Jasmine Sullivan and others. And Steve didn't want to do the tour. And as a young person, I couldn't understand it. I was like...
You don't want to go and stay at the Hollywood Inn for free? You don't want $300 a weekend for per diem, bro? You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But I was like, you know, thank you, God, for Steve not wanting to do everything. Because honestly, that was the gig that showed people that I had the capability to really come in and step in after Steve left the show. Yeah. Yeah.
So that's how, that's how it all came to be. But it was a very rough and tumultuous three years with Steve. It was pretty, it was pretty bad to say the least. It was bad. Oh yeah. It was bad because we never, and I hate to say that we never got along and, you know, Steve probably sees stuff like this or whatever, but like, I know that there's still tension.
We did Netflix 25, big reunion and all of us. And I'm talking about say, we'll call me from across the room. Yo, Rudy. D out of same thing.
young fella called me young boo we hung it out i see steve i gotta go up to him like hey steve and he looks at me like yeah you still here with me still alive like you know it was that kind of situation steve and i didn't have the greatest situation never you know like i said i did everything he asked me to do i bought two suits that i couldn't afford but i bought some shirts to go mitch magic whatever until they start being in our security with the black suit they were like
so I don't know why I stood up but no I don't feel like that but they just see me on stage like Steve Harvey part 2 point 1 point 8 whatever but I did it and Steve never once you know there were some times and I'm going to talk about that but Steve was mostly like to himself and his crew, never ate afterwards, never said, hey, I'm doing this and want you or let me help you with this and that.
And I mean, I was kicking butt like three years as the, you know, and plus, like I said, I'm bringing the kids there from the tour. So there's rave reviews. McDonald's is like, I'm number one on their board. but there was something that he and I just, we just didn't click. But I found out later why I realized later what it was.
And, you know, honestly, like even, even up until recently, like I was on some Steve Harvey, like when people realize, and I wouldn't publicly bash anybody, but you know, Steve is somebody when people will bring stuff, I would be like, eh, he a bit of a a-hole and blah, blah, blah, blah. I wasn't going in depth, I felt. But honestly, I would agree. But now I've changed.
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Chapter 6: What pivotal moments shaped Rudy's comedy career?
I can start with anything and finish with anything. I can't wait for that. There it is. So I think this is a perfect transition. To go to the top five. Rudy's. Our most popular segment. Rudy's top five. We're looking for a TNT. We're looking for a sponsor for this segment. This segment is sponsored by nobody right now, but listen.
Top five things I wish I did during my 30-year economy when I was younger. Top five things I wish I did when I was younger. First thing I wish I did when I was younger was realize I was being wrong before that. I wish, you know, I knew. But you know what? Had I known, you know, there were some benefits to being raw. You know, I got a lot of exposure.
So a lot of the things I got to do was because I was a good talent and then people saw it and then I wanted to be in paint. But still, it did a lot. I wish I knew that before then. Second thing was, number two, I wish I would have gave a little bit more conversation to Beyoncé. When she was at the Apollo, you know, to support Kelly Roman. Kelly had her soul project and she wasn't with Jay-Z yet.
And she was looking at me and I didn't realize it at the time. She was just like, you were so nice. And I should have been like, you know what? Willing to do whatever it takes. Because I could have been like that couple. I'm not Jay-Z. So how far away was she from you when she was there? Oh my God, bro. She was a little, not as close as we are, but closer. You were classy, right? Yeah.
You know Jay-Z was behind you. She was right. She was right talking to you. Bro, she was on it. I was handsome that day, too. She was 40 feet away. Beyonce. And, you know, you're 20, 80. Now, my man Kaze will cut me. I'm going to have a little goatee going. My God. So, listen, number three, man, you know what? Number three is I shouldn't have started having kids in my 20s.
Even though my 20s was great, my kids would be, like, in their teens and 20s now. I got a 9-year-old and a 19-year-old. I'm telling you, it hurts to pick up the nine-year-old. So I wish I had my kids. I thought two and three were tied together. My fault. No, but Beyonce, I wish so, too. Oh, man. I'm going to put this on an honorable mention. I'll come back to that. You know what?
Now, this is going to be controversial. I really wish that I didn't lick it. The spit off of my hand. Oh, okay. The spit off of my hand from the candy that fell out of Tamia's mouth while we were at rehearsal. We were talking. Our bedhead members and I, we all were laughing and joking. And she had one of them blue grandmama peppermints. And it popped out of her mouth.
And before it hit the floor, it hit me in the hand. And I don't know what made me do it in front of everybody. I just licked my hand. And I was like, that's all of Grant Hill's dance. He just kissed his wife and I probably just clicked that and my throat was hurting for three weeks because I'm a hypochondriac. She's missing you right now.
Now, last thing I wish I would have done in my 30s is tell Dave Chappelle give me a cast position when I offered to help him out with the Chappelle show. A lot of people don't know, I helped the Chappelle show that wasn't doing too well at the time. I know the great Chappelle is so historic, but you know what?
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Chapter 7: What insights does Rudy share about the art of comedy?
And then he goes on stage. and kills the set. Like, you know backstage people need their down time. Oh yeah, you need your moments to kind of get up. He was grown. Wow. He was grown. You know what? I do. Yeah. Grown. All day. And I'll say this real quick. Before I went to Def Jam, people would come at home and I went to Def Jam. This is when Martin was at, you know. It was like
man, there's a guy who's funny because DL used to do the warmups and he was killing it. So big shout out to where he's come, how far he's come and where he's gone, not only in film, television, but radio. He's done everything. And I will say he is, in my mind, the most relevant comic because something can happen 10 minutes ago. And he is talking through and breaking it down.
Oh, making you laugh and making you think all at the same time. Yeah. I've never seen anybody do it like my dog, Dio. All right. So now my mini four, my next. Yeah, yeah, yeah. On the hill. On the hill. Bernie Mac. Okay. I ain't scared anymore. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Bernie Mac. Yeah. We'll give you one. I need everybody to go look this lady up. She is one of my favorite comedians of all time.
Tammy Costelli. Okay, I know who she is. That kind of standing legend. One of, I think, one of the greatest. Wait a minute. Did you ever meet her in person? Not yet. Okay, because I was going to say, you like to meet people that you just met and they was nice to you. No. Yeah. That's wonderful. That's my number. I'm going to give you Eddie Murphy. Oh, yes. Oh, Eddie Murphy. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Eddie Murphy. Yeah. Eddie. I know him. Kevin Hart. I'm saying Kevin Hart. But there's so many people, though. I don't want to mention Rudy Rush. I don't want to mention Sid the Entertainer. There's so many people, man. That's it. That's what's up. That's a dope list. I like that Mount Rushmore. Thank you. Now, that was good. And it was thought out. So, yeah, I need credit for that.
And like you said, it's yours. But there were some people on that hill that I would move up on there. And some people I would put down on the hill. And there's some people I would put in a car on the way to the pizza shop. Will we get a sponsor for Rudy's Mount Rushmore in five years? You can give me yours, too. Are you leaving me, Mick? What are you doing?
Are you going to have Beyonce on the show with you, man? No, we got a sponsor for your top five. You know what I'm saying? I didn't get my top five. Thank you. Thank you. You know? Or moments I wish I could do over. Yeah. Right. Journey part two, because we stopped it because I really wanted that Steve moment to.
Oh, yeah.
My Nick is on for the day.
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