Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Roy Wood Jr. is one of the great comics working today, and it was an honor to sit down with him for “Masters of the Game.” It’s a fantastic episode. Wood is a political comedian who wants to make you think. He’d rather talk about what he thinks about the world than tell you who he is. He says that marks the two kinds of comedians in the world.
“I think the best comedians are either over-analytical about themselves or the world,” he said. “To me, there’s two jokes. There’s a joke that either tells me who you are or a joke that tells me how you see the world.”
Wood strongly prefers to make jokes about how he sees the world, jokes about his ideas and perspective. We don’t hear much about who he is from his comedy. That’s why he fit perfectly on “The Daily Show,” where intellect was distilled into laughs. Wood is now at CNN doing “Have I Got News For You.”
Wood talks about “The Daily Show,” growing up in Alabama, starting in comedy at 19 and headlining the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and more in a conversation that takes us through most of his life. If you’re a fan of Wood’s, it shouldn’t surprise you that his father was a radio journalist who covered the Civil Rights Movement. I bet Wood’s elocution and his love of justice came from his father. But, if you’re a fan of Wood’s, it might surprise you that when he was a 19-year-old college student, he pulled a credit card scam, got caught for said scam and almost went to prison for a bit. He may be the smartest guy in the room now, but he wasn’t always smart.
To hear Wood’s whole story, check out “Masters of the Game” at 8 p.m. ET Friday and 1 p.m. ET Saturday on TheGrio Cable Network.
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Toure is a host and writer at TheGrio. He hosts the TheGrio TV show “Masters of the Game,” and he created the award-winning podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and its upcoming sequel “Being Black: The ’70s.” He is also the creator of “Star Stories” and the author of eight books, including “Nothing Compares 2 U an oral history of Prince.” He also hosts a podcast called “Toure Show.” He is also a husband and a father of two.
