Larry Lancaster: A Baltimore Comedy Legend Discusses Mastering Authenticity

Rob Lee: Yo, yo, yo, Rob Lee here. Thank you for tuning in and thank you for subscribing, commenting, sharing, all of those things. I need you to keep doing it. It's the only way that this podcast grows. That goes for the guests, it goes for the listeners. Share this podcast. If you listen, you check it out, you enjoy it. Or if you think someone might find value from these stories, I know you know people that come on here definitely share it, share it broadly, share it consistently. That's the only way it grows. It's not about me getting more likes and listens and downloads. It's more about these stories getting out to a broader audience. That's what's most important about this podcast. This is your podcast. This is your community. And Yeah, so just continue doing the great work and just ramp it up, share, share, share. We've got a Patreon, we've got a Ko-fi, all of those different links and all of that stuff. There are videos on the YouTube channel. All of that stuff will be in the show notes. So yes, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, and comment on the YouTube channel. That's the best way to support this podcast as it continues to grow. We're in season nine. And yeah, you know, just that support keeps it going, I think. And again, thank you. And now on to the podcast. Welcome to the Truth in This Art. Thank you for tuning in to conversations at the intersection of arts, culture and community. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today I am super excited to welcome my next guest. It's been a long time coming and a good way to round out this month. My next guest is a dynamic personality from the Baltimore, Washington metropolitan area. He's an actor, comedian, model, radio show host, just all of the jobs. He just has all of the jobs. Please welcome the very funny Larry Lancaster. Welcome to the podcast.
Larry Lancaster: Hey, brother. Welcome, man. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you.

Rob Lee: Thank you for coming on, and thank you for the fit. I got to give you that. Thank you for the fit. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Larry Lancaster: You know, I'm old school, so I threw the feline track jacket on and the cap, man, you know. I didn't want to have an ass got in a smoking jacket on. That's how I normally lounge around the house, so I said, I'm going to keep it, you know, try to keep it age appropriate, not look like an old pimp.

Rob Lee: I mean, there's this thing where, you know, I was loaning out some equipment a few months back and somebody wanted to borrow a mic stand from me. They came by and I'm in the at-home fit. I got this giant. And like, I think we've seen each other in person. I'm not sure. I'm not sure who I see in person anymore. But for context, I'm 6'4", I'm a big dude, right? So I pull up to the door, you know, and they knock on the door wearing this burgundy, like, smoking jacket. And they're like, what are you doing, bro? I was like, this is how I look, man.

Larry Lancaster: I was like, these $10,000. Right, right. Some people expect you to be on all the time. And there was a time earlier in my life where I felt that. I felt like I had to be dressed impeccably all the time. And so I've learned that you can still have a good fashion sense and still be, you know, dressed appropriately, but you can tone it down, you know? Like, there was a time I didn't wear sneakers, I didn't wear jeans. I used to just be, dressed to the nines, and that's just not convenient, man.

Rob Lee: Now, I hear you. I hear you. And, you know, I just before I go into the sort of the first question, definitely I've I've done the thing where you try to fit into the scene. Like I interview a lot of artists and a lot of folks in and around Baltimore and outside of Baltimore. And, you know, I get invited to things. I'm like, what is it that I'm going to wear? I don't want to be filmed in the same picture wearing this. That might be not be the most complimentary hoodie that I have on or T-shirt combo. I'm like, I got to switch this out.

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, well, that's the thing about social media. You can't, you can't, you know, back in the day you could wear an outfit and as long as you didn't go around the same people, can't do that now. Them outfits are documented, brother. So you gotta, you gotta be, you gotta switch it up, man. You gotta be careful. We got you.

Rob Lee: So I want to I want to start off since this is part of my my month just focused on some of the local funny people, comedians, folks that are in that space. So could you, you know, share with us like, you know, what your journey was like going into comedy? What sparked that initial passion for humor and that that talent around storytelling?

Larry Lancaster: Well, the initial thing was from my childhood. I had a, you know, a very rough childhood. My mom had mental illness. She was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. I grew up in Douglas Projects, man. I was born in Flag House Projects. And then when I turned four, we moved up in the same housing projects that my grandmother lived in, Douglas Projects. So you know, real tough town, real tough people, fights, drugs, murder, you know, but To me, I thought that was normal. So then here I come, and my mom was kind of like, looked at as the crazy person in the neighborhood. So the kids would tease me, and I had to be quick at my responses. You know, just started out as a defense mechanism. It developed into a skill, and then a profession. So that's kind of how it started. And I was a late bloomer. I didn't start doing comedy until I was 30. Oh, wow. Although I had been doing it all my life, just, you know, amongst my friends and around people. Even when I went to school, I went to poly for a time before I transferred. Why you make that face? You already know. You already know. Right. before I transferred to Carver, right? And so people would wait, they would let their buses go by just to get on the bus I was on, because I was, I would be telling jokes the whole time we're outside waiting for the bus, the entire trip downtown. And so I drew a crowd, people would just be waiting to hear what I had to say. I didn't know I was actually performing and doing stand-up at that time, but that was my outlet.

Rob Lee: And the reason I made that face, I'm with the city. So, you know, that's that's. Oh, wow. OK.

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're like Bloods and Crips. So it used to be that way. Right.

Rob Lee: Hatfields and McCoys or whatever. Yeah. And yeah, I think and thank you for sharing that, because I think some of those like tracking back to maybe those early experiences of stuff that we have interest in creatively or we don't, it's something about tapping back into sort of that that childhood thing. Right. You know, I remember being, you know, obviously Baltimore as well. And, and, you know, like, you know, lived in the projects and like, you know, Orleans Street, all of that stuff, East Baltimore.

Larry Lancaster: You were a round the way guy then. So you, yeah, that's real close. What projects, you must have been on Somerset.

Rob Lee: Um, I was in a high rise building 1035, um, over there on like Orleans street. That's Lafayette. Yeah. Lafayette projects. Yeah. Seventh floor.

Larry Lancaster: You sure, man. Cause you, you don't sound, first of all, you don't sound like, like you came from the projects and you couldn't even name them. You was like, Oh yeah. over there on New Orleans Street. You know we don't claim it like that. You gotta say you LA for life, baby. That's Lafayette. I know exactly, because I used to hang over there. People actually thought I was from Lafayette because I used to be down there every day. But you know the projects, all of them are real close, within close proximity. So you cross the street, you in another project.

Rob Lee: Absolutely. Right. You know, we used to go across the street all the time to, like, Old Town Mall, all of that stuff. Right. Yeah.

Larry Lancaster: I used to play basketball over Chick Webb and, you know, all of that. So, yeah, I know it's that. You're a homeboy, man.

Rob Lee: There you go. And people don't think I'm from Baltimore. That's the thing that's funny about it.

Larry Lancaster: Yeah. You got that Bill Collector voice. That's what it is. You got that telemarketer jargon. You sound like, yeah, I'm just calling, you know, this is a call to collect the debt.

Rob Lee: You sound like that, man. That was one of my first jobs out of college. So yeah, that's probably right. So in thinking about it, right, you, you know, I look at like some of those early experiences I've said on this pod. I was an MC early on, Masters of Ceremony in like elementary school at like five, right? And I'm like, that's intimidating now. But at five, I didn't know any better. Right. You know, as you were touching on, like, you're out there doing stand up without even the the sort of like ideas that come along or the different like stresses that come along. You're just doing it. You're just. So tell me about like your first time like on stage, like this is like now is in the career path. This is sort of that professional, refined gig, like that first time that you were approached to do something in front of like an audience. What was that like?

Larry Lancaster: Well, I actually have. few first times, if that makes any sense. So like you, I had a background in public speaking. I started in high school, so I would always be the master of ceremonies for our assemblies. So I kind of had a background in that before I even started doing comedy, which kind of gives you an edge because most of the fear is just speaking in public in general, not even making people laugh. People just have a fear of speaking in public. So I had managed that all through high school, so I got over that. My first time doing stand-up comedy actually was at a high school talent show at Carver. And so I did that, and it was pretty good. I didn't have any idea what I was doing, but it was pretty good for someone who really didn't know what they were doing. Fast forward years later, now I'm 30 years old. And I don't know if you remember this club called Latin Palace. So they're not there anymore. And there were two comments, I was actually driving around with a friend of mine on a Tuesday night. And I was married at the time, and my wife was out of town. His girlfriend was out of town. So we was like, yo, let's hang out before the wives get back. Let's take advantage of this time. So we go out, and it's on a Tuesday. And back then, it wasn't a lot to do on a Tuesday night. So we go down Fells Point, and I see people walking into the Latin Ballet. So we go pull up. And the guy said, we're having a comedy show. So I'm like, really? And I never forget a guy named Stacy Carver and Jay Phillips. Both were like my comedy mentors in the beginning. And so I went to the show, and it was a great show, right? And they only had like 20 people there. And the Latin Palace is a pretty large club, so they had a small turnout. But that didn't matter for the people who were there, because the show was still a great show. So I walked up to them after the show, and I said, hey, man, I really enjoyed the show. I always wanted to do stand-up comedy. I want to make people feel how you guys made me feel tonight, how I get started. They say, you're in luck. Two weeks from now, we're having an open mic competition. And you sell these five tickets. This will be your registration fee. And I was working at Baltimore County Detention Center at the time. So I got all my co-workers to come. I came like 20, 30 deep. Because you know, I spent the lunch breaks cracking on them. So they're like, oh, you finally going to do it. You better be funny. And we're going to come. And they came and supported me, right? And I did like was only supposed to do seven minutes. I did like 12 minutes of dick maternity. Right. And I won. I got a standing ovation probably because most of the people there were for me. But I was still pretty good not knowing what I was doing. And so I've been doing comedy ever since then.

Rob Lee: That's that is dope. Thank you for sharing that. It reminded me of one of the podcast festivals I went to. It was the first time I went to a podcast festival. And it's similar in that you're presenting what you're doing in front of an audience. And this is at a place that's defunct as well, YMCA. And I go there, and me and my former co-host, we get on stage. Well, before we get on stage, we're doing all the setup because I'm a producer. And I'm like, I need to know exactly what you need from us. What's the mic sounding like? I'm all in my man's business. Right. I think he was like, you can go to the bar. You're talent. You can drink for free. I was like, yeah, I'll do that, too. And I'll be back. Right. I go over there like a noob, get a double of some whiskey. It didn't forget everything I'm going to say, which once I just forget everything. So we get on stage, we do our thing. And it's funny where this was to set the state. This was probably around the time when some of Diddy's weird stuff first started coming out. Oh, really? Yeah. This is like 2018, maybe. Mm hmm. And, you know, I just remember there were people there or somebody else randomly eating pizza. It was just a very interesting Baltimore centric thing. And we crushed it. We wrap up, we do all of our stuff, we do all our bits. And I think rompers came out, too. So we were talking about robbers wearing those as we leave out, you know, half of the audience left with us for the next the next next group that was going up. And I was like, wow, here. And again, it's like, I don't know what I'm doing. I think what I talk about is interesting. I think that that's kind of it. But doing bits and doing jokes, I have a connection with an improv group. But the podcast we did was a comedy podcast, and people stayed there for us and left immediately after, which is wild. These were not people we invited. These were just people who were there.

Larry Lancaster: Right. Yeah, well, the thing is, people think there's a lot of misconceptions about comedy. They think that all comics are the same, and they're not. Everyone has a different style, a different personality trait that lends itself to a different style. They have different ways of uh preparing different deliveries you know some people are storytellers some people just tell you know a bunch of jokes some people have different things that they do you got prop comics you got all different types you got people who could just improv for an hour you know so it takes a lot of time and preparation and man hours Because it's just like being a professional athlete. At some point, your physical attributes are a plus. But you can't just rely on that. So if you're a naturally funny person, you still have to prepare. You still have to write jokes. You still have to make sure you're not doing other people's material. It's a lot that goes into it. And it's a science. And I think that part of it is neglected. Because when you're good at something, it seems so natural. So it can look as if you're not preparing. You're not writing. You're just going up there talking. And that's not necessarily the case.

Rob Lee: I mean, when I grew up, I want to be a hat comedian. I just wear it.

Larry Lancaster: You know, we hate you guys, man. There's a lot of them out there. A lot of them out there.

Rob Lee: So you touched on a moment ago, like comedy mentors. Right. And so who are some of those those influences that come to mind? It could be big names, local names, like names that you really want to shout out because they didn't get their due. Because I know. Right. It's one of those things where it's like this person's popping right now. No one else gets to do anything. So they and how they help like you along your path.

Larry Lancaster: Well, before I started doing comedy, I used to study comedy. So, of course, you know, you rely on the big names when you're just watching TV. Well, I used to rent VHS tapes just to show you how long it goes back. And, you know, of course, Eddie Murphy, Ennis Prime, Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, Damon Wayans, even George Carlin. I was a big fan of his. I liked a lot of whoopee stuff. She used to do a lot of one-woman show type of stuff. um, uh, uh, uh, Lily Tomlin, um, Dawn Rickles, uh, uh, uh, uh, no respect at all, uh, Rodney Dangerfield, Sam Kenison, like, I, uh, Gary Shanley, like, the list goes on as far as those guys are concerned. But then, when I started doing comedy, I started realizing that there are people who people don't even know, you've never heard of these guys, and they're ten times funnier than some of the people that I've named. Yeah. So, um, Yeah, my personal comedy mentors are guys like Joe Rekka, who's not with us any longer. Stacey Carver, one of my early influences. Jay Phillips, he had a comedy ease. He was just so funny with very little effort. And so I always liked guys like that, like Tony Woods, who actually was a mentor to Dave Chappelle. He's out of the D.C. area. Let me see, because there's so many influences, and I don't want to leave anybody out. It's a guy named… Jay Lamont. And I remember him telling me something very profound. We did a show together, and I didn't do very well. And he pulled me to the side afterwards. And he said, Hey, man, I'm no funnier than you. I'm just more experienced. And this was that he just went out and killed the spot. So that gave me a different perspective about how to approach comedy and how you have to prepare. And even when you mentioned about drinking, I did that early on in my career, too, you know, trying to get that liquid carriage. And then you get drunk and you can't remember none of your set because you're in pain. So I had to, I had to, it reminded me about not developing bad habits. So, you know, there's a lot of people that I can name, man, that are very funny, that have influenced me.

Rob Lee: That's, that's great. And that's, it's really one too.

Larry Lancaster: Oh, I got to mention these guys. Howard G, Ricky Shackelford, Coco Brown, Queen Aisha, Lottie Davis, Laughin' Lenny, you know, all these guys have helped me, man. King Kedar, another bro, I can't remember the brother's name, the Fat Doctor. Like, these are legendary comics in the DMV area, and they're known all over the place. So, you know, just people who always helped me out and gave me words of encouragement.

Rob Lee: That's that's great. It's great. And yeah, you know, when you have those those moments where, you know, I've I've had a lot of I've done over 700 interviews at this moment. Right. And, you know, I'll have folks who are at different stages of their career. Some folks are just getting started out. And, you know, I always try to get sort of feedback from folks on on that. And you touched on it. And if I were to take out of that, this sort of idea of like, you know, and I've been playing with this, take what you do seriously, but don't take yourself too serious. Yeah, yeah.

Larry Lancaster: Basically, to be an artist, you kind of have to be an oxymoron because you definitely got to take your craft seriously, but you can't take yourself too seriously. You need your ego to help you, you know, propel you in your art, but you can't be driven by your ego. You have to make sure you control your ego. You know, you have to know you're good, but not be arrogant. You know, it's a lot. So you have to make people laugh, but you still comics are very serious, smart people. We're not just clowns. So it's a lot of, I guess, reconciliation with with contradictions, if you will.

Rob Lee: So, so in it, I've heard so far, you know, it's a science to it. And we were talking a little bit before we got started with, with this next question. So I definitely want to have this recorded. Is comedy an art form?

Larry Lancaster: Oh, most definitely. And like I said, it's, um, it's, it's, to me, it's the most Paris art form there is because you can't hide behind anything. You tell a joke, the audience either laughs or not. And of course, there could be a multitude of reasons why they don't. But generally speaking, that's something that you have to figure out. See, when you do music, you could go up and sing your ass off and no one listens to you. and still get through what you have to do. You can just do your songs and get off. Of course, as an artist, no one wants that, but you can do that. As a poet, you can just go do your poetry. No one has to be listening. You can just finish your poems if you haven't recited, and then that's that. Same thing if you're a musician, right? Even a visual artist, you can just draw your stuff and just put it out there. People like it or they don't. But with comedy, that's basically the only pure art form that you need the relationship with the audience. You can't just do your thing and leave them out. You have to have a contract with them. So you have to make them stop what they're doing. You have to make them listen to you. And then you have to get a response from them because we know no matter how funny you are, if you're in a room full of people, no matter how clever, how well-written your jokes are, if the audience are not laughing at you, then that's a measurement of you're not doing well. So you have to figure that out. And that's why I say it's the poorest art form there is.

Rob Lee: That makes a lot of sense to me. I mean, I think laughter is almost involuntary. It's like, you know, this person's funny. I'm not going to laugh, but they're funny. It's like, you can't control it. It's almost like, You know, sneezing.

Larry Lancaster: You definitely have to get, you have to get a response back from them. And it has to be a noticeable response in order to, you know, we measure our success by laughs per minute. You know, how many laughs you get during your set, the eruption of laughter, the claps, all these things. And so if you don't have that, chances are you're probably not doing well, even if you could be brilliant. Some audiences just may not get you, but that's not going to help you in that moment.

Rob Lee: And I'm going to make a comparison that I think works, but, and I'm known for these odd comparisons that people aren't looking for. It's the performance component, very similar in my head to like wrestling. You know, someone comes out there, they hear your music, they see you're doing a pop, they scream, they're excited. You're getting that reaction. But you don't want people just sitting on their hands. You don't want that. You could be the best technical wrestler, have the best gaming, all of this different stuff. But if it's not connecting, you're not connecting with that audience, you're not performing and it's not resonating, you're out of here.

Larry Lancaster: Right. That's true. That's true. And you had different comics. So I've seen some comics who were brilliant, but because they had a more laid back style, the audience may not have received them as well. And then a guy will come out with a lot of energy. He's not really saying anything, but the reaction that he gets from the audience. And that's another thing. There's a difference between laughter and a reaction. Some comics are good at getting a reaction from you, but they're not necessarily, you're not necessarily doing anything where you're thinking and start provoking or, you know, a different perspective. And so there are many different ways to deliver the art form.

Rob Lee: So so when when you're in front of an audience, you're performing and you're you're you're going over your set, sort of how do you distinguish between? And granted, if you've been doing it for a while, so, you know, I just want to get that sense of how do you distinguish between what's just like laughter? What's that response? And how does that play into maybe tweaking your set as you go along? Like, all right, I might do some crowd work here or I'm gonna keep running this bit a little bit further, or ad-libbing. Talk a bit about that.

Larry Lancaster: Well, I think the key, and this is not just for comedy, for any art form, is being present as you're performing. Like, you have to have a laser-like focus. And so, being present just means that you're fully aware and in the moment. You're not distracted by nothing else except what you're doing. You're paying attention to the audience. You're paying attention to how they respond to you. You're paying attention to the waiter who may have dropped a plate 100 feet back. You know, you're paying attention to all of that. So you can even make a decision to take advantage of everything that's in that moment and make it funny, or just block all that out and stick to your set. So different comics, you know, you got comics who They do their set the same way every time. It's 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. They got their set. They got it mastered. And so they're going to just do their set no matter what happens. Then you have comics who can be in the moment. They got a set or general idea of what they want to talk about, but they can go out of that and then come back to their maturity. So I'm one of those comics. I can go in and out of my material, and I can take advantage of what's going on in that moment. So that's how I deal with a crowd. It's very fluid, you know? So sometimes, okay, I know this is a crowd with a short attention span. So I can't waste a whole lot of time telling the story for a long time with no payoff, because I'm going to lose. So I got to shorten my jokes, get right to the punchline, and go bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. Then you learn how to change the energy as you get more experience. So the crowd may have a certain type of energy when you get in front of them, but you're able to bring them into you. You don't adjust to them. You make them adjust to you. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn't. The key is knowing when to do what.

Rob Lee: And part of that's getting those reps in, I would imagine.

Larry Lancaster: That's where the experience comes in.

Rob Lee: So in stillness, this vein, I want to ask about, you know, process, because, you know, comedians are artists, it's multiple layers to it. What is the process for you from sort of, you know, is there like a notepad? Is there like a doc that has like, this is a premise, this is a big form joke that's in my head. And ultimately, what is that process like before we get to, you being on stage, that final performance or working through that process. Talk about the ideating period to the performance period.

Larry Lancaster: Well, when I first started, I used to write everything down. Then as I've gotten more proficient and more experienced, I don't have to do that. It's like they say, Jay-Z can go in the booth, don't write a rap down. I'm at that point now. Yeah. But before, I used to, put all my stuff on a cassette tape, and I would listen to it in the car to memorize the jokes, and that's what I would do, you know, to prepare. I would try to commit it to memory, and then, you know, but now I can just be in the moment because I'm so comfortable on stage that I can just, if I have a joke that was funny last week, and I was on the phone with someone, and I said something that was funny, and they liked it, and that's what I like. Those are the best jokes to me, the jokes that work in conversation. Because you're making a real person laugh, right? And so that's very organic. You're not talking immaterial, you're not trying to set up, but you just happen to say. So I try to save those moments. And a lot of times they do translate. They don't always. But a lot of times, that's how I prepare. I still write. I'll write something down just so I can have a memory, like a shorthand or a call sign, and it'll remind me of that bit or that joke. But I'll write everything in my mind.

Rob Lee: It makes sense. That makes sense. When I'm having trouble with remembering some things, I get, you know, approach to host things and so on with the telemarketer voice. Right. And, you know, I I'm I'm good at like sort of ad libbing, as I was saying, like, I don't go rigid to here's my questions. I'm going to stick to that or like. This is the flow of the conversation. Let's let's go with it. And I think when you go super rigid, you lose something in the conversation. Like, yeah, you could tell me something that you weren't even expecting to tell me to tell me because the conversations float in a way. So with something that's very set up in a way that you got to hit these points, I record it. And then I listen back to it. I put it in the iPhone, listen back to it, and just make sure that I've committed it to memory. But inevitably, I'm just going to forget it. And I have to go off of memory. I have to go off of talent, which feels weird to say, but I have to go off that of like, no, I know what this is. I just need to do it, which feels comfortable. And me working off of something rigid does not feel comfortable for me.

Larry Lancaster: Right. And everyone is different. Some people like that control, and they need everything. They need all dots, all I's dotted, all T's crossed. And then some people can just be in the moment and flow with whatever's happening at that time.

Rob Lee: I prefer to put a dot over my lowercase J. So I got to ask this sort of last question around like material. So, you know, there are I framed this. So I work with big improv, right? I'm on the board there. And I remember talking with, you know, their managing director and we were joking about sort of there are certain things that aren't allowed to be funny anymore. And she's like, you're not wrong about that. So when you're going through the process of like, this was funny, but is this material and sort of where with that connection with the audience or potential connection with that potential audience? What are certain topics that you avoid or how do you sort of navigate coming up with material, developing material, when the needle moves when it comes to what's controversial one moment versus what's not as controversial the next moment? How do you navigate that with your material?

Larry Lancaster: Well, there's a lot of factors to consider. You know, if you're in a church, you know, there's different things. If you're doing a show and there are children in the audience, there's different things to consider. But to make a long story short, you can't be afraid. You have to be able to translate whatever your thought process is to that audience. And so where some comics get into trouble is they try to do things that they're not necessarily skilled to do. So if you have a command of the English language and you can translate a Greek joke, you can get away with just about anything. And a lot of times, comics try to talk about things that people don't want to talk about. That's really what you should be doing. Because it's easy to talk about stuff that's already funny. It's easy to talk about stuff that everyone is talking about. But what you want to try to offer is a different perspective. You want to try to give them the humor in something that they may have not thought was funny. Now, of course, sometimes miss that and you end up being offensive. But to me, that's all about skill level. So look at look at Dave Chappelle. He talks about stuff that a lot of comics would have gotten in trouble for, or they would have got canceled for. But because he's so great at what he does, he's so thoughtful, and the writing and everything is so meticulous that, yeah, you can cry about it, you can scream about it, but people kind of know that this is coming from a sincere, authentic place. He's not being mean-spirited. He's not out to get you guys. And so, um… I don't think anything is off limits. Now, there are jokes that are in poor taste, but not subjects that are in poor taste.

Rob Lee: If that makes any sense. It does. It does. I've heard people say, oh, you can't talk about that. I was like, write a better joke. Just do a better version of it. There's, you know, when, because I'm very defensive and this is why, you know, I wanted to do this sort of month around like comedians because I, you know, I think it's a spot where it can be very hard for folks. You know, I, you know, I did a comedy podcast for a while. I was talking about a bit earlier. And, you know, when it got towards the end of us wrapping up, we're improving the whole thing. We have different topics and it's just us riffing on the topics. But we're prepping in that way of like, all right, gather some thoughts and we're just going to go at it. This is not we're writing down jokes. And that's what it was. And at a point you would have people kind of chiming in with feedback that You know, it's like, you don't know what the intent was here. I was like, I just knew jacks. We're not just starting. I feel real old saying new jacks. We're not just starting off with this. We're we're actually paying, putting, you know, care and attention. But it's like, well, the subject matter is like, did you actually listen to the bit, though? Right. You said this one word that I don't like. So I just like. I was like, oh, so you actually don't have a position. You just want to be butthurt.

Larry Lancaster: Got it. And that's the thing about comedy is because sometimes you can say something and it can provoke an emotional response. But the person, they only know how that whatever you said made them feel. They don't think about, oh, is it validity into it or, you know, it was brilliant the way he said it or whatever. They just turn off. And I've had people do that. I've actually had this happen to me last night, you know, and a lot of times people get offended for other people. Not even understanding that they're okay with what I said. You have a problem with it because you don't know if they're uncomfortable or not. People are a lot more resilient and thick-skinned than we realize. You know, I've done shows with gay people in the audience, and I've done bits about gay people. Straight people got upset for them, but the gay people wasn't, because they could tell it wasn't coming from a mean place. I've done jokes, you know, about culture and race. And the white people love the joke, but then the Black people sitting around looking around to see if the white people nervous or not. Right. You know, it's like, come on, man. I'm a professional. I know exactly what I'm doing. And you're not going to please everybody. It's always going to be one or two people who walk away who don't like what you say. That's what art is. You're not there to please everybody.

Rob Lee: I said this one thing with a friend of mine who is non-binary and they use they, them pronouns. And I was like, so when you get older, are you going to use they, them, thou? And they're like, I'm going to use that. That's really funny. That's an old English joke. I like that. And I've mentioned that in like a meeting in a sort of different environment, a more of a woke and a, you know, offensive forward environment. You can see people's buttholes getting tight. And I'm just like, maybe this is you, maybe you don't think it's interesting, but not all of you can have that same response when sort of someone that could get offended, that could feel seen or could feel they're in a spot was like, no, that's good. That's funny. That was kind of thought out. And it's an English joke, actually. It works.

Larry Lancaster: And so that's, that's sort of the thing. Yeah. My, my, my motto is I don't go out of my way to offend people, but I also don't go out of my way not to offend.

Rob Lee: Yeah, because people are fickle. That's another thing to consider. So I got I got two last like jokes or what have you. I mean, jokes, questions. I don't have jokes. So the first one is so. Comedians, I think, have a persona on stage and at times can be very different when they're offstage. Like, how does like Larry, the performer, differ from like Larry offstage, like real life versus the onstage? What are the main differences between the person and the comedian?

Larry Lancaster: Well, that for me, I know other comics who have a different persona, they almost have like an alter ego. They may be very quiet and shy and reserved. And then when they're on stage, you know, they're a different person. Those type of people need that alter ego. I'm a I'm an extrovert. I'm a person who can walk in the room and change the energy. So when I go on stage, I'm that same person. So basically what you may see is a different facet of me, but not necessarily somebody who's not me. So I'm pretty much what you see on stage is the same person in real life. Of course, I'm not always on, I'm not always performing, but that's pretty much who I am. And generally what I talk about and what I speak about, those are generally my thoughts and how I really feel. So you kind of get the authentic person.

Rob Lee: Authenticity matters, especially, especially here, you know, in Baltimore and in cities like it, where if you come off as fake, nah, you on something, you phony, you know, and I had to start getting more comfortable with that because I've had people roll up and, yo, Rob, I'm like, hey, man, I don't know you. Right. you know, sort of address it and sort it out, but it's always sort of good and positive energy. So having in the back of my head, especially where I'm at, it's a couple of things. I, you know, who out here could rob me? Like, what are we doing? And who out here is like, yo, I know you listen to your podcast. And I will say the best part is when I encounter certain people who might not look like me and you, they get a weird vibe when they see me. But when they hear me, they're like, oh, you're Rob. Oh, my God. Right. Black guy a second ago, though.

Larry Lancaster: Mm hmm. Yeah, for me, I just made it a point because that can be off-putting, like when people know you and you don't necessarily know who they are, but they greet you as if they know you. So I just made a decision that I never wanted anyone to be turned off by the way I responded to them. So I always match their energy. When people approach me, whether I remember them or not, if they greet me like I'm an old distant cousin and they love me, then I give them the same energy back. If you greet me like, oh, hey, you're that comedian. Yeah, I am. I give you the same energy back. I like that the energy came off right there. Right. So that's what I give you. You greet me with love, I greet you with love. You greet me with indifference, then, hey, you know, you have a nice day.

Rob Lee: Yeah, yeah, I try to get better at that just more. Again, it's the reps here. So here's the last real question. I got a couple rapid fire questions for you. But, you know, this is sort of the last one. So, you know, I see the backgrounds comedian. actor, model, radio show host, you're doing everything. You have like all of the jobs. Give us a couple. How do you balance your time? And you know, you have your real life obligations as well. How do you balance your time and keep everything sort of in order?

Larry Lancaster: Um, well, when I was younger in my career, I wanted to be busy, busy, busy all the time. And now I'm real selective about the opportunities that I take, because they're all opportunities, and I'm grateful for them. But it's really about spending more time at home, spending more time with my family, and that's important to me now. So all of that, I was trying to chase, you know, I want to be a success. And what did that look like as a comic? I'm no longer doing that. So I do this because I love to do it. I'm good at doing it. I can make some money, but it's not necessarily the end-all be-all for me any longer. So that's how I manage the time, is prioritizing what's important. And, you know, you got to take when you got when you have a list of things, you got to say, OK, what's important? What do I need to do right now? And then I start at the top of the list and work my way down. I hope that answers your question. But, you know, it's just being great with your time management and figuring out what's important to you and the people around you and trying to make those things happen.

Rob Lee: Yeah, it does. It makes so much sense. I apply a very similar thing where you know, the way that you put it that there are opportunities and you're appreciative. And, you know, I was at this wave earlier on, I really wasn't saying no to too many things. I'm sort of a process of does it make sense? Right. The time standpoint, you know, got a real job. I have a busy podcast schedule and I have other obligations in real life. And I'm a teacher now, you know, in addition to the real job. And I'm like, how does it fit? Which ways does it fit? What sort of flexibility do I have? And not going after everything because it's there. And you got to, at least in my head, you have to do what feels right for you. I have other people in my ear say, oh, bro, you got to 10X your podcast. You got to do this. You should be doing this. It's like, I'm not really interested in it. I'm kind of interested in putting burgundy smoking jackets on my crib, you know? That's what I'm interested in.

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, it's definitely as you get older, man, things change. First, I wanted to be the biggest comic. I wanted to be rich and famous. I wanted to do movies and all those things. And now I really have no desire to do none of that. It's about a quality of life. And what do I want to spend my time doing? And I kind of get to decide what that is. And I'm grateful for that.

Rob Lee: That's that's freedom. I love it. So I want to move into the last portion of the podcast, rapid fire questions. And as I say to everyone, do not overthink these like, you know, be brief. And it's like, look, I said what I said. That's what that's what. All right. So here's the first one. What is your favorite movie? I would say Pulp Fiction. See, we're on the same track so far. I'm loving this one. What are three things next to your bed? I've asked almost every comedian I've interviewed this question, and some of the answers are ridiculous.

Larry Lancaster: A nightstand, a lamp, my cell phone, and my money and wallet, all of my, you know, my ID card, and I have all of that on my nightstand.

Rob Lee: I have a similar setup and too much cologne. I have like a lot of cologne next to all of those items.

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, I keep my cologne in the bathroom on my side. Yeah.

Rob Lee: I live alone. It's just like, it's here. I need to smell it. I need to know it's here. So I'm always interested in what folks like sort of habits are. What is your favorite snack? Do you eat, are you a snacker or you're a person like, yo, I love having pistachios. I like to get these chips. Like what is your favorite?

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, I actually, I actually love pistachios. I like almonds. I like Brazil nuts. I like macadamia nuts. I eat all of that stuff. But I am a junk food guy, but I resist it. I love potato chips. I got a real bad sweet tooth. But you know, you're getting up in age and the things you eat impact your body and your health more. So I kind of stay away from those things. Those things are like guilty pleasures. And when I do eat chips, I try to eat kettle chips because I just think they're better for me.

Rob Lee: I think they are, and I like the crunch better. And what I do sometimes, I've really gotten on having the healthier fats from those different nuts you mentioned. And I'll have like, if I'm eating chips or something, I'm like, yeah, I'm throwing a serving of almonds in there or a serving of potatoes.

Larry Lancaster: You're trying to offset, right.

Rob Lee: Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, this is the last one. This is the last question. And this is more of a request, but this is the question. What rumor would you like to start? Because I think it's kind of like funny. It gives folks like just the opportunity to play games. But is there a rumor out there? It doesn't have to be real, obviously, but is there a rumor out there that you would like to start?

Larry Lancaster: That black people really do stick together.

Rob Lee: Thank you. Thank you. It was right there, wasn't it?

Larry Lancaster: Yeah, I would definitely like to start that rumor.

Rob Lee: So so that's it. We got it. We got it. So one, I want to really express my gratitude and thank you for coming on and making the time and into shameless plugs. You know, just where can folks check you out? Social media website, all that good stuff. The floor is yours.

Larry Lancaster: OK, you can find me on all social media. A comedian, Larry Lancaster. You can also book me through my manager, Julie King, and her phone number is 410-917-3048 if you want to book me for anything. Also, I have a radio show that I'm very proud of. It comes on WEAA 88.9 FM. And if you're streaming, like you're out of the area or you want to listen on any streaming device, you can go to weaa.org. and listen. And it comes on 10 a.m. Standard Eastern Time to 12 p.m. Standard Eastern Time. And the show is called Throwback Saturdays with Larry Lancaster and Mike Nice. And we play all the stuff that we grew up, grew up on, great music that feel good stuff. And we talk about the topics and subjects that impact our community. So we entertain, educate and inform.

Rob Lee: And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Larry Lancaster for coming on and sharing a bit of his journey through the dynamic world that he's in. He's everywhere. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just got to look for it.