GQ: You’ve said that comedy
needs to come from truth, but
I feel like I’ve heard you make
arguments for things you don’t
really believe. Like you saying
the moon landing was fake.
JERROD CARMICHAEL:No!
I really do have real suspicions.
So you never just say
something crazy to see if you
can make the case for it?
You don’t want to just go say
things for the sake of shock.
Don’t get me wrong—as a
performer and writer, you have
the benefit of exaggerating
for the sake of the story. But
it comes from a true place of
battling. Like, you have this
thought, and you immediately
know, “Oh no, I shouldn’t
think that. Why did that
come across my head?” It’s
rooted in something, and
it’s my obligation to explore
the reason that I feel that
way and explain myself.Like the bit you do about
walking past your doorman
wearing a hoodie and
worrying that he’s letting
black guys with hoodies just
waltz into your building.
Yeah. The crazy thing is that
however dark or horrible the
thought, people will laugh
at it because they understand
where that comes from.That’s a beautiful Rolex.
It’s the President Day-Date.
I’ve been wearing watches
since I was in eighth grade,
after I read The Autobiography
of Malcolm X. He said he
doesn’t respect a man who
doesn’t wear a watch, because
of how important time is.Did you buy the Malcolm X
watch?
I tried to mimic it—I got a
watch with the black strap,like he had. But I’m not
sure what he wore. Martin
Luther King and Walt
Disney had Rolex Datejusts.Did you see that ad during
the Oscars with all the
iconic movie characters
wearing Rolexes?
I was at a trampoline park.Okay. Why?
I like peeking over the edge at
stu≠. I want to go skydiving.I know you’re single, because
you mention it a lot on talk
shows, so you need to do it
before you get into a serious
relationship. Because they
can put the kibosh on that.
“Listen, you married a
skydiver. I was a skydiver
first, and long after you
leave, I’ll be a skydiver.”Your first HBO special was
directed by Spike Lee. This
one was directed by Bo
Burnham. I can’t think of
two people less alike.
I wanted Spike Lee for the
first one because I looked
at it like a documentary. This
one is based o≠ of a couple
years of conversations with
Bo talking about stand-up
and emotion and vulnerability.You’re so likable, but in the new
special, you basically push
the audience away by telling
them you don’t care about
anything. Were you trying to
see if you could win them
over without charming them?[The special is] really
invasive, right in your face
and past the charm or
any type of manipulation or
spin or anything that you
can do. This is me.It’s not like any stand-up
routine I’ve seen before.
It was arresting. But I have
to call you out on saying
you don’t care, when you
obviously care a lot about
‘The Carmichael Show’
and your comedy.
I do! I have feelings. Some
of them are broken, but
they’re there.What’s broken?
I’ll just give you $300 for
this session. You don’t
even know what’s a sore spot
on you until you touch it.jerrod carmichael’s
distinctive comedic
method involves
distancing an audience
with an o≠-putting
premise: His character
on TheCarmichael Show
buys tickets to a Bill Cosby
gig. He says in his HBO
special Love at the Store
that he now makes enough
money that “I could slap
a white woman and I’d
be free by Friday.” He
begins his new special, 8,
by proclaiming, “I don’t
care about anything.” But
by the time he concludes
each elliptical, twisted
bit, he’s made you complicit
in the subversion. And
you’re laughing.
anna peele sat down
with Carmichael after
his second appearance on
The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert to talk about biting
Malcolm X’s style and
how watching his stand-up
means confronting your
darkest thoughts.
This bit, from Carmichael’s
new HBO special, 8,
shows off his trademark
joke progression:
Alienate the audience.
Win them over.
Make them agree with
your alienating premise.
To be a great boyfriend, you
have to text.... That’s too
much work. And I could do
it. We could all do it. I know
what I could text a girl at
the end of a day. I could text
her something like, “Hey,
I know it’s been a rough
day at work, but that place
would fall apart without
you. And, quite frankly, so
would I.”Yeah, that’s a
fucking amazing text, right?
That’s a great text. Feel free
to use that, by the way. That’s
not just mine, that’s all of
ours.... That text took me
six hours to write. Six hours.
I could have cured cancer.
Instead, one text message.
I couldn’t have cured it,
but I could have started.How Carmichael
Works an Audience52 GQ.COM MAY 2017
THEPUNCHLISTCOURTESY OF ANDREW COOPER/PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ILLUSTRATION: WARD SUTTON.I’m actually in
‘Transformers’?