- 1 day ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:01:35What's going on Los Angeles?
00:01:39Welcome to the show.
00:01:41Thank you for coming out.
00:01:44Thank you for being here.
00:01:47This is so much fun.
00:01:48Welcome out.
00:01:50Oh, look at all of you.
00:01:53This is so dope.
00:01:54I love LA.
00:01:55I love everything about LA.
00:01:57Even the things that people hate about LA.
00:01:58I love.
00:01:59I love the traffic in LA.
00:02:00It's like one of my favorite experiences.
00:02:02Yeah.
00:02:02When you don't live here, it's great.
00:02:04It's wonderful.
00:02:05Because you get to be a part of it, but you know it's not yours forever.
00:02:07It's like another person's child.
00:02:08You know what I'm saying?
00:02:09Yeah.
00:02:10You get to be like, this is crazy.
00:02:11Have it back.
00:02:12That's what it feels like.
00:02:18I love it, man.
00:02:19I love the vibe.
00:02:21I love driving out here.
00:02:23And while I'm out here, I get to listen to the radio.
00:02:25Because you guys have great radio stations.
00:02:27Because you're always in your cars.
00:02:28In New York, radio is not a big thing for me living in New York.
00:02:31I ride my bicycle.
00:02:32I walk through the streets.
00:02:33I can't listen to music because I'll die.
00:02:36But in LA, that's all I do.
00:02:37You just listen to music.
00:02:39Now, these days when you're driving around, all you hear is trap music.
00:02:42That's the big thing you hear is trap.
00:02:44That's the new music on the radio.
00:02:45It's really fun.
00:02:46Trap.
00:02:46I don't understand what they're saying, but I enjoy it.
00:02:49Every single song is the same.
00:02:50Every trap song to me sounds like a toddler complaining about life.
00:02:54That's all I hear when I listen to trap songs.
00:02:56Every time a trap song plays on the radio, I think of my little brother.
00:02:59He'll go outside.
00:03:00He'll hurt himself.
00:03:01He'll come back crying.
00:03:02And it sounds like every single trap song ever.
00:03:03He'll walk in like,
00:03:07And I'll be like,
00:03:08Yo, Isaac, what happened, buddy?
00:03:12He'll be like,
00:03:13And I'll be like,
00:03:20And I'll be like,
00:03:26Yo, yo, yo, dude, slow down.
00:03:29I thought you were playing with your friends.
00:03:31What happened?
00:03:31All my friends are dead.
00:03:33Give me to the end.
00:03:35All my friends are dead now.
00:03:37Give me to the end now.
00:03:43I'll be like,
00:03:44Yo, go talk to your mom, man.
00:03:45I don't know what you're saying.
00:03:47Go talk to your mom.
00:03:54The city of angels.
00:03:55I love every moment, man.
00:03:56I'm enjoying myself.
00:03:58I just got back from vacation.
00:03:59So I'm having a great time.
00:04:01You know when you got that vacation swag?
00:04:02You know when you still got that thing?
00:04:03You know, you still feel loose.
00:04:05You feel relaxed.
00:04:07I went to Bali on vacation.
00:04:09Yeah.
00:04:09Out in Indonesia.
00:04:11Yeah.
00:04:11If you've never been, make a plan and get out there.
00:04:13It's an amazing place.
00:04:15I went out with some of my friends.
00:04:16Learned a few things about myself as a person.
00:04:18Most important thing I learned is somebody needs to invent a trip advisor specifically for black people.
00:04:25Right?
00:04:26No, because just generally I find that what white people want to do on vacation is what black people are
00:04:31trying to escape.
00:04:34And not in a bad way.
00:04:35It's just like we want different things out of life.
00:04:37You know?
00:04:37Like my white friends are always inviting me camping.
00:04:39For instance.
00:04:39Always.
00:04:40Like with enthusiasm.
00:04:41We're all like, Trevor, you want to go camping, dude?
00:04:43I'm like, why?
00:04:45Why?
00:04:46I was like, dude, what do you mean why?
00:04:47It's amazing.
00:04:47You're kidding me?
00:04:48It's like no water, no electricity, you know?
00:04:50It's just like us in the great outdoors.
00:04:52You got to like take a dump in the hole in the floor or something, dude.
00:04:56I'm like, yeah, that was my life.
00:04:59That was me growing up.
00:05:00You know how hard I worked to never go camping again?
00:05:06Every day.
00:05:08Every day.
00:05:10Every day I wake up in my bed and I'm like, thank God I'm not camping.
00:05:16If my family saw pictures of me camping, they would be devastated.
00:05:20My grandmother saw me out in the woods, she'd be like, oh, what happened to Trevor?
00:05:26Oh, I thought he was successful.
00:05:29Oh, no, it must be the crack.
00:05:38I'm going to go camping.
00:05:41So I went with my friends to Bali.
00:05:42They planned the trip.
00:05:44And before we went, I asked my friend, I was like, yo, Mitch, what are we going to be doing?
00:05:48And he was like, dude, don't ask questions, Trevor.
00:05:50It's just going to be a great time.
00:05:52I was like, yeah, I want to know what the great time is going to be about.
00:05:55He was like, dude, don't ask questions.
00:05:58I should have asked questions.
00:06:02Because we had fun.
00:06:03But the trip, like there were a few things that were weird that I wouldn't necessarily do on my own.
00:06:07For instance, on the third day of the trip, we had what was planned, what was built in our itinerary
00:06:12as an authentic Balinese experience.
00:06:16That's what they called an authentic Balinese experience.
00:06:18And what they did was, they woke us up at 5 a.m., put us in a little bus, and
00:06:22we drove for like three hours.
00:06:23And we got there, get out of the bus.
00:06:25We're like in the middle of it.
00:06:26It's like a remote village.
00:06:27And the little tour guide was really happy, way too happy for that time.
00:06:31And he's just like, welcome, everybody.
00:06:32Are you ready for a good time?
00:06:34And I'm like, yay.
00:06:37And so he's like, my name is Deng Basan, and I'm going to be your guide.
00:06:40Today, you will have an authentic Balinese experience.
00:06:43So exciting.
00:06:44Follow me.
00:06:45And so we follow him, and he walks up to a little door.
00:06:48And I'm like, oh, okay, this is going to be like a temple or a cave or something.
00:06:50And he's like, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the real Bali.
00:06:54And he opens the door into somebody's house.
00:06:58This is not a museum house.
00:06:59This is just a house.
00:07:00Like someone lives there every single day.
00:07:02He opens the door, and he's like, this is the home of someone in Bali.
00:07:08He eats here.
00:07:09He sleeps here.
00:07:11I'm like, does he know we're here?
00:07:14Because, like, we didn't knock.
00:07:16Nobody answered the door.
00:07:17For all I know, we're breaking and entering right now.
00:07:18We're in some weird Balinese gang.
00:07:19I don't know how this works.
00:07:21And as I'm about to ask the question, he turns, and he's like, over here, you can see the owner
00:07:26of the house.
00:07:26He's in the corner.
00:07:28And we turn, and there's a man the whole time.
00:07:29He was just sitting there, frozen stiff.
00:07:33And now I'm like, is this guy part of this?
00:07:35I don't know if we should be doing this or should not be doing this.
00:07:38And Dengba-san turns to him and starts speaking to him in Balinese.
00:07:40He's like, Dengba-san.
00:07:41He's like, Dengba-san.
00:07:42He's like, okay, you can touch anything.
00:07:46And so I'm like, oh, no, I don't think we should.
00:07:48Before I can even finish, the people in our tour group are like, yeah, touch it all.
00:07:54Oh, my God, touch it all.
00:07:56Oh, my God, does he sleep here?
00:07:58Oh, wow, is this where he eats?
00:08:00Oh, my God, I can never do this.
00:08:03Oh, my God.
00:08:05Excuse me.
00:08:06Thank you so much for having us.
00:08:08Oh, my God, I appreciate my life so much more right now.
00:08:12Thank you so much.
00:08:13This is horrible.
00:08:14Can we take a selfie?
00:08:18Are you on Instagram?
00:08:19I'll just put hashtag the man.
00:08:21Oh, my God.
00:08:22So I'm really awkward right now, right?
00:08:24Because this is like something culturally I'm not supposed to be doing.
00:08:27As an African person, I should not be in somebody's house rummaging through their life.
00:08:31So I'm standing in the corner, really uncomfortable.
00:08:34And the owner of the house, he's really accommodating.
00:08:37He's friendly.
00:08:38You know, he's like, yes, thank you.
00:08:39Enjoy.
00:08:40Enjoy.
00:08:41And then he turns and he looks at me.
00:08:43And this was one of the most magical moments, right?
00:08:46Because he was smiling at everyone else.
00:08:48And his face completely changed when he turned.
00:08:51His little hospital is like, yes, thank you.
00:08:58And with his eyes, he proceeded to have the most in-depth conversation with me that I've
00:09:04ever had.
00:09:04And it's not like the eyes conversation was new to me.
00:09:06Like, you can have an eyes conversation with anyone you have a connection with.
00:09:09You know what I'm talking about?
00:09:09Like, it could be somebody of the same race when you're in public.
00:09:12It could be like a husband and wife.
00:09:14Like, wives are really good at having eyes conversations.
00:09:16Like, they'll shit on you hard.
00:09:18Like, you'll be in public together and then you'll say something off.
00:09:20You'll be like, if only she did that.
00:09:22And she'll be like, oh, hell no.
00:09:23I cannot believe you said all of that.
00:09:25But it's just eyes.
00:09:26I cannot believe you said all of that.
00:09:27Wait until the next.
00:09:28Oh, you want to air our dirty laundry out in public?
00:09:29Oh, you're going to see how this is going to end up.
00:09:31Oh, you say this and enjoy this moment right now.
00:09:33Because you know it's over.
00:09:34And you're like, yeah, I shouldn't have done that.
00:09:36All with eyes, right?
00:09:38That's what he did to me.
00:09:39Because one minute he's smiling at everybody.
00:09:41And then he turns and he looks at me.
00:09:43And just with these eyes, he was like, what are you doing here?
00:09:47And so with my eyes, I was like, hey, man, I'm sorry.
00:09:49I didn't know this was your house.
00:09:51They said it was an authentic experience.
00:09:52That's why I came.
00:09:53He's like, yeah, authentic for white people.
00:09:56You got your own poor.
00:09:57Go back to where you came from.
00:10:00I said, yeah, I shouldn't be here, man.
00:10:01I'm sorry, man.
00:10:02I'm sorry.
00:10:05So I left.
00:10:07I go outside.
00:10:08About 15 minutes later, everyone's done with their poverty porn.
00:10:10So they come and join me.
00:10:13And Dengba San follows the crowd.
00:10:15And he's having a blast.
00:10:16You can tell.
00:10:17He walks out and he's like, everybody have a great time.
00:10:19I know you enjoyed that.
00:10:20Now it's time for a special surprise.
00:10:22Follow me, everybody, to the back.
00:10:24And he takes us to the back of the house.
00:10:26Where there's this area that they've laid out.
00:10:28Where clearly they have some sort of performance.
00:10:31There's a stage.
00:10:31There's raked seating.
00:10:32And he tells us to find our seats.
00:10:34And so we all sit down.
00:10:35And there's people from all over the world in our tour groups.
00:10:37Myself, my American friends.
00:10:38You've got some British people.
00:10:39There's a French family.
00:10:40A dad and his son.
00:10:41They sit next to me.
00:10:42And so I sit in the front row.
00:10:44And Dengba San comes back out.
00:10:45And all of a sudden, he's wearing like a giant Balinese headrest.
00:10:48Looking really beautiful, you know.
00:10:49And he looks at us and he's like, ladies and gentlemen.
00:10:51Are you ready for an authentic Balinese experience?
00:10:55Please welcome the snakes of Bali.
00:10:59I'm like, the what?
00:11:02I'm like, oh, he said snakes.
00:11:04The snakes of Bali.
00:11:06And I look.
00:11:07And there's snakes.
00:11:08There's a group of men gathering snakes to bring out to us.
00:11:13And so I'm like, oh, yeah, no.
00:11:15No, I don't.
00:11:16No.
00:11:16No, because you see, as a black person, culturally, I'm trying to not die.
00:11:22So I take all my stuff.
00:11:23I start packing it.
00:11:26And the French guy turns to me.
00:11:27And he's like, my friend, where are you going?
00:11:30I said, yeah, no.
00:11:31The guy said the snake's coming.
00:11:33So I'm going to move.
00:11:35I'm going to go to the back.
00:11:36He's like, you're moving because of the snake?
00:11:38I said, yeah.
00:11:40He said, why are you moving for the snake, my friend?
00:11:41Are you afraid of a snake?
00:11:44I said, yeah.
00:11:47That's exactly what I am.
00:11:48I'm afraid of the snakes.
00:11:49He's like, such a big man, but you're afraid of a snake?
00:11:53I said, yeah, with a big brain.
00:11:55That's why I'm afraid.
00:11:56It's a snake.
00:11:57Like, you're not going to trick me into not being afraid of a snake.
00:11:59Like, my toxic masculinity is not so high that I'll be like, yeah, you know what, man?
00:12:02Come on, snakey.
00:12:03Come on.
00:12:04It's a snake.
00:12:08Like, instead of just letting it go, this guy turns and he's like, I cannot believe
00:12:11it's a big man like this.
00:12:12Hey, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Pierre.
00:12:13He turns to his son.
00:12:13He's like, Jean-Pierre.
00:12:17And this kid's like, ha, ha, ha.
00:12:20Snake.
00:12:22Snake.
00:12:23And he's like, oui, oui, snake.
00:12:25Are you afraid?
00:12:26Snake.
00:12:27What is this?
00:12:28It's a snake.
00:12:30Snake.
00:12:32And these two carry on for like 15 seconds nonstop.
00:12:35Right?
00:12:36Just back and forth.
00:12:37Snake, snake, snake the whole time.
00:12:38He's like, snake.
00:12:39Are you scared?
00:12:40Snake.
00:12:40Snake.
00:12:41Snake.
00:12:42I'm like, whatever, man.
00:12:43You guys lost all your wars.
00:12:44So I go to the back.
00:12:46Right?
00:12:47I don't have time for this.
00:12:49I don't have time for this.
00:12:51Because there's snakes.
00:12:53So I go to the back, take all my stuff.
00:12:56I climb up and I'm sitting at the top, right?
00:12:58Because I want to see the show.
00:12:59I just don't want to be a part of it.
00:13:00Okay?
00:13:00And so I've got my stuff and I move all the way up to the top.
00:13:04And I sit there.
00:13:05And as I get there, the show starts.
00:13:07And Dengba-san's really excited.
00:13:08And he's like, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your first performer.
00:13:11The powerful python.
00:13:14And the dude comes out with a giant python wrapped around him.
00:13:18Right?
00:13:18And this guy had this cool trick where the python would squeeze him really tight.
00:13:23Super tight.
00:13:24So tight you could almost hear his bones cracking.
00:13:26Right?
00:13:26And then he'd make a sound.
00:13:28He'd be like...
00:13:31And the snake would let go.
00:13:33And then it would start squeezing him again.
00:13:35And he'd be like...
00:13:38And the snake would let go.
00:13:40And it would squeeze him again.
00:13:41And he'd make the same sound.
00:13:42He'd be like...
00:13:44And the snake would let go.
00:13:45And I was like, wow, this is dope.
00:13:46This is cool.
00:13:47Yeah.
00:13:48They're in a consensual relationship.
00:13:49I like this.
00:13:49This is...
00:13:51And so he leaves with the snake.
00:13:53The next performer comes out.
00:13:54And this guy had a...
00:13:55He had a green...
00:13:56He had a green mamba with him.
00:13:58Right?
00:13:58And so Dengba-san's like, ladies and gentlemen, the green mamba!
00:14:02And this guy comes out.
00:14:03And he had a cool trick where he took the lid off the basket.
00:14:05And the green mamba would come out.
00:14:07And then it would start doing like a little move.
00:14:09And then someone would play music.
00:14:10And then the snake charmer would dance with the snake.
00:14:12And they'd do the same moves.
00:14:13It was dope.
00:14:13It was like a Justin Timberlake video.
00:14:15Just the two of them.
00:14:15Played back and forth.
00:14:16I was like, oh, that was dope.
00:14:17And the snake goes back in.
00:14:19And then Dengba-san came out one final time.
00:14:21And he's like, now, ladies and gentlemen.
00:14:23Are you ready for the final part of the show?
00:14:26Please welcome the King Cobra!
00:14:29And the final performer comes out.
00:14:31The cobra puts the snake down.
00:14:34And this is the lid.
00:14:35The snake comes out.
00:14:36And I don't know what it was about this snake.
00:14:39But you could feel the energy change.
00:14:41Like, they were all snakes.
00:14:44But the snake looked mean.
00:14:46You know?
00:14:47Like, it looked like it hated life.
00:14:49There was something about it.
00:14:50Like, the snake looked like it had a mortgage.
00:14:58Because it looked at us.
00:15:01And then it fixed its eyes on the charmer.
00:15:04And he was really cool and calm.
00:15:06He didn't even look at the snake.
00:15:07He addressed us.
00:15:08He was like, ladies and gentlemen.
00:15:10They say the cobra can strike faster than the man can blink.
00:15:15But can a man move faster than the snake can think?
00:15:20And I'm like, ooh.
00:15:24I don't know what that means.
00:15:27But I'm in.
00:15:29Because it sounds like a dumb Instagram quote.
00:15:31But I'm in.
00:15:33And this guy had the most amazing trick.
00:15:34What he did was, he got right up close to the snake.
00:15:39And he put his hands behind his back.
00:15:41And then he would make it seem like he was going to kiss the snake.
00:15:45And the snake would be no further than like a foot from his face.
00:15:50And then he would make this sound.
00:15:52Like a kissing sound.
00:15:53And as he made the sound, the snake would try to bite him.
00:15:55And then he'd move out of the way.
00:15:56I've never seen anything like it.
00:15:58So he leaned in and he's like, come on, snake.
00:16:06Too slow, snakey.
00:16:10Try again.
00:16:15No love for you, my friend.
00:16:18Come on, snakey.
00:16:19And all of us, all of us are enthralled.
00:16:21Every single one of us.
00:16:22No one's making a sound.
00:16:23No one's moving.
00:16:24And he does it over and over again.
00:16:26And then, to take it to the next level, he closes his eyes.
00:16:30Pouts his lips.
00:16:31And I guess at this point, the snake was probably like,
00:16:36Oh, I think I figured this out.
00:16:40This dude's going to make the sound.
00:16:42And then he's going to move.
00:16:44But if I bite before the sound, I can change everyone's lives.
00:16:50Because that's exactly what the snake does.
00:16:56The guy closes his eyes, pouts his lips.
00:16:59Before he can make the sound, the snake strikes him.
00:17:01Pah!
00:17:02Bam!
00:17:02Hits him on the mouth.
00:17:03Right?
00:17:04Cuts his lip open.
00:17:05Blood goes spraying everywhere.
00:17:07Now, that should be the end of the story.
00:17:09That should be the craziest part of the story.
00:17:10No.
00:17:10This is the middle.
00:17:13This thing hits him on the mouth.
00:17:14The blood goes spraying.
00:17:16This guy jumps back and then acts like he didn't just get bitten by a snake.
00:17:22Which makes us think we're crazy.
00:17:24Because we all saw it.
00:17:24Everyone in the audience was like,
00:17:25Oh!
00:17:26And then he jumps back.
00:17:27And he goes, he just like shakes it off.
00:17:29You know what he did?
00:17:29He did that thing.
00:17:30You know that thing that people do?
00:17:31Where like you get their hand jammed in a car door or something?
00:17:34Like, you know, like it's slammed.
00:17:35And then people would just be like,
00:17:39He did that, but with a snake.
00:17:42So the snake hits him.
00:17:44The blood sprays.
00:17:45And he jumps back and he's like,
00:17:52Don't worry, we're fine.
00:17:53Don't worry.
00:17:54Don't worry.
00:17:55Everybody, we're fine.
00:17:56Relax, relax.
00:17:57We're fine.
00:17:57We're fine.
00:17:58We're fine.
00:17:58But we weren't fine.
00:17:59You know how we know this?
00:18:00Because his face started melting on the one side.
00:18:02Right?
00:18:03So his face starts melting.
00:18:04His lips starts turning blue.
00:18:05And he goes back to do his kiss trick again.
00:18:08But he can't even stand.
00:18:09And then he looks at the snake.
00:18:10The snake looks at him.
00:18:11And he's like,
00:18:11Okay, show is done.
00:18:12Good night, everybody.
00:18:13Goodbye.
00:18:14Good night.
00:18:14He runs off.
00:18:16And all of us now, all of us,
00:18:18are just like,
00:18:18What the hell just happened?
00:18:19Right?
00:18:20He runs off.
00:18:22I have questions in my head.
00:18:24I'm like,
00:18:24Is he gonna be okay?
00:18:25Do we get our money back?
00:18:28How does this work?
00:18:31And then we turn back.
00:18:32And we realize,
00:18:34He's forgotten his snake.
00:18:38And you know what the worst thing was?
00:18:40Is it seemed like the snake realized the same thing at the same time.
00:18:45Cause the snake also watched him leave.
00:18:47And then as we turned back,
00:18:48The snake was also like,
00:18:49Oh, shit.
00:18:56And so now,
00:18:57It's just us,
00:19:00And the snake.
00:19:03And mind you,
00:19:04There's no barrier.
00:19:05Right?
00:19:06There's no concrete.
00:19:07There's no glass.
00:19:08There's nothing.
00:19:08It's an authentic Balinese experience.
00:19:14So we're all staring at the snake.
00:19:16The snake is staring at us.
00:19:19And then,
00:19:20One genius decided now would be the perfect time to get an Instagram picture.
00:19:25And I don't know if it was the camera, the sound, or the flash.
00:19:28All I heard was,
00:19:29Click.
00:19:30And the snake jumped up and was like,
00:19:33And we were all like,
00:19:36And then it was chaos.
00:19:38Pandemonium ensued.
00:19:39Now don't forget,
00:19:39I was at the back.
00:19:40So I just jumped off.
00:19:41I was like,
00:19:41Haha, being black saved me.
00:19:45I was out.
00:19:50Panic ensued.
00:19:50Panic ensued.
00:19:51Everyone jumps up.
00:19:52People are trying to scramble,
00:19:53Like trampling over each other.
00:19:55The French guy was my favorite.
00:19:56Cause he jumps up and he's like,
00:19:57Sacré bleu!
00:19:59Le serpent!
00:20:00Le serpent!
00:20:01Allez Jean-Pierre, allez!
00:20:03And he's pushing the people and he's running.
00:20:04He's like,
00:20:04Allez! Jean-Pierre!
00:20:05Jean-Pierre!
00:20:06And when he turns,
00:20:07His son hasn't moved.
00:20:09Right?
00:20:09So little Jean-Pierre is planted to the spot, terrified.
00:20:12And you see his face.
00:20:13He's like,
00:20:13Papa!
00:20:14Papa!
00:20:14Papa!
00:20:16Papa!
00:20:16He's like Jean-Pierre!
00:20:17Allez Jean-Pierre!
00:20:18Allez mon ami!
00:20:18He's like,
00:20:19Papa!
00:20:20Papa!
00:20:20And so the dad realizes he's got to go back in and save his kid.
00:20:23Right?
00:20:24But now this is one of those moments where I think you can see the fundamental difference between
00:20:27mothers and fathers.
00:20:28Right?
00:20:29Because,
00:20:30A mother,
00:20:31A mother would run in without thinking and she'd be like,
00:20:33I will die for my child.
00:20:36Strike me now snake.
00:20:38Right?
00:20:38That's moms.
00:20:39Dads will also save their kid but in the back of their head you know the dad is thinking,
00:20:42Yo!
00:20:43I'm gonna save my kid!
00:20:44But I don't wanna die.
00:20:45I mean,
00:20:46I don't wanna die because this dumbass didn't know to run when his dad was running.
00:20:52I mean there's a snake and I start running.
00:20:54Why wouldn't you run at the same time?
00:20:56Now I gotta die for your dumbass which makes no sense cause I can make another one of you.
00:21:00You can't make another one of me.
00:21:02I should just make you a brother and we can mourn your dumbass death together.
00:21:06I don't even know why we're doing this right now.
00:21:08I think that's what the dad was thinking.
00:21:10Right?
00:21:10Because he didn't fully commit.
00:21:12Instead,
00:21:12He tried to sneak in behind his kid.
00:21:15And then he grabs the back of his hoodie and yanks him to safety.
00:21:18So now little Jean-Pierre is choking in the ground.
00:21:20He's like,
00:21:21Papa!
00:21:23Papa!
00:21:23Papa!
00:21:24And he finally gets him to the side.
00:21:26And another snake charmer comes running out,
00:21:28grabs the snake,
00:21:29puts it in the sack.
00:21:30And finally,
00:21:31danger is averted.
00:21:32Everybody is safe.
00:21:33Everyone is safe,
00:21:34but terrified.
00:21:35Some people are crying.
00:21:37Others are in shock.
00:21:38I'm standing on the side watching all of this.
00:21:40Little Jean-Pierre is there with his dad.
00:21:41They're both in tears like,
00:21:42Désolé, mon ami.
00:21:44Désolé, Jean-Pierre.
00:21:44Désolé.
00:21:45He's like,
00:21:45Papa!
00:21:48And I don't speak French,
00:21:49but I know this kid was like,
00:21:50You asshole!
00:21:51You left me!
00:21:53I'm gonna tell Mom!
00:21:59And so I'm staring at them.
00:22:01And I guess they could feel that I was staring.
00:22:04So they both stopped at the same time.
00:22:07And they turned and looked at me,
00:22:09and I looked at them.
00:22:10And in that moment,
00:22:12in that moment,
00:22:12I realized,
00:22:14we're all human beings.
00:22:15We'll experience the same thing.
00:22:17We went through the same trauma.
00:22:18No matter what happened to us before,
00:22:19we are all human beings.
00:22:21Because they looked at me,
00:22:22and I could see in their eyes
00:22:23what they had just experienced,
00:22:24what I had experienced.
00:22:25And in that pause,
00:22:26I bent down.
00:22:27I got real close to them,
00:22:28and I was like,
00:22:30Snake!
00:22:46That's how racism starts.
00:22:50But you know what?
00:22:51It was worth it.
00:22:52Yeah, it was worth it.
00:22:55I love traveling, man.
00:22:57I love traveling and learning about places,
00:22:59reading things,
00:23:00meeting new people.
00:23:04When I think about, like,
00:23:05the history of racism,
00:23:06I'm fascinated by racism as a concept,
00:23:09as an action,
00:23:11policy.
00:23:12All of it fascinates me.
00:23:13I read these stories in history.
00:23:15And one of the most fascinating things
00:23:17I read about recently,
00:23:18one of the most fascinating places,
00:23:19was a place called Rochester, New York.
00:23:22Where, genuinely, this blew my mind,
00:23:24where they had a city
00:23:27which was basically dedicated
00:23:28to rehabilitating people
00:23:31who had escaped slavery.
00:23:33Right?
00:23:34So, black people who had escaped the South,
00:23:36got into the North,
00:23:38were rehabilitated at this place.
00:23:40Frederick Douglass wrote many of his works there.
00:23:42The suffragette movement kicked off there.
00:23:44It's a powerful, powerful little place.
00:23:46And, like, I was reading these stories
00:23:47and what they would do is,
00:23:49slaves would escape from the South,
00:23:51they'd make their way to the North,
00:23:52they would get to Rochester,
00:23:53the Underground Railroad would get them there.
00:23:55And then, they would rehabilitate them,
00:23:57put them on boats,
00:23:58and send them to Canada.
00:23:59So that they could live free.
00:24:01And I was like, that's, like,
00:24:02it's a fascinating story.
00:24:03For two reasons.
00:24:04One, to remind you that there were a lot of good people,
00:24:06white people out there,
00:24:07because a lot of time I get angry at white people,
00:24:08and then I'm like, no, no,
00:24:09there's good ones, calm down.
00:24:12And the second part of it that was amazing,
00:24:14was that they convinced black people to get back on boats.
00:24:17I think...
00:24:20That's one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.
00:24:24Because, like, do you know how convincing you'd have to be
00:24:28to convince someone who's just...
00:24:30Like, they've just escaped slavery.
00:24:32Think about that for a second.
00:24:33Somebody's just escaped slavery.
00:24:35They've made their way there, finally.
00:24:36All right?
00:24:37They wake up after one night of free sleep.
00:24:40And they walk out, and it's just like,
00:24:41Hey, man.
00:24:43I just wanna say thank you so much for everything you did for me, man.
00:24:46Well, you know what, my friend?
00:24:47Nobody deserves to live the way you lived,
00:24:48and I'm glad we got you out.
00:24:50Thank you so much.
00:24:51I appreciate you, brother.
00:24:53Thank you, my friend.
00:24:54Okay.
00:24:54All we gotta do now is get you some paperwork,
00:24:57get you cleaned up,
00:24:58and put you on a boat, get you to Canada,
00:24:59and you can live a free life,
00:25:01and everything's gonna be better.
00:25:02Uh, I'm sorry.
00:25:03Hold up, hold up.
00:25:05Uh...
00:25:05Yeah, go...
00:25:06Yeah, could you come again?
00:25:08You...
00:25:08What did you say?
00:25:09Oh, I know the paperwork thing is weird,
00:25:11but we gotta get you some identification.
00:25:13Nah, nah, nah.
00:25:14You said something about a boat?
00:25:16Yeah, we're gonna get you on a boat
00:25:17so you can get to Canada.
00:25:18Yeah, yeah, nah.
00:25:19I don't...
00:25:19I don't...
00:25:20Yeah, we don't do boats.
00:25:22No more.
00:25:22I don't know if you know our history,
00:25:24but me and my people,
00:25:25we took a cruise one time,
00:25:26that shit didn't go so well.
00:25:28So, yeah, we...
00:25:30We gotta find another way to get to Canada,
00:25:31if you don't mind.
00:25:33No, but the boat is the best way
00:25:34for us to get there from Rochester.
00:25:35Yeah, that might be the best way for y'all,
00:25:38but we gonna walk.
00:25:39Uh, hell, we can run.
00:25:41We can run real good.
00:25:42We can run,
00:25:42but we ain't getting on no boat.
00:25:44My friend, you gotta get on the boat.
00:25:46Man, I ain't gotta do shit.
00:25:48I just got free.
00:25:49Imagine if I get on that boat
00:25:50and on the other side,
00:25:50I'm in the same place.
00:25:51What they gonna say to me?
00:25:52Why'd you get on that boat?
00:25:53Cause he was real nice.
00:25:54Oh, hell no.
00:25:55I ain't getting on no boat.
00:25:56Well, you gotta get on the boat, though.
00:25:58You gotta get...
00:25:59You're free now.
00:26:00You gotta get over this.
00:26:01Look, man, maybe one day
00:26:02in a few hundred years,
00:26:03one of my descendants named Kanye West
00:26:04will be over this shit,
00:26:05but I ain't over it right now.
00:26:08So I ain't getting on no boat.
00:26:12We gotta get you on the boat, dammit!
00:26:15I'm not getting on no boat!
00:26:16Oh!
00:26:17And that was the day
00:26:19the phrase,
00:26:20nigger please,
00:26:20was invented.
00:26:29That white man turned and he was like,
00:26:31nigger please,
00:26:32I need you on that boat!
00:26:38And that story was passed down,
00:26:40generation to generation,
00:26:42black person to black person,
00:26:43free man to free man.
00:26:44And that white man got down on his knees
00:26:46and he said,
00:26:46nigger please,
00:26:48nigger please,
00:26:49nigger please.
00:26:50I ain't never heard that phrase
00:26:51before in my life.
00:26:52Nigger please,
00:26:53nigger please,
00:26:54nigger please.
00:26:57nigger please.
00:26:57I know, I know,
00:26:59that's probably a phrase
00:27:00Barack Obama used at least once
00:27:02in the White House.
00:27:03At least once.
00:27:06Like, Mr. President,
00:27:07do you think Trump is because of you?
00:27:09Do you think you caused this?
00:27:10Ah, nigger please.
00:27:13Just one time.
00:27:15One time I know he used it.
00:27:20Actually, I had the pleasure of meeting
00:27:22President Obama while he was still in office.
00:27:24It was probably one of the craziest experiences
00:27:25I've ever had in my life.
00:27:26Yeah, I was...
00:27:29Came out of nowhere.
00:27:30Came out of nowhere.
00:27:31I was at the Daily Show,
00:27:32I was in my office
00:27:33and I got a phone call from the administration.
00:27:35And someone on the other end was like,
00:27:37Hi Trevor,
00:27:37would you like to interview the President
00:27:38of the United States in the White House?
00:27:40And I was like,
00:27:41do you ask stupid questions?
00:27:43I was like,
00:27:44of course I want to meet the President
00:27:45of the United States.
00:27:46Are you serious?
00:27:47And the day finally came,
00:27:49went to DC with my TV crew
00:27:51and they set us up in a room
00:27:53which is literally opposite the Oval Office.
00:27:56We put all our cameras in place.
00:27:58All we're doing now is waiting
00:27:59for the President to arrive.
00:28:00So we're staring at the door
00:28:01with bated breath.
00:28:03And the reason we're staring is because
00:28:04they don't give you an exact time
00:28:05of the President's arrival
00:28:06for his safety.
00:28:07Right?
00:28:08So they just give you a window
00:28:08like the cable guy.
00:28:13So we're all waiting there,
00:28:15listening to every footstep,
00:28:16every moment.
00:28:17And then he just popped in behind us,
00:28:19scared the shit out of everybody.
00:28:21Yeah,
00:28:21because there's a secret door
00:28:22but they don't tell you.
00:28:23Again, for safety.
00:28:24Right?
00:28:24So we're staring at that door
00:28:25and all of a sudden he was like,
00:28:25Hello?
00:28:26And I was like,
00:28:26Ah!
00:28:29But I had a great time
00:28:30in the interview with him.
00:28:31He was really, really kind
00:28:33to everyone in the room
00:28:34and then we turned off the cameras
00:28:35and I promise you
00:28:36he became even nicer.
00:28:37We just had a conversation.
00:28:38I thought he was going to leave.
00:28:39I mean, he's President of the United States.
00:28:40You've got to go do something.
00:28:42And he just chilled for a bit, you know?
00:28:43And we spoke as human beings
00:28:44and it went really well
00:28:47until he turned to me
00:28:49and he said,
00:28:49Trevor, you know,
00:28:51actually I've got a show
00:28:52that I'm doing in a few weeks.
00:28:53A little thing
00:28:55that I thought maybe you'd want to pop by
00:28:56and perform if you don't mind.
00:28:58I said, Mr. President,
00:28:59I would be honored.
00:29:00You just let me know when and where.
00:29:01What's the show going to be for, sir?
00:29:03He said,
00:29:03Well, Trevor, I'm doing a little thing
00:29:04for my aides
00:29:05and I thought maybe you'd want to be there.
00:29:07I said,
00:29:08I would love to.
00:29:09I'm sorry, a show for what?
00:29:11He said,
00:29:11For my aides, Trevor.
00:29:14He said,
00:29:16You have AIDS?
00:29:24And then,
00:29:26and then he explained
00:29:29what he meant.
00:29:33And I wanted the earth to swallow me whole.
00:29:40Because I had just looked at the President of the United States
00:29:46and asked him if he had AIDS.
00:29:52And you know what the worst thing is?
00:29:54Is that he was nice to me as well.
00:29:57Because I said that and then he explained
00:29:59and then I was like,
00:29:59I'm so sorry, Mr. President.
00:30:00I didn't mean that.
00:30:01I don't even know why.
00:30:01I thought it was just like you said AIDS
00:30:02and then like the AIDS.
00:30:03You know,
00:30:04because here's the thing.
00:30:04In my defense,
00:30:05in my defense,
00:30:06right,
00:30:06I get it now.
00:30:07He means AIDS as in the White House AIDS,
00:30:09the people who help the President.
00:30:11I get it now.
00:30:12But in my defense,
00:30:13where I'm from,
00:30:14AIDS is some other shit that doesn't help anybody.
00:30:17No one in Africa is walking around like,
00:30:18let me introduce you to my AIDS, huh?
00:30:23So now I'm here and I'm frazzled.
00:30:25I'm like, Mr. President,
00:30:25I'm so sorry.
00:30:25I didn't mean that.
00:30:26You don't have AIDS.
00:30:28And even if you did have AIDS,
00:30:29there's nothing wrong with having AIDS.
00:30:30There's no stigma.
00:30:31This will be cool.
00:30:32Actually, I don't even know why I'm saying this.
00:30:33I'm so sorry.
00:30:33And he's like, Trevor, Trevor, calm down.
00:30:35Trevor, Trevor, calm down.
00:30:37I was like,
00:30:37I'm so sorry, Mr. President.
00:30:38I'm so sorry.
00:30:38I shouldn't have said
00:30:39I'm probably the dumbest person you've ever met, Mr. President.
00:30:41He's like, no, Trevor, Trevor, calm.
00:30:42I said, I'm the dumbest person you've ever met.
00:30:44He's like, no, Trevor.
00:30:45That's not true.
00:30:46I've met Trump.
00:30:48Get out of here.
00:30:54So smooth.
00:30:59I'm used to it in life, though.
00:31:01This is something that commonly happens to me living in the U.S.
00:31:05You know, I understand it as an idea.
00:31:07If you move to another country,
00:31:08you're probably going to have to learn another language.
00:31:10I didn't realize that would happen in America as well,
00:31:12because I speak English,
00:31:13but here people speak American.
00:31:15Similar but not the same.
00:31:16Right?
00:31:18It's like small things change.
00:31:19Small things.
00:31:20And I accept that small things change.
00:31:21Like pronunciation.
00:31:22For instance, the thing you drink,
00:31:24I call that water.
00:31:26Yes, water.
00:31:26In American, you say water.
00:31:28Right?
00:31:28Water.
00:31:29Yeah.
00:31:29I say water because there's a T in the word.
00:31:32Right?
00:31:34Um...
00:31:35The glass you see yourself in every morning,
00:31:37I refer to that as a mirror.
00:31:38Yeah?
00:31:38Right?
00:31:39In American, you say a mirror.
00:31:40Right?
00:31:41A mirror.
00:31:42Yeah, which is not the same thing to me.
00:31:43A mirror is the glass.
00:31:44A mirror is a Middle Eastern man.
00:31:46Very different experience.
00:31:47It's not the same thing.
00:31:49And that's just pronunciation.
00:31:51Right?
00:31:52You also have to learn the meanings of words that you already knew
00:31:55when you moved to America.
00:31:57For instance, where I'm from,
00:31:58there's a garment that men commonly wear under their shirts.
00:32:01It's white and it's sleeveless.
00:32:03Yeah?
00:32:04Where I'm from, we refer to this as a vest.
00:32:06Okay?
00:32:07I've now learned in American, it is known as a wife beater.
00:32:12Yeah.
00:32:12I have so many questions.
00:32:16And so the best and worst experience I had learning American
00:32:20happened to me when I actually, when I first moved to the US.
00:32:22I lived in California, in Pasadena,
00:32:24when I first came to the United States.
00:32:26Right?
00:32:28And the reason I lived in Pasadena is because that's where I knew
00:32:30my first American friend.
00:32:32A guy by the name of David Meyer.
00:32:33He came to South Africa to film a documentary.
00:32:35We became the best of friends.
00:32:38And one day we were hanging out in Dave's apartment.
00:32:41And Dave's chilling on his bean bag.
00:32:43And he looks over at me and he's like,
00:32:46Trevor, dude, I don't know about you right now,
00:32:51but I'm starving.
00:32:55He said, uh, I think you mean you're hungry, Dave.
00:33:01He said, what?
00:33:02He said, it doesn't matter.
00:33:02It doesn't matter.
00:33:03What do you want to eat?
00:33:06He said, you know what I'm craving right now, man?
00:33:08I'm craving tacos.
00:33:10I was like, oh, that sounds like fun.
00:33:12Let's do it, man.
00:33:13Let's go to tacos.
00:33:15What?
00:33:18He said, isn't that the restaurant you're craving?
00:33:20Tacos?
00:33:22Are you being serious right now?
00:33:25You've never had tacos?
00:33:28He said, no, I don't know what tacos is.
00:33:31You've never had tacos?
00:33:36My answer hasn't changed from now, Dave, no.
00:33:40I've never had tacos.
00:33:41You've never had tacos?
00:33:44And by the way, I hate when people do that.
00:33:46You know when people ask you the same question over and over again?
00:33:48Because they can't believe you haven't had the exact same life experience?
00:33:51You know that thing people do?
00:33:52Like with everything.
00:33:53They'll be like, oh my God, have you heard the new Beyonce?
00:33:54No, no, I have.
00:33:55You haven't heard the new Beyonce?
00:33:57No, no, I have.
00:33:57You haven't heard the new Beyonce?
00:33:59Oh no, now I have.
00:34:01Now I have.
00:34:02Now I have.
00:34:05No, I'd never had tacos, right?
00:34:07I'd never had tacos because in South Africa we don't really have Mexican food.
00:34:10Okay, we don't have Mexican food because we don't have Mexicans.
00:34:13They never came over.
00:34:14It's not my fault.
00:34:17Dave was personally offended.
00:34:20I'll never forget.
00:34:21He jumped up and he was like, dude, I cannot believe you've been in America all this time
00:34:25and you've never had tacos?
00:34:27I said, Dave, why is it such a big deal?
00:34:29He's like, because Trevor, nothing says America like tacos.
00:34:37I said, really?
00:34:40Nothing says America like Mexican food?
00:34:44And you know what's funny is I feel like in that moment, I feel like Dave was being profound.
00:34:49He didn't even realize it, but that was a profound little nugget that he had just espoused.
00:34:54Nothing says America like tacos.
00:34:57I've had the privilege of traveling everywhere in this beautiful country.
00:35:00I've been to places like Erie, Pennsylvania, El Paso, Texas, Honolulu, Hawaii, you know.
00:35:06I've been everywhere and one thing I've learned across the board in America is that Americans love tacos.
00:35:20Everywhere you go, Americans love tacos.
00:35:26Love tacos.
00:35:28Even people you wouldn't expect.
00:35:29Like, I was watching the news one day and there was a guy at a rally, right?
00:35:33And they were asking him about immigration and families being separated, etc.
00:35:37And this guy, like, regardless of his politics, like, he was being really mean and xenophobic and racist, you know,
00:35:43just acting real presidential.
00:35:45And the journalist asked him, the journalist asked him about children and he just went straight and he was like,
00:35:52Boy, I'll tell you what, I don't give a damn about any of these goddamn Mexicans, you heard?
00:35:56They came over here, they ain't supposed to be here, boy.
00:35:58Woo!
00:36:00It's our country now, you heard?
00:36:02That's right, boy, go back to where he came from.
00:36:04Woo!
00:36:06These Mexicans ain't done nothing good, they ain't brought nothing good to America, we don't need y'all.
00:36:11Come on, Bubba!
00:36:12It's Taco Tuesdays!
00:36:19Get out of here, but leave the recipes.
00:36:24I feel like there should be a rule in America.
00:36:26They should say, you can hate immigrants all you want, but if you do, you don't get to eat their
00:36:31food.
00:36:32Yeah?
00:36:35That's a fair exchange for me.
00:36:38You hate immigrants?
00:36:40No immigrant food.
00:36:42And when I say no immigrant food, I mean no immigrant food, nothing.
00:36:45No Mexican food, no Caribbean food, no Dominican food, no Asian food, nothing.
00:36:50Only potatoes.
00:36:55And I'm not even saying, like, flavored potatoes, I'm just saying plain potatoes.
00:37:00No spice.
00:37:02Because no immigrants, no spice, don't ever forget that.
00:37:05Both figuratively and literally, no spice.
00:37:08And I know some people would take that, I know, I know.
00:37:10I know there's some people right now who'd be like, well, you know what, Trevor, take your immigrants, take your
00:37:13spice and get the hell out of here.
00:37:16Eh, you say that now.
00:37:19Because you've never lived a life without spice.
00:37:23But don't ever forget, a life without spice was so hard, so hard, that it made white people sail around
00:37:34the world to find it.
00:37:39And like, this wasn't regular sailing, this wasn't like a Disney cruise.
00:37:49These people sailed at a time when they believed if you went that way, you would fall off the edge
00:37:55of the earth and die.
00:37:59And still, some man out there was eating some white lady's cooking and he was like, I can't do this
00:38:06shit anymore.
00:38:08I'm sailing that way.
00:38:11But what if you die?
00:38:13At least it's exciting.
00:38:18No immigrants, no spice.
00:38:22And definitely no tacos.
00:38:25And I know my friend Dave would never allow that.
00:38:26I've never seen him so passionate.
00:38:28He got up, he gave me a speech about tacos like he was the heir to a taco dynasty.
00:38:32He finally turned to me, he's like, Trevor, it's your friend and he's an American.
00:38:35I'm gonna make sure that you get tacos if it's the last thing I ever do.
00:38:40I was like, why don't we just go now, Dave?
00:38:41He's like, that'll work.
00:38:44You know what my favorite part of any conversation is?
00:38:46Is when people think you're gonna argue with them but you agree and they've already chosen anger.
00:38:52Because nobody, nobody just changes their tone.
00:38:55Everyone has to stick in the anger for a while because they think it makes them seem less crazy.
00:38:59Like, it happens in relationships all the time.
00:39:01You'll have a fight that's not a fight.
00:39:02You know, just be like, God damn it, Karen.
00:39:04Every time I ask for your support, you're not there for me and it hurts me sometimes.
00:39:08You know what, Bob?
00:39:09I'm sorry.
00:39:09No, don't try and thank you very much.
00:39:12I didn't think you would apologize and so I chose this tone and now I feel like an idiot.
00:39:17I'm gonna leave the room and reset.
00:39:23I wasn't gonna fight.
00:39:24I wanna have tacos.
00:39:26Let's go get tacos, Dave.
00:39:28So we rolled together, jumped into the car.
00:39:30And so we drove for about 20 minutes to what I thought was going to be a restaurant.
00:39:43Instead, Dave pulls over into an abandoned parking lot.
00:39:53Kills the engine, looks over at me and goes, alright dude, we're here.
00:39:59I was like, where?
00:40:01At my murder scene?
00:40:03I was like, no dude, we're getting tacos over there.
00:40:06And he points and in the corner of the parking lot was a truck.
00:40:08Alright?
00:40:09A food truck.
00:40:10Yeah.
00:40:10Which I've now learned is quite common in America.
00:40:12In fact, some of the best food you'll find at a food truck.
00:40:13But at that moment in time, you have to forgive me, I was a little bit apprehensive.
00:40:18Okay?
00:40:18Yeah, I just wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of getting my food from an establishment
00:40:21that would not be there the next day.
00:40:25I feel like there's a certain level of accountability that comes with permanence.
00:40:33Dave was adamant though.
00:40:34He's like, dude, you gotta get it from a truck, dude.
00:40:36That's how you know it's real.
00:40:36I was like, alright, let's just get this over with.
00:40:38Let's do it.
00:40:39So I hop out of the car, walk up to the truck.
00:40:42And it was definitely a taco truck because there's a sign above it flashing that read
00:40:44tacos.
00:40:47Tacos.
00:40:49Tacos.
00:40:51By the way, weird piece of trivia about me as a person.
00:40:53I hate signs that flash but don't change.
00:40:57Yeah, I always feel like a sign shouldn't be allowed to flash unless it intermittently changes
00:41:02to some other information.
00:41:04Otherwise, I think that's wasted suspense.
00:41:05It should be illegal.
00:41:08Because it always catches my eye and then I wait for something else like,
00:41:11Tacos!
00:41:11And?
00:41:12Tacos!
00:41:13And what else?
00:41:14Tacos!
00:41:14Anything else?
00:41:15Tacos!
00:41:15Just stay on tacos!
00:41:18Anyway, now I'm irritated.
00:41:20I walk up to the truck and as I get there, this little dude pops out.
00:41:23And he was in a completely different mood to me.
00:41:25You could tell.
00:41:26He just popped his head out.
00:41:26I was like, hey, how you doing, man?
00:41:28You want some tacos?
00:41:30I said, ah, it would be awkward if we didn't.
00:41:34He says, what?
00:41:35Oh, yeah, yeah, of course, man, of course.
00:41:37But you never know.
00:41:37Maybe you want something else, yeah?
00:41:39I said, oh, what else do you have, my friend?
00:41:41He said, no, nothing, man.
00:41:42It's a taco truck.
00:41:45I said, oh, thank you.
00:41:47That's a moment of my life I'll never get back.
00:41:48Thank you very much.
00:41:49I said, no, no, no.
00:41:51Calmate, man.
00:41:52I'm just staying.
00:41:52You know, I don't want to waste your time.
00:41:54You want tacos?
00:41:54Let's do tacos.
00:41:55How many tacos do you want, my friend?
00:41:56I said, well, I don't know how many tacos to get, sir.
00:41:58I've never had tacos before.
00:42:00He said, you've never had tacos?
00:42:03He said, no, I have.
00:42:04You've never had tacos?
00:42:07He's like, oh, you should meet my friend Dave.
00:42:10Because, like, I'm not going to order food when I don't know what it is, okay?
00:42:14I don't know what the quantities are.
00:42:15I don't know what tacos are.
00:42:16I don't know what taco is.
00:42:17I don't know what taco be.
00:42:18Okay?
00:42:18What do you say?
00:42:19How many do you get?
00:42:20Because just now I'm going to be like, give me five.
00:42:21What if tacos are like little pigs or something?
00:42:23I'm like, give me five.
00:42:24Next thing I'm walking home, I'm like, whee!
00:42:27Whee!
00:42:28Whee!
00:42:28And that's how I started my farm.
00:42:30I have no clue what these things are.
00:42:34So I'm like, yo, man.
00:42:36I just want to try the food.
00:42:37Just give me enough to try.
00:42:38He's like, okay.
00:42:38You're just trying it out.
00:42:39Two tacos is enough, my friend.
00:42:40I said, okay.
00:42:41Then give me two tacos.
00:42:42He's like, two tacos.
00:42:43Coming up!
00:42:45Guy goes to the back.
00:42:46Starts preparing the food.
00:42:48I have no clue what's coming out.
00:42:52Comes back a few minutes later.
00:42:53He's like, hey, my friend.
00:42:54Your tacos are ready.
00:42:55I said, oh, thank you, man.
00:42:56Thank you very much.
00:42:56He's like, yeah, you want a napkin?
00:42:59I said, I'm sorry, what?
00:43:00He said, do you want a napkin?
00:43:07And now, L.A.
00:43:11This is where it gets weird for me.
00:43:16Because you see, where I'm from, napkins are the things babies wear.
00:43:29To hold their shits.
00:43:36The thing for your mouth, we call a serviette.
00:43:41But I didn't know that.
00:43:42So at this point, this manager turned to me, offered me food and then said, you want a napkin?
00:43:54I said, I'm sorry, I'm confused.
00:43:57Why would I want a napkin?
00:43:59I said, you know, man, for the mess, afterwards.
00:44:07I said, for the mess?
00:44:10How instant is it that I need a napkin?
00:44:13I said, hey, man, you never know with tacos, man.
00:44:17One minute you think you got it, the next thing is coming out.
00:44:21I said, that sounds like the most disgusting thing I've ever heard in my life.
00:44:25He's like, no, it's part of the experience.
00:44:27Everybody does it, man.
00:44:28You make a mess, you clean up, you come back and try again, you know?
00:44:32I said, alright, that's an experience I don't want to have.
00:44:34I'm not going to lie.
00:44:35I'm going to skip it.
00:44:35He's like, so you're not going to try my food?
00:44:37I said, okay, fine, I'll try the food, but I'm not going to take the napkin, man.
00:44:41I said, so what are you going to do?
00:44:42I said, well, if it's as crazy as you say it is, I'll just eat the taco in the car
00:44:45on the way home.
00:44:46He's like, oh, you think you're safe.
00:44:51But you're going to be driving.
00:44:54Somebody swerves, you hit their brakes, splat, it's coming out.
00:45:00Don't be a hero, man.
00:45:02Just egg the napkin.
00:45:04I said, alright, I'm not being a hero right now, I'm just being a grown-ass man, okay?
00:45:08Like, if it gets really bad, I'll just squeeze super tight until I get to where I'm going.
00:45:12He's like, yeah, that's the problem.
00:45:13Some people, they don't know, they squeeze it too tight, then the juice comes spring out even more.
00:45:18It can spray on your pants and on your shirt and all.
00:45:22I'm like, oh, my shirt.
00:45:23How the hell does this shit get all the way up to my shirt?
00:45:26What, it's just bouncing on the ground and ricocheting back up.
00:45:28What the hell is in this, man?
00:45:29He's like, hey, man, you want that napkin or not?
00:45:31I said, I don't even know I want your tacos right now, dude.
00:45:40So much stress.
00:45:47Now I love tacos.
00:45:59I love tacos, I love Mexican food, I love Mexican people.
00:46:09I don't even know what it is.
00:46:10I think it's just people, we have a connection, you know?
00:46:12I don't know, South Africans and Mexicans or something.
00:46:14People from shithole countries, we have this thing.
00:46:21I still can't believe the things Donald Trump says.
00:46:23He's such a...
00:46:24For me, Donald Trump is an emotional paradox, I'm not gonna lie.
00:46:30Logically, I can process him. Emotionally, I struggle.
00:46:33On the one hand, I will admit, I wake up many days terrified at the notion that he's president of
00:46:37the most powerful nation in the world.
00:46:40But I also must admit, I wake up many days knowing he's gonna make me laugh.
00:46:46Yeah, there's terror and there's joy and I don't know how to feel.
00:46:50You know what it feels like sometimes?
00:46:51It feels like there's a giant asteroid headed towards the Earth.
00:46:55But it's shaped like a penis.
00:47:00Like I think I'm gonna die, but I know I'm gonna laugh.
00:47:09You just look at everything that he does.
00:47:11The world we now live in because of him.
00:47:13Like you realize, we're living through history.
00:47:16You know?
00:47:17This will never happen in our lifetimes again.
00:47:19We're living through a time when we're all learning about the presidency.
00:47:23At the same time as the president.
00:47:25That's never happened.
00:47:29How wild is that concept?
00:47:32You wake up every day reading the news.
00:47:35And you're like, wow, I didn't know that.
00:47:37And somewhere at that exact same moment,
00:47:39he's reading the same news going, wow, me too.
00:47:46And nobody knows where it's gonna lead.
00:47:48Nobody knows what he's gonna do.
00:47:50All we know is that he wants his wall.
00:47:52He wants his wall.
00:47:53Donald Trump wants his wall.
00:47:56He needs 25 billion dollars the last time he asked.
00:47:59He needs it from American taxpayers because Mexico is smart.
00:48:03That fell apart real quick.
00:48:05I remember how confident he was at the rallies.
00:48:08People cheering for him.
00:48:09He was like, folks!
00:48:11We're gonna build...
00:48:15a wall.
00:48:19We're gonna build a wall, folks!
00:48:22Who's gonna pay?
00:48:24Mexico!
00:48:26And Mexico was like, we ain't paying for shit, man.
00:48:35We might build it, but we're not gonna pay for it, man.
00:48:42And I don't know if you've been following the journey of the wall,
00:48:44but it's probably the best comedy on TV, right?
00:48:47Because now they've started building prototypes of the wall at the border.
00:48:51Right?
00:48:51Because Donald Trump said he wants them to test the wall first.
00:48:53I don't know how you do that.
00:48:55You know, she's like, try again!
00:48:59And because this is the prototypes, Donald Trump now has specifications for the wall.
00:49:02He now says he wants the wall to be made out of concrete, but he also needs the wall to
00:49:07be see-through.
00:49:08Right?
00:49:09And the reason the president wants the wall to be see-through is because he said he's afraid
00:49:14that drug dealers from Mexico are gonna shoot bags of drugs over the wall
00:49:18and is gonna hit Americans on the head as they walk by.
00:49:23So he needs the wall to be see-through
00:49:26so that Americans can see the drugs coming
00:49:29and catch it.
00:49:34Now I'm not gonna lie, I don't know what a see-through wall is,
00:49:38but at this point I'm just worried that a contractor's gonna come along and trick the president.
00:49:42He's gonna take him to the border and be like,
00:49:44there it is, Mr. Trump.
00:49:46Your invisible wall.
00:49:54And then just to make sure he buys it, he's gonna hire a troupe of Mexican mimes to be like,
00:49:57oh my god, you can't get through it!
00:50:05It works!
00:50:10Like the mind of Donald Trump.
00:50:12Oh, the other idea he had for the wall was he said America should build the wall out of solar
00:50:15panels.
00:50:16That's what he said.
00:50:17He said America should build the wall out of solar panels because that way the wall would generate electricity and
00:50:23pay for itself.
00:50:25Yeah.
00:50:25Now I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie.
00:50:27That's a good idea.
00:50:29That's a good idea.
00:50:30Unless you know anything about solar panels or the sun or walls.
00:50:35Because the problem with that idea is that the sun is up.
00:50:38Yeah?
00:50:39We'll agree on that.
00:50:40We're still on the same page there.
00:50:41Yeah?
00:50:41The sun is up.
00:50:42Alright?
00:50:43A solar panel wall is not gonna work because the wall is like this.
00:50:47So technically it's facing down.
00:50:49So unless you have like a really swaggy sun that's like, yeah, I shine real low, B.
00:50:53It's not gonna work for you.
00:50:57The only way it works is if you take your border solar panel and lean it at an angle to
00:51:01get the sun's rays.
00:51:02But if you do that, now you've just created a giant ramp for Mexicans to shoot into America.
00:51:14The mind of Donald J. Trump.
00:51:17The J stands for Jesus.
00:51:18A lot of people don't know that.
00:51:21A lot of self-loathing going on there.
00:51:26And he's always going after someone, right?
00:51:28He's always going after someone.
00:51:29If it's not Mexicans, it's Muslims.
00:51:31If it's not Muslims, it's Africans from shithole countries.
00:51:35And that one was my favorite personally.
00:51:37Because I am an African and I've shat in a hole.
00:51:43I also liked it because people came up to me and asked me questions.
00:51:46There was one man who came up to me after a show, really concerned.
00:51:49He was like, Trevor, hey.
00:51:50Hey, can I ask you a question?
00:51:52I said, yeah, go ahead, my friend.
00:51:54He said, Trevor, I just wanted to know when Donald Trump says all these,
00:51:58these horribly racist things.
00:52:00Do you sometimes just want to, you know, pack it up, leave America,
00:52:03go back to South Africa and escape all this racism?
00:52:13I said, my friend, you don't go to South Africa to escape racism.
00:52:19That's where you go to stock up.
00:52:23Are you kidding me?
00:52:24That's the one thing that reminds me of home.
00:52:27Racism out here.
00:52:28Because we've got tons of racism in South Africa.
00:52:31And don't get me wrong, it's gotten a lot better.
00:52:33You know, when I was growing up, we had apartheid.
00:52:37And, you know, apartheid was basically the best racism in the world.
00:52:41Sorry, I didn't mean to say that.
00:52:42I mean, now you're going to feel bad and be like,
00:52:44oh, racism was the best.
00:52:45No, it wasn't.
00:52:45It was good, but not the best.
00:52:49And I experienced a bunch of racism and everyone did.
00:52:52I never felt like it was a bad thing, mostly because of my family.
00:52:56You know, my mother is a black woman, Xhosa woman.
00:52:59My father's Swiss from Switzerland.
00:53:01And them being a couple was against the law.
00:53:03And that was a problem for us living together.
00:53:06And so we experienced a ton of racism.
00:53:07And in case you're wondering, yes, Xhosa is one of the languages with the clicks in it.
00:53:14But not like in American movies, just so you know.
00:53:18Yeah, I've seen those movies where they have Africans and they're like...
00:53:27That's not a language.
00:53:29Yeah, even we watch those movies and we're like,
00:53:31I wonder what they are saying, eh?
00:53:36Where are they from?
00:53:37I think they're from Cleveland.
00:53:43It's not just clicks.
00:53:44The clicks are consonants.
00:53:45We still have vowels.
00:53:47Yeah, I grew up in this family and we couldn't live together.
00:53:50I could live with my mom, but my dad obviously couldn't live with us because it was illegal.
00:53:53And people would be racist to us all the time.
00:53:55But I was really lucky growing up.
00:53:57Because my mom is probably the most gangster human being you'll ever meet in your life.
00:54:01Nothing got to her.
00:54:03Nothing fazed her.
00:54:06And I remember one day in particular, walking through the streets together.
00:54:10And some guy crossed the road, shouted something really mean at us.
00:54:13And I was about four or five years old.
00:54:15And I turned and I looked at my mom and I said,
00:54:17Mommy, what do we do if people do the racism to us?
00:54:22And my mom said, oh, baby, you know what we do if somebody is racist?
00:54:26We take that racism of theirs and we shake it up with the love of Jesus.
00:54:33And then we send it back.
00:54:37And I was like, what?
00:54:41And I was like, this lady is crazy.
00:54:48And she was crazy.
00:54:49And she was crazy.
00:54:50But she was also right.
00:54:52I didn't even realize how right my mother was until decades later.
00:54:55Which I feel is what always happens with your parents.
00:54:57They're crazy and then you get to their age and you're like, oh, that's what it means.
00:55:05I only learned the lesson my mother was trying to teach me when I was a grown man.
00:55:09I was walking through the streets of Chicago.
00:55:12Minding my own business.
00:55:14Some guy drove by in a pickup truck and called me the N-word.
00:55:21And I'm not gonna lie.
00:55:22I was disappointed.
00:55:25Mostly because he was driving a pickup truck.
00:55:28Yeah, I just felt like that was an unnecessary stereotype that he didn't need to perpetuate.
00:55:35I feel like if you're gonna be racist, do something different.
00:55:38Think outside the box.
00:55:40Drive a Prius.
00:55:43Yeah.
00:55:45It's better for the environment.
00:55:46And it's quiet.
00:55:47You can sneak up on me.
00:55:48We both win.
00:55:50But no.
00:55:51The guy was driving a pickup truck.
00:55:54Called me the N-word.
00:55:55Oh, to give you the full story.
00:55:57I was jaywalking.
00:55:58I was jaywalking.
00:55:59And I don't tell you this to justify what he did.
00:56:00I just want you to know that I'm no angel.
00:56:02Okay?
00:56:04Yeah.
00:56:05I was crossing the road and then the lights turned red for me.
00:56:09But I decided to walk anyways because I don't see color.
00:56:17And this man, this man was so offended by what I had done that he drove his truck around
00:56:24me, rolled the window down, looked me dead in the eye and he was like, get out of the
00:56:27road, nigger!
00:56:30Oh, and you could see he wanted to hurt me.
00:56:33We locked eyes and I could see in that moment he was waiting for me to be like, no, bro.
00:56:47What that man didn't know was where I was from.
00:56:52More importantly, who he didn't know was my mother.
00:57:01Because he thought it was just going to be a regular racist day.
00:57:08He thought he was going to drive by, throw the N-word out the window, carry on with his
00:57:11life.
00:57:11He didn't realize that that was the son of Patricia stepping into the road.
00:57:17And it happened in a moment, but it lasted a lifetime.
00:57:21Because I didn't even think.
00:57:23He shouted that word and out of nowhere my body was like...
00:57:30I was like, oh shit, this is it!
00:57:38And let me tell you something, Ale, it was so beautiful because I didn't plan it, I didn't
00:57:42think about it.
00:57:43All I know is, I stepped into the road, he drove his truck around me, rolled the window
00:57:46down, looked me dead in the eye and he was like, get out of the road, nigger!
00:57:49And I turned and I was like, you're my nigger!
00:57:58And he almost crashed and died.
00:58:02Yeah, I've never seen a human being question themselves so many times in a split second in
00:58:05my life, right?
00:58:06Because I was smiling.
00:58:07And I could see in his face he was like, wait, do I know you?
00:58:11Do I look like someone you know?
00:58:12And I don't know why he did this, but I'll never forget it.
00:58:15He looked at his hands.
00:58:22He looked at his hands like they had somehow magically turned black.
00:58:25Like I had cursed him with a nigger bum.
00:58:28I don't even know what he was thinking.
00:58:33Oh, I actually felt bad for him, man.
00:58:35And I, because I mean I've been called that word before, but that was his first time.
00:58:39Like, you never forget your first time, you know?
00:58:45Yeah, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to what?
00:58:46Is that what he wants?
00:58:47He wants to throw the word at me and then my day is spoiled?
00:58:49Is that how it works?
00:58:50And he'll be like, nigger!
00:58:50And I'm a nigger, I'm a nigger, I'm a nigger.
00:58:54I don't have time for that, man.
00:58:55My mom always used to say, she said, you can't control what people do to you, but you can't control
00:58:59how you react.
00:59:00So I promised myself, I said, I'll never give a racist person the pleasure of seeing my pain.
00:59:05It may be painful, it may be hurtful, but I won't give them the pleasure of seeing my pain.
00:59:14Someone says something racist, I take that racism, shake it up with the love of Jesus, send it right back.
00:59:20And don't get me wrong, it's not always easy.
00:59:22Not everyone can do the same thing.
00:59:24Not everyone should.
00:59:25I also understand that for me, it is a little bit different.
00:59:28You know, I have a privilege in that I come from a country where the word nigger was never used
00:59:32to oppress anybody.
00:59:33You know, I mean, we had another word, because we had the best racism, come on now, but not that
00:59:38word.
00:59:38The word we had was the word kafir or kafir.
00:59:42So we had another word, same thing, it's crazy to me as well sometimes.
00:59:45You know, same racism, different word.
00:59:48And here it means nothing, right? Kafir, kafir, nothing.
00:59:51Some people are like, is that like a probiotic? Is that what that is?
00:59:56Yeah, probiotic of my pain.
00:59:59Because we don't have that in our supermarkets for obvious reasons.
01:00:02No one warned me in America. I walked down the dairy aisle.
01:00:05I was like, oh, yogurt, ice cream.
01:00:08Ahhhh!
01:00:09This lactose is intolerant!
01:00:17So it's different around the world, and I get that. You know, it's a privilege I have in dealing with
01:00:22the N word.
01:00:24In South Africa, no one was called a nigger.
01:00:26All over Africa, no one was oppressed using that word.
01:00:29So that word has no power anywhere you go, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nothing.
01:00:34You know?
01:00:34Whereas right now, I can feel the tension in this room.
01:00:36I can feel it.
01:00:37Yeah, some people are like, goddammit, what is that, like seven times?
01:00:39I get it, Trevor!
01:00:41That's my quota for the year, come on!
01:00:45I get it.
01:00:47It actually got me thinking that maybe we could use that, we could use that discrepancy to help each other
01:00:51out.
01:00:52Create a program where you guys send all of your racist people to Africa just once a year.
01:00:58Because Africans will roast the shit out of them.
01:01:00The best part about Africa is you don't even have to wait.
01:01:03You know, you just get off the plane, there's black people everywhere.
01:01:05Just jump straight in and just be like, nigger, nigger, nigger!
01:01:08Yeah, and because Africa is run and owned by black people, they're not afraid of white people there.
01:01:12They'll just be like, ah, Jimbo, he's back, the nigger man.
01:01:17How are you, nigger?
01:01:20Goddammit, I keep telling you, you're the nigger, but you're the one who always says it.
01:01:24Ah, nigger man!
01:01:25Yeah, you nigger.
01:01:27Put on some sunscreen before you die, nigger.
01:01:29Let's go party.
01:01:37It'll be different, that's all I'm saying.
01:01:41It's always weird for me, I won't lie, because, although no one used that word in a derogatory way,
01:01:46the word nigger in South Africa does exist, technically.
01:01:49But in my mom's language, hossa, the word nigger means to give.
01:01:55That's what nigger means in hossa.
01:01:57That's how you use it.
01:01:58That's how you use it.
01:02:04So not only does that word not hurt me, but when racist people use it on me,
01:02:09all they end up doing is bringing back fond memories of my childhood.
01:02:13I get flashbacks to when I was a little kid.
01:02:16I'd be playing with my cousin in these toy cars.
01:02:18I'd always steal his cars, because I didn't have my own.
01:02:20He'd start screaming, he'd be like,
01:02:22Mama! Mama!
01:02:23And my mom would come running in the room, she'd be like,
01:02:25Hey! Mrs. Antoni, what's happening here?
01:02:27And my cousin would be like,
01:02:29Auntie!
01:02:30Teh, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi,
01:02:37boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi, boi.
01:02:37And we'd be like,
01:02:38Hey! Hey! Hey!
01:02:39Talk properly, I can't hear you. What happened?
01:02:41He'd be like,
01:02:42Trevor stole my toys.
01:02:44And my mom would be like, Trevor, did you steal your cousin's toys?
01:02:46I said, No, mom, I didn't steal mom, I promise, I didn't steal.
01:02:49Trevor?
01:02:51Don't lie to me, did you steal those toys?
01:02:53I said, No, mom, I didn't steal anything.
01:02:55What happened was, his cars were parked illegally, mom.
01:02:59And so I had to tow them, because we can't live in a society without laws.
01:03:03I mean, even me, I'm just a humble civil servant at the end of the day, mom.
01:03:06Without laws, we descend into chaos, mom, if you think about it.
01:03:09That's all that's holding us up.
01:03:11As a civilization, it's the only thing that keeps us being like,
01:03:14Hey! Don't come here with that smart mouth of yours.
01:03:17Give those toys back.
01:03:19I said, Mom, please, I just wanna play with you.
01:03:20Hey!
01:03:23Give those toys back.
01:03:25Give those toys.
01:03:26And I'm like, Mom, she'd be like, Hey!
01:03:28Nigga!
01:03:30Nigga, why not Trevor?
01:03:31Nigga!
01:03:31Nigga!
01:03:32Nigga Trevor!
01:03:33And my cousin would be there like,
01:03:35Nigga, please!
01:03:39Yo, LA, you guys have been so much fun tonight, man.
01:03:47Thank you so much for coming out and joining me.
01:03:50I appreciate you all so much.
01:03:53Have a good night, everybody.
01:04:14I appreciate you all so much.
01:04:17Thank you so much.
01:04:18Thank you, everyone.
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