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Did you ever see a performer that made you think, Whoa, I have to wrap my head around this? <\/strong>What do you mean?<\/p>\n Was there ever anybody that made you feel like, I\u2019ve got to understand what this person\u2019s doing? <\/strong>Oh, you mean someone that came after me and went to the next level, and I was like, Whoa<\/em>? No, never. I haven\u2019t witnessed the next level. The ceiling of the whole art form, standup comedy, that\u2019s Richard. And the ceiling for movies, for me, is Chaplin. I haven\u2019t seen anyone come along that was better than Chaplin.<\/p>\n I always wondered if Elvis was the influence behind some of the onstage stuff you wore when you were doing standup.<\/strong> Elvis had a huge influence on me: the leather suits; in \u201cRaw,\u201d I come out, I have a scarf. <\/em>I was rolling like Elvis, too. I didn\u2019t have the Memphis Mafia, but I had my little crew of dudes. And the same way you see me dressed in \u201cDelirious\u201d<\/a> and in \u201cRaw,\u201d I used to dress like that on the streets. I was totally in my Elvis trip. And when I got older, it was like, oh, my God, Elvis wasn\u2019t cool at all. Elvis was going through some [expletive]. Now, Michael Jackson, that whole red jacket thing in \u201cThriller\u201d: \u201cThriller\u201d is after \u201cDelirious\u201d when I owned the red suit. I\u2019m not saying he was influenced, but I had on the red jacket before. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n Elvis, Michael Jackson, these guys achieved the apex of fame. Prince is another like that. And there was a period when you were at that level. <\/strong>Yeah, I went through all of that.<\/p>\n Those guys all came to tragic ends. Do you understand the pitfalls that present themselves at that level of fame?<\/strong> Those guys are all cautionary tales for me. I don\u2019t drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old \u2014 the extent of drugs is some weed. I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar. It was me, Belushi and Robin Williams. They start doing coke, and I was like, \u201cNo, I\u2019m cool.\u201d I wasn\u2019t taking some moral stance. I just wasn\u2019t interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I\u2019d say that\u2019s providence. God was looking over me in that moment. When you get famous really young, especially a Black artist, it\u2019s like living in a minefield. Any moment something could happen that can undo everything. It was like, all of this stuff is going on, and I\u2019m totally oblivious. Now, at this age, I can look back and be like, \u201cWow, I came through a minefield for 35 years.\u201d How do you make it through a minefield for 35, 40 years? Something has to be looking over you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n