Monthly Archives: September 2009

I had the pleasure of interviewing comic Chris Spencer today. He has written for shows like Wild N Out and the BET 2009 Awards (hosted by Jamie Foxx). Chris is one of 4 comedians that joined In Living Color’s Tommy Davidson for a stand up comedy show in Beverly Hills. The show is now packaged in a DVD called THE FAMILY HOUR available in stores and online. It’s called The Family Hour because the comedy is cleaner than usual and covers family topics.

24/7: Hi Chris! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to 24/7 Mommy today.

Chris Spencer: Well I’m a nice guy

 24/7: (Laughs) I just have a few questions for you today about THE FAMILY HOUR and your career so I promise I will not keep you long. Mostly moms read my blog, so that will explain some of the questions I’ll have for you. So to start, I watched THE FAMILY HOUR, and I thoroughly enjoyed your segment. I own a home and I found your jokes about being a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis hilarious.

Chris Spencer: You saw the whole thing? I haven’t even seen the DVD!

 24/7: Oh no? I did, I watched the whole thing! Off-the-record, I think you’re the funniest one, but its good, and you were very good.

Chris Spencer: Is that a real off-the-record or is that like an Obama off-the-record? Because I want that to be ON the record!

24/7: OK (laughs) that’s not a problem. When you were talking about the mortgage stuff (being upside down), was that a partial truth? If so, you can obviously laugh about it, does that mean that you are generally optimistic about where we’re headed as a country?

Chris Spencer: Everything I said on stage is the truth, stretched with a little bit of cinnamon and rainbow sprinkles. And yes, I am absolutely optimistic, I believe in this guy.

24/7: So you mentioned in your standup that you have children, what are their ages now?

Chris Spencer: 4 1/2 and 2 1/2

24/7: Do you find, since you are a Comic, that you censor Comedy in your house? Are there certain comics that your children absolutely cannot watch?

Chris Spencer: Of course. My kids aren’t watching stand-up comedy anyway, they are still watching cartoons. I can’t let them watch stand-up because I need them to think I have the greatest stand up in the world. I don’t need the competition. “You’re good but you’re no Jamie Foxx!” I don’t need that kind of pressure.

24/7: Conversely, are there children shows and sitcoms that you find yourself enjoying a little too much?

Chris Spencer: I watch ALL the shows with my kids, Dora the Explorer. The new thing is Phineas and Ferb. They like Mya and Miguel, then of course Dora the Explorer and Diego, Lil Einsteins. I can sing the theme songs to all those shows. Ready? (Sings) We’re going on a trip…oh, sorry.

24/7: (Laughs) As a parent you realize daily that you are the biggest influence in your children’s lives. You and your wife. Who is the biggest influence in your personal life? 

Chris Spencer: Probably would be my wife. She’s the one that keeps me on my toes. Makes sure there’s no boogers in my nose. The room is clean, the bed is made.  All the dishes in the sink are washed. It makes me continue to strive to be great. She’s a very no-nonsense type woman.

24/7: Over the years, what have you discovered about Fatherhood that you wish someone could have given you the heads up on?

Chris Spencer: That it was so much work. That to do it properly, its 24/7. Even when they are sleeping, you still gotta be checking in on them. And when you’re sleeping, they are gonna wake up and check in on YOU! I didn’t know it was gonna be as funny as it is, which is perfect for my personality. Maybe it’s just because my kids are hilarious. Like I bought my daughter the Michael Jackson CD. She’s infatuated with Michael Jackson. She has curly hair, she will not let us comb, or put barrettes or bands or anything in her hair, she wants to wear her hair in an afro. She says “I wanna look like Michael Jackson!”. She’s 2! And when Michael Jackson comes on TV she break dances and does his moves. I’ve never seen Michael break dance, but that’s how she expresses herself.

24/7: You are in now in your early 40s. If you could, at 40, go back in time and talk to the 20something version of yourself, what piece of advice would you give him?

Chris Spencer: Focus. Which is still something I combat every day, but I’m MUCH better. To not be complacent when it comes to work. Not to take my talent for granted. Being talented, I assumed stuff was supposed to come to me, instead of going to get it.

24/7: So I studied your wikipedia page, you’ve got your hands in a lot of projects. I personally think you would be great in a family sitcom, what are your plans for future projects?

Chris Spencer: I’m writing, creating and pitching shows as we speak. Who knows? I wanna be able to create Chris Spencer projects that when you go to the theater or watch television, you can go “I can tell Chris wrote this”. Like right now, I’ve been afforded, I’ve been blessed with a certain wit, a certain funny that people can tell even when I write for other people, and they are performing for an award show, people will call me and say “You wrote that joke didn’t you?” I wanna be able to do movies and have projects that are like that. You know how you can tell a Tyler Perry movie, or an Adam Sandler movie, or a Spike Lee movie, immediately, as soon as it comes on, without even seeing the name. Those are the kinds of projects I wanna do.

24/7: Speaking of Wikipedia, do you think that you are a savvy internet user?

Chris Spencer: Yeah, I’m savvy enough. I can surf…

24/7:  Lastly, that joke in the THE FAMILY HOUR DVD about your wife needing to buy an $80 purse instead of a designer purse. Saying the purse should match the amount of money you carry inside of it — NOT funny! Do you really give her a hard time when she feels like she wants something expensive?

Chris Spencer: She wanted a $2700 purse, so I did give her a hard time about that.

 24/7: But did she win that argument?

 Chris Spencer: Yeah, she did.

 24/7: Of course!

Chris Spencer: I went from pimp to wimp when I got married.

 24/7: (Laughs) Well that’s it for me. Thank you very much for your time today.

For more information, or to purchase
THE FAMILY HOUR (Image Entertainment/One Village),
please click on the DVD image below: