Chico Bean Talks Mike Epps, Cancel Culture, Comedy’s New Rules & His Top 5 Comedians

Chico Bean reveals his personal Top 5 comedians and why today’s comics must navigate a completely different world. But with some help.

Comedy has changed. What used to live on stage now lives forever online. And for Chico Bean, navigating that reality is just part of the job.

The Wild ’N Out star-turned-modern legend recently sat down with AllHipHop’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur to talk about touring with Mike Epps, dealing with cancel culture, why comedians walk a dangerous line today and the wildest thing that ever happened to him on stage.

It turns out, that last one involves a prosthetic leg.

Watch the video for the full breadth of Chico Bean’s hilarity.

AllHipHop: Tell us about this tour you have going on with Mike Epps and what people can expect.

Chico Bean:
The tour itself is amazing. To be able to travel with a legend like Mike and have him share the stage with us… he doesn’t have to do that. He’s already done all the things you would want to do in a comedy career.

He could do these venues alone, but he wanted to allow us to showcase our talent. Some of the young and up-and-coming guys. Even though we’ve been doing it for a while, compared to Mike we still up-and-coming.

When he opened the door for us we were excited. It’s really like family coming together figuring out how to make money while giving people a great product.

You get all these different styles of comedy. Different perspectives. Some people come to see each of us individually and some people never seen us before. It’s a great opportunity to grow your fanbase and introduce people to new acts.

AllHipHop: What’s the hardest part about being a comedian today?

Chico Bean: Probably what comes with what you do. One of my favorite comedians, Earthquake, says if you tell a joke and don’t offend at least one person, it ain’t funny.

You never want to be malicious, but you also want to stay true to your art. You gotta find that middle ground.

I’m going to say what I feel. If you feel disrespected maybe we can talk about it. But I’m always going to be true to my heart.

Now with how easy it is to get cancelled, that’s probably the hardest thing to navigate.

AllHipHop: Do you ever worry about being cancelled?

Chico Bean: No. Because I’m not malicious. I say what I feel, but I’m also smart enough to know everything isn’t for public consumption.

The internet changed the way we communicate. Everybody thinks their opinion belongs in public and a lot of things are private conversations.

Your opinion isn’t always needed. If it’s something you’re knowledgeable about then go for it. But if it’s just something you feel, sometimes it’s better to just feel it privately.

AllHipHop: Do you have plans outside of stand-up?

Chico Bean: I do all types of stuff. I’m about to drop an R&B album called Taking Showers In The Dark. Don’t worry about it. It’s going to change the game.

I’m about to start getting into all the things white people do. I’m about to start a dog walking business.

There’s a lot of avenues we ain’t tapped into. A lot of money left out there.

I’m about to flip the script completely. Orchestra… all types of Caucasian activities.

AllHipHop: What’s the funniest unexpected moment you’ve had on stage?

Chico Bean: Somebody took their prosthetic leg off and gave it to me on stage. That’s a true story.

First thing I said was, “Hey man… he said he was trying to kick it.”

It’s wild stuff like that. One day I’ll probably sit back and look at everything I’ve done and be amazed too. But right now I’m just adding to the book.

AllHipHop: Give me your personal Top 5 comedians.

Chico Bean: I always say there’s your personal list and then there’s the political list based on statistics.

My personal Top 5:

Earthquake
Patrice O’Neal
Martin Lawrence
Eddie Murphy
Richard Pryor

That fifth spot always tough though.

AllHipHop: Comedy actually helped me through depression. I salute what you do because it isn’t easy getting in front of people and saying “Make me laugh.”

Chico Bean: Thank you brother. I’m going to send you the bill for this therapy session though. It won’t be much.

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