In Living Color AJ Jamal talks about his upcoming events with Yaya Diamond - YouTube

okay we are having an amazing time with comedian actor director producer okay hello all right wow Jay Jamal now did that kind of hit you a little bit wow yeah I totally forgot I was a producer and a writer and all of that because I have done all that and I've had Warner Brother release one of my movies and I made nothing from it but Warner Brother got made made paper so that's why I'm excited about doing film acting but I'm really a comedian I've been a comedian all my life really since the third grade wow well AJ tell us about your career though I mean a lot of people don't know and I remember and live in color [Music] [Laughter] oh yeah oh yeah oh well number one I'm so happy to see

Jamie doing better because Jamie Foxx is uh I will always tell people if it wasn't for Jamie Foxx I would have never been on In Living colors he fought for me to get on that show and he made it happen I always tell people that Jamie Foxx is one of the one of the nicest Brothers you'll ever meet I mean all the Oscars he had and all the songs of Music Jamie is the so I'm happy he's doing better but I started off in Cleveland Ohio I was an engineer with IBM I have a master's in electrical engineering go figure uh I cheated a lot I'll be honest either you you know you need to know tell all these young kids you need to know where to set when you take the hard classes if you take a hard class and they look like somebody gonna fail yeah exactly that's the thing you got it right there you need to know sit next to the if it's a if it's a class with if it's a class where there's a lot of

spelling sit next to the Indian dude if it's a class who has a lot of math and science sit next to the Asian dude if it wasn't for Wong Chong long Lee I would have never passed physics me and Wong Chong both got 98 on our final oh man number two how was that who would have ever thought we both missed number two and we both got 98. only two people in the whole class got 98. me and Wong Chong long Lee you're terrible I can't say I didn't do it and I'm I'm uh you no I'm not the only one so I don't feel so bad so so I left IBA yeah I left IBM and I'm dating myself now this is how old I go back I left IBM uh in 86 and so that's how far I'll go back and I I went downtown Cleveland Ohio and my first

open mic night I sat back there with a guy named uh Drew Carey and Drew Carey hosts The Price is Right he's from Cleveland Ohio he still has mad love for Cleveland like I do and we sat that back down there and uh I won that open mic night and I got a chance to come back and host again I got fifty dollars and then I got to start working around the Cleveland Scene and IBM starts seeing me on the paper and I was I was the worst engineer ever hired if you look in the book and say who's the worst engineer ever how are you gonna be to me like so IBM said we'll give you money to leave IBM and start your comedy career and they did and so that's how I started comedy I started I moved to LA in 87 and I got me a big agent because I knew some people out there and uh that's how I started matter of fact the whole story is I went to a cop my undergraduate was at Kent State University and at Kent State University there's a lot of talent down

there myself uh Arsenio Hall was there Steve Harvey was there Drew Carey was there and so uh Arsenio said to us one day hey man I'm about to leave college and I'm a and we're like what you gonna do he said well I want to be a comedian and we were like but you ain't funny you need to stay in college he go no I got a couple jokes and I got a magic trick I'm like are you gonna leave college for two jokes and a magic trick and he left College he went to Chicago and he hooked up with Patti LaBelle and he hooked up with their people and then he left he started opening up a panda bear and then he left Chicago and he went to LA and hooked up with a manager called Roy Gerber and so I started seeing his career take off and I'm so proud of our Center because I know I'm from Cleveland and then when I left IBM I went to LA and I said to Roy gerbert I walked to his office I knocked on the door and I said hey I'm a big um friend of Arsenio

Hall and I need management and Roy Gerber said I hate Arsenio Hall and I said well I'm not that big of a friend I just knew it one or two days and so he said and this is how Hollywood works I just walked into this man's office so he says are you funny I go yeah I'm funny he picks up the phone and he calls Shirley Berger he said Shirley I got a comedian I want to open up for the Temptations this weekend and suddenly go Shirley Burgers was the manager of the Temptations I I think he might still be around he's he has to be about 118. so Shirley goes what's his name and Roy goes AJ Jamal you know AJ Jamar he said well what kind of name is that and Roy go it's Jewish put him on the show and he hung up the phone and I was opening up for the Temptation that weekend he'd never seen it before and never see yeah that's what she he told Shirley I was Jewish

oh my gosh that's the hookup they have in L.A and that week that weekend I opened up for the Temptations it was like 2 000 people at the amp and and Roy Gerber came to the show and I I destroyed them they didn't know I was a comic and Charlotte I mean Roy said you're a very funny person I want to sign you and so he signed me and he he hooked me up with a big agency called William Morris and the three black people that was at William Morris was myself Tommy Davis Martin Lawrence uh and uh me Tommy Davis Martin Lawrence and there was one more I'll think of his name I always forget his name and we were the Young Guns of comedy and of course I was the only clean one and all the other ones became rich and famous and me being clean you know but I I will always be clean and that's just my spirit that's the way I am and so uh but all of them are still good people and so that's how I got started at comedy and I've been doing I mean I've opened up

because hey because I was clean comedian I opened up for every act you can imagine like Diana Ross I was with Diana Ross for four years and that's because she didn't want nobody bobbing her audience she didn't want nobody cursing and she wanted to clean comedian then Cher went on a tour called the hearts of stone tour so I did the hearts and stone tour with Cher and I'm talking about Aretha Franklin everybody you name a person I open up for him and that's how I started I started my comedy career opening up for major Acts wow and you know it's so funny because well it's it's kind of ironic you know they say that you're and I'm sorry for the hand thing I love it I love it they say that you've never you never more than two steps away from someone who knows someone else that is you know you know what I mean so think about it this way right you opened up for the Temptations what year was that 87. wow wow so in 87 I I'm not really

sure when when did Glenn Leonard leave the band was he still there I know I know Glenn Leonard you know him because I did the hitsville live show with Glenn for three and a half years I was actually Diana Ross in the show I was the singer Diana where are you the live show yes I was so I was right I know the name Glenn Leonard Silent Night In The Temptations He was the soprano that replaced um the the soprano I forgot what the guy's name was anyway he replaced him oh okay no he wasn't there he wasn't there later okay he came later that's why I know from after I left right let me tell you it was there Otis was still there Melvin was still there uh Dennis Edwards was there because I was with Dennis I was with Dennis when they kicked him out I was with the Temptation when they kicked Dennis out of the group for personal reason I won't mention uh

but he didn't show up for the show and then they retaced they replaced Dennis with a guy named Ollie Woodson who passed away I loved Ali Wilson and so uh Dennis it was a and a uh a guy who still sing with him he took over Eddie Kendrick's place oh he's gonna kill me for not remembering his name because oh the guy who's saying oh man you should Google it oh I'll think of his name my memory is just going but those was the members because you don't want nobody telling you nothing later on Tyson no Tyson okay but I was with the Temptations for like 19 20 years so they've had so many groups people come in and out uh Ron Tyson his name is Ron Tyson okay he took everybody he took Eddie Kendricks place and then uh Dennis Edward left and uh Ali Wilson took his place and then after Ali what's it that's when Leonard must have came in he must have

came in after hours because he was the soprano that same silent night and I wasn't sure with him for the history live show for three and a half years and then um wow it kind of died down a little bit because we kind of because he has another another show and and then when he came back covet hit boom right but he still doing what he do huh you know what he does I think he went over to Germany he's doing his thing man he's still doing right right almost 80 years old he is yeah he actually so um so well Otis who started the Temptation has to be 80. he has to be getting a bit you know who's still out there and I opened up for him too and I love him too Smokey Robinson instead of making fun of thinking he's sexy you think he's sexy Smokey Robinson coming out stage with a see-through shirt and you can see his little razor little raisins under his see-through shirt I'm like Smokey come on now you're not a teenager and he be moving he'd be smoking think he got it Smokey got to be about a hunt

about the first supper he's still making women right yeah right you're right I love Smokey Robinson but he he's still singing I love people who still doing what they do it did you see new addition on stage though they got new edition they went on tour I did I did and actually Omar Wilson who went on tour with Boyz II Men Who is still doing their thing right is actually the gentleman that I've booked for one of the uh events I'm doing in Atlanta coming up so but you have an event coming up next year as well it is a cruise because right now you're on a cruise I'm on a ship right now I'm on Princess Cruise and I'm in Alaska which none of my people are here it's cold very cold you know what I said I walked out uh on stage the other day I said I feel like a raisin and a bowl of milk I ain't never seen so many white people and they just I mean there's none of us here yes

exactly I need to go to Alaska ain't nobody paying me but let me tell you this and that's I still can't convince people Alaska is very beautiful and it's very twinkle and it's very you know you come on now Alaska yeah I can't convince people I don't know why I'm talking I ain't convincing no black people to come to life it's cold listen listen you stay up there too long you start getting light-skinned at it you you do get light skin and that's gonna take a lot of code for me to get light-skinned yo but yeah it's not light skin light-skinned it light-skinned it you know what and I'll tell you how fun it is one of my friends she sings on cruise ships too uh uh she's out of uh Vegas she was on a ship and we were in Alaska it was so cold she canceled her her

night she had to perform because she was too cold I never heard of that like that her room was so cold she didn't perform that night because it was too cold and it was funnier I caught her and said Chaser is her name Chaser chase is on social media I love changes she does Whitney Houston review so I called Chaser and I said Chaser what room were you in because I'm about to cancel my show I called them four times and said it is too cold in this room and I understand now why you didn't do your show cause I'm freezing and I'm about to get sick and you're right Alaska gets cold but I like them I I just like doing clue you definitely didn't know no justice for your cause [Laughter] now I need to come to Alaska oh the ship I'm doing is not going to be going alone women the ship I'm doing and it's going to be a small very small Charter so people don't have to get these tickets and stuff early it's going to be next

Mother's Day week and it's going to be May 11th to the 18th it's going to leave out of Los Angeles because I don't have no money to be flying people around so a lot of my friends are in Los Angeles and I'm going to put this together myself I've I've been on some social medias I'm so old I I'm not a big social media fan but I'm I'm gonna have to learn I'm gonna have to hire you to do my social media that's what I have to do and uh so I'm I'ma start putting that together it'll be up next week I have something up there next week but I don't want nobody to go to Facebook and see it because I had to change the date from January to May and the reason being I didn't know cruise ships take a year for you to book it to sell it and for people to go on it a year I don't you know entertainers we don't work a year from now we don't know if we're gonna be around a year from now so what I had to do I booked the ship like seven months before and someone said you're booking it too early AJ and

I go no it's seven months I got to promote it they said but now by the time you finish putting it together the contracts and it's going to be like five months and that's exactly what happened I was putting it together and time it takes I mean because you're not in control of everything the ship has to find the venues and the singers have to I mean so I'm gonna have some big names on it I got my friend skip Martin um from Kool and the Gang I got uh I I'm gonna list their names later once I give them their deposits well but I'm gonna come to your show in Atlanta you do you doing something in Atlanta and I I love Atlanta with them crazy people imma come to Atlanta because that's one of my favorite spots oh we're gonna have to get you at the uh center stage in Atlanta at Crossroads definitely I would love to have you right I've performed at the center stage I like it I like it awesome awesome well I want to thank you so much okay so how

can people get in contact with you and and also how can people see the crews because that's going to be the biggest thing put it like this I told you I'm so old and I'm horrible at social media they could check me out on MySpace and tell them about MySpace one of my MySpace page and blow me up on MySpace no ah if you go you know what's so funny wait yeah yeah no I ain't got no mice but yeah I'm on if you go to Facebook you'll see my cruise is called I'll tell you what it's called All-Star Music and comedy All-Star Music and comedy Crews if you go there right now I'm so I'm so ghetto I still got the old date and the old video on it well I didn't even take it off we're gonna yeah we gotta update

it we can update that and I'm gonna send you out a copy of the video with the update we're gonna put all that information the updated information in the description box below okay May 11th to the 18th 2024 it's gonna be some major acts we're going on a beautiful ship and it's going to the Mexican Riviera people like AJ Mexico oh it's gonna be hot and it's gonna be fun right and they said hey yeah people like AJ people don't want to go to the Mexico I go it's not Mexico it's the Mexican Riviera that's the difference between rich and poor we're gonna go where the rich people go and it's going to uh not not yet it's going to can't not can't I don't even know today it's going to Cabo sat Lucas okay it's going to Puerto Vallarta and let's go on to uh Masala which are beautiful places it's different than Cancun or Ensenada I mean so we're going to some nice places so and you need to look it up and thanks

for that you need a translator you need someone that speaks Spanish to go with you and I'm the perfect person you speak Spanish you dance what a way you learn that from Yaya I'm dead you got me y'all just shocked me y'all have shocked me about four times about her and I'm not gonna reveal what she's saying but now she speaks Spanish are you Dominican Republican I am not I learned Spanish in high school in the streets and from my best friend my high school best friend's mother who didn't want us to learn English so she taught me Spanish well we all took Spanish in high school yeah I was I was president of Spanish club for three years in a row that was the

geek but great jobs and I sing in Spanish I I write in Spanish I speak in Spanish I I translate I do all that well good for you you have to have a good memory to know another language so yeah bless you for being that smart well thank you for having me as a show well I will take you with the car you can sing too and you can sing to the Spanish people yeah I didn't thought about that I'm gonna take your mama too cause she can sing you just told me who your mama was that was one of the Shockers you and your mama all y'all could come let's go we're gonna blow this cruise up forget y'all all right all right I'm up I'ma update my flyer I'ma update the website um so we can update this video right here too I'm gonna update this video next week I'll be ready that's so funny well well AJ thank you so much for being on the show I truly appreciate it it's been such a wonderful time just speaking

with you and getting to know you and I can't wait for our future to just you know Collide where we can actually take a hug and I can meet your family thank you for having me on this show it's amazing and if people have to know how extraordinary you are doing what you're doing for six years wow I started in 2006. so this is 2023. this is a long time darling it's been a minute oh oh you did say 2006. I added that up to six years that's how bad I was in school have a blessed day you too tell all your viewers and fans that uh you know don't stop doing it and don't stop chasing your dreams cause you know that's life your dreams that's right thank you guys so much for tuning in don't forget you're dare to be different and until next time guys bye