In Black America; Black Comedian Shirley Hemphill

Finally, we decided to drop the timer down. In Black America, reflections of the Black experience in American society. For many years, Eddie Anderson was the only Black performing regularly on a network radio show as the character Rod Chester on the Jack Vinny show. He became one of the most widely known Black entertainers. Eddie opened the door for other comedians to follow, such as Goffrey Cambridge, Nipsy Russell, Jackie Moms, Mabelie, Bill Cosby, and Red Fox. Today, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy are the most widely recognized,

but others are making their move to the limelight like Byron Allen, Marshall Warfield, and Shirley Hiphill. I'm John Hanson, and this week I focus on the Black comedian in Black America. I'm going to talk about driving because I've had my problems, and I must tell you about my problems driving, first of all, in different cities. In Los Angeles, who puts up the dip signs out there? Does it make sense to put up a dip sign two inches before you get to the dip? You're driving the car, so what's the sign? The sign says dip. They may not be as noticeable as Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Flip Wilson, or Red Fox, but New Talent is on its way to becoming big names in the world of stand-up comedians. Eddie Murphy, for instance, has been taught as one of the brightest young comedy stars to come along since Richard Pryor. Eddie regularly steals the show

on the popular network television program Saturday Night Live. Bob McDonough is an up-and-coming impressionist with a new album, tentatively entitled, I'm a real man. Marshall Warfield has found success by looking at humor from a woman's point of view, and there's Shirley Hiphill. I must've been a year and a half, I said to come to store, and Norma Lear came in. He was having his partner cast for a new show called What's Happening. But here on his golf hat, and he came up and said, you want to be in show business, and I said, yeah, show business. And this, you know how you go over here. And I got the job in first week, you know, when you had to put it on the line. It was real scary, but they were very nice. And we made three and a half years out of it. Shirley is the former co-star of the council television series What's Happening and starved her own television show One in a Million. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, she first left home to attend college. After two years, Shirley was back and went to work in the factory she had run away from. Comedy has always been a deep love of Shirley's.

In 1973, she went out to see the Flip Wilson show. She had sent Flip some of her material, and he sent her a plane ticket. After that trip, Shirley was inspired to get into show business. While she was on that first trip to Hollywood, television executive Jan Murray had heard some of Shirley's material and took an interest in the young stand-up comedian. And secured her a bit part in the first segment of the Good Times television series. For a while though, that was it as far as television roles went. While working as a companion by day, and at the comedy store at night, opportunity finally knocked on Shirley's door. Although she initially didn't pay any attention. One year later, the man returned to the comedy store in search of Shirley. This gentleman turned out to be Bernie Orinstein, one of the executive producers of the Samford & Sun television series. Now the producer of What's Happening. Shirley read for the show on Friday. After the audition, a part was written in for her. And on Monday, the rehearsal started for the first four summer shows.

Shirley, whose first love is still stand-up comedy, is modest about her acting talent. Today, she now works as a stand-up comedian. Shirley is working in a field dominated by the likes of Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and Lily Tomlin. Shirley says they know I'm coming because I see them down at the comedy store peaking. Shirley is a very likable lady. And perhaps the biggest adjustment she had to make in becoming a celebrity is giving up her privacy. She loves to walk and play tennis. From the What's Happening series, Shirley got the opportunity to star in her own television series, One in a Million. I asked the comedian why she decided on comedy. The first decision was just to relocate from my hometown, which is Ashwin, or Carolina. And so I came out to California after I had sent some material to then famous. And he still is quite famous. Flip Wilson, some comedy material, and he sent me an invitation back to see his show. And so I came out to California on the bus, and I saw the show.

This is when he was number one in the country. I had never seen a studio because we had one in Asheville, but you just don't go by a TV studio. And I saw Bill Russell, whose hair needs Coleman. It's so bad. I said, give me a comb. And I saw some other people on the show, and I said, this looks easy. I think I want to do it. And then I went back in Flip's dress room. I guess he saw me drooling through the show, and he says, it's not as easy as you think. And he said, I don't talk to me about 20 minutes. And I thought, well, maybe I don't want to do this. But I knew I wanted to come to California to live. So we're back home, and I told my mom, and she went, mm-hmm. Yeah, because my mom always thought I was a little retard in her. So she went, sure, baby. And I came out to just really okay, and get a job. And when I came out, Flip told me about the company store. And I went down there in the first week. I saw Delay Frederick Prince and David Brennan, all the superstars. So the second week, my money had run out for entertainment. And I found out from the club only you can get up into five minutes. And then I could get to see all the celebrities.

And work. So I guess you like to five minutes, because I got done that through the week, real late, you know, when people too drunk to get up in the evening. And from there, I was doing, I must have been a year and a half. I said to come to store. And a man named Norman Lear came in. He was having his partner cast for a new show called What's Happening. And at the time, I didn't know Norman Lear. Only one guy knew in show business was Flip. And I had met David Brennan, but I don't know what I expected. 20 million to look like. But he had on his golf hat. And he came up and said, you want to be in show business? And I said, yeah, show business. And this, you know how you go over here. And my agent, I had gotten an agent through the comedy store said, this man is worth 20 million. Please listen to him. So I went in the next day. And they gave me a script. My blinds said, yeah, I had seen a script before. I had seen cameras. And I got to job in first week. You know, when you had to put it on the line. It was scary, but they were very nice.

And we made three and a half years out of it. What was life like before the move out to check out the Flip Wilson show? Back in Asher. You understand you did 10 college for two years. Yeah. And you still return back home. Yeah. It was like living in the projects. My mother had two children. Have you bought a project yet? I understand. The biggest thing you said wasn't your life was being able to move into the project and that didn't happen. Yeah. Well, now I have several homes. That seems to be my weakness. You know, we never really owned a home. And so now I try to buy one place where I would like to live. And so I have places there. So it's been an adjustment to me because basically I'm kind of shy. But I did it because I wanted to do show business and also help my family. Because my mom had been a housekeeper all her life. And I think the best thing now so far was when I performed in DC. And the lady that my mom used to be the housekeeper for was sitting down front. And she had to pay like $12 to see me.

And I thought, ah, payback is really a witch, isn't it? And my mother was there and she had a crack. Because you know, my mom is 73. She cries at any little thing. But that to me showed me that I was at least on the right track. Yeah. What did you study when you were attending college? Physical education and health. You know, because I got a scholarship in basketball there. So it was two years I really wasted. Somebody else could have had that scholarship. I don't know who I was there. It's first time away from home. I met the little boys from New York. And you know, you couldn't tell me nothing. I just, I don't know. I think I needed it. But you know, when I look back now, I just wasted those two years. I'm sorry about that. Okay. What do you like best? Being a stand-up comedian or participating in a weekly television series? Financially, the TV series creatively I like stand-up because that's your show. You know, no one can tell you what you can't say or what you can't say. And I like that immediate response you get from the audience. So I would mind doing some more television, but I would like to stay on the road to always. When we think of female comedians, Lily Tomlin,

Joan Rivers, Carol Benet. But there's a lack of black female comedians. Is that disturbing? Or are there other black female comedians? Well, there was, you know, the famous mom's maybe, but she was so old by the time she made it that she wasn't able to capitalize on it or enjoy it that much. There's a new lady out named Marshall Warfield. She's from Chicago. I think she's doing a big movie now with Mr. T. You know, he's such a celebrity. I think when this movie comes out, she's going to be quite good and recognizable. She's quite good. There are other ones, but we just don't have one that's out there. If I developed, or took time to develop, I think I could be very good because I got to do it, opens to me now, but I don't do it all the time. And I do it on a spur moment. I feel like doing it for someone who wants to do it for a living. I think Marshall Warfield will be the one that's going to be next year, too. You hear a lot about it. Okay. Can you be a full-time comedian?

Or do you have to take a day to have a big comedian? Well, nowadays, no. Nowadays, when I started out, you didn't get paid if you were going to come and still. But now you can't. But comedy clubs are opening up all over the country. Like a few years ago, there wasn't one here in Austin. Correct. So now, if you wanted to, there are some comics who just live on the road. You can go a whole year. But that's hard on you. It's weird hard on you. But it is money to be made, quite good money, yeah. But it really burns you out, though. What is the difference between your stand-up comedian now? You were a stand-up comedian before you started the television series some years ago. Acting before an audience, and then you're acting before a camera, telling jokes, the response. Oh, it is their response. In television. Well, when I first started out, it was like, let's see what you can do. Now, I'm accepted. So it's much easier now that I have a name than when I didn't. You know, sometimes I have to play head trips with myself to get myself up for it.

The only difference I know to me is that it's my show when I'm doing stand-up. When you're in front of TV, you have to do certain things, you have to move certain ways. And I like stand-up better, but I'm not doing rocks at television because it really helped me. What was it like being on the What's Happening TV series? Well, the first year, I was a little numb, and I had no idea. Because everybody I came in contact the first season was own television. I had something to do with it. So I could not imagine people in Oklahoma, any place else, outside of California watching it. And I didn't realize the impact I was showing until we went to New York to see that play called Yoms Too Short, To Box For God. And I went to a matinee. And I got up to leave. And for some reason, my mom was in the car with the limo drive. He kept saying, I know what I'm doing. I used to do work for Michael Jackson. I know how to control the crowds. And I kept feeling the clouds getting closer and I was going out. And I got to the door and he had locked it.

And my mom was sitting in that and I'm like, no, no, don't come in. And I remember they saying something like lunch. And our everybody came to me. That was the most frightening thing. And we got in the limo and they stopped rocking the car and stuff. I realized then that what privacy I did have, I will never have again, which is a sad feeling. But nowadays, I kind of pick where I have to go and stuff. I'm not a big superstar like some of them. I don't know how they can take it. I got Richard Priories at the comedy store for like eight weeks now. He's doing a new album. And he has to run off the stage at the end. And I don't know if I could take that. I had a little bit of it and then they stopped what's happening. But then they started syndication again. So it started up again. What was it like working with the other actors on the series? It was fun because everybody thought it was, see, originally we thought we was going to do four for the summer. And we make money and I would go home and say, mom, look how much I made. And, you know, I probably come home on a plane. And she could never. And we didn't November. And in December, they said, Mississippi, you can't go home for Christmas.

And I started crying because I didn't know why. And he said, we're going to make it a series. And this is when we were behind Welcome Back Carter. So it was a good one to punch. And my mom didn't come out to the third year. She says, I'm not going to leave home. I have to come back and get embarrassed because you didn't make it. So, but everybody, I think the only one that had experience in television or theater was Roger Thomas. The one that played, Ernie Thomas, the paid Roger. So everybody else was kind of new. And we just took it as fun. We thought we was going to do four, make a little money, go home. We had no idea that it was going to be the show that it was. Did Hollywood change, Shirley? Once you became... Oh, for a while, I thought I was missing. Oh, I had an ego decided to football field. Oh, I was real rude to my housekeeper and stuff. And so we have a little cabin up in the mountain. My mother took me up there and she said, unless you got the cure for cancer, let's freeze that, you know. And it made me wash dishes and brought me back down to earth. And I needed it because I was, you know, you can't stay. I don't know how entertainers say they can stay humble and stuff.

It's very hard because everybody's stroking you every day and all of a sudden you start believing that. And I think all of the cast went through that, all of us. And then we realized it was a business and you treated it as such. When Shirley's not on the road performing... Yeah. What did you do to try to get away from it? I read a lot. I played tennis a lot. I get beat a lot in tennis. But I just want my first celebrity playing with Bill Cosby's tournament. And I travel because I'm very close to my mom. So I take her to places like St. Thomas and stuff. So I have to stay in this business to afford her. I don't do drugs, but I do have parents. And what else? I like movies. But now I have to pick where I can go. It's difficult to just go out. No, I can't do that no more. You know the worst part is like when you have a date, but you know men's ego is so sensitive. It is. You know they are. And you'll be going like, I ain't going to go. Miss Happy, who is this?

And I go, well, this is so nice. And then there are some places. You know, I've been blessed that I can afford to go to the higher places. And it's kind of embarrassing to ask the man, well, can you afford this? So it's just on me. And you know, you have to say it in such a way that it doesn't hurt his ego. That's the part that... And it's not too many of us in my position. And so when you start looking around the white body going, oh yeah, I thought you would. So you have to watch. It's jet looking. You know how we put pressure on each other. But I'm learning to deal with that. And it's just that I'm so afraid of hurting men's ego by that. What do you draw from to get the information for your routines? I listen to people a lot. I like to sit and watch people. I can't do it no more because they're always watching me. I have friends and I listen to their situations with their mates. I read a lot. I try to read every day to keep up with national news and stuff. I don't do political news because I don't think it's funny right now.

And religious stuff. I stay away from them completely. So use these things that we do in everyday life that I try to talk about. Okay. It's difficult for a female comedian to get up on stage. If they're different attitudes towards the audience, the way we perceive comedians or entertainers in general. Well you would take things from a man quick and you're a woman. So it's all about taste. If you can deal with it in taste, they will upset. And it helps because I'm on TV too. Okay. All the audience is different. We just talked about this. We just opened up in Austin Club. There were group last night, several Liberty unions. We're not talking teenagers, you know. And I saw them and I went, oh, I'm going to hurt myself on this one. But they were very nice. And it went well. But usually I get mixed audience. I get people who think I'm 13 years old or something. I'm 18. It's here. I think I'm on what's happening and stuff. And they know. They think they know me one way. And my act is not what they thought it was going to be.

Okay. Since what's happening was taking off the air. Some years ago, there's been a... I don't want to study the client of the amount of black exposure on television. Situation comedy seems to be the only vehicle on which black life is viewed here in America. And the Jefferson's have a black hole on there. Thank you. Thank goodness. What seems to be the problem in Hollywood for black actors? Well, I think, you know, everything goes in cycles. It's just they thought, well, we can make money off everything. Like, dynasty is just killing it. We're not on that. And as long as they can make money other ways, they will forget about it. So we're going to have to do our own stuff. You anticipate I'm producing and making a... Well, right now I'm into real estate. But once I get myself situated financially secure and real estate and stuff, I would like to. Yeah. But you got to have money. You know, or know somebody who does. And you can't operate it on a shoestring. And if I come out, I want to come out with something good. So like Richard, he's very... He was 46 million for the next five years or something.

The pressure is on for that first one's going to make a lot of money. You know, it can't be no message. It just has to be good and attainment. And then I think he will be in the driver's seat. But it's just hard right now, people are... I don't know why. They're just looking like, yeah. You know, a very few. I just took another day. Mr. T, I saw him on the road. And I think they just picked up nail cutters. So again, so it's very few left. Very few. I don't know. It's kind of impersonated. They're depressing. Yes, it is. What are the actors, the black actors doing? Are they doing anything? Are they trying to come together? You know, we fight him on each other. If one gets one step, we've got to pull him back, because you think he's getting more... We don't see it as well. If he gets up there, I like to see anybody working like... I look at comics, J.L.O. and all those. I'm glad when they're working, because I figured... If he's over here working, there should be a job over somewhere else. And you just can't watch one person. If you watch him, you're not doing your stuff. And we just got to start trusting each other.

And let this person go ahead and do the best you can. I'm not going to climb on your back. I'll try to get my little stuff, but we're... So insecure. We just can't let nobody get one step. We've got to be there cutting him. What comedians do you enjoy working with? If they're on a special or... I like all comics. They like family to me. So you never hear me about Batman or something, because we're all in the same boat. I like working with Richard, because he brings out the big people. Sammy Davis Jr., I never would have got to meet him, but the comedy store he was there to see Richard and... The guy that does... What's that... What's that roller stones, the guys that were there, and I got to meet him. I like working with Bill Cosby too. He's very educated and very nice man. So those are two I've met with. I've met Red Fox. I like him. I'm trying now to stay... It's been since last August's day. I've only eaten fish and chicken, because you know, I'm like 36 now, and I'm trying to get my body in shape. But I've abused myself so long, and I have a nutritionist

that's trying to tell me vegetables. But you look at broccoli and cauliflower. They don't talk to me that much. I'm trying to do it, but... So I'm trying to re-educate myself, as if it weren't. I don't eat hamburgers, no more, which I never thought I'd give up. Because that wind is hamburgers. I thought I was going to live there forever. Not in Juicy, they won't kill me. But I'm trying to re-educate. You know, do you eat meat now? I certainly do. You see, but you're thin. You can... It just hangs on me for years and years and years. So I'm trying. Because you know what Hollywood, the thing is pencil thin and stuff. But I figure sooner or later, they'll come back around. I'm glad you mentioned products point about Hollywood. Is it easy to lose a perspective? You mentioned about being struck day in and day out. And taking that decline, you know, when the series is taking off television. And really coming back to the norm. Well, you have to kind of cut back. Because where I live, they have the Mercedes and the rolls and stuff. And you get caught up in it.

Because you don't see anything else. Everybody you run with has one. And that's why I got one. And I was looking at Eddie Murphy. He got 17 speakers in a car. And I said to him, Eddie, come on. And he got caught up in it. You can do that. But I have a place that I go. So this rare humble is a cabin. And it keeps me. You have to work at it. Because you get caught up in this stuff. And you just have to realize that it's a business, you know. And when you're not sellable anymore, there's somebody else. You said you still have some problems about your privacy. Yeah. What are you trying to do for it now for the particular problem now? The thing I don't want to do is to start bringing everything into my home so I don't have to come out. For instance, I like to play a centipede. And Donkey Kong, Jr., you ever tried those? No. I used to go out to the arcade and play it. But little kids hang out there. And so now I find myself bringing it into my home. I have those things in my home. And I don't want to start building stuff inside my home. Then I don't want to come out.

Like I look at Michael Jackson. And he scares me. I mean, he doesn't come out for anything. And you can build yourself like that fence around you. And then you don't come out. Sometimes I just grip my teeth and say, I'm going out. I'm going to have a good time. I don't care what y'all say. And you have to do that. But then sometimes it's so hard to come out and, you know, they're going to be aren't you that girl? Yeah. Yeah. I guess it could be a problem at my time. Are you still disappointed for not being a part of the Roots television miniseries? Me and you must have been all the ones in here. All the ones went on in. They broke my face. They told me I was too light. I went get out of here. Did they really? Yes. And I look at it now because I have a tape oven. And I go, I could have played somebody. But I look at it now. And I know the guy who did it, Ruben Cannon. He also is from Chicago, a brother. And he also is a casting for A-Team. So he's back in the driver's seat right now with a hit. But I think Roots was good. And I hope they do some other stuff. Many series. We got to mean black involved in the casting of the particular television series or the major production house. All the ones we have is Ruben Cannon.

That's the big one we have now. And he's with the A-Team. That's the hit he has now. You know, you're only as hard as to hit you have. And you can keep him at a low budget. And Ruben believes in paying you $50 on a suit and a sandwich. So if he can keep him on the budget, he'll be everybody goes to him. Because they don't want to pay that much for cast members. What's down the road for Shirley Hempel? Hopefully I would like to do a move a year and move to Maui. But I got to have money there. So I want to get into movies one a year. Shirley Hempel, stand up comedian and former star of the television series what's happening and one in a million. I would like to thank the comedy workshops of Austin and Houston for their cooperation in the production of this program. If you have a comment, I would like to purchase a cassette copy of this program. Write us the address CS in Black America, Longhorn Radio Network, Austin, Texas, 787-12. For in Black America's technical producer Walter Morgan, I'm John Hanson. Join us next week. You've been listening to in Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society.

In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin. And does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is the Longhorn Radio Network.