I was a street performer for two years.
BERNIE MACI want people to say at the end of my day, you know, like I used to say about Sidney Poitier and James Cagney and Joan Crawford and Red Skelton and those guys and Bill Cosby. They did quality and substance. You always remember them.
More Bernie Mac Quotes
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I’m an entertainer and I really enjoy entertaining. I think if you’re going to really be what you say you are, you have to really live it, work it, practice it, and think it.
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I had to do clubs where street gangs were, had to do motorcycle gangs, gay balls and things of that nature.
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Bernie Mac just says what you think but are afraid to say.
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I wasn’t disciplined at all. As good of an athlete as I was, I was not disciplined. Had I had the drive that I have in comedy, and acting, and writing, that’s why I knew it just wasn’t right for me.
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I have Glocks, .45s, Berettas, Remingtons. I like the marksmanship and the discipline that it takes to be a gun owner. I like the machinery. Being able to take it out and clean it is even more fascinating than having the gun.
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I don’t ever watch myself. By watching, you try to perfect yourself, become a robot.
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I’m an ordinary guy with an extraordinary job.
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My family are police officers, detectives. My brother Mitch is FBI. Mitch is like that – a stern enforcer.
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I became the storyteller of South Side Chicago. I used an old Kiwi liquid shoe polish as a microphone. I’d go around the house interviewing everybody, telling stupid jokes, doing voices. I mimicked Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., people on ‘Laugh-In,’ Flip Wilson.
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My comedy comes from pain. I can’t stand to see someone hurting.
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I want to do something that people can really say, ‘Hey, man, that was good, I’m proud of you, I’m proud of that.’ ‘Pride’ and ‘Transformers’ and things like that.
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I’m not afraid to fail. Sometimes when you lose, you win. Sometimes when you win, you lose.
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I’m very much disciplined because I’m more mature. When I was young I just wanted to live, I could jump, I could run, I was quick and I was relentless.
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Shut up before I drop yo ass off at Koreatown. Now hold on, America, don’t start writing no letters. I’m just kidding. But am I lying?
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I’m not a star, I hate that word, and I’m an entertainer. Stars fall, you know, I’m an entertainer. I want to be known as an entertainer.
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I want to have fun. Life ain’t no dress rehearsal. I want to have fun. I’m a comedian; I ain’t no politician. So everything I do is with humor, with love.
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Sometimes when you lose you win, son. Failure is just life’s way of preparing you for success.
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I want to play a villain – I can’t wait to play a villain.
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You can’t change what happened. Just like you can’t change the future by worrying about it. You just have to keep moving.
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When I hit my 20s, I struggled to make it. I got married at 19, and my daughter, Je’Niece, was born a year later. I worked blue collar jobs during the day and comedy clubs at night, and I was earning about $25 a year doing stand-up.
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The success of my comedy has been not being afraid to touch on subject matters or issues that everyone else is politically scared of.
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I want to speak directly to the audience, to say, ‘I’m like you – I’m frustrated, I’m not an expert, I don’t have a manual on parenting, I make mistakes, I’m selfish too.’
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Suffering is a good teacher. It keeps you in its grip until you’ve learned your lesson.
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That’s the whole key to anything: Don’t be afraid to fail. And is not afraid to fail.
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It took me a long time to get to where I’m at, in my career and as a man. I was going through my trials and tribulations in life, and it gave me the strength to tackle things that have come my way.
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I don’t care about how I look; I’m dedicated to the laughs. You know, I used to be a clown, so – my name was Smoothie the Clown. All the training I had, all my training is geared toward making people laugh, and I didn’t care about being cool.
BERNIE MAC