Steve Harvey – Showtime At The Apollo

By starrymag | May 2, 2018

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Steve, when you talk about when you’ve got a bunch of jobs, that’s such an overstatement.  Do you ever think, boy, I’ve got way too many jobs?  What’s it like to be as busy as you are?

 

Steve:   Well, I think that all the time when I realize that my friends go play golf twice a week.  They do all this other stuff.  They’re actually at home barbequing in the middle of the week.  It’s sort of crazy for me. I just decided that I wanted to do something exceptional, and the only think I know is work.  I’ve slowly been turning my brand into a global entrepreneur.  It takes work to make dreams come true.  I don’t know any other way to do it. I think it’s a bit overwhelming at times.  It is.  It’s a lot.  There are a lot of days that I wish I was off, but I can’t be.  But also at the same time, I’m really grateful and proud of the fact that I don’t miss—I’ve been on Family Feud 200 episodes.  This is the ninth year.  I’ve never missed a day—never missed a show.  I’ve been on talk show—this is the end of the sixth year.  I’ve never missed a show.  Never missed Showtime at the Apollo.  Never missed an episode of Little Big Shots, Little Big Shots: Forever Young, Funderdome.   I’ve never missed an episode of television, except one episode of television back in the 90s—The Steve Harvey Show—my mom passed.  Other than that, I’ve never missed a day.  I’m very grateful for being healthy to be able to work.

 

Q) What I was going to ask is just, real briefly, to reflect on the very first time you were in the Apollo.  I can’t recall if that was as a contestant or as a host but just reflect on what that was like.

 

Steve:  It was actually my first television appearance as a stand-up.  I met, that night, some guy named Jamie Foxx, who was there that night.  We introduced ourselves to each other; this was ‘91, I think, ‘90, ‘91.  We were both not famous at all.  We sat there and performed that night.  It was probably one of the scariest night I’ve ever had.  It’s such a tough place to play.  I went out, got a standing ovation and my television career was born at Showtime at the Apollo.  That was my very first television appearance.  They asked me to come back a few weeks later.  I went back again, did okay again, and the next time they asked me was, “Man, you get such a great reaction, would you sit in for Mark Curry?  He’s going to miss a tape day because he’s doing Mr. Cooper.”  So, I went back and did it.  And after that, they offered me the job full-time and that began my television career.  So, it’s a very, very special place to me.

 

Q) Speaking of this very special time and very special place that the show being at the Showtime at the Apollo is for you, I’m wondering, can you talk a little bit about the ways you’re inspired by the talent on the show.

 

Steve: Well, I guess more so than inspired by them, I just recognize the opportunity that it is for so many people because it was such an opportunity for me.  And I also can relate to directly to how they must be feeling, because before—when you rub that log as a contestant on Showtime at the Apollo, you’re at the mercy of one of the toughest crowds on planet Earth.  I mean, it’s really, really a tough crowd.   And even though Harlem has changed—you go during the week when we do the show, Thursday and Friday mornings, it’s like 50-50 black-white.  That was never the case back in the ‘90s.  It was 100% African-Americans sitting in there, when an occasional two or three people would come but the city has changed so much.  It’s 50-50, until it gets to those late-night shows on Saturday and Sunday.  Then you get more of the authentic Harlem crowd. But the crowds are taught really, really quickly how to act, and so when you’re an act and you walk out there, it’s still a very, very tough place to play.  I try to say something calming to them before they start, as contestants, but nothing I can say can relax you.  Nothing.

 

Q) Today I was reading an interview you gave with the Hollywood Reporter, and you mentioned how hosting Apollo has made you consider getting back into stand-up.  And you talk about a funny special about your life that you hope to put together, or that you’re thinking about.  And I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit about that.  Is that something that your fans might see—this special—within the next year or so, hopefully, fingers crossed?

 

Steve:  Well, it’s just been a thought of mine.  What’s crazy, man, I haven’t decided yet because it’s so politically correct out here now.  It’s so PC.  Chapelle’s special broke a lot of the rules, and so did Rock but they’re not television stars.  And, I’m connected to a radio show and TV that’s very much sponsor driven.  If I had said anything that those two guys said, and somebody wrote in as a sponsor talking about, I can’t believe he said that, then my whole television empire crumbles.  So, I’m really scared at this point; I’m really leery about because it’s just so politically correct out there.  And it’s unfair for comedy to be that way.  It’s just unfair.  What joke can you tell that’s going to make everyone happy?  The joke has to be about somebody.  And I don’t know how to write a joke about nobody.  I just don’t.  It’s got to be something. So, I’m just thinking about it.  I don’t know how to write a joke without saying something controversial.  You can’t write comedy without being controversial.

 

Q)  I wanted to know, are you part of the audition process, or do you see them for the first time on stage?  And how do you think talent has evolved since you were on early on?

 

Steve:  Well, no, I’m not involved in picking the talent at all.  That’s the first time I see them.  I may run into them in the hallway, because they line them up, and I have to go past them.  I may see them in the hallway and give them some words of encouragement, but that’s as far as it goes.  As far as the talent—it’s the same.  It’s the same.  Somebody is going to come out and sing a song and they nail it.  Somebody is going to come out and sing a song and not understand the rules of the Apollo.  For example, there are some people that you can’t do at the Apollo unless you do it exact.  You can’t do Whitney Houston.  They do not allow it.  You can’t do Michael Jackson.  They don’t allow it.  You can’t do Luther Vandross and you can’t do Prince.  If you don’t nail these people—they are held at such high esteem.  Those are the four that you cannot come and redo. You better be on point.  If you miss a note, we know it, and you’re gone.  You can’t do Mariah Carey.  No one does Chaka Kahn.  No one.  Don’t even attempt Chaka Kahn.  Those are the rules.  They come out there, and it’s the same.  It’s a tough place to play, but the talent has been pretty good this year.

 

Q)  So your reactions are pretty much genuine when you’re seeing it the first time as the audience.

 

Steve:  Oh, yeah.  That’s how I do it.  That’s how I do all my shows.  I don’t meet the families on Family Feud.  I don’t come to rehearsals at Little Big Shots.  I don’t meet the kids at Little Big Shots. The thing that attracts people to me is my authenticity.  I’m authentic.  I just want to be how I really am without rehearsal.  That’s what makes me work.  I want you to see what I’m thinking on my face, and I don’t really try to hide it.

 

 

Q) Congratulations on Showtime at the Apollo and all the shows you have done you are still doing and the work you give to your audience and your fans.  Have you ever thought about going back to the big screen?

 

Steve:  The big screen is not for me, really, to tell you the truth.  All of the movies I’ve been in—five or six of them—they ask me to come play a certain role.  I’ve never read for a movie.  I got it figured out a long time ago; I’m a TV star.  I know that.  I make my money on the small screen. I don’t look good.  If you blow my face up 25-feet high, it doesn’t look good.  You’ve got to keep me out of theaters.  If I looked like Denzel or [indiscernible] or Will Smith or somebody pretty, you might do that for me.  But my face 25-feet tall, it’s scary.

 

Q)  Anything on TV you haven’t done that you would like to do?  You’ve been doing almost everything, but is there still anything that you would like to do?

 

Steve:  I think where I’m at right now is my production company, East 112^th Street, I hired this wonderful woman named Terry Kennedy to head my production company, and what I’m doing right now is looking for people who have television ideas, who have special ideas, who have movie ideas.  Because, I want to help as many people as I can with my power of persuasion and promotion to put out really good TV and good projects and good specials and become a media content mogul for everybody, and that’s my goal right now.  Not so much of what else I want to do, but so much of helping people get good quality TV out there, and I have a lot of influence, so I might as well take advantage of it.

 

Q)  Talking about helping, as a motivational speaker, are you thinking to do or write another book or tour around the United States?

 

Steve:  Well, I’ve been doing some motivational speaking, and I have a couple of motivational books, but I don’t like writing books.  You have to hire a writer and then I have to explain to them what I really said because I speak with a lot of bad grammar and then when the person writes it, it’s not what I said.  So the writing process, I don’t enjoy it at all. But at the same time, you never know.  I could, but no books.  Motivational speaking, I still do it.  I do it at my ranch; I do it at Disney.  I was at Villanova recently, last year, for some people.  I’ve spoken at the SALT Convention.  I’ve done the FMI Convention.  So, if somebody wants me to be there as a motivational speaker, I’d take a look at it.

 

 

Q)  Like you mentioned, this audience at the Apollo is notoriously tough.  Do you think that’s rooted in the fact that we have these performers in front of a group of New Yorkers or that we’re in New York City, which is notoriously known for being a rough place to make it?

 

Steve:  No.  It’s Harlem.  It’s Harlem.  This is not a Brooklyn.  This is not Queens.  This isn’t Long Island.  This is none of that.  This is Harlem.  Harlem is home of the world famous, legendary Apollo Theater.  It’s where dreams are made. If you consider yourself a great act, and you haven’t been at the Apollo, then you haven’t been at the ultimate proving ground.  Bruno Mars, the hottest act out there right now, he did his last special on CBS at the Apollo Theater because his father told him, hey look, kid, you can say what you want to say, but until you do it at the Apollo, I don’t know what to tell you.  And his father is an old school musician, and he knew that. So, it’s just Harlem.  It’s a proving ground.  It’s a tradition, over 80 years old, 80 years this building has been up doing it like this.  It’s crazy.  It’s a tough place to be.

 

Q) Are there any performers this season that stood out in your mind the most?

 

Steve: There have been some good ones.  There has been some funny stuff.  When people don’t make the cut, that’s the show.  We’re letting you know, you really need to stay with your day job.  You don’t have a future at this, and we’re here so you don’t waste a lot of people’s time.  But then at the same time, we love to see somebody hit it over the wall.  A lady came and did a Whitney Houston song and hit it over the wall, which is so hard to do.  So, there are a lot of great moments; I don’t really have one favorite.

 

Q)   I don’t know if you remember, but there was an orthodontist, Matthew Hashimoto, from New York City, who came on, and you were really impressed by it.

 

Steve: He blew it out of the water.  This cat could sing, for real.  He has one of the best voices I’ve heard.  This dude was incredible, incredible.  I think I had him on my talk show, I think so.

 

Q) I was wondering what your opinion was on the diversity that was on this season.  We had the first lesbian contestant and quite a variety.  What did you think of them?

 

Steve:  It’s really great because that’s the world we live in.  We’re in a diverse world.  Because people have ignorant thoughts, we can’t allow those ignorant thoughts to prevail anymore.  This world is of a diverse climate.  We’ve got to get with it.  Everybody is amongst each other.  I don’t care if you’re Republican, you can quit all this stuff about—it’s amazing how political this world is.  It kind of makes me sick a little bit.  We’re the Conservative Party, we don’t believe in abortion, we don’t believe in a woman’s rights, we don’t believe in gay marriage.  Stop.  Stop.  Republicans have abortions.  Republicans are gay.  What are we talking about here?  This is crazy.  It’s a diverse world.  Let’s get with it.  Let’s learn to accept one another because people aren’t going anywhere.  I’m going to be black until I die.  I’m here.  It’s okay.  If you talk to me, you don’t have to be black.  It’s okay.

 

Q)  Is there anything that you really miss about being in Chicago now?

 

Steve: The food and the audiences were really, really good.  The audiences in Chicago were really good and the food was amazing.  I do not miss six below zero.  I’ll tell you what drove me out of Chicago was year before last, they invented a new cold and it’s called the vortex.  When they did that, I said, okay, you all win.

 

Q)  One of the things that has impressed me most with you is that it is very, very hard to find family friendly programming in 2018.  You are probably one of the only people that consistently fosters inclusive family programming.  Is that on purpose?

 

Steve:  Conscientious decision, and who am I to correct anybody how to talk.  That’s amazing.  I’ve never known a word that anybody else didn’t know, so congratulations. That was the first time that I knew a word that someone else didn’t.  Thank you for allowing me to show a little bit of intelligence that I have left.  It is a conscious decision because as I saw what was happening in television about nine years ago, I said, you ought to just go outside of where everything is going because I saw this reality stuff coming and I saw it getting a little bit more raunchy and a little bit more raunchy.  And I just decided when I did Family Feud that was going to be the beginning.  And I get offered everything.  Somebody told me one time—somebody said, “Wow, Steve, it seems like everything you touch turns to gold.  I said, “No. I just don’t touch everything.”  That’s what I learned to do.  Bishop Jakes [ph] taught me that.  So, I started watching very carefully.  So, I can do Family Feud.  I can do Celebrity Family Feud.  I can do a talk show daytime.  I can do Showtime at the Apollo.  I can do Big Shots: Forever Young.  I can do Funderdome.  And I can make it work because, guess what, how many times have I heard people say, I’m so glad that I can just sit down with my family and watch something.  And so that’s the niche, and I have to always remember that about me.

 

Q) Well, that is one of the things that really sticks out in my mind about you.  The second thing that sticks out about you is your sense of style, sir.

 

Steve:   Yeah, blue cheese.

 

Q)   Now, do you dress yourself, or do you have a stylist?

 

Steve: Well, I have a stylist because I have to dress up so much but I pick out all the fabrics for my suits when I have them made.  Now, I have a guy that goes shopping for me.  He knows what I like.  His name is Will Phoenix, and he buys shirts and ties for me when I don’t get the shirts made. But that’s really what I do.  He’s a great guy; he’s smart, and he knows how I dress.  That’s how I got the nickname Blue Cheese.  They call me Blue Cheese because I be dressing.  Oh yeah.  I know that threw a lot of you.  Put it on paper: I be dressing.

 

Q)  I wanted to jump into the reason you won the Emmy for hosting your daytime show.  Now, you’ve been doing a lot of hosting—Family Feud, you say you’ve done 200 episodes, you’ve never missed a show; you’ve done Little Big Shots, you’ve never missed a show and now you’re back at Showtime at the Apollo.  You started in stand-up, but was hosting something that you’ve always wanted to do with your career?

 

Steve:   What a lot of people don’t know is I started a comedy room in Dallas in 1988, ‘89 called Voocoo Ray [ph], and I hosted it.  And then I had my own comedy club that I opened in Dallas in ‘91, called Steve Harvey’s Comedy House, and I hosted it.  And I learned that hosting is a specialized talent because you have to be gracious.  Most people are not successful hosts because they make the show about them.  It’s really about the other person.  You have to be gracious when people are succeeding.  Now if they’re losing, you can do your thing.  But I’ve always hosted. Then when I became host of Showtime at the Apollo, I had so much experience bringing up acts at this one-nighter club that I had in Dallas and my own comedy club, I became good at it.  That’s why when we went to the Kings of Comedy, we were actually struggling with the order of the show because the first year it was just me, Sid, and Bernie, and then when we added DL Hughley we needed to get a host, and I volunteered to host the Kings of Comedy because I knew as the host, of the guys with the skillset, I probably had the better skillset and most people don’t want to host because it takes away from their length of time on the stage, because you’re up there in spots and spurts.  That doesn’t bother me.

 

Q)  Now, jumping back into Kings of Comedy, there were talks of an original Kings of Comedy biopic floating around.  Is that something that you would be interested in doing?

 

Steve   Yeah, in a way, but they would have to include Bernie some kind of way.  It was ten years after we stopped touring that Bernie passed.  We had just started talking about it, maybe doing a big reunion, but when Bernie passed, that killed it.  None of us, me, Sid or DL, wants to ever do the Kings of Comedy without Bernie.  That was our guy.  He was our dude.  Without him, it’s just not the same.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*