Enter the Escape Room with Wanda Sykes

Stand-up comedian, actress and writer Wanda Sykes joins IMO to discuss her hilarious encounter with Michelle at the 2009 White House Correspondents dinner. She also shares stories about her time spent at the National Security Agency, the peculiarities of aging, and more about her new special Legacy. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com http://mopod.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  My friend was like, where do you, why you meeting all these crazy women from?

• 0:03Michelle Obama?

  Okay, see there? Tell us about the crazy women.

• 0:08Speaker 00

  Nope, cuz when you, cuz when you talk about, I say you bring them, they, they pop up. I can walk out of here, somebody like, hey, ma'am! I'm like, oh, jeez. Ah, yeah. It's, it's like Candyman, you can't, don't, don't, uh-uh. Nope, I'm not talking about crazy. Nope, nope, nope, nope.

• 0:36Michelle Obama?

  This episode of IMO is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

• 0:42Craig Robinson?

  How are you?

• 0:43Michelle Obama?

  I am good.

• 0:46Michelle Obama?

  Gosh, I'm so ready for like, real summer to happen.

• 0:50Craig Robinson?

  I know, I know.

• 0:52Michelle Obama?

  We never know when these things are gonna air, but as our, our taping, it's still spring and it's not warm enough.

• 0:59Craig Robinson?

  But it's, we're, we're in LA, so it's warm enough for me. It's a whole different kind of temperature than Wisconsin.

• 1:04Michelle Obama?

  What's going on in Milwaukee? Is it snowing there?

• 1:07Craig Robinson?

  No, it's not snowing, it's not snowing, but it is not as warm as it is here.

• 1:11Michelle Obama?

  So, you still got coats out?

• 1:13Craig Robinson?

  Forties, fifties, yeah, coats, sweatshirts, we're probably at the sweatshirt stage now. As soon as it hits fifty, everybody will be in shorts.

• 1:21Michelle Obama?

  Everybody's gonna be in flip flops and, you know, go into the pool.

• 1:25Craig Robinson?

  That's right.

• 1:26Michelle Obama?

  Go into the pool, that was always the crazy thing about Chicago. It would be thirty below and the minute it hit like thirty-seven, people were like, open the window!

• 1:35Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 1:36Michelle Obama?

  It's summertime!

• 1:37Craig Robinson?

  Oh my gosh.

• 1:38Michelle Obama?

  And we're so, we're, we're, we're just victims of the cold.

• 1:41Craig Robinson?

  I know, I know. Every time I come to LA, I'm like, why don't we live here?

• 1:46Michelle Obama?

  I know.

• 1:47Craig Robinson?

  Why?

• 1:47Michelle Obama?

  Well, yeah, why?

• 1:48Craig Robinson?

  I know, I know.

• 1:49Michelle Obama?

  I guess it's still two kids and...

• 1:51Craig Robinson?

  Two kids still in high school, once they get out, we are...

• 1:53Michelle Obama?

  You two, hurry up, finish your education. Free your father and your mother from the cold.

• 2:01Craig Robinson?

  Lot of basketball.

• 2:02Michelle Obama?

  Oh my gosh.

• 2:02Craig Robinson?

  Every weekend.

• 2:03Michelle Obama?

  Every weekend, it's, it just seems to be too much.

• 2:06Craig Robinson?

  No, it's not, I'm really having fun coaching them.

• 2:09Michelle Obama?

  Well, that's you, how are they? Are they enjoying you coaching them?

• 2:12Craig Robinson?

  Well, Austin enjoys co, me coaching his team. My sixteen-year-old is...

• 2:18Michelle Obama?

  The oldest of the youngest.

• 2:20Craig Robinson?

  The oldest of the young crew. He enjoys me coaching. The younger one enjoys me coaching everybody but him.

• 2:30Craig Robinson?

  No, I'm just kidding. Aaron, Aaron, Aaron doesn't mind being coached. But he used to hate it when I coached him.

• 2:35Michelle Obama?

  Is he getting better about being coached?

• 2:36Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, he's, he's much better.

• 2:38Michelle Obama?

  See, this is why I always take up for the youngest sibling. You just can't, you know, you gotta give him a minute to fit, you know? You gotta give him some space to like decide how he wants to order himself in the household with an older sibling.

• 2:54Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, we, we laugh. We laugh because he is a reincarnation of you.

• 3:00Michelle Obama?

  That's my boy.

• 3:01Craig Robinson?

  He is a reincarnation of you.

• 3:03Michelle Obama?

  I love Austin, but Aaron's my boy because we're the youngest. It's like me, Aaron, Sasha. Leslie doesn't count. She's the, she's the youngest. She's the only girl, but she's the youngest of the oldest.

• 3:15Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 3:16Michelle Obama?

  But she's a little old lady, so she doesn't count.

• 3:19Craig Robinson?

  But Aaron, everybody's mood depends on Aaron's mood, just like you.

• 3:23Michelle Obama?

  As it should be.

• 3:24Craig Robinson?

  Wake up, if he's grumpy, the whole house is grumpy. If he's happy, we're all happy.

• 3:29Michelle Obama?

  Well, then you should just make him happy.

• 3:31Craig Robinson?

  Okay, you sound like grandma. All right, let's get down to business.

• 3:36Michelle Obama?

  Yes, we have one of my favorite people, even though she talks about me on this White House Correspondents thing, we gonna have a conversation about that.

• 3:45Craig Robinson?

  Well, I gotta tell you, you know, you and I both saw Legacy.

• 3:48Michelle Obama?

  Yes, Wanda Sykes' new Netflix special.

• 3:52Craig Robinson?

  It's so good, and it's so good that when I, I, this is my first time meeting Wanda. I see her and I'm like, start giggling when I'm looking at her because I'm thinking about Legacy cracking me up.

• 4:03Michelle Obama?

  Well, let's do a proper introduction, get her out here.

• 4:06Craig Robinson?

  Well, Wanda Sykes is an Emmy-winning stand-up comic, writer, actress, and producer who has been entertaining audiences for over 20 years.

• 4:17Michelle Obama?

  No.

• 4:18Craig Robinson?

  Can you believe that, 20 years?

• 4:19Michelle Obama?

  That's a long time.

• 4:21Craig Robinson?

  Her new Netflix special is called Legacy, which we, both you and I saw, and we cannot wait to talk to her about all things Wanda. Please welcome Wanda Sykes.

• 4:33Michelle Obama?

  There she go.

• 4:36Michelle Obama?

  I am, oh.

• 4:38Speaker 00

  How are you?

• 4:39Michelle Obama?

  Alright.

• 4:41Craig Robinson?

  Oh, that's okay.

• 4:42Speaker 00

  Come on in.

• 4:43Craig Robinson?

  That's what happens.

• 4:44Speaker 00

  Take a seat.

• 4:44Craig Robinson?

  They're just in the way.

• 4:45Michelle Obama?

  See, Wanda, you're such a little bitty person. You just slid in there.

• 4:49Speaker 00

  I slid right in.

• 4:49Craig Robinson?

  She slid right in.

• 4:51Michelle Obama?

  How you doing?

• 4:53Speaker 00

  I'm doing well, thank you. Thanks for having me here.

• 4:55Michelle Obama?

  That's so good.

• 4:56Craig Robinson?

  Thanks for being here.

• 4:57Michelle Obama?

  Okay, let's just clear up this White House Correspondents Dinner.

• 5:00Speaker 00

  Let's do that. Let's do that.

• 5:01Michelle Obama?

  So you claim that I was talking to you too much.

• 5:07Speaker 00

  I didn't say too much. Well, you were a little chatty.

• 5:13Speaker 00

  You were chatty, madam. You were chatty.

• 5:15Michelle Obama?

  I was trying to be nice.

• 5:17Speaker 00

  And you were incredibly nice, but you have to realize the situation.

• 5:23Michelle Obama?

  Were you nervous?

• 5:24Speaker 00

  In the room, yes.

• 5:26Craig Robinson?

  Were you nervous?

• 5:27Speaker 00

  Colin Powell was there. I mean, I mean, this is like huge room.

• 5:31Michelle Obama?

  For our listeners and viewers, how many years ago was that? Wanda, you were the first female comic host for the White House Correspondents Dinner, which was, what year was that?

• 5:44Speaker 00

  2009.

• 5:46Michelle Obama?

  That was 2009.

• 5:47Speaker 00

  May 2009, yeah.

• 5:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 5:49Speaker 00

  I remember because our kids were, they'd just been born. They were like 12 days old. Yeah.

• 5:55Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my gosh. So you were sleep deprived, too.

• 5:58Speaker 00

  A little bit.

• 5:59Michelle Obama?

  Say on top of it all.

• 6:00Speaker 00

  A little bit, yeah.

• 6:01Michelle Obama?

  But the way it's set up in the hotel is that they've got the big desk with all the fancy people up there, all the speakers, and then usually the host sits next to the first lady, which was me at the time.

• 6:14Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 6:16Michelle Obama?

  And we go through a whole dinner, right?

• 6:19Speaker 00

  Right.

• 6:19Michelle Obama?

  I mean, which seems, that seems like no fun.

• 6:22Craig Robinson?

  They should have.

• 6:23Michelle Obama?

  You know?

• 6:23Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:24Michelle Obama?

  Who's eating?

• 6:25Craig Robinson?

  You can't have.

• 6:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, I didn't, I don't even think I touched my food. I was going over my notes, yeah.

• 6:30Michelle Obama?

  We sat together the whole time and, you know, everybody's looking at you. So I'm thinking, why should I talk to Wanda a little bit? Just be like, hey, girl, how you doing? And how are your kids and your, you know?

• 6:43Speaker 00

  Uh huh.

• 6:43Michelle Obama?

  Well, come to find out.

• 6:47Speaker 00

  Was focused.

• 6:48Michelle Obama?

  You were focused.

• 6:49Speaker 00

  It was a lot. I mean, it was a big deal. And then, you know, the first term, you know, your first term and President Obama and just, you know, and we're black, you know?

• 7:02Michelle Obama?

  It's like, none of us can mess up.

• 7:04Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, what is she thinking?

• 7:06Speaker 00

  I'm gay. I'm like, I'm going, they did vet me, right? So I'm just sitting here waiting for somebody to tap me. So I'm like, you know, and it was Whoopi Goldberg or something, you know, so I'm like,

• 7:21Speaker 00

  any minute now, like, you know, my brothers out there, I'm like,

• 7:26Michelle Obama?

  I'm still, it's still happening. They haven't.

• 7:28Speaker 00

  It's still happening. So, yeah, I was just really focused and I wanted to do a great job. And I'm, I was just looking over my notes and I was running my show through the head, you know, my head. And, and you just kept making conversation, which was so, so sweet. It was so sweet, but I was just like,

• 7:43Michelle Obama?

  not right now. Just give me a second. Trying to figure this out.

• 7:48Speaker 00

  I think I actually went, uh, uh, uh, at one point, I was like,

• 7:53Michelle Obama?

  And I don't even know who was on the other side of me, but I think I had to turn around and keep him company, whoever it was.

• 7:59Speaker 00

  But, yeah. I forgot which reporter it was.

• 8:02Craig Robinson?

  You were like, phew.

• 8:03Michelle Obama?

  She don't want to talk to me.

• 8:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 8:07Michelle Obama?

  Well, let's talk about your new Netflix special, Legacy. Yeah, you, you recorded it in your, at your alma mater, Hampton.

• 8:18Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 8:19Michelle Obama?

  That's great. What, what made you decide to record at Hampton?

• 8:23Speaker 00

  Um, I, I wanted to do something big. I wanted this one to be really special.

• 8:29Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 8:31Speaker 00

  And, you know, I've played different cities and, and I said, well, what, you know, what, what's the place? What, what says a lot about me and, uh, and would be challenging for me? And my producing partner, Paige Her, where she was like, you should, you should go back to your school. And I was like, I don't know about that, you know? And I thought about it and I was like, you know what? It totally makes sense to, to go there.

• 8:58Speaker 00

  One, I want to get back to the school.

• 9:01Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 9:01Speaker 00

  I think it'd be a great, you know, and it was, an incredible experience for, for the school and the students because we, we put a lot of the students to work.

• 9:09Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, sure.

• 9:10Speaker 00

  Um, and also I'm, I'm very proud of, of, of being an alumnus from Hampton. And, uh, so I wanted, um, to, you know, give, to put some light on, on the school and HBCUs. Because HBCUs are under such attack right now. Um, and it, and also when I, I look at my, my audience, uh, I'm, I'm blessed to have a very diverse audience, but you know, it's, it's probably more sixty-five, thirty-five, you know, more sixty-five, like, white people, uh, white people love me.

• 9:46Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 9:47Speaker 00

  So I wanted to take my audience and bring them to my, my school to let them see that, hey, this is where I'm from, this is, this is what, this is what made me. And also for Hampton to see, you know, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm still here.

• 10:05Michelle Obama?

  That you haven't forgotten.

• 10:06Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly. What's important to me.

• 10:07Craig Robinson?

  Now, how long does it take you to prepare the program for it? Is it, is this like?

• 10:15Speaker 00

  Years, yeah, I, yeah, I try, yeah, I tour with the material for at least, at least two years. At least two years. Yeah, this was probably three years, yeah. Yeah, because it's always changing and put that in, take that out, you know, always write new things. So, yeah, it, it takes a, I, I can't, I can't do it like, I can't turn it on that fast. Yeah.

• 10:35Michelle Obama?

  Man, man, what a, what a frickin' gift, you know? I mean, were you always a, a wonderful storyteller? I mean, when you were growing up in Virginia?

• 10:47Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 10:47Michelle Obama?

  Were you, were you a funny little kid? Were you more of a storyteller? Were you quiet, shy? Where, where does this part of yourself come from?

• 10:56Speaker 00

  Um, my, my parents, great storytellers. I grew up around, yeah, my grandmothers, they're great storytellers. Um, I talked too much when I was a kid.

• 11:10Speaker 00

  I was very talkative and, uh, and I got in trouble a lot. Like, when my parents were having company over, they would send me off to my, to my grandparents because they, they had no idea what I was gonna say. You know, um... Like, yeah, like, my grandmother's friend, I told her, she had horse teeth.

• 11:38Speaker 00

  Because she would laugh, she's like, ah! And I was just looking at my, and they all knew when I was gonna say something, come out. Because they said I would make this face like. And they were like, oh, God, here it comes. Here it comes, and, uh...

• 11:53Michelle Obama?

  Well, it was just the beginning of observational comedy.

• 11:56Speaker 00

  I think so. I had to set up, but no joke.

• 11:59Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, so you just, you just said exactly what you saw.

• 12:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, this woman's wig was crooked, and, and I was like, where's your part? Oh, you know, it was like, it was just embarrassing. It was embarrassing for them. And then I would get in trouble. I would get, I would get in a lot of trouble.

• 12:17Michelle Obama?

  So what did trouble look like?

• 12:18Speaker 00

  Um, I suppose, a spanking.

• 12:20Michelle Obama?

  Did you get snatched up? A little pop in the mouth?

• 12:23Speaker 00

  Go get a switch. Yep, go get a, go get a switch.

• 12:26Craig Robinson?

  Did you behave in school?

• 12:29Speaker 00

  Yes. Oh, I had to, yeah. Yeah. You, you don't mess up at school.

• 12:34Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 12:34Speaker 00

  No, no, no.

• 12:36Michelle Obama?

  And both of your, your folks were military, or were you just...

• 12:39Speaker 00

  Just my dad.

• 12:40Michelle Obama?

  Just your dad?

• 12:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, my dad was in the Army. Yeah.

• 12:42Michelle Obama?

  Was he like that military dad, or...

• 12:45Speaker 00

  No, you know what? It was cool, because, and, and he didn't want us to live on, on base either. We lived off base. And it's also to give him a break, too. You know, so he would come home and take the uniform off and just be, you know, dad, you know? He was, I mean, a, a black man, so there was rules and everything, just, just, you know, on GP, but...

• 13:09Craig Robinson?

  I, I was noticing that both of your parents went to college?

• 13:12Speaker 00

  No, my, my dad did.

• 13:13Craig Robinson?

  Your dad did, okay.

• 13:14Speaker 00

  My mom did, yeah.

• 13:15Craig Robinson?

  And, and, uh, and, but your mom worked?

• 13:18Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 13:19Craig Robinson?

  At, at...

• 13:19Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 13:20Craig Robinson?

  So...

• 13:20Speaker 00

  She worked at a bank.

• 13:21Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 13:21Speaker 00

  Well, she started off in, in, working at a newspaper.

• 13:24Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 13:24Speaker 00

  Um, the Virginia Pilot. I think she was doing ad sales.

• 13:28Craig Robinson?

  Were they, any, either of them naturally funny, or...

• 13:31Speaker 00

  Yes, yeah. Both my parents are funny. Yeah, very funny, um... Yeah, and they were really good mimics. You know, like if they would tell a story or whatever, somebody in church, they would go into character. And yeah, they were really good at that. Yeah, so I mean, maybe that's where I, you know, picked some of it up from.

• 13:55Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 13:56Speaker 00

  Because they would do that.

• 13:57Craig Robinson?

  And this, the, the, did you write as a kid?

• 14:02Speaker 00

  I did. I did. Um, I remember it was like a Smokey the Bear contest or whatever, and you had to write a story. And then I did, I won a prize. I think I was in like first grade or something.

• 14:16Michelle Obama?

  Wow, okay.

• 14:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, now I'm just remembering it.

• 14:18Michelle Obama?

  Now we're figuring it out.

• 14:19Speaker 00

  I'm putting it together now.

• 14:21Michelle Obama?

  Starts out like, I don't know why I'm funny. I don't know how I got here. And it's like, we'll find out.

• 14:29Michelle Obama?

  Oh, I won 12 competitions when I was, you know, like, yeah, I think I was really smart.

• 14:35Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 14:36Michelle Obama?

  And my whole household was funny. Everybody was cracking me up.

• 14:41Speaker 00

  He was cracking up.

• 14:42Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 14:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, with my Uncle Richard Pryor.

• 14:55Craig Robinson?

  This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, a company committed to helping people move forward and live fully. So, Mish, you've lived in so many places. At what point, living somewhere new, do you think it really starts to feel like home?

• 15:15Michelle Obama?

  I think it's, for me, it's when routines are in place.

• 15:21Michelle Obama?

  Kids are settled, although our kids are grown now, but when we were moving, they were little. You know, when they felt settled in a new school and they started making friends and life started to feel more routine, that's when it starts to feel like home.

• 15:40Craig Robinson?

  Well, you know, I don't really feel settled somewhere until I've tried every single local sandwich shop and know exactly which one is my new favorite. When you moved to your new place, whether it was in New Jersey or DC, was there anything that you immediately did to make you feel settled or comfortable?

• 16:04Michelle Obama?

  Well, I think it's, you know, getting, it was getting our items in place, you know? I mean, I'm a traveler who likes to unpack completely.

• 16:13Craig Robinson?

  Same, yeah.

• 16:13Michelle Obama?

  Like, I don't feel settled in, not just at home or on vacation, until every item is unpacked and put in drawers so that it feels like, you know, I'm not living out of suitcase cases. And the same is true when we were moving as a family. You know, when you're living out of boxes, when you don't, you know, feel like you know how to access and get to your stuff right away, you feel like you're visiting. So, once we, you know, we get everything settled in, that's when I started to breathe a sigh of, ah, we're here.

• 16:46Craig Robinson?

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• 17:30Craig Robinson?

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• 17:59Michelle Obama?

  So was there a lot of discipline? You know, or were your parents like the kind of parents that wow, when company wasn't around and you weren't embarrassing them, were they were, were they interested? I mean, were they encouraging of your voice and you know?

• 18:14Speaker 00

  Oh, no, no.

• 18:19Speaker 00

  I remember my mother, I was outside playing with some friends and and she yelled out the window, "Wanda." I said, "Yes, ma'am." "Fix your voice." I'm like, "What, what does that mean?" She's like, "You're always da, da, da, da, da." "Raise your voice. You could speak in a little higher, you know, raise your voice." I was like, "What?"

• 18:43Michelle Obama?

  What is going on?

• 18:45Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'm like, "What is that? What is she talking about? Fix your voice."

• 18:48Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 18:50Speaker 00

  She wanted me to fix my voice. And now I get paid for having this voice.

• 18:55Michelle Obama?

  Yes, it's a good voice. It's very distinctive.

• 18:58Speaker 00

  Very.

• 18:58Michelle Obama?

  Thank goodness you didn't listen.

• 19:00Speaker 00

  Right, right.

• 19:01Michelle Obama?

  What other stuff did they want you to do that you ignored?

• 19:06Speaker 00

  Oh, boy. Probably not be gay, probably that, you know?

• 19:10Michelle Obama?

  Say, let's start there.

• 19:11Speaker 00

  Why don't you get a guy another shot? Come on.

• 19:15Michelle Obama?

  But you tried.

• 19:16Speaker 00

  I tried.

• 19:17Michelle Obama?

  You tried. You put a old, the old college try in there. You got a, you had a whole husband.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  A whole husband. I did.

• 19:25Michelle Obama?

  And then you said, "Nah."

• 19:29Speaker 00

  It's just working for you. It's not working for me.

• 19:34Michelle Obama?

  When did you start being aware of yourself? And I'm not just talking about your sexuality, but aware of your uniqueness as a, as a person?

• 19:46Speaker 00

  I think when I was at, when I was working at NSA. And so, you know, it's like, okay, I got my degree. I got, you know, good government job, security. And I just felt out of place. I was like, "This is not what I'm supposed to be doing for the next 20 years, 20, 25 years." Uh, but I, I, yeah, I just was like, it just searching like, what is it? Then I'm supposed to do and, and I remember, um, like in, like high school yearbook and all. Everyone wrote how, you know, you're so funny and you should, you know, you need to be on stage and in college, you know, same thing. And I was like asking my sorority sisters. I was like, y'all think I'm funny?

• 20:28Speaker 00

  It's like, oh, girl, you, you would crack us up on the time. I was like, well, all right, maybe I'll, you know.

• 20:33Michelle Obama?

  Did you ever do, uh, theater or s- s- or any kind of stand up? Or you were just the friend that was funny?

• 20:40Speaker 00

  I was the friend that was funny. I, I did do some, uh, theater in, um,

• 20:45Michelle Obama?

  See, here we go. You about to remember something again.

• 20:49Speaker 00

  In high school. But, um, what did I do? I played the drums in a, in one of the plays.

• 20:57Michelle Obama?

  Really?

• 20:58Speaker 00

  Yeah. And I didn't really have many lines, but I, I played drums in band. So, um, but I, I loved theater and loved hanging around, you know, that group, but, um.

• 21:09Michelle Obama?

  What did you major in?

• 21:10Speaker 00

  Marketing.

• 21:10Michelle Obama?

  Marketing.

• 21:11Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:12Craig Robinson?

  So when you were at the NSA and you were like, I'm not doing this for 20 years. What was the step you took? Or did you stay there a little longer and said, let me, let me try this out while I'm working there? Or did you go cold turkey?

• 21:24Speaker 00

  No, I, I stayed there until I was able to at least, um, save up a nice little, you know, lump sum. And then, um, was able to, uh, play in clubs and like be the MC or the, or the, the middle act, the feature act and, and do that enough where I felt like I could, you know, I could survive.

• 21:46Craig Robinson?

  While you were still at the NSA?

• 21:48Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:49Michelle Obama?

  So what, did you look up comedy clubs and just go to one?

• 21:53Craig Robinson?

  I knew that was coming. I knew that was coming.

• 21:56Michelle Obama?

  Well, why do you tell?

• 21:57Speaker 00

  I got the yellow pages out.

• 21:58Michelle Obama?

  That's what I'm saying.

• 22:00Speaker 00

  Uh, see, see, okay, no, no.

• 22:05Speaker 00

  That is not what.

• 22:06Michelle Obama?

  So what happened? How did you get there?

• 22:08Speaker 00

  I heard about a contest on the radio station. And comedy was one of the talent, you know, categories. So I wrote some jokes. I just sat at my little desk and wrote some jokes and went there and auditioned. The guy was like, yeah, you're on the show. And I, first time being on stage, no idea what I was doing. But I told my little jokes, people laughed and I was like, oh, this is cool. And the emcee, Andy Evans, he was, you know, the popular guy in DC. And he was like, who are you and where, where'd you come from? Like, I've never seen you in the clubs. I was like, I've never been to the club. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So, and then he shook me around.

• 22:53Michelle Obama?

  And you hadn't gone to a comedy club before?

• 22:55Speaker 00

  No.

• 22:56Michelle Obama?

  Wow. How old were you when you went to this first, did this first contest?

• 22:59Speaker 00

  Let me see, that was in, that was in 87. So that would, that would mean I was what, like 20, was I 24, 20?

• 23:10Michelle Obama?

  Close enough. It requires math.

• 23:12Speaker 00

  I'm not doing that.

• 23:13Craig Robinson?

  Early twenties.

• 23:14Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 23:14Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 23:15Speaker 00

  Okay, early twenties.

• 23:16Michelle Obama?

  Thank God.

• 23:17Craig Robinson?

  And you just free handed wrote those jokes without like looking up joke writing? You're just like, this, this, this is a funny story.

• 23:23Speaker 00

  I watched a lot of comedy, you know?

• 23:26Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 23:26Speaker 00

  I watched a lot of comedy growing up and loved, you know, of course, you know, Pryor and all that. George Carlin and, like, my favorite as a kid was Moms Mabley. Jackie Moms Mabley, yeah.

• 23:38Craig Robinson?

  See, people don't know.

• 23:40Michelle Obama?

  You played those, those records. I used to walk around and, and I do like, yeah, my mom told me that.

• 23:45Speaker 00

  Oh, really? Yeah.

• 23:46Craig Robinson?

  As a kid?

• 23:47Speaker 00

  Yeah, as a kid. Cause my grand, would make my grandmother laugh. I would always, yeah.

• 23:51Michelle Obama?

  Did you have teeth or not when you?

• 23:53Speaker 00

  Oh, you, yeah, okay.

• 23:57Craig Robinson?

  See, we, we, we had to go to our grandfather's house to hear Moms Mabley, cause she cursed.

• 24:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 24:02Craig Robinson?

  And my parents, we didn't, we didn't have any Moms Mabley records.

• 24:05Michelle Obama?

  But we had Richard Pryor, we had.

• 24:07Craig Robinson?

  But that was when we were older. We had, that was when we were older. So, all right, so you're at the comedy club, so you're doing this while you're still working.

• 24:15Michelle Obama?

  Do you remember your first bit? What, what you talked about?

• 24:20Michelle Obama?

  I know, I'm asking about memory.

• 24:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, I know, right?

• 24:23Michelle Obama?

  I didn't really say much.

• 24:25Speaker 00

  I'm taking my ginkgo today. No. I remember one bit, it was about the, you know, the auto shade, the big cardboard sunglasses.

• 24:37Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah.

• 24:38Speaker 00

  Well, there's instructions on the side, you know, on a, and I was like, who needs these instructions? You know, like, it tells you to remove the auto shade before driving. I'm like, you really, you shouldn't be driving if you need instructions. You know, like, you going down the Beltway, you see this car coming towards you with these big ass sunglasses, like.

• 25:00Michelle Obama?

  He didn't read the instructions.

• 25:01Speaker 00

  He didn't read the instructions.

• 25:05Michelle Obama?

  So it was observational stuff?

• 25:07Speaker 00

  Uh huh.

• 25:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 25:08Speaker 00

  Yeah. It wasn't until, man, like, probably, like, I guess the I'm Will Be Me special. So that was like 2008 or whatever.

• 25:22Speaker 00

  A little bit before that, I think, is when I started to get like really personal, you know, and talk about, talk about myself.

• 25:31Michelle Obama?

  So after you won the contest, did life blow up?

• 25:35Speaker 00

  I didn't win.

• 25:36Michelle Obama?

  You didn't win?

• 25:37Speaker 00

  I did not win.

• 25:38Michelle Obama?

  Obviously, I just made that up, right?

• 25:39Speaker 00

  I did not win, but a close second, so I didn't win. Yeah, I just started, you know, Andy took me around DC and visited the comedy clubs and I was like, okay, this is, this is what I, I want to do. And then I, then I just bombed, like, just ridiculous bomb. Because I, now I'm exposed to it and I see how it could go horribly wrong, right? So you lose, so now, you know, you get nervous and I was just full of confidence at first because I didn't know any better. So now that I was like, oh, oh, God, this is awful. Yeah.

• 26:17Speaker 00

  I would just go up and just bomb.

• 26:19Michelle Obama?

  So when do you get used to that process, right? Because that, that is a, but it has to be, right?

• 26:24Speaker 00

  Right.

• 26:25Michelle Obama?

  Because you don't know whether something is funny until you test it out.

• 26:28Speaker 00

  Until you test it out.

• 26:29Michelle Obama?

  Right?

• 26:29Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 26:30Michelle Obama?

  And it could be the order of what you said, and then you realize, oh, I left that part out. But so you, you have to get used to

• 26:37Speaker 00

  Right.

• 26:38Michelle Obama?

  bombing.

• 26:38Speaker 00

  Yes, you, you do.

• 26:42Speaker 00

  And, oh, it sucks. It really does. I mean, you lose sleep, you know, your food don't taste right.

• 26:51Speaker 00

  The sky's not as blue. It's, it's horrible. And, and you don't get over it until you have a, you know, a good show. I mean, but now it's not as intense when a joke doesn't go well. Because I have so many jokes that I know work, so. Or, you know, you can laugh your way out of it, or, um, yeah. So I'm, I'm, I'm okay with it.

• 27:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 27:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 27:14Michelle Obama?

  And then you're just so good now. It's just like, yeah, why? I was like, nah, I just don't bomb.

• 27:18Speaker 00

  Yeah, I just don't, I just try not to do that.

• 27:20Michelle Obama?

  It just doesn't happen.

• 27:21Speaker 00

  Yeah, not a whole show, yeah.

• 27:22Michelle Obama?

  What was your first big break? You know, when you felt like, ah, now I'mma quit my job. You went in, went in and threw down your pink slip.

• 27:33Speaker 00

  I, well, actually, I quit. I didn't even quit. I, I asked, uh, I went to the department head and asked for a leave of absence. Cause I wanted to hold up to my health issues.

• 27:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 27:47Speaker 00

  So, and he was like, you know what? I'm gonna give you a year. Go do it. And, you know, if it works out, great. If not, come, you know, we want you back here. Perfect. Yeah, so I just started touring and, and, you know, hitting the clubs.

• 28:04Speaker 00

  And it made, it all made sense. And, uh, then I got the Chris Rock Show. I was a writer on, on, uh, the Chris Rock Show.

• 28:11Michelle Obama?

  Was that the first major thing?

• 28:12Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think that was the, that was the real big break for me.

• 28:16Michelle Obama?

  So how did that happen? Did he see you somewhere once there?

• 28:19Speaker 00

  I opened for him at Carolize, and this is when he was preparing for, uh, Bring the Pain.

• 28:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:26Speaker 00

  And she was like, hey, you're funny. I, you know, I'mma, I'mma remember you.

• 28:31Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:33Speaker 00

  So when he got his talk show on HBO, I got a call and said, hey, Chris Rock wants you to submit some writing materials. So I'm like, sure. So I, you know, wrote some stuff, sent it in and got the job.

• 28:45Michelle Obama?

  How did it feel being in a room of writers? Going from you just, you know, sitting at your desk to now you're at a table full of peers?

• 28:54Speaker 00

  Well, luckily, a couple of them I was already friends with because they were stand-up comics. So they were, I was the only woman too, the only female. Yeah. So it was nice to see guys who I, you know, had like a little camaraderie with. You know, they were good. So it was, uh, they, yeah, they were, they didn't cut me any slack though. You know, it was, yeah, everybody, everybody, they write for themselves, you know.

• 29:24Craig Robinson?

  And were you still doing stand-up while you were writing for him? So you just keep grinding?

• 29:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Cause and that, that was my favorite thing is I would submit monologue jokes. And if they didn't make it into the, uh, into the monologue, he didn't select them. I was like, huh, he don't think this funny. Watch this, you know? And I'll go into the Comedy Cellar and do the jokes and get laughs. I told you. And they're like, who was she saying I told you to? Like, you know, like, it was like I had a fit on stage. Like I do a joke. Yeah, I told him. I told him. Like, who's she talking to?

• 30:01Michelle Obama?

  And how did your comedy style evolve? I mean, did you feel your growth through all this process? You know, what, what changed for you as a comic? Through, through, through, through this, you know, through these stages of growth?

• 30:17Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think confidence, confidence and, um...

• 30:23Speaker 00

  And you just have to have that, the, the, the desire to do it. You know, there's some comedians out here who are doing the same jokes they've been doing forever. Because it's safe. I like, I like the, you know, the edginess. I like to, to, to take some risks.

• 30:41Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 30:41Speaker 00

  So for me, you know, and, and my agent, you know, drives her nuts, but as soon as a special comes out, I'm like, well, uh, I gotta go make some more jokes. So she's like, well, you know, you can still, still tour with these, this act. I'm like, no, it's done. I'm, you know, I'm done with it.

• 30:59Michelle Obama?

  Really?

• 31:00Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 31:00Craig Robinson?

  So, so after you do a special show like, like Legacy, then you won't go around and you're gonna start off from scratch?

• 31:10Speaker 00

  From scratch, yeah.

• 31:10Michelle Obama?

  Really?

• 31:11Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 31:12Craig Robinson?

  Oh, see, I didn't realize that's how that works.

• 31:14Michelle Obama?

  Well, we should use your jokes. You take them.

• 31:17Speaker 00

  Go ahead, go ahead. Enjoy. Enjoy.

• 31:23Michelle Obama?

  It's like, these good jokes, she just threw them out. It's just like, well, that was funny. It's not gonna be funny again.

• 31:32Speaker 00

  No, but it's not like singers. Singers, you know, same song, musician, they do same song over and over again. You still wanna hear it.

• 31:38Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 31:39Speaker 00

  You know?

• 31:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 31:40Craig Robinson?

  And at what point did you say, okay, I can act and I'm gonna be in, in these movies? Or shows, TV shows?

• 31:48Speaker 00

  I didn't know I could. I didn't know that. Actually, it, it started on The Chris Rock Show. We had a crew for a day and we were shooting some, some sketches.

• 32:02Speaker 00

  And then, you know, producer being a good line producer, she's like, look, you know, you have three more hours with the crew. You guys have anything we can shoot that's really quick and maybe something in the off, in the office? And the guys went, they wrote something, uh, Video Mama. And it's like, Wanda, you're gonna be Video Mama. I was like, I'm, I'm, I'm a writer. I'm not on camera. She's like, no, no, you can do it. You're gonna, you're gonna be Video Mama. And it's a videotape that you can play and, and, and she watches your kid. So you just sit your kid in front of the TV. So, you know, so I'm in there and I'm like, hey, put that thing, you know? Where you going? You know, it's like the video.

• 32:38Craig Robinson?

  And you're the, on the screen.

• 32:40Speaker 00

  Yeah, Video Mama, yeah. I wish you would. I wish you would, you know?

• 32:47Michelle Obama?

  See, that's so good.

• 32:48Speaker 00

  So we shot that and it got a big laugh. So then they, they just started writing me into more, uh, more bits.

• 33:03Craig Robinson?

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• 34:49Michelle Obama?

  So when did you get your first? Were you doing that after Chris Rock? Were you just now writing and, you know, the work just comes after that? Did you find, or were you still, you know, plotting a career? Were you, was your stand-up getting bigger? Were you going to bigger audiences?

• 35:10Speaker 00

  Yes. My stand-up was getting bigger, my audience. Yeah, I got a special, Comedy Central Hour special. So first it was a half hour, then I got an hour. Then it was a big tour after that. And, oh, and then I, because of the Chris Rock Show, Eddie Murphy, you know, fan of Chris, I got a part in Nutty Professor.

• 35:38Michelle Obama?

  Nutty Professor, yeah, that's right.

• 35:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 35:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, you were good in that, too.

• 35:42Speaker 00

  Yeah, glow ding, whatever. I got the hair, yeah.

• 35:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I love this, this special legacy where, you know, I mean, yeah, how are you feeling about the political climate? I mean, you know?

• 36:01Speaker 00

  It's awful, it's awful. I mean, it's, but here's the thing that-

• 36:06Michelle Obama?

  What you're saying, you were stuck in the shittiest escape room ever.

• 36:09Speaker 00

  That's what it feels like. We have been stuck in the shittiest escape room ever. I mean, you know, all the clues have been redacted. You can't, you just can't get out. Can't get out. You need Harriet Tubman to get us out of this bitch. This is, this is awful.

• 36:30Michelle Obama?

  It's like Prius.

• 36:31Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, but here's the thing. Like, as bad as it is, right?

• 36:43Speaker 00

  There's, I think with us, where there's a sense of, we, we, we gonna get through it. We gonna, we gonna, we gonna get through it, right?

• 36:50Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 36:51Speaker 00

  Um, but it, it's like, well, why, why are we out protesting? Because my wife, you know, she's French, so she's like, you know, in France, they, they just, they just shut shit down. It's like, they just shut it down, that's it. And she's like, why, why aren't you doing that? Why, I don't understand, why, why, why isn't people reacting, responding like this? I'm like, because we go, you know, yeah, this is really bad, oh, man. ISIS, you know, deporting people, oh, wow, they're killing people, oh, okay, but my Netflix is on. You know, it's like, you know?

• 37:24Michelle Obama?

  It's like squirrel.

• 37:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, exactly, exactly, you know, it's we, it's, it's, it's, we have too much stuff, basically.

• 37:33Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 37:33Speaker 00

  You know, when you have a lot and it's, oh, what they doing over there? Oh, that's bad, you know, but.

• 37:39Michelle Obama?

  Well, as bad as you think something will be, it's like the, the speed at which we forget about it is pretty amazing to me, you know? And we'll be outraged.

• 37:51Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 37:51Michelle Obama?

  Because in, in legacy, I mean, people really connect with the jokes. I mean, you're talking about immigration, you're talking about racism. I mean, so when people laugh about this stuff, there's a connection. I mean, you're, you're loosening a valve in, in people. Um, so don't you get a sense that, you know, people, like you said, people care?

• 38:11Speaker 00

  They do.

• 38:12Michelle Obama?

  You know, people are affected.

• 38:13Speaker 00

  Absolutely, and, and that's what, that's the feedback that I get is they, they appreciate that I am speaking on these things because they need a release. They, they need that, that, that valve released, they, they do because of, um, because you feel like you're, you're not doing anything or you're just under a rock. So when you bring these issues up and bring them to light and, and allow them to laugh about it, then, you know, people, people really appreciate it, you know? And I, and I hope it makes them think a little, you know?

• 38:48Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm.

• 38:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:49Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm, yeah, well, it's, but you're not just talking about, and I love the way you talk about the greed masked as benevolence.

• 39:00Michelle Obama?

  You know.

• 39:01Speaker 00

  Right.

• 39:01Michelle Obama?

  It's like, if you really want to be green, why don't you take some money off of our, my room?

• 39:06Speaker 00

  Exactly.

• 39:06Michelle Obama?

  Instead of asking me to save some towels.

• 39:08Speaker 00

  Reuse my towel and... Can't believe that now, like, at a hotel. No, we're not changing your sheets now.

• 39:14Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 39:15Speaker 00

  What? What do you mean you're not changing my sheets?

• 39:18Craig Robinson?

  That's the whole point, right?

• 39:20Speaker 00

  That's the whole, that's the reason I'm here.

• 39:21Michelle Obama?

  At a hotel, it's like...

• 39:23Speaker 00

  It's a hotel. You don't get up here and change my sheets? What is wrong with y'all? I sleep on my dirty sheets at home.

• 39:33Speaker 00

  No, I want fresh sheets here.

• 39:34Michelle Obama?

  And towels.

• 39:35Speaker 00

  And towels.

• 39:36Michelle Obama?

  Say, I want a towel from the front part.

• 39:39Speaker 00

  I use all the towels. Yep. Right boot, left boot.

• 39:45Speaker 00

  Butt towel, everything. Use them all. Use all that stuff up.

• 39:50Craig Robinson?

  So you, you talk more about your family and legacy.

• 39:55Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 39:55Craig Robinson?

  And it, and you mentioned your wife, Alex, being from France. How did you guys meet?

• 40:03Speaker 00

  We met, um, well, I, I saw her on a, on a ferry going, uh, over to Fire Island. Fire Island, if people don't know, off, off of, uh, Long Island, New York.

• 40:18Speaker 00

  So, yeah, something, I, I just saw her in a peripheral and it's like, wow, okay. And I, I like heard something that said, like, Wanda, that's, that's, that's what you need. And I was like...

• 40:33Michelle Obama?

  Were you dating at the time?

• 40:35Speaker 00

  Okay, now see, okay, wait a minute now.

• 40:37Michelle Obama?

  What?

• 40:41Speaker 00

  I, I was maybe dating.

• 40:42Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 40:43Speaker 00

  Okay. But, but not in a relationship.

• 40:45Craig Robinson?

  There you go.

• 40:46Speaker 00

  Okay, there you go.

• 40:46Michelle Obama?

  Okay, don't get off. Just, you know, were you out and about?

• 40:50Speaker 00

  Well, yeah.

• 40:52Michelle Obama?

  Because it was like you were looking at what you needed, which sounded like you were getting a lot of what you didn't need, perhaps.

• 40:59Speaker 00

  Well, yeah. And I know my, my friend was like, where do you, why you meeting all these crazy women from?

• 41:06Michelle Obama?

  Okay, see there? Tell us about the crazy women.

• 41:11Speaker 00

  Nope, cuz when you talk about, I say you bring them, they pop up. I can walk out of here, somebody like, "Hey, girl!" I was like, "Oh, jeez." Ah, yeah. It's like Candyman, you can't, don't, uh-uh. Nope, I'm not talking about.

• 41:30Craig Robinson?

  Right, right.

• 41:31Speaker 00

  Nope, nope, nope, nope.

• 41:34Michelle Obama?

  But you had enough bad experiences to be like, mm, that looks good. Well, you're right.

• 41:42Speaker 00

  Okay, I just, my, I had a therapist and she passed away, but we only spoke on the phone. She never, she didn't see people, you know, face to face, so.

• 41:53Craig Robinson?

  She didn't see any people?

• 41:54Speaker 00

  I don't think so.

• 41:55Craig Robinson?

  Oh, wow.

• 41:56Speaker 00

  I don't think so.

• 41:57Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 41:57Speaker 00

  Maybe a couple, I don't know. But, so, she had passed, you know, and I heard her, that's what I heard, it said, "Wanda, that's what you need." And other people who were saying, who had, you know, said that she was popping up little signs and stuff. Yeah, so anyway, and I, but I thought she meant that, cuz Alex was sitting with this other woman, and they were playing with a kid, so I was like, "Oh, maybe that's what she's saying, like, eh," you know. And, long story short, the person I was dating.

• 42:41Michelle Obama?

  Oh, so you worked with somebody you were dating?

• 42:46Speaker 00

  We had a little falling out.

• 42:47Michelle Obama?

  Okay, on the boat after you were looking at Alex?

• 42:50Speaker 00

  Once I made it to Ireland, once I made it to Ireland, we had a little falling out, it was like, get her off the island.

• 42:55Michelle Obama?

  Okay, she needed to go.

• 42:57Speaker 00

  Just had to go, she had to go. So I was like, call my friend, yeah, get her out of here.

• 43:00Michelle Obama?

  Oh, Lord.

• 43:01Speaker 00

  So then, I walk with my friend, and she's like, "Wanda, where you meeting these crazy people from?" You know, like, "Look, what do you say when you, you know, you meet somebody?" I was like, I'm like, "Hey, how you doing?" She's like, "Well, and if I say, 'Okay, so how's your date going?'" And I started telling her what I did that day, she's like, "Why you, no, I don't like, what's to hear what you did? Just say, you know, you're beautiful and blah, blah, blah." It's corny, so, she's like, "And don't talk about your dog, nobody cares about your dog."

• 43:32Speaker 00

  So.

• 43:34Michelle Obama?

  That was your big rap line?

• 43:35Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, you know. So I'm walking, I'm walking my friend and we bump into a friend that she knows. And it's like, hey, Wanda, this is so and so. Uh, Wanda, this is, uh, a friend, Mary. And she's like, how you doing, Wanda? I was like, well, I got up at eight, I had some oatmeal, and here's my dog, you know? And she's looking at me like, what? And I was like, and I'm remodeling my kitchen. And she's like, okay, she said, well, you should talk to my friend Alex. She's into, uh, natural stone and all that. Boom, that's, she was on the ferry. So we started talking.

• 44:10Michelle Obama?

  Oh, wow.

• 44:11Speaker 00

  And from there, that was it.

• 44:13Michelle Obama?

  And it was.

• 44:14Speaker 00

  That was it.

• 44:15Michelle Obama?

  At first sight?

• 44:15Speaker 00

  That was it.

• 44:16Michelle Obama?

  Nice. And y'all got married and had kids?

• 44:22Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 44:23Michelle Obama?

  Was that always in your dance card?

• 44:25Speaker 00

  Absolutely not.

• 44:28Speaker 00

  No, ma'am.

• 44:30Michelle Obama?

  Was, was Alex like, look, this is, you, you get me?

• 44:35Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 44:35Michelle Obama?

  This is, okay, she's like, put down the gauntlet.

• 44:38Speaker 00

  I, yep, she's like, I want kids, I'm gonna have kids. And I was like, okay. Um, and I asked, I said, look, can we, like, just, can you hold off? Like, give me a, give me at least like a year? And let's try to figure out, no, I didn't ask for a year, I said, can we hold off like, like, it says, give me like three, six months, and let's see where this is going first.

• 45:02Michelle Obama?

  That seems reasonable.

• 45:04Speaker 00

  This is, you know, where I think it's going, then I'll probably get there. I said, but, and she said, okay, so she did.

• 45:11Michelle Obama?

  Mm-hmm. And how long did you guys date before you had kids?

• 45:17Speaker 00

  Jeez, maybe, uh, I guess, maybe a year? Let me see, yeah. In September, mm-hmm, yep, about a year and a half, I think.

• 45:28Michelle Obama?

  So your, your world, you just went from zero to, everybody's here. Now, how did your dog react?

• 45:36Speaker 00

  It was two years, it was six or two years.

• 45:37Michelle Obama?

  How'd your dog react? That's who you talk about that.

• 45:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 45:41Michelle Obama?

  What was your, what's your dog's name?

• 45:42Speaker 00

  His name was Riley.

• 45:43Michelle Obama?

  His name was Riley, poor Riley.

• 45:45Speaker 00

  Yeah, Riley, when we brought the kids home, Riley looked, he really looked up at me, and it was like he said, you effed up. He was like, you effed up.

• 46:00Michelle Obama?

  He's like, we had it so good.

• 46:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, he's like, why you do this?

• 46:06Speaker 00

  This is gonna suck, you know that, right?

• 46:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, I don't know, you, you, you really messed up, you messed up.

• 46:14Michelle Obama?

  So what did it, what was the adjustment period? So, you know, you got, you meet the, the right person, the love of your life, you date for a little bit, you decide, this is it, now you're married with kids. Did it feel like your head was about to spin off the changes in your life that happened? You, you know, and, and how did you manage the adjustment?

• 46:37Speaker 00

  It, it felt, it felt right, it was a lot. It was a lot, but it, it just felt like, okay, no, this is, this is how it's supposed to be. I felt like I was in the, in my place.

• 46:48Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 46:50Speaker 00

  And I felt, I felt like blessed, really blessed, like, I got kids now, you know? Cause I, I never thought that I would, I would be a mom, and now, you know, my whole, whole ass mama now.

• 47:02Michelle Obama?

  Whole ass mom.

• 47:03Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 47:03Michelle Obama?

  Man, man.

• 47:05Craig Robinson?

  Discipline and everything, huh? How old are they now?

• 47:08Speaker 00

  Uh, they just turned seventeen.

• 47:10Craig Robinson?

  Seventeen, oh, so.

• 47:11Michelle Obama?

  Oh, you in it.

• 47:12Speaker 00

  Yeah, in it.

• 47:13Michelle Obama?

  You are really in it.

• 47:14Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 47:14Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, who's the disciplinarian, you or Alex?

• 47:19Speaker 00

  I would say more on my part, you know? I mean, Alex is strong, she's, she's strong with them too, but, uh, when they don't listen, she'll, would you tell them, okay? And then I get mad, like, why, why, why do I have to tell y'all? Well, just listen to her. Just, just listen to her.

• 47:40Michelle Obama?

  Just start there.

• 47:41Speaker 00

  Why, why, you don't wanna do this, do you?

• 47:42Craig Robinson?

  Nah, I like that.

• 47:44Speaker 00

  You don't like me, you know, right? Okay, so just.

• 47:47Craig Robinson?

  That's me and I also.

• 47:48Speaker 00

  Let's not have this conversation, yeah, I don't, yeah.

• 47:50Craig Robinson?

  You, you, you, you make them feel like you're doing them a favor.

• 47:52Speaker 00

  Right.

• 47:55Craig Robinson?

  I'm, I'mma, I'mma hook you up on how to not get in trouble.

• 47:57Speaker 00

  Right, right.

• 47:58Craig Robinson?

  Or you're in trouble with me.

• 47:59Speaker 00

  Uh huh.

• 48:00Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, I love that.

• 48:01Speaker 00

  And you don't wanna be in trouble with me.

• 48:02Craig Robinson?

  It's just a great psychological advantage.

• 48:04Speaker 00

  Yeah. It's like, your life is over.

• 48:06Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 48:07Speaker 00

  You're in trouble with me.

• 48:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah. Did you go through the spanking, no spanking thing? Oh, right, yeah, you, you talk about that in Legacy, right?

• 48:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, we said no spanking, but then.

• 48:16Michelle Obama?

  And then somebody needed to get popped.

• 48:18Speaker 00

  Lucas, yeah, get, it. It needed it.

• 48:24Speaker 00

  Sometimes you need more than words.

• 48:26Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 48:26Speaker 00

  You know?

• 48:27Michelle Obama?

  Well, they're all different.

• 48:28Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 48:29Michelle Obama?

  You know? I always thought like kids should know what a spanking is. Cause you can't threaten something that they don't know.

• 48:37Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 48:37Michelle Obama?

  Right? So, you know, and I had two girls and girls are pretty bright, you know?

• 48:42Speaker 00

  Right.

• 48:42Michelle Obama?

  One little pop and it's just like, oh, that wasn't pleasant. It wasn't pleasant for me. It was true. It hate, it hurt me as much as it hurt them.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 48:51Michelle Obama?

  But it was like now it was just a good, then it became just a good threat.

• 48:56Speaker 00

  Right.

• 48:56Michelle Obama?

  Don't make me.

• 48:57Speaker 00

  Right.

• 48:58Michelle Obama?

  And it's like, and they were like, yeah, probably. That's not, that's not necessary. But I do believe that every now and then.

• 49:06Craig Robinson?

  Did you get a spanking ever?

• 49:07Michelle Obama?

  Oh, yeah. Yeah, I didn't get many. You, we, neither of us got many.

• 49:11Craig Robinson?

  Neither of us got many, but I don't remember you getting.

• 49:14Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, the belt, the, the jump rope.

• 49:16Craig Robinson?

  Jump rope.

• 49:16Michelle Obama?

  Mom had a plastic jump rope.

• 49:18Craig Robinson?

  You know, the plastic jump rope?

• 49:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 49:20Craig Robinson?

  With the handles?

• 49:21Speaker 00

  Uh-huh.

• 49:22Craig Robinson?

  She gave us that a couple times, but I don't, I remember, I remember getting it.

• 49:26Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, I remember you getting it too. I was usually cheering her on from the back, you know, running after him. But the, I remember the last spanking you got.

• 49:36Craig Robinson?

  The last spanking I ever got.

• 49:36Michelle Obama?

  And this was our household. My, my mother loved to laugh and she had a great sense of humor and we could make her laugh. And Craig had done something, you probably did something to me, right? And I was, thank mom! You know, and she's like, boy, I told you. And she grabbed the belt and this time he ran, you know?

• 49:54Craig Robinson?

  She chased me around the house.

• 49:55Michelle Obama?

  And she's running behind him and I'm behind her. I'm like, get him, get him. And he's hopping over furniture.

• 50:01Craig Robinson?

  And our house is, is as big as this room.

• 50:03Michelle Obama?

  I mean, I'm sure she's thinking, boy, if you don't stop running, you know? And then he hopped over a chair and got on the couch and grabbed my stuffed Snoopy and put it in front of him. It's like, mom, don't hit me. And she just looked at him and started cracking up, you know? Cause it was ridiculous, you know? It's like, here I am chasing this little boy around.

• 50:25Craig Robinson?

  And I was probably big by then, cause I was older.

• 50:28Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 50:29Craig Robinson?

  And she just took the jump rope and just like dropped it. And that was it. That was the last.

• 50:34Michelle Obama?

  And I was like.

• 50:35Craig Robinson?

  Potential spanking.

• 50:36Michelle Obama?

  What? No justice? Is this what we're doing in this household?

• 50:44Michelle Obama?

  And that, yeah, that was the last spanking in our household, so.

• 50:49Speaker 00

  Yeah, you just have to, like you say, it's just the threat of it, you know?

• 50:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 50:53Speaker 00

  They know.

• 50:54Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 50:54Speaker 00

  I remember I, um, I forgot my, which I forgot. I know my mom dropped me off by grandmother, so that's where I was catching the bus. And I left my books in the car, so I was like, I can't go to school, I don't have any books. The, the teacher's gonna be yelling at me and the kids are gonna make fun of me. My, my grandma said, okay, you can stay home. And she said, well, you gotta, you know, we gotta tell your mom, you know, that you didn't go to school. So now I'm stressed over that, you know? Yeah. I'm stressed over that, so I, I, I came and gave my grandmother the belt. I said, will you just beat me and tell, tell it?

• 51:30Michelle Obama?

  Tell it, tell it.

• 51:30Speaker 00

  It's been cut and finished.

• 51:37Michelle Obama?

  I can't live like this all day.

• 51:39Speaker 00

  I was like, just talk, just do it.

• 51:40Michelle Obama?

  You know, let me get the spanking and then I can enjoy my day off.

• 51:43Speaker 00

  Exactly, exactly. And she laughed so hard, she, she couldn't do it, she couldn't do it. And she told my mother, don't you beat that girl, she already, she beat herself up enough today.

• 52:06Michelle Obama?

  I swear to God, Wanda, after, cause my, my, my team watched Legacy 2. And this one, Crystal, on the gas pass, she's like, ma'am, tell me that that doesn't happen. I mean, literally, we're on the plane, I'm like, explain to her, no, it does.

• 52:26Speaker 00

  It does.

• 52:27Michelle Obama?

  It's coming. Can you talk about what you're talking about?

• 52:29Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, I, I hit my 60s and I don't know where all this gas comes from, but it's just a lot of gas, a lot of gas. And, and you really have to focus on not passing gas and probably, because if you relax, it's, it's gonna happen. It just, it, uh, it just happens. And I was, uh, talking to one of my good friends and she's a, you know, CEO, big job. And she's like, girl, I was at a meeting and, and I stood up and it just, I just, and they all heard it. I was like, oh my God, so what did you do? She's like, I just said, meeting's adjourned.

• 53:11Michelle Obama?

  See, because when you're in your 60s, you run the meeting, right? By that time, you can pass gas in the meeting that you're running.

• 53:17Speaker 00

  Right, right. I told her, I said, that's how you have to end all your meetings now, you know? Let them know that's just how it's gonna go.

• 53:24Michelle Obama?

  And how's Esther Roll doing?

• 53:26Speaker 00

  Oh, Esther.

• 53:28Michelle Obama?

  You're looking pretty good.

• 53:29Speaker 00

  Well, I mean.

• 53:30Michelle Obama?

  Esther looks like she's living somewhere else.

• 53:33Speaker 00

  No, Esther's here. If I, yeah, I lift this, this top up. Esther is there. She, she is there. Actually, when I was, I'm editing, when I was editing Legacy, I, I was like, oh, boy. And my producer part, she was like, you see Esther, don't you? I was like, yeah. Look at Esther. Esther's just living her best life. Esther's just all out.

• 54:00Speaker 00

  She's like, you know, you could have worn like a body shaper on this. I was like, nah, I can't, I can't.

• 54:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, how can you do what you're doing with all that?

• 54:07Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'm rolling around on the stage. You are.

• 54:11Speaker 00

  No, I had to crack the rib if I didn't want a, a body shaper. But, um, so, yeah, I just let Esther out.

• 54:18Michelle Obama?

  You let her live.

• 54:19Speaker 00

  I let her live, let her live. Yep. When I hit my 40s, Esther popped up, that fat roll, that fat roll popped. I was like, what is this? And I was doing crunches and all.

• 54:32Michelle Obama?

  She was, she was determined.

• 54:34Speaker 00

  Esther was determined. Esther was climbing out of Spanx. I was, I, I, I was on This Tonight Show, Jay Leno on This Tonight Show. And I had been, I just heard, ah, ah. I was like, what is going on? Esther was just working her way out of Spanx. Then just laid out, hey, Jay. I was like, it's like, no, no, Esther. So I just, I named her Esther Roll.

• 55:00Michelle Obama?

  Like, I love late night.

• 55:01Speaker 00

  Uh huh. I love late night. Mmm, cheesecake, you know?

• 55:08Speaker 00

  So I pull up to Costco, Esther's like, "Yippee!" Oh, boy! This is like Disneyland for her. She loves, she loves Costco. Esther loves Costco. Oh, boy! There's so many of them.

• 55:25Speaker 00

  She loves Costco.

• 55:27Michelle Obama?

  They're everywhere.

• 55:29Speaker 00

  And now she's, I say, Esther's, you know, been a little depressed.

• 55:34Speaker 00

  Because whenever those, like, Ozipic commercials come on, I hear her just I'm like, "Esther, what's wrong?" She's like, "All my friends are gone." I was like...

• 55:46Speaker 00

  Esther, yeah.

• 55:51Speaker 00

  Told her I wouldn't do that to her.

• 55:53Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my goodness, you wouldn't do that to her?

• 55:55Speaker 00

  I wouldn't do it. I said, "I'm not, I'm not gonna do it to you. Don't worry about it."

• 55:59Michelle Obama?

  Well, but you do look great, Wanda. You really look great. So you gotta be doing something besides taking Esther to Costco.

• 56:08Speaker 00

  I'm boxing now. I love to box. Yeah, I love, I love to box. Yeah, that's my, that's a lot of my training.

• 56:13Michelle Obama?

  How often are you in the, in...

• 56:17Speaker 00

  In the gym?

• 56:18Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 56:18Speaker 00

  Yeah, like, when, um, I mean, if, if I'm not working, if I'm home, I, uh, I try to go at least like five times a, you know, five days a week.

• 56:26Michelle Obama?

  Oh, man.

• 56:27Speaker 00

  Yeah. Uh, I have a great trainer, Cameron, and he'll, he'll hold the mitts. Yeah, so I, uh, I hit the mitts, uh, and will, you know, do some strength train, training. Yeah. I love it.

• 56:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 56:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, I fell, fell in love with it because I had, uh, I did a movie, a drama, and it's boxing.

• 56:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 56:46Speaker 00

  So I had to learn how to hold mitts, and then I just stayed with it.

• 56:50Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, when did you do the, when did you, um, film this? This is undercut.

• 56:53Speaker 00

  Undercard.

• 56:54Michelle Obama?

  Undercard. I'm sorry, undercard.

• 56:56Speaker 00

  Um, we filmed this in Puerto Rico, uh, two years ago?

• 57:00Michelle Obama?

  It was two years ago.

• 57:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think so. I think it was two years ago.

• 57:02Michelle Obama?

  Was that your first dramatic role?

• 57:04Speaker 00

  First dramatic role.

• 57:06Michelle Obama?

  Wow.

• 57:06Speaker 00

  Yeah, and... Man, it was hot in Puerto Rico. That was a different kind of heat.

• 57:12Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 57:13Speaker 00

  Different kind of heat. But it was, yeah, I love shooting it, love the cast, the director, Tamika. Everybody, it was just a great experience. So I'm excited that that's finally gonna be out where

• 57:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 57:25Speaker 00

  people are gonna get to see it.

• 57:27Craig Robinson?

  Oh, good, yeah.

• 57:28Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, is it gonna start streaming?

• 57:30Speaker 00

  Um, it'll be available for rent or to buy, um, May 18th.

• 57:36Michelle Obama?

  Oh, great.

• 57:37Speaker 00

  Yeah, on like Apple or Prime.

• 57:39Michelle Obama?

  It's a beautiful story. You wanna just talk a bit about it?

• 57:43Speaker 00

  Um, sure.

• 57:45Michelle Obama?

  Undercard?

• 57:46Speaker 00

  Yeah, Undercard is, um, I play a former boxer, uh, who's now a trainer, struggling with addiction. Um, she's raising her, uh, her sister's, uh, child. Her sister passed away. And, uh, she also is trying to reunite with her, uh, older son, who's a boxer. And she had to give him up when he was, uh, very young because of her addictions. And, yeah, so it's, it's just this woman trying to, you know, win in the ring and now, you know, win in life and try to, uh, reunite with, with her family.

• 58:27Speaker 00

  And it's really, it's a family story, but it's just set in the world of boxing.

• 58:33Craig Robinson?

  Mm-hmm.

• 58:33Speaker 00

  Um.

• 58:35Michelle Obama?

  I would've never known that that was your exposure to boxing, that film. You didn't box before then.

• 58:40Speaker 00

  Right.

• 58:41Michelle Obama?

  You look like a, you look like a former champ in there.

• 58:44Speaker 00

  Oh, why, thank you.

• 58:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah. Had your guns out and everything. Shoot.

• 58:51Michelle Obama?

  But it's a really beautiful, um, um, movie. And I watched it and I didn't fall asleep.

• 58:56Speaker 00

  Oh, why, oh, why, thank you.

• 58:58Michelle Obama?

  I stayed up.

• 58:59Speaker 00

  Oh, why, thank you.

• 59:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, which is saying something. Yeah, no, but it's a really beautiful, beautiful film.

• 59:07Craig Robinson?

  Is there anything at this point that you haven't done that you wish you could do?

• 59:12Speaker 00

  Actually, I did tell my, uh, publicist that I wanted to do this.

• 59:16Michelle Obama?

  You really?

• 59:17Speaker 00

  I did.

• 59:17Michelle Obama?

  We were on your bucket list.

• 59:19Speaker 00

  I rarely ask her for things.

• 59:21Michelle Obama?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 59:22Speaker 00

  But I was like, I want, I wanna do, yeah.

• 59:25Michelle Obama?

  Oh, cuz you felt bad about talking about me.

• 59:30Michelle Obama?

  That's the only thing I did ask for.

• 59:32Craig Robinson?

  That's.

• 59:33Michelle Obama?

  Yep. Man.

• 59:34Craig Robinson?

  Wonderful.

• 59:34Michelle Obama?

  That makes us feel good as well. Well, you have definitely worked out this special.

• 59:41Craig Robinson?

  Thank you.

• 59:42Michelle Obama?

  It is.

• 59:42Craig Robinson?

  Really good.

• 59:43Michelle Obama?

  It is everything. It is laugh out loud. And not too, too dirty. You're not cursing that much.

• 59:49Craig Robinson?

  No.

• 59:50Michelle Obama?

  You know, so you can have the older kids watch it. But, you know, I just thank you for, you know, all that you do. But we're, we do have our listener question.

• 1:00:00Craig Robinson?

  Yes.

• 1:00:01Michelle Obama?

  We, because we do give advice here.

• 1:00:04Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 1:00:04Michelle Obama?

  At IMO, we try to give back.

• 1:00:06Craig Robinson?

  We do.

• 1:00:07Michelle Obama?

  To the people who are listening. And now they got, they got Wanda. They're going to hear from Wanda.

• 1:00:13Craig Robinson?

  And this is Joanna.

• 1:00:15Speaker 03

  My husband and I are thinking about buying a home and we're trying to decide what matters most as we start a family. We have a three and a five year old. We love the idea of being in a neighborhood with a strong sense of community. It reminds me of my own childhood where neighbors looked out for each other and it felt safe for kids to grow up. At the same time, we know that school quality is really important and we're weighing whether it makes more sense to prioritize that from the start, even if it means living somewhere we feel less connected to. My husband feels like we should choose a neighborhood we love and figure out the logistics later, whether that's commuting or finding other options. But I personally worry that the day to day reality of that would become exhausting, especially if more of the responsibility falls on me.

• 1:00:58Speaker 03

  My question is, how do you decide between a place that feels like home right away and one that might offer better long-term opportunities for your kids? As a fellow Chicagoan, I know the commute you had to Whitney Young. My own mother moved us to the suburbs so a decent high school would be closer to our home. Appreciate your advice.

• 1:01:19Michelle Obama?

  If it's job related, then you sort of have to do what you gotta do.

• 1:01:23Craig Robinson?

  Right.

• 1:01:24Michelle Obama?

  And that's not new. I mean, I think. Parents, families throughout, you know, the history. You know, you go where, you know, mom and dad can earn a living.

• 1:01:34Speaker 00

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:01:34Michelle Obama?

  And that's certainly true.

• 1:01:36Speaker 00

  Absolutely.

• 1:01:36Michelle Obama?

  If you're a military kid, you know? And you, you remember how resilient kids can be. So sometimes you just don't have a choice.

• 1:01:47Michelle Obama?

  But I've been talking more about, because what we do lose in that job move is that a lot of families, they don't have support, right? So you move for a job. Now it's you and your partner and the kids, but you don't live in that extended family unit, which is how we grew up, you know? I mean, we grew up on the south side of Chicago where everybody lived within like a five-mile radius. I mean, literally, you know? Uncles, aunties, all of our grandparents. You could walk around the corner. You could get in a car, drive five minutes and be at another family's house, which meant that there was always some support, you know?

• 1:02:31Michelle Obama?

  Especially when it came to childcare, right? So now you, you know, if you've got some aunt, a cousin, a grandparent, somebody who can step in, you know, and help out. So I think that's a long way of saying, if you have a choice, factor in community and support. Yeah, I don't know, I don't know if I care as much about the house or the school. If it's not a horrible school district, you know? I mean, if it's not dangerous, which is in some instances, you know, I went across town because the high school right by me was a little, you know, it was a little dangerous at the time I was going there, right? So to me, it was worth going across town to a school that was a college prep school.

• 1:03:16Michelle Obama?

  But we still lived in our neighborhood, you know? We still lived around the corner from grandparents and uncles and aunts. And that, that meant something, you know?

• 1:03:28Speaker 00

  I, I, I agree with that.

• 1:03:32Speaker 00

  But it didn't seem like they have like extended family.

• 1:03:39Craig Robinson?

  Right.

• 1:03:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it didn't even come up.

• 1:03:42Speaker 00

  Didn't even come up.

• 1:03:44Speaker 00

  But yeah, I I agree that if you find a community where you feel comfortable and you can build those relationships. Like, we were very lucky where Alex was living in this community when I met her. So, you know, there was the the cop next door and then, you know, started meeting this group of friends. And there was there's a little, she has this little French contingency there. So we were surrounded by people who became family for us. So as the kids get older, their kids were getting older and we would, you know, look out for each other. So that is important and a good a good school district.

• 1:04:29Speaker 00

  You you want that because you, you know, especially you don't want to have to pay for school. If if you're not happy with the you're with the public school.

• 1:04:41Speaker 00

  But but for me, I I need to be close to an airport.

• 1:04:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:04:46Speaker 00

  You know, it's those are the things I have to consider also. How quickly can I get in and out?

• 1:04:52Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:04:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:04:54Craig Robinson?

  And you know, I will say,

• 1:04:58Craig Robinson?

  don't underestimate the resilience of your kids. Because I my career, after I left corporate America and started coaching, coaches move all the time and we moved a lot. And the first move was really hard on my two older kids. Because they were about, well, the oldest was about to go into high school and he wanted to go to Whitney Young where she went. And we moved to Providence and it was hard on him and hard on our daughter. But then, once we moved the first time, it made it easier to move the next time, and then the next time, and it became easier.

• 1:05:41Craig Robinson?

  And what we stayed focused on was trying to move somewhere where we could build a community. But we were our community. We wanted to make sure we knew we would all be together in this, and we had the ability to make a community wherever we went.

• 1:06:07Craig Robinson?

  So, don't, I would say to Joanna, don't underestimate the resiliency. I know you're not talking about moving around a lot, but, you know, your kids will be OK, as long as they're safe.

• 1:06:19Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:19Craig Robinson?

  They'll be OK. They'll be able to bounce back quicker than we can.

• 1:06:25Speaker 00

  And just make sure you check that Predator website, too. Don't just throw that out there.

• 1:06:32Michelle Obama?

  That's a good point. It's a good point, Wanda. Forget the school district.

• 1:06:37Speaker 00

  I'm just saying.

• 1:06:37Michelle Obama?

  Make sure there are no Predators.

• 1:06:41Michelle Obama?

  Well, thank you. Hopefully, that was Lisa?

• 1:06:44Craig Robinson?

  Joanna.

• 1:06:44Michelle Obama?

  Joanna. I'm sorry.

• 1:06:46Craig Robinson?

  Joanna. That's OK.

• 1:06:47Michelle Obama?

  Joanna, girl. Hope that helped you.

• 1:06:50Craig Robinson?

  That also happens when you get older, Crystal.

• 1:06:52Michelle Obama?

  Right. There's gas, and then there's general forgetting of everything.

• 1:06:56Speaker 00

  Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yes.

• 1:06:59Michelle Obama?

  Wanda?

• 1:06:59Craig Robinson?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:07:00Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:07:01Michelle Obama?

  Thank you for this. Thank you for putting us on your dance card.

• 1:07:05Speaker 00

  Yes, absolutely.

• 1:07:06Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love you.

• 1:07:08Speaker 00

  I'm done now.

• 1:07:09Michelle Obama?

  We are huge fans.

• 1:07:11Craig Robinson?

  We are big fans. We are big fans.

• 1:07:14Michelle Obama?

  Well, the legacy is gonna be well-received. People will love it. And by the time this comes out, hopefully, everybody's seeing it and commenting about it and all that. And then, watch Undercard. It's really a beautiful film.

• 1:07:28Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:07:29Michelle Obama?

  Coming out on somewhere where things stream.

• 1:07:34Michelle Obama?

  Or anywhere where you stream.

• 1:07:38Michelle Obama?

  Thank you for being here.

• 1:07:39Speaker 00

  Thanks for having me.

• 1:07:40Craig Robinson?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:07:48Craig Robinson?

  Thanks again to our friends at Progressive Insurance for sponsoring this episode. For more information, visit progressive.com/openthehouse.

• 1:08:08Craig Robinson?

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