Sinbad | The Conversation Ep. 52

Roxanne sits down with the legendary Sinbad to discuss how he began in the comedy world. He also gives fantastic marriage advice, shares a 'come to Jesus' moment, offers inspiring faith advice, and more.

*This episode is a re-edited version of our 2020 conversation with Sinbad.

Hosted by Roxanne Grace, The Conversation is an interview show discussing music, faith and issues of the day with influencers, artists, entertainers and more. 
 
► Subscribe here! - http://lnk.to/SubscribeDLG
► Mailing List - https://www.dreamlabelgroup.com/contact
► New Music - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qBefb9awGXq07NqzmV8iS?si=b2324312c89b46e6&nd=1
► Speaking Engagements - bookingroxgrace@gmail.com
► The Conversation Guest Booking - dreamtheconversation@gmail.com

Transcript

Copy

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, what's up? Welcome to the conversation. I'm your host, Roxanne Grace. Today we are having a conversation with legendary comedian and actor Sinbad. You're not gonna want to miss it, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation. Today we have an absolutely incredible episode lined up for you. We are diving deep into how Sinbad first got started in the comedy world. Plus, we're getting some truly fantastic marriage advice, hearing a powerful come to Jesus moment, and taking away some inspiring faith advice. To wrap it all up, we're gonna find out who exactly Sinbad finds iconic. You're not gonna want to miss a single second of this episode. So uh let's go ahead and jump right in. What's up, Sinbad? How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I'm always good. I'm always good. Even I'm bad, I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

It's an absolute honor to be able to sit down with you today and have this conversation. I mean, you're legendary. Everybody knows who you are. You've been in television shows like A Different World, The Sinbad Show, Steven Universe, Slackercats, American Dad, The Lion Guard, The Cosby Show, Vibe. Are we there yet? Sinbad is just family, and of course, that's just to name a few. And you have a whole bunch of comedy specials. You also have been in movies like Good Burger, Good Burger 2, Jingle All the Way, First Kid, House Guest, The Meteor Man, Planes, Homework Bound 2, Coneheads, Ready to Run, The Cherokee Kid, Aliens for Breakfast, Straw, and again, there's so many more than that. How do you keep yourself grounded? Like we know that family plays a big part in that for you, but seeing how truly it seems like everybody knows who you are, how do you stay grounded?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

You know, it's um my life, I'd be maybe been different, Roxanne. If I had been like 18 when I got discovered or 19, but God didn't work it that way for me. I was a kid from Michigan. I didn't know how you become famous. I knew I wanted to be famous, but there was no HBO or any of that stuff. So I ended up going to college, uh, dropped out of college, playing basketball. It was a horrible FOIA experience, but it was a part of the building block. So I don't curse it now. When I was younger, it hurt me. But all that hurt made me who I am now. So you can't hurt me. Then I joined the military, got kicked out of the Air Force, but it was the Air Force talent show that got me started doing comedy. And that's why I always go back and perform for the troops. Because man, I was I was immature in some of my thinking, and and some of it was not for me, but I still go back because I respect the military. I respect all my guys in the military, I respect all my men and women in the military and their families and what they go through. So for me, when I got to Hollywood, you know, I was like, hey, this is the easiest gig in the world. Although it's hard. I said, this is the easiest gig in the world. So I just kept moving from there. I never stopped. I never, I always looked at another way. You can't close a door, mate. If you do, you better lock it up tight. Don't keep it cracked. Don't use a chain. I'll kick a chain in.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Somehow I'm not surprised. That definitely comes through in all that you do. Sinbad, we know you as a man of faith. Tell us, has it always been like that? Were you raised in a Christian home?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Well, you know, I'm blessed. My father is a preacher. My father was a preacher, but you gotta look at no, we we work in this. This is where I'm trying right now. I think Christianity is used now. I think in in politics and in life, people you know run back to God when they want when when they're losing the argument, they will, my God, oh no, no, no, no. You don't bring to bring you didn't bring God into the beginning of this conversation. You can't bring him in at the end. I think we're losing more and more young people that remember this is the biggest generation that doesn't believe in God, doesn't believe in church, because it's been used as a tool. So let me let me say when I talk about religion, when I talk about faith, what mine is, uh my father was a a never was a a monster church, but was always a great man. He was always doing something for people. I I've seen what my father done. I've seen the sacrifice he's made. I saw the love he had for people. And I am who I am because my mother and father. My mother and father taught me uh about God at an early age, but then you know you go to college, they call you got to find your own God. You have you have your your parents' God in you, but then you you get challenged and you you go to school and you think you know some stuff. And then uh I had to have that real moment that that I had to come to Jesus moment where I actually I was in a college dorm room and my life wasn't going too well and sports weren't going too well. I said, Tell what I drew up a contract. I actually sat there in my ignorance and drew up a contract and said, if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. I said, I'll figure it out on my own.

SPEAKER_03 4:35

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

And then I did the dumbest thing you could do. I demanded to see him. I said, if you're real, I demand to see you. Then I remembered, oh, the last time somebody saw God, they didn't work out too well. So I said, Hey, you know what? Never mind, never mind. I said, I don't need to see you, I don't need to see you, I just need you to leave me alone. And um but something happened that that evening where all this stuff I thought I was doing, you know, it's like that footprints in the sand thing, but I had that moment like you thought you did all this, you thought you were doing all this. And I'm I also didn't want to, you know, that for me as a kid from the 60s, 70s, to disrespect my parents. You know, I was like, even though I'm growing up as a man, I said, Well, is there something here? And he spoke to me. And that's okay. He said your life ain't gonna be easy, it's not gonna be an easy path. But it's but at the end of this path, I'm gonna forge you into something. I said, Well, could you give me exactly the timeline? See, God won't give you if he would give us the timeline. I think you know, Christianity could be a lot easier if you said next Wednesday. Or we'd run. Yeah, just like him, man. It's gonna take you 10 years. What? Um I'm need you. He has to give you hope that each day is gonna come because if he told you, man, it's gonna be 10 years. I'm like, like it's like Joseph. I mean, I'm gonna be how long am I gonna be gone?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

With God's plans for us, which we definitely want, but it doesn't feel like we just go A to B. It feels like we go A to W to Z back to D.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Never go to B. B is last. You go to A to Z, A to T and say, Can I get to B? B's coming, D's coming. Exactly. B's gonna be good. Come on, and then after a while, you know, that surrender. When you do that, surrender, and and and that's a very big thing. And I don't think, see, when I witness the people, I don't do the God. My dad was ever with those God fire, man. You need to come to God. My dad was more like this. My dad would sit down and have a cup of coffee with somebody. Look, Reverend, Reverend, I ain't into that pre that God thing said, Man, I asked you some coffee. I didn't ask you nothing about God. So before you know it, they're talking, and well, okay, if your life, if a Christian, if you don't live your life, is that if there's not some light in your eyes, see, true Christians, you'll meet somebody like, man, what is it? I'm not saying it'd be perfect. Let's get this out the way. You can stop that now. There's no perfection in evil either, and you'll follow that. So let's let's not get that twisted. So my dad was more like, hey man, why don't you try to see? That's all his whole thing was look, you tried everything else, that didn't work. How's your life working out for you now? Why don't you try this one? See what happens. And that's where I'm at. Hey, you tried everything else, you jacked everything else up. Try one more thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

You mentioned a little while ago that this generation is the most unchurched generation. And for us that are a little bit older, let's say maybe over 35, even if we were not raised in church, we heard the gospel somewhere. Not everybody, but a good majority heard the gospel somewhere. It was a little more normal. Young people right now are not necessarily going into the four walls, into the church building. That's why we gotta go out to them.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

And I can't blame them because it's our generation that failed them.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Our generation is arguing like children. Our generation is acting like stupid kids. Our generation is showing the ugliest side of humanity that I've seen in a long time. It's always been there, it never left. Let's get this straight. This country has never been straight, it's never been a straight country because it wasn't built that way. If a house is built crooked, it'll lay crooked. For a house to become straight from being brave, being built crooked, you have to take the house down. And I think for the first time in in America, we have to take the house down. And I'm not talking about either side, I ain't talking about Democrat, Republican, Liberal. Everybody has to take the house down and say, Where's your heart? I judge people by the heart now. I don't judge you by by your what what what but red or blue, whatever. Where's your heart at? If your heart ain't right, I don't care where you at. You can't talk to me. You have no conversation with me. Don't come to me like you care. Don't don't come to me like you care. I I'm not even trying to convert you. I'm not even in the conversion mode anymore in this country. Once you tell me where you're standing and where you go, that's how I judge you now.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

You're right. I absolutely love that you're so real. You know, people want real, especially the younger generation. Everybody wants real. It's not that this generation is not spiritually hungry. Everybody is so spiritually hungry. Creation is longing for the creator, but they want real, like you're saying. My husband and I were watching uh a comedy clip from you about marriage, and we were laughing hysterically at your marriage jokes.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

That's God's biggest joke, ain't it?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

We hear through the grapevine that you give fantastic marriage advice. Throw it at us.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

You know what? I give advice that you can't keep yourself. See, we there's advice you can give. You know what? With marriage, marriage, everybody's marriage is so different, but it's not. Everybody wants to think, you know, we have an idea what marriage is, and there's stages of marriage. It's like first get married, then it's been married for about seven, eight, nine years. That's when people almost break up now because it becomes too much. Then that's that once you get past 15, 20, it's a it's a different joint, it's it's a different place. Like, yeah, I heard you say it, but you let it go. I heard you say it, but that's okay because I don't care. So you you have to. I found out the key, man, with marriage and the hardest part about marriage, because everybody's trying to control. Everybody thinks they're losing something. Everybody thinks I'm not gonna be controlled, you're not gonna tell me what to do. I said, everybody goes back to the kids and the mother and father. So you almost treat like your spouse, like, is that my mother? You ain't what they say, you ain't my daddy, you ain't my mother. You can almost get to that point where you see the other person as someone trying to control you. I say no, if nothing else, the you got first you got to marry somebody you like, not just love. A lot of people fall in love, but do you like this person? That's like your best friend. You know, we have a best friend in life, you accept all the dumbness that comes with them. Your best friend, usually somebody not somebody not just like you. Y'all might be totally opposite, but somehow y'all groove in some kind of way. It's like I'll use sports analogy all the time. It's like a team, like, okay, I look at LeBron James and Rondo. It's like LeBron James and Rondo, he just played with the Celtics. These guys should be enemies. But once they came together on this team, it worked. I've never understood in sports. Isn't it crazy how I can hate this guy when he plays for another team? But now that he plays with me, he might become my best friend because we adapt. And and marriage is about adapting. And a lot of times we don't adapt too well because we fall in love with the other stuff, how they look and how you feel. Oh, she makes me feel this. Oh, she's so beautiful. Drop that. Well, she's ugly tomorrow. What if your man gets fat? You gotta prepare yourself for the next phase of this life, man. Things don't always stay this way. So, is this someone you can spend the rest of your life with? And everything ain't that deep. Some stuff you gotta let go. Everything is not a fight, everything's not somebody trying to get you, and you think you're everything is not somebody trying to get you. Sometimes you just, you know, I've even said yes to stuff I know ain't gonna do. But just just because I know when we get there, I'm not gonna have to do this, but I don't have to plant my feet in the ground right now. As a husband, your job is to adapt and help, and you gotta go off and figure out how to do your life. Men, once you get married, you become third, you become behind the wife, the children, and then you. And if you got a dog, you might be fourth. So you gotta figure out how you're gonna dig with being fourth.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

That's great. You know, there should be a class preparing young men for the role of being a husband in marriage. I mean, being a husband, it's hard. I watch my husband, and I know that it's it's hard, you know. It's definitely hard for both. But of course, it's so rewarding. Marriage is so rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

The key is this when you're an argument, is this worth breaking up over? If it's not, stop. Is this the argument that kills the family because you left the top of the toothpaste off? Or because you didn't vacuum. I have to vacuum. Is this the argument that breaks? Is this the straw breaks to come back? Is this the reason I leave? If it's not, you know what? Quit tripping. Everything's not a war, and now we go to war. And I'm like, yo, thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

You're right. We need to pick our battles. Not everything is a battle or worth fighting over. And for us ladies, it's often so easy for us to give so much grace to our sons, but we need to give that kind of love and grace to our husbands as well. They need it. We need it, we all need it. We're taking a break from the conversation for an Oceanhouse Music.com distribution 30 seconds spotlight. Today's spotlight is on a song titled Surprise Me by John Waller, Waller Co., and Eric Lee Brumley. Here's a little taste. So when I found out that I had the incredible opportunity to interview you, I posted on my personal Facebook to my friends and family that I get to interview the legendary Sinbad and ask if they had any questions they'd like to ask you. So I chose a couple of those questions. And the first question is from Cheryl Cooper, Alice Cooper's wife. She mentioned actually that you performed at the Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding Charity concert event, which of course benefits Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Center in Phoenix. And she wanted to know what your experience was like when you were there with them and during your amazing comedy performance.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Well, girl, tell her till that time I was doing comedy, but tell her now I've been practicing my bass and my guitar and I'm working on my sacks. Next time I do that, I want to play. I want to play rock. I want to sit down and get funky and play with them. And we're gonna mix some funk and some rock, man. We're gonna have some funky rock. I love it. They were just building their uh that center they were building for entertainment for kids and teaching. Man, it was just, I just I love, I love her and her husband and a daughter. I love that whole family. I love what they're about.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah, I do too. I was involved in their organization for a long time and I just adore them, her and her husband Alice. They're just such amazing, wonderful people. Everybody over there, they're all amazing. Somebody else wanted to know who do you consider iconic?

SPEAKER_01 15:21

For me, uh, outside of my family, I'm blessed. I was blessed because my dad was my, I had a hero in my house. I was I was really blessed there. But I look at iconic. Okay, let me go as a kid, let me give the stages growing up. I grew up, my heroes were Bill Russell, Wilk Chamberlain, uh, Dr. J, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, you know, uh uh Red Skelton, believe it or not, uh Alan King, Jonathan Winters. So I look the guys who are iconic to me are beasts. These guys were beasts. I mean, Richard Pryor, you know, it's it's it's amazing what these people, Mega Evers. So it was it was a mixture between people who are activists and people who are entertainers and people who are athletes. And so I I looked at them and I looked at their life, and as a kid, they were larger than life to me. And I wanted I want to be Jacques Cousteau, man. I want to be Meryl Andretti. I was there were so many people who did so many great things, but as I got older, I started reading. You can't read about, okay, when the guy's right here, everybody wants to talk about how'd you get to the limo. I said, I want that first story. And he found a lot of them were just like you, but gave me hope. When I found some of them started off at less than me, and they just had that man, that persistence. Man, I tell people grit. There's a book called Grit the Great. No, there's no determination why some people make it and some don't. We know that. Why someone has the talent, didn't make it, and some person does. But the one thing, the one thing that's always there is grit. Some people just got that grit, and you can't stop them. It's that pit bull, is that is that dog in them, man and woman, they're just like, I will not be stopped. You don't think what I'm doing? Their thing is I don't care. I don't care how you see me, you will not stop me. And that's why I think all of those people have a little bit of faith in something bigger themselves because you're not big enough to do it yourself. I leave room for the magic. See, I leave room for the magic. You got you put all the ingredients and when you're cooking something, you put in all the ingredients. Well, I'm now let me leave some some room for the magic. Let the man upstairs do something. Let him let him give me the last bit, you know, which is the whole bit. He lets us do our little thing because I think it's important for us to do our thing. It's important for a human being processing and using your brain and using your skill set. I'll be a better person. Man, if I could just wake up, God, you drop 30 pounds off me like this. I'm gonna give you a gym membership. I didn't I didn't ask, I didn't ask for the gym membership. You are so great. Can you give me the abs? They're there, it's under your fat stomach.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

The Bible says faith without works is dead.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Roxanne, that's why I tell people faith without works is dead. And I said, to do the impossible, you have to see the invisible. Those two things if you if you can see it, it's not big enough. If you can see how this works, your dream is too small. It means you can achieve it by yourself. And faith without works, but it means leap of faith means I'm stepping off this cliff. I'm gonna do everything right, I'm gonna get in shape. I got my rope, but I'm gonna step off this cliff because I have the faith that I put the work in. I did my studying, I got my best climbing gear. I'm ready to take that leap of faith. And that's that's what it is. That's all it is. It's that you know what? It's kind of simple, but it ain't it's it's God laid it out simple, but it ain't because he gave us free will. We miss it out.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

It's very true. Sinbad, I'm so bummed because our time together is coming to an end. I could just hang out with you all day long because you are the best. Where could our audience follow you on social media if they don't already?

SPEAKER_01 18:48

On Instagram, I'm Sinbad Bad, Twitter. I'm Sinbad Bad, Facebook, I'm just Sinbad. You know, I'm always out there doing something, man. It's it's I have ADHD, so it's all disjointed, but it all makes sense in the end. So come and hang out with me.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Sinbad, it has been an absolute honor. Thank you so much for taking the time to have this conversation today.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Well, thank you for having me. It's pretty it's a pleasure. And tell your man Lance I say what's up.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

I will do that. Oh, and I didn't tell you, Cheryl and Alice also wanted me to give you their greetings.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Oh, cool. Thank you. Thank you. Tell me, I said, What's happening?

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Sounds good. What an incredible conversation with the legendary Sinbad. Listening to his brilliance and his joy in this interview is a beautiful thing, especially knowing what came shortly after this recording was made. In October 2020, not long after we recorded this interview, Sinbad suffered a massive life-threatening stroke. He was placed in a coma on a ventilator and faced a grueling years long road to recovery. It's a sobering reminder of a timeless truth that we find in the book of James. James chapter 4, verse 14, says, Why? You don't even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Proverbs chapter 27, verse 1 also echoes this. It says, Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We don't even know what's gonna happen later today. But praise God, that is not where Sinbad's story ends. All glory to God, a miracle happened, and of course, Sinbad has been surrounded by his loving, dedicated family. And you know that Sinbad has an unbreakable spirit. I mean, come on, you know Sinbad. He beat a 30% survival rate, he fought his way back to walking, talking, and just recently defy all the odds by stepping back onto the comedy stage. Last year he returned to acting, he was in Tyler Perry's film Straw, and in April of this year, he made a sold-out return to stand-up comedy at the Comedy Ice House in Pasadena. While he primarily uses a wheelchair, he is speaking, he's performing, and officially back to what he loves doing. And again, his family credits his survival to the multitude of prayers from all who know and love him. We want to encourage you to allow this episode to be a reminder to love the best that you can today. Never take a single moment for granted and make sure that you have all your priorities in order. Are you loving your family, your loved ones, and others best that you can and doing what you're supposed to do? And most importantly, do you know Jesus as your Lord? If you can't say right now, Roxanne, I know Jesus as my Lord, do you want to know him? Are you ready to invite him to be Lord of your life? If so, let's pray together right now. Or maybe you once knew him, he walked away, but you want to just rededicate it all back to him and just give him his rightful place on the throne in your life. If that's you, if either of those are you, let's pray together right now. Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner in need of a savior. Thank you for sending. Jesus to be that savior. Thank you that Jesus died and he was buried and he rose again three days later and is now alive. I make a choice today to turn off that path away from you and to turn and to follow you as my Lord. Jesus, come be my Lord. Help me to live for you and fill me with your Holy Spirit. In your name Jesus, we pray. Amen and amen. If you just pray that with me, we want to hear from you. Email us at dreamtheconversation at gmail.com. And thank you again for tuning in today. Maybe you're listening over radio on K Wave1110, or maybe you're listening over podcasts. Oh, and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast. You can find The Conversation with Roxanne Grace pretty much anywhere you stream podcasts, including iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and again anywhere you stream your podcast. I'm Roxanne. I'm gonna leave you with a beautiful song by John Waller, Waller Co., and Eric Lee Brumley called Surprise Me. Until next week, stay blessed in him.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

I never claim to be a prophet or a priest or a righteous man. It's not who I am I can't help but think that I just might be preaching to the choir again. Just need a hand if you may grow for one like me I'll give you all I die Take me to your river watch with me. Surprise I don't even know what I mean. I don't even know what I need. Surprise me 'cause I don't know what I need. Surprise me