On the Wednesday, September 13 edition of “Tamron Hall,” superstar comedian, producer, actor and author Cedric The Entertainer joined Tamron to discuss his new book, “Flipping Boxcars,” which was inspired by his grandparents. Cedric also explained the genesis of his stage name: Cedric “The Entertainer.” Later in the show, the laughs continued as Tamron welcomed renowned comedian Roy Wood Jr., who went up against Cedric in a side-splitting “dad joke” showdown. More inside and video clip….
Cedric The Entertainer on his aspiration to tell his grandparents’ story through his novel:
“I think, you know, people know me as a comedian, but I wanted to tell this story about my grandfather who I only heard stories about, I’d never met him – he had passed before I was even born. So, you know, like how we have in Black families somebody that’s like, ‘Boy, you laugh just like your grandfather,’ and so, from there, you know, I would hear these stories from my mother and my uncles and so, I started to imagine his whole life and so I just fictionalized the tale and it just really was fun to do. And of course, drew me closer to him.” Answering Tamron’s question about how Cedric’s grandmother served as another influence on the book, he responded, “I used Babe [Floyd “Babe” Boyce, the main character named for and based on Cedric’s grandfather] as the hero of this book, as the person that we’re following, but really the book is an homage to my grandmother who just made sure our family stayed together. She was the one that, you know, helped him build these businesses. She had the land and, you know, these ideas of, like, giving down legacy to your family and building a whole idea, that was from her spirit. You know, he wanted these things, but she was actually the one to do it…and so, I wanted to honor that.”
