Comedian Jerrod Carmichael has never been afraid to speak his minds. Thankfully his sitcom, NBC’s The Carmichael Show, follows the same formula.

Across two seasons, the NBC sitcom has tackled gun control, porn addiction, Trump, gentrification and countless other topics. On May 31, the show’s third season premiere explores the nature of consent.

Daily Brief had a chance to sit down with Jerrod, where we talked brunch, laugh tracks and his comedic process.

DAILY BRIEF: Why do you think the family sitcom template still works?

CARMICHAEL: It’s the most immediate and at its best, it’s a thing you care about the most. Friends worked because they started sleeping with each other. Otherwise it would’ve just been static. Seinfeld worked because they turned their complete indifference toward one another’s well-being into something amazing. They needed each other because they’re the only people they could be around. They turned that into family. You need that dynamic, otherwise, why would the audience care, if you don’t care about them?

Have you ever sat down with your real family and your TV family at the same time?

Yeah. My best friend and I went to my home in North Carolina and we watched an episode with my real family and it’s just a weird thing to sit in my living room, the same living room that we’re trying to create with the show…it’s a weird mind bump.

Does your family take offense to anything?

No, I borrow from their perspective more than I do their specifics. Our approach is to build story around perspective.

Exploring social issues has always been a part of your comedy. Do you feel more pressure to explore these issues now because of what’s happening in the world?

No, because my natural instinct is to rebel. Now I don’t really want to talk about politics, because everybody’s talking about politics. I don’t like it. Most of the time people don’t bring something new to it. Trump is bad. Alright. It becomes the same sh**.

You’ve mentioned you get a lot thoughts for comedy in the shower. Do you have any other creative hot spots?

I walk around when I can. I pace around a lot in a big circle in my living room, listen to jazz, and just think. When I was a kid I read this Warren Buffett interview and he said he likes to sit in his office and look out the window and just think, no distractions. He described it as a grey room looking out at a grey sky, thinking. I go to that place of isolation, a place where thoughts can be uninterrupted.

What jazz do you listen to?

A lot of Chick Corea, recently. The classics, the Miles, Thelonius’ of the world. I love Vince Guaraldi a lot. I loved Peanuts, in part, because the language is great, but his music is so perfect. I listen to a lot of that. Sometimes it’s even artists that aren’t jazz, but have the same feeling. Kendrick’s [To Pimp A] Butterfly is so jazz, you know what I mean? I’ll listen to that, and things that are thoughtful.

I find it distracting to write while listening to songs with a lot of lyrics.

Especially if the lyrics aren’t meaningful. I can listen to Jay-Z all day because the lyrics mean something or The Beatles give you something to decipher. If the lyrics are meaningless things I get bored.

Is there any divide between you in real life and you in the show?

That’s a good question. I have some of my weird clothes and shoes on the set, stuff that I’ve worn in and taken off and put up in the closet. It’s such a blur. We heighten certain things, but it’s really similar.

Is it weird to play yourself? Is it acting?

[laughs] I just go and say things.

What’s your go-to brunch item?

Probably pancakes.

Filled with anything?

Plain. I go classic. My favorite brunch is in New York, ABC Kitchen.

Never been.

You gotta go. I’ve had some epic brunches there, four hours long, because they have everything. It’s this crazy range of food, like halibut, french toast, pasta and eggs.

My friend texted me everything that we ordered once and it was insane. It looked like a death-row inmate’s last meal. If you’re on death row, request the brunch menu at ABC Kitchen.

This isn’t a “safe” show per se, so what’s the working relationship with NBC like?

As a billion-dollar corporation, they have their concerns. But it’s healthy, because I approach things honestly as an adult. Look, we want to talk about this because it’s a real conversation. They respect it. They do. It appeals to a part of them. I think they want to do that as executives.

They’re not all soulless.

I think most people don’t bring it up or even try to talk about something honestly. I think NBC likes the subjects as much as we do. As much as they’re concerned, they like it. It’s kinda like how my parents treated me. They always thought I spoke my mind too much, and as much as they didn’t like it, they liked it. “Oh good, someone does need to say this.” I’m going to be the one who calls out a family member on something. They’re like, “Jerrod! …But keep going.” That’s my relationship with NBC.

Have you ever felt like you’ve gone too far? Ever wish you didn’t have a Tweet or joke out there?

No, because I only say it because I thought about it. If it were for shock, and didn’t have a truthful intention behind it, then I would not say it. I shy away from those things. But if it has an honesty behind it, you can say everything.

Some comics, some people, just want shock value, retweets, the attention.

Twitter can’t be a mentality. I’m not on any social media. For a lot of things I say, there is a certain amount of reluctance. Once I know the point I’m trying to make, the point gives you license to say it. Thinking in those terms helps me.

That’s what I love about the show. It’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s having a conversation. It reminds me of Norman Lear.

He made iconic, but truthful shows. Adult shows. I just wanted to make an adult show. Sitcoms usually aren’t good because they don’t treat you like an adult. I don’t like television that belittles you.

Given its old-school roots, having a laugh track makes sense, but on an episode like “Yes Means Yes,” laughs came in at inappropriate moments. Was that intentional?

We had a very dramatic scene we taped last week. There was a specific moment and it got a huge laugh, which threw us. We changed the moment so it wouldn’t, but my rule is that the laughs have to be honest. They’re all true laughs. I abhor juicing it, sweetening it.

We sent an episode off to an international mixer, and my editor told me they said the laughs were coming in unevenly from the speakers. “Your laugh track is off, we need something else from mixing.” No, these are real laughs that throw you. I listen to it at home, and certain laughs will come from different speakers and not the others, because it’s just real.

There’s a joke that only got a groan that I left in. I don’t remember the episode but I was like, “it’s just a thing you say, like I know you’re going to beat this cancer.” And it just got an OH. The writers are like you gotta put in an alt and I’m like, no, this is how they responded. When we edit, we don’t put in laughs. If a laugh comes from a weird place, it’s because on tape night sometimes there’s uncomfortable laughter.

We did an episode where my grandmother kills herself with assisted suicide. There was this laugh in her taking the pills that came from the audience literally not knowing what to do with themselves, because they’re like, no, she’s not really going to…but she does. There’s a moment where the audience is like ahhh, something’s going to happen to save us from this real moment. But it doesn’t.

I love that. What other issues that you tackle this season are you most excited for people to see?

We have one where I get to say n***** six times and I’m excited about that.

How come?

Because we say it, and explore it. It’s not for shock value. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really fun saying n***** on NBC, but because it had a point behind it. Everything we’ve taped I’m really excited for you to watch.

Audiences will get their chance when season 3 of The Carmichael Show premieres Wednesday May 31 at 9/8c on NBC.

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