Aries Spears Talks Cancel Culture, Comedy Evolution, and Staying True to Himself

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Away from, away from this business. This, this, this shit, it beats you up, man. It beats your spirit up, your soul up to the point where you at times think about quitting. Maybe you feel suicidal. You know, this kills you, man. I wouldn't wish this on my worst Enemy.

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today we got one of my top five, Dead or Live. From stepping on the Stage at just 14 to redefining sketch comedy on MADtv, this man didn't just chase the spotlight, he commanded it. He's a comedic powerhouse who's mastered impressions, tackled Hollywood and has kept audiences laughing for decades. Please give my guy a huge round of applause and welcome the bold, the unfiltered, the relentless, Mr. Aries Spears. Aries, how you doing today, brother?

What's up, brother?

Man, I told you offline. I'm honored to have you on. You are literally one of my favorite standups in the world. Just honor you took time out of your busy schedule to be here, bro.

Oh, no, man, thank you for being somewhat forgiving because I was, I know we were supposed to start this at 2 o', clock, but I was actually coming from doing another podcast by comedian Harlan Williams, so that LA traffic is a monster. So I just got a little bit of that traffic. But I'm, you know, I'm here now, so thank you.

I appreciate it, man. You know, on Mick Unplugged, I always like to ask my greats, my favorites, my legends, what their because is that thing that's deeper than your. Why that thing that really is your purpose, that fuel. And you've been doing this, man, since 14 today, in 2025, what's Aries Spears? Because what's that thing that's driving you, bro?

Cause I still feel like I haven't arrived, you know, in terms of where I have always seen myself and in terms of what I've always wanted, I don't, I'm not there yet. So I, I, I still desperately and very badly want to reach that level.

Well, I, I don't know about what you think, but bro, I think you're there, man. Like I said, you are. Literally. I know a lot of people see Aries. I've seen Aries over 20 times. It's always a different set and I don't think people understand that, man. Like in stand up, it's real easy to have like your routine and just some cats, as you know, we're not going to name names. They run that for 10 years and like you go see them Once you have to see them again with Aries, you get a new experience, bro. Every freaking time. How do you do that, dude?

Well, I think a huge testament to that is, you know, my crowd work, you know? You know, I almost like it to being a quarterback on a football team, you know? Yeah, you got your playbook, a lot of your material, but every now and then you got to be able to call a, you know, a quarterback, you know, I mean, recognize the blitz and call an audible, you know what I'm saying? So. And that to me is like being able to do crowd work. So I like the spontaneity of always makes the crowd feel like they're involved. And it's just for me, it's a much more fun time.

Yeah, Yeah. I tell all my buddies, man, like every time I go see Aries, I know you're a sports guy, too. It's like it's game seven for you, every set, right? And it's like, game seven, two seconds left. Aries wants the ball every damn time, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, anybody that know me and listen to my podcast and follow me on social media, know that I'm a Michael Jordan fanatic. So, you know, like, Jordan, yeah, give me the ball. I want the game winning shot, you know, I want to be able to, you know, pump my fist in the air. Victory. And I want to, you know, I want to be the man.

Yup. And you do it every time, man. And you talk about crowd work. I always try to sit up front. I know you gonna get me. I know you gonna get my wife. You know, the last time we were there, you told my wife, her name is Marcy. For all the viewers and listeners, you said, marcy, you're as white as uncut cocaine. And I literally spit out everything I had in my system at that moment, bro. Like, your crowd work is unreal, dude.

Thank you, brother. Thank you. And you know, that that was something very early in my, in my beginnings that I was intimidated by because, you know, you, you, you, you're basically on a wire with no safety net. And not everybody could do that well, you know, but I said to myself, and you're going to be a complete comedian. You need to have all the facets of your game on point. You know, it's like, again, the Jordan reference, you know, there was no weaknesses in my Mike can do it all. So I was like, you know, I know I could do the impressions. I'm pretty quick, I'm pretty savvy. I know, you know, I could talk about relationships and pop culture, whatever, even get a little political, even though I don't think that's my thing. But I wanted to be able to go, yo, you got. I just don't understand how you can be a comedian and not implement that into your skill set, because it's just such a. It's such a strong tool to have to show people how quick you are. So I take pride in that. And I studied, you know, DL Hughley and Joe Tory, who were too vicious. Vicious when it. When it came time to, you know, chew somebody's ass up. So, you know, I just kind of always wanted that in my repertoire, you know, And I like it a lot of what we do to sports, you know, because I think there's certain similarities. And I always say, I look at it like football. It's like you could be a Hall of Fame championship quarterback a la Brett Favre, a la Peyton Manning, and stay in the pocket, which is your material, or you can Michael Vicket and be able to scramble for the first down, which is going off the dome. And don't get me wrong, you don't have to be able to go off the dome to be a great hall of Fame championship quarterback. And those guys never Michael Victor, they stayed in the pocket, and they're two of the best. Tom Brady, probably the goat. But I just felt like, you know, if you're gonna be. If you gonna be deadly, why not be twice as deadly instead of being, you know, singularly deadly? You know what I mean? So that. That I just wanted to be able to do both.

No, I love that dude. And I've always wanted to ask you this question, because, you know, Aries also is never gonna hold back, right? And every time I see you, and it never fails, there's always someone who pays their money to go to a comedy show but sits up like they don't want to be there, right? And, like, I do. I do public speaking, and I see it a lot, too. Like, you spent your money. Why are you making the comedian work hard? But Aries will call you out, man. Like, why do people, like. Do you understand why people do that, bro?

Listen, I just. When you say, you know one person. I retired from performing in the city of Cleveland because that whole city does that. I did a radio show to promote my performance in Columbus, Ohio, which, out of all the Ohio's. Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus is my favorite. But I didn't know that the radio station I was doing the airwaves reached out to Cleveland. So I took the Dump on that city so bad. I was getting death threats from Clevelanders. People hit me up in my social media, man. You come back to Cleveland, we go, pull up. And I said, pull up, because I'm done. I'm done with the city of Cleveland. There's something so miserable about that city that Cleveland is America's reckham. It's just a horrible experience. And listen, I'm not even saying you got to give me anything, because I don't mind earning what I need to get right, but to just sit there with just two things. One, a state of misery and heaviness. And two, you know, listen, man, I think. And I don't think this is just relegated to Cleveland. I think there's. There's a mentality and an attitude that exists within the culture and the community and people that grow up in the hood, ghetto street. Not saying all of them, but a lot of them come with a mentality where, quite frankly, you're just not open enough, savvy enough, and intelligent enough to get what I'm serving. You know, you playing checkers, I'm playing chess. And people, mentally, they just don't have. They're not equipped to follow what you're doing. It's above them. And I'll get. I'm not trying to make that sound like I'm better than anybody, but I'm better than some people.

Yep.

You know what I'm saying? So between the level of intelligence or lack thereof and the misery and the attitude, man, I'm over it. I've been doing this 36 years. I've been down those waters. I've swam in them waters. That's. That's how I. You know, most of the clubs that I did starting out in Jersey and New York, you know, whether it's Newark, Long island, you know, Queens, was them rough clubs. So I've earned them stripes. Yeah, I'm gonna have to do that if I don't have to.

Yep, bro.

It baffles me to this day. Like, I. I see it all the time. People just sit there. It's like, typically, it's usually a Thursday night sometimes, but mainly Friday night, Saturday night, like, it's the weekend, right? And you get into frequency, Aries, Spears, you know, like, why would you just go in there? Oh, all right. I'm here. Like, I. It baffles me to this day, bro.

No, it's. It's crazy. And, you know, if any people from Cleveland see this or hear this, you know, I'm not saying you're not y'. All not a good people because I've mentioned great people in Cleveland. But comedically, it just is a heaviness, man, where it's like, you know, the difference between some people coming and going. Yeah, make me laugh because I want to laugh. Versus, yeah, show me what you got.

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Mick like, come on, man. Come on, man.

Yep. So that's a challenge to my guy, Andrew Ryan, who is actually in Cleveland. You got to do better, bro.

And what's crazy, the part that kills me is the responses are so cliche, they're so unoriginal. What I get is, well, you just ain't funny. Tell better jokes. You just ain't funny. Listen, I've been coming to Cleveland and taking money out of there in terms of working there for almost 20 years. Why do you think that is? Because I'm not funny. I do five sold out shows, add three more and they sell out. Why do you think that is? Because I'm not funny. I go there and I make 50k for the weekend. Why do you think that is? Because I'm not funny.

Right.

That is the most unoriginal shit I've heard. It's almost like when you get, when people insult you, they either turn into women or children. You know, they either say, you know, like a child would say to another child, well, no, you're a poopy head. Or like a woman who, who goes, After 10 years of being in a relationship, now I'm telling you, I don't want to be with you no more. Oh, that's why you got a little dick and you can't. He was with me for 10 years. Make that make sense. And listen, if I perform all over the country, let's say I'm just throwing a number out there. I do 20 cities and in 19 of them, same material, same amount of energy and passion, and I'm killing 19 out of the 20. And Cleveland is city number 20. You mean to tell me I'm going to let you guys be the testament to my greatness when you've been outruled by 19 other cities, it ain't me, it's you. Get your shit together.

Yep, I love it, I love it. So you've handed, you've said it. You started early on, man. 36 years in the game, strong, which is a testament to you. Like when I tell people about receipts, being a stand up comedian, 36 years are all the receipts that you ever need. Right there, man. Like what made Aries Spears say, not just I'm going to get in the comedy game, but I'm going to dominate. Because at 14, most people haven't figured that part out yet.

Well, you know, I grew up at 80s, baby. You know, I'm Bill 80s, tough, you know, and I came up at that time where, you know, prior to Eddie Murphy, you know, I was born in 75. So, like, you know, I always said Hollywood only really allowed one funny black man per decade. You had. You had Dick Gregory in the 60s. Richard Pryor dominated the 70s, Eddie Murphy, the 80s. And then by the 90s, you had the explosion of Def Jam, which introduced mainstream America to more than just one funny black person. 80s, you know, Eddie Murphy was my guy. So, you know, it was appointment television every Saturday at 11:30 for me and my father to watch Eddie Murphy. And then when I saw 48 hours in trading Places, I was hooked. I said, that's what I want to do. And then, you know, I eventually found out, you know, he and I share the same birthday, April 3rd. We both zodiac signs, Aries. So I just took all that as motivation to. To really want to do this. You know what I mean? And I. And I knew I wasn't. I wasn't equipped to do anything else. You know, I knew school at an early age. Other than basic arithmetic and reading and writing, most of that is bullshit. That's useless in life, you know, And I knew that early. So I was like, you know what? I'm passionate about comedy. I enjoy making my peers and my family laugh. And, you know, I just, you know, when I went on stage for the first time at 14, 15, I just, you know, granted, I wasn't nearly as seasoned as I am now. Can't be. But to be that young and have that kind of an impact, I just kind of felt like, you know what, Something special is happening here. So I just. That was the dream and I pursued it. And I gotta, you know, I gotta take my hat off to my mother. Cause if it wasn't for her, you know, she really instilled the confidence in me to do it. Cause my mother's a jazz and blues singer. And, you know, she used to sing open with the jazz great Lionel Hampton. And she once performed at the White House for Reagan. So she was always like my Katherine Jackson to my Michael. And she just really pushed me and believed in me and instilled that confidence in me. And I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.

I love that dude. At 14, did you have mentors?

No, no, no, because I, you know, coming up, I couldn't hang out with the other comedians because, you know, I'm a teenager. You know, they're grown. You know, they. And establishments that serve alcohol. So I was never allowed to be a part of that. My mother would bring me in whatever green room they had for me to wait in. I would wait in. Do My set. And then after that, head back to the crib. No hanging out, no nothing. Cause basically I was the Spider man of the comedians, you know what I mean? I had school the next day, you know what I'm saying? So while Thor and Captain America and, you know, Hulk and Iron man is out partying, I had algebra tomorrow, so. So, you know, I was Peter Parker.

Yeah, yeah, that's dope, man. That's dope. So, you know, one of the things I've all. Another question I always wanted to ask you was this the dark side of comedy, right? Like, your job is to make people laugh. And I say job. I don't mean it as a job, but you're great at making people laugh. But I know, like, Deon Cole, a good friend of mine all the time, man, like, you don't walk on stage and everything is going perfect in your world, but you still gotta make people laugh because that's how you get paid.

I thought that was brilliant when he did that. When he did that, he pointed that out. I almost wanted to wake my girl up and be like, bitch, listen to this right here. You need to appreciate that. You need, like, if you. It's. It's such a. And it's weird because it's like the people that you. You wish would show you love and adulation and praise are the people that don't, meaning your. Your family and the people that love you and praise you, sometimes more than family, often more than family, are strangers. So it's crazy that the appreciation that you seek from your. From your loved ones, your kinfolk, they almost take you for granted and don't see you as that because they know you as before that. But the people that really appreciate you are the people that aren't associated to you by blood. And when he said that, it was like, man, you need that because away from this business, this chick, it beats you up, man. It beats your spirit up, your soul up to the point where you at times think about quitting. Maybe you feel suicidal, you know, this, this. This kills you, man. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

And for those that don't know, right, like, like talk through that a little bit. Like, what does an Aries Spears. I'm not saying you personally, right, but like, what does an Aries Spears go through that people don't realize? Like, I get the grind, right? Like you're. Every weekend you're out, you come home for a couple of days, and it's like tomorrow you right back out again, right? Like being able to develop relationships, friendships. Like it's people, the things that we do as normal people. Right. Take it totally for granted, man.

Yeah. I mean, you know, being the sole breadwinner, being the main, the source of everybody financially being responsible for people as adults, not, not, not. Not being able to say no when you know you should feeling like you're being taken advantage of. You underappreciated. Dealing with the politics of show business, the racism of show business. You know, they like to coin this term in Hollywood amongst black entertainers. Like there's, there's Hollywood and then there's black Hollywood.

Yeah.

But the truth is sometimes black Hollywood do you dirtier than white Hollywood. Black Hollywood don't support you sometimes the way they should like white Hollywood. And they smart enough getting white Hollywood to treat you right. Find out that your own do you worse. Aren't it supportive. That's what I'm telling you, man. This game is an evil game, man. But you stay in it. Because one thing can change your life around forever. Whether it's a viral video, a commercial, a TV series, a movie, you are always one thing away from making $2 million an episode.

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So you know, when you know those are the kind of numbers you playing with, you take the abuse. Chris Rock said it best. He was like, Hollywood is like an uncle that molested you but put you through college.

Right, Right. Yeah, I remember that. Yep. Crazy.

It's so bittersweet. It's so bittersweet.

Yeah, man. Yeah, man. So you are the king of impersonation, right? Like I will say, no one has an impersonation portfolio like Aries Spears. Right?

Because you, you don't. I think that might have been true at one time. I think, I think the guy that kind of, if you can even, you know, you want to, you know, brand somebody with a title, which I guess to some degree is pretty useless as it's all subjective. Yeah, but, but, but if you were to brand somebody with that title, I would give that to Jay Farrell. So many. And it seems like he's constantly coming up with new ones. So I would, I would give that to Jay Farrell. I, I, I. My only thing is this. I just never wanted to be known for just that and correct. And I'm not, you know, I'm not pointing a finger at anybody, but I think there are guys in this game who do great impressions, phenomenal, but aren't the best comedians. And then there are guys who are phenomenal comedians who do impression. But the impressions, they all. I always wanted to be like Eddie Murphy and be able to marry the two perfectly. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, for me, doing impressions is like being in the NBA as a basketball player and dunking. I can dunk anytime I want you. I want you to know that I can play defense, I can grab boards, I could pass. I got high basketball iq. So, to me, the first important part is the standup, is the material, is the wit, is the sharp look, is the quickness, the improv. The impressions part is easy.

But that's why I think you are the goat, though, right? That's why. Because you can go, I don't want to say character to character. You can go impersonation to real to back to an impersonation all in your set. Because I see it all the time, right? Where I think some people, to your point, just live in the impersonation. And if you took that away from them, they can't go on stage and rock a crowd for an hour, right? That's why I say you are the king, you are the goat, you are the OG Because I see it in everything you do, bro. So, so don't give that away. That's you.

That again, that's, you know, it's subjective.

But it's my subjection.

No, no, no doubt. But that's what I'm saying. Like, I, I, when I say I study Eddie Murphy, like, like, that to me, is what makes him like, Richard Pryor is like the Babe Ruth, you know what I mean? Like, but Eddie Murphy's like, you know, I don't want to give that, I don't want to give prior babe Ruby. It's almost like Eddie Murphy is Michael Jordan and Richard Pryor's Bill Russell, you know what I'm saying? He got more chips, but in terms of totality. And that's why when I get into goat arguments with people, people go, well, if it's about rings, Bill Russell, he got 11 if it's about rings, Robert Horry, he got seven. No, it's about totality. You talk about goat gumbo. The recipe to goat gumbo is more than rings. It's everything. And it encompasses rings, popularity, impact on the game, stats, you know, it's athleticism, it's all of it. And Eddie Murphy, to me, had all of it. You know, he killed on every level. Tv, snl, stand up, delirious and raw. Even though I wish he had more standups, movies, of course, the billions of dollars he made Paramount, you know. Yeah, Eddie's just complete, man.

Don't disagree. Don't disagree. So what do you think is the evolution of comedy now, right? Because to me, again, these are the. The words of Mick and Mick only funny ain't as funny as it used to be to me anymore, right? Like, I still have the people that I just love going to see because I know they're funny, you being one of them, right? Like, I think you and DL are in a class that's different than most people. But where do you see the evolution of comedy going?

I think it's gonna. I think it's gonna go back to what it once was, you know, because of political correctness and wokeness and the whole moisture movement, the comedy cocaine got diluted, you know what I mean? A lot of bacon soda stepped on and a lot of people scared to take risks because of cancel culture. I've never cut my comedy cocaine. I've always kept it 100% Bolivia Yayo, you know what I mean? And part of that is because, one, I never feared cancel culture because I think Hollywood kind of closed its doors to me and wrote me off a long time ago. So how can you cancel what Hollywood, to a degree, has already canceled? And the only thing I can do from this point is figure out how to become the rose in the concrete and rise up, you know? Yeah, they've shut their doors to me, but, you know, whether I get around it, get over it, get under it, I might not be able to get through it, but there's. There is a way. And so, you know, and maybe to some degree, I. While I might not would like that to be the case, I'm kind of glad it is the case because I don't know that I would have been happy with myself if I would have sold out or diluted my product for the sake of trying to appease people, appease feelings. You know, there's nothing better than having that laugh if you feel like you're not supposed to have that sticker that you feel you gotta hide because you know, you know what's funny. We know what's innately funny, instinctively funny. And to somehow shield yourself from that because society has told you that's wrong when you're in a place where it is. So it's sole purpose is for that, right? That's like, I don't go to strip clubs where I see girls with aces on. Like, what are we doing here? You either show me your titty or you don't, Right? You know what I mean? I want to see the areola. I want to see the size and the thickness and the length of the nipple. I want to see it all, you know, that's why we in a strip club right past these on my jokes. I love it, bro.

So what do you hope your contributions to comedy and entertainment will be moving forward? So if we were to say the legacy, the impact of Aries Spears, what would you want that to be? What do you want Everybody to say 20 years from now?

Well, you know, it has yet to be written, so I don't. I don't know that I fully know, but based on what they say now, you know, I'd like to believe that that gets better. You know, like, I almost cringe a little bit when people say, call me goat. You know, yo, man, you wanted a goat. So you use the word legend. Because that to me is Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Redd Fox, the dudes who are on the Mount Olympus looking down on us, you know, And I don't think my body of work has been strong enough or extensive enough to warrant that title. Now, if that's how you feel and that you want to give me that, okay? But I would never give myself that.

Of course, of course. But here's what I will tell you, and I want you to feel this and hear this, man. Like, my kids who are early 20s, right, like, yeah, they've seen some Eddie stuff, right? Like, they got to sit with me to go watch prior stuff, right? Because they're just not naturally going to go search Richard Pryor. My three kids, you are that to them. Like, you are to them, what, a prior and a Red Fox, who. You know, I got to know Redd Fox through Sanford and Son, and then I had to go find out how great Red Fox was in standup after the fact, right? Like, you are that to my kids. They will tell you that my sister, who's four years younger than me, right, loves her some Aries Spears, like, meaning, like, you are like mad TV to Her was what SNL was like for. For me growing up, right? Like, she will always go back to that. So, bro, I need you to feel that, man. Like, you just gotta understand everybody can't go to where you and I were from a database of history and comedy. So you are that benchmark to a lot of people, bro.

Well, that's why. That's why I say, man, you know, sometimes when the ego needs to be fed, you know, y' all do a better job of feeding me than the people who are supposed to.

Hey, well, as. As a guy that looks up to you, that respects you like none other, I just need you to know that.

Bro, like, cringe worthy cool.

But just know that to millions of people, you are that.

Appreciate it, brother. Thank you.

You got it. So what's new? Coming up with Aries Spears, man. Where do you want people to follow and find you? I'll make sure we have all the descriptions in the show notes.

You know, got the podcast Spears and Steinberg, which is, you know, got like 600 some episodes. And this is very important. I tell people, listen, man, Start from the beginning. I know it's a lot, but binge it. It's worth it. It's like masturbation and potato chips. Once you start to pay, stop. And plus, if you do it that way, you get to follow the evolution of the show from how we started to where we end up. The characters that you get to fall in love with, the callbacks, the jokes. And we didn't get on YouTube until two years after we had started. So all the, like, the first couple hundred episodes aren't even available on YouTube. So I stress the people to really listen to it on the streaming platforms, then watch it. But if you do go watch it, it's on YouTube at Spearsberg pod, Please hit like and subscribe. Or you can slide into my Instagram and my DMs and I'll send you the links. Chop it up with you. Spears and Steinberg is the name of.

The podcast, and it is one of my favorite ones. Like, I don't even have a favorite episode because they all are bangers. And you're right. Like, binging them is amazing. I even go back and listen to several of them. The one with Ewing, Godfrey doing Soprano and Jason. Like, bro, like that one. I can literally listen to that one every night before I go to bed. Like, that's how I get it, bro.

Godfrey is one of my soldiers in comedy, man. That's another brother that I know that because of his stance on race. And his honesty about racism and white America, much like me. And he doesn't hold his tongue. He is not where he should be. He is undervalued and underappreciated. But I'm doing everything in my power with this movie. I'm trying to get together to change that because a lot of people, when they saw me and him do that on on the podcast, so many people in the comments were like, man, you and Godfrey need to do something together, man, y' all too. I would love to see y' all to your chemistry. Y' all funny. So you know, we hear a lot of times brothers talk about it, but very seldom do they be about it. So I'm trying to be about it and get this movie off the ground, which will showcase me and him doing what we do.

Hey, well, if you need somebody to act like a podcaster doing an interview, you holler at me. I'll be there for free. I'll be the cool. Well, brother, I appreciate you more than you know. Like I said, I know you're busy. This meant the world to me. This meant the world to my family, my community. Just appreciate you with everything, brother.

Brother, thank you so much, man. Appreciate the love, brother.

You got it. For all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next. Be sure to subscribe, rate and share this with someone who needs it. And most of all, make a plan and take action, because the next level is already waiting for you. Have a question or insight to share? Send us an email to hello ickunplugged.com until next time, ask yourself how you can step up.

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