'Black-ish' crowd-pleaser Deon Cole solos with TV special
LOS ANGELES - Deon Cole, a crowd-pleaser as unpredictable Charlie on ABC's sitcom "black-ish," is flying solo with his first stand-up special.
His goal with "Deon Cole: Cole Blooded Seminar ," debuting at 11 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central, is to let people know what the world looks like from his perspective.
Expect observational humor about life, love and ethnic differences, Cole said in an interview. He offered his take on relationships -- "Women like them, men don't" -- and police-citizen synergy.
"Cops need dumb people. What if everybody was smart? Where would police be right now?" he said.
Among the hour-long show's topics on the show Comedy Central is billing as "uncensored": rules to help white people deal with "managing blackness," why women should ask better questions on dates and the frustrations of smartphones and texting.
Besides his special and his "black-ish" role as Charlie Telphy, co-worker and buddy to Anthony Anderson's Dre Johnson, Cole is on screen as detective DJ Tanner in the police parody "Angie Tribeca," in its second season on TBS, and in the movie "Barbershop: The Next Cut."
He's also touring nationally with his stand-up act and is a longtime writer for Conan O'Brien, from O'Brien's stint hosting NBC's "Tonight" to TBS' "Conan."
En route this week to his hometown, Chicago, Cole was asked if he was taking a vacation break from his busy schedule.
"What's a vacation?" he replied, laughing. Instead, he planned to meet with fellow comedians and writers to toss around ideas for creating a new show.
Cole hopes that the Comedy Central showcase leaves audiences eager for more.
"I want people to look at the show and say, 'He has a different way of thinking of stuff and I would like to see more of him, I would like to get his opinion on other things,'" he said.
"That's the whole point of anyone's standup career. It's to get people to listen to their point of view," he said. "You can change the world, sometimes, with the opinions and thoughts we have as comics."