INTERVIEW

Tony Roberts is a comedian from Detroit I have always loved to watch because of his energy from start to finish. He’s running around, acting out what he says, and everything becomes a prop! I’ve always wondered, how does he still do it? Now, we get an idea of where his energy comes from – being so damn fit! Since BET Comic View, Tony Roberts has electrified stages around the world using his wild mouth and antics to tell hilarious stories about real-life things. I sat down with him to talk about his longevity, specifically his fitness journey involving his wife and kids.

You were always one of those comedians who came in hot, out the gate with such high energy How did you approach that and decide that was gonna be your thing?

When I first started, I was doing these open mics, and I didn’t know where exactly I wanted to go with all this. I just knew I wanted to do comedy. Then I saw a comedy special called Afros and Bellbottoms with Sinbad, and the way he acted everything out, running around; ever since then I just took off with it. I started breaking bar stools, mics and mic stands I actually have a friend who would open up for Sinbad for years, who told me he was a big fan of mine! He knew how I took off and started my career from watching him, but we’ve never physically met. And he s from Michigan. We never crossed paths, shook hands, nothing. We had said to my friend for years, “we’re ready to meet” “let’s meet here” but we never physically met We’ll mention each other in interviews, and I m gon always give him his praise on how I became me

What about any other major comedic influences you have?

I’m a Red Foxx guy A lot of comedians first think of Richard Pryor, and yeah, that’s one too, but the first for me is Red Foxx Then Flip Wilson Then Bernie Mac And my opening act Lance Woods That’s one of the funniest young cats and quickest thinkers out there, man A lot of comics won t let him open for them – that s how funny he is! When he does his 25 minutes, I gotta come with fire!! But with Bernie Mac, it was his attitude and one-liner pops, Red Foxx is another one-liner dude, and that s how I get down with the speed of it Oh, and I can’t forget Robin Harris I got a Robin Harris Award at a BET comedy awards show for most original comic of the year, which was back around 94-95 after my first time on TV I still got the glass plaque from that at my momma house, all them years later. And it was because of Robin Harris.

Well, lemme ask you this – what is the main thing that keeps you going and doing stand-up?

What makes a lot of comics keep being comedians is, folks wanna say, because of the big break You start doing movies and sitcoms, you blow up like so many others But for me, it’s not really that It s the hunger, the craving, when you’re on stage and say one thing, and like 500 or 2000 people laugh? It feels spiritual It’s a beautiful thing that you can do that, and everybody can t do it for that long. So, I always recognize and remember the gift I was given, and I keep exercising it

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

Stand-up is the best way, in my opinion, to tell a story You mention Robin Harris and Bernie Mac, and those are, like, the gods of storytelling

TONY ROBERTS

And the key thing about stand-up is people love when they see somebody of that stature tell all about their downfalls or what they re going through Like, I’ll talk about my kids getting on my nerves or a cheap flight, and they see oh, I m telling a story they are already living. That s good comedy right there.

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

Well, being that this is our Family & Fitness issue of the magazine, I gotta ask you about your fitness journey. We see it on social media, you and your wife getting to it! Even got a cardio challenge. What made y’all wanna put the journey on social media?

TONY ROBERTS

I was doing a movie in LA, and I saw myself running from the cops in this crazy little comedy, and I looked like a cake I said, “Is that me?!”

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

Damn! Like, oooh a little chocolate cake!

TONY ROBERTS

One in trouble, running So I started working out more, trying to diet, but everything was going wrong and I wasn’t taking it serious at all Then I met my wife We were both into fitness but not a lot We got married 14 years ago, and in our wedding pictures we were big. So we just started hitting it. We started going around the right people hitting the gym. We started dieting and drinking more water. Remember to watch what you eat, cut out the sugar. Then we found out that working out is not an hour and a half in the gym and you hating it, you dread to go No, we found out working out is 20 minutes to 25 minutes Consistently You can't skip gym days You got to go at least four days a week, five days a week, and you got to put in the work and watch what you eat, and you'll see it s shredding down My wife became more of a guru than me I’m thinking to myself, I can t be around her looking like a walrus, I gotta get up and go to the gym! Then we didn’t even look at how we look – we just kept doing it. We were too busy to look and do measurements and all that. People noticed more than what we did. We were already online, and we said we might as well start videoing, and then when we watched it, it motivated us

Yeah, y’all look amazing! And your wife is cut!

TONY ROBERTS

My wife is in the gym right now! She got the Peloton downstairs. I asked her once “You sure it’s not a vibrator on that Peloton? You on that a lot!”

It’s a lifestyle!

TONY ROBERTS

It’s a lifestyle for her Gym is #1 for her, then it’s her oldest son/my stepson Travis who plays probasketball overseas in the Philippines. Her hair and facial is #3. Then it’s either my other son or the dog. And I m like a tight #6, running 6th or something. She s also my road manager, so my career may be fighting for 3rd or 4th in there She s all about the boys, I’m a girl dad Our two daughters, I raised them They come to me for everything The boys go to her because she’s so tough

Fellow dog parent here! What type of dogs do you have?

TONY ROBERTS

We got two French Bulldogs One is six years old, and the other is two We had a Cane Corso, and it was my wife s best friend, 180 pounds! It was ridiculous! He got cancer at six years old, and we had to put him to sleep. It broke her heart. She got a big tattoo of him on her arm. I think if Skylar passes, we’ll get a big dog. We re a dog family.

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

She s half Shih Tzu, half Pomeranian

TONY ROBERTS

Sounds like a pain in the ass. That is diva on top of diva. I see them at the airport all the time What’s her name?

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

Gianna, after Kobe’s daughter.

TONY ROBERTS

Oh, look at that. That’s cool though.

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

What is a daily workout routine like for you? Do you have a set schedule?

TONY ROBERTS

First thing I do when I get up (around 6:30-7 o clock) is read from my Bible app for like 30 minutes Then I get dressed and go straight to the gym. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go boxing first. I ll drink water, I don’t eat before I work out, I’ll work out on an empty stomach Do a good workout for 25 minutes, then I eat, and then I run errands. Sometimes I’ll get the dogs and run errands with them I’m never home Thursdays through Sundays, so Mondays through Wednesdays I m on my rounds. It goes: God, gym, errands, then family. On Mondays, I work on chest, back, biceps and triceps. Tuesdays I work on legs and shoulders then boxing is my cardio Wednesdays I’ll do chest and back I work on abs every day. But you know what? You don’t have to even work out hard. You don't have to. All you got to do is give yourself 30 days with no sugar Try your best not to eat no sugar You might cheat. Eat a candy bar or something. But no sugar, no bread, and a lot of water. Work out a little bit and just watch – try something on and it s gonna be loose as hell

I try to go 3-4 days a week in the morning before I go to work Do you do your challenges by yourself or with a group?

I’m a Red Foxx guy A lot of comedians first think of Richard Pryor, and yeah, that’s one too, but the first for me is Red Foxx. Then Flip Wilson. Then Bernie Mac. And my opening act Lance Woods. That’s one of the funniest young cats and quickest thinkers out there, man. A lot of comics won t let him open for them – that s how funny he is! When he does his 25 minutes, I gotta come with fire!! But with Bernie Mac, it was his attitude and one-liner pops, Red Foxx is another one-liner dude, and that s how I get down with the speed of it. Oh, and I can’t forget Robin Harris. I got a Robin Harris Award at a BET comedy awards show for most original comic of the year, which was back around 94-95 after my first time on TV. I still got the glass plaque from that at my momma house, all them years later And it was because of Robin Harris

Well, lemme ask you this – what is the main thing that keeps you going and doing stand-up?

TONY ROBERTS

I would have like 10 people around the country, friends of mine or athletes, we ll do 25 push-ups a day and add 25 more the next day, but you got Saturday and Sunday off. You have the whole day to do them, just check in by 9 o’clock that night. You can do them in pieces, you can do them in the DMV, the dentist office, you can do 5 or 10 at a time With a group you got people checking in with you But by yourself you get more disciplined I’m more disciplined now: I work out by myself a lot Me and my wife don t work out together too much because she d be on a different body part than me. We do work out with a trainer twice a week. We go to a bootcamp class every day – one of our friends owns that. It gets it in too! It’s called Fit Body Boot Camp

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

Shout out to Fit Body Boot Camp, got us looking right out here!

TONY ROBERTS

I can’t look like shit. I got tattoos, a whole sleeve done with Polynesian work on it. I can t look like a paperboy with all this shit on! I can’t look like no landlord or built like Napoleon Dynamite with these damn tattoos I gotta look dope!

I see that your kids are already active Did that come natural to them or did y'all have to give them a push?

TONY ROBERTS

Our kids are very capable but now it s more digital They got they lazy ways, but when we say “Hey, I m about to go to the gym. You wanna come?” They just jump in the car. They know we’re a physical family, so they compete in sports like volleyball and basketball. But if you don t tell them nothing they ll be in their rooms or on the gadgets So they’re fit, but they can be lazy Real smart though, they smart My daughter goes by Taylor now, she s 17, she told us she was gay when she was 15 We were like “whatever you wanna be, do it.” They tough when they wanna be or gotta be. Sports-wise, my son is in MMA, but he’s a geek, like an introvert nerd. But when it comes to MMA, he does what he wants to do.

But you know, geeks got their own form of discipline, their own mental.

TONY ROBERTS

He had to lose weight to fight in a match because the match he went to in Temecula he was too big to fight the kids He was 13 and 179, had to fight grown men In a year he slimmed down, lost almost 30lbs, we re trying to get him to build muscle now and lift weights He did it, it was shocking! He was determined and disciplined But he ll stay in his room on that phone He be saying words I gotta look up

But you know, geeks got their own form of discipline, their own mental

He had to lose weight to fight in a match because the match he went to in Temecula he was too big to fight the kids. He was 13 and 179, had to fight grown men. In a year he slimmed down, lost almost 30lbs, we re trying to get him to build muscle now and lift weights. He did it, it was shocking! He was determined and disciplined But he ll stay in his room on that phone He be saying words I gotta look up

SLAPSTIK

Kids have so much access to everything nowadays. There are games dedicated to words and vocabulary.

TONY ROBERTS

My kids got into their program. My daughter is a gymnast and volleyball player, and she could have gotten far, but she would have no time for friends, and she wanted her social life to come first. So she started playing volleyball for the school My other son Taylor taught himself how to play two guitars and a keyboard, reading music and everything It s incredible! We ll hear the music in the room all the time but won’t play nothing for nobody. We can t prove it at all. Try to open the door, everything shuts down –like a ghost or elf.

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

So, I know your wife is your road manager. How did that come about?

TONY ROBERTS

It’s easier for me because I don t like to deal with money or with people and all that. My agent is on top of the Hollywood stuff I’m an Innovative Artist, and the two agents I have pass that information to my wife, and she takes it from there I don’t meet promoters, do the contracts, I don’t ever see the money

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

That’s a different level of trust, ya know?

TONY ROBERTS

A lot of people can’t be with their spouse on the road They don’t get along with them like that, but we do We get along because although we husband and wife technically, I m an artist and she got her job

Did you two gel instantly?

TONY ROBERTS

I was on the road when we met. We got together and a couple of years went by. She started wanting to go to different cities with me, you know how everybody wanna go to New York or Miami or go on the cruises. I had a road manager but had to fire him because I caught him stealing She started waking me up for interviews, let me know what time I gotta do radio, she’ll go get the money while I was busy with fans At the time, she was writing grants for big companies, working from home or traveling with me. So I said I want you to stop doing that and we excelled in it. Everything started working smoothly for me. My wife is expensive, she spends most of the money, why not just work in it?

SLAPSTIK COMEDY

What would be some words of inspiration for upcoming comedians?

TONY ROBERTS

First you got to believe that God put you out there to do this Everybody can t do stand up When you feel like you’re getting pretty good at it, that means God gave you that talent. So now you gotta structure the talent You gotta pace yourself, take your time, and don t try to rush into so much so fast Another thing: stop being so sensitive If you think it s funny, say it Don’t stop, no matter what