Ice Cube and Mike Epps are back on the porch, sort of. The Next Friday co-stars launched their weekly video podcast, Listen & Laugh, on Friday, November 6, with Dr. Dre as the first guest. New episodes go up on the show’s YouTube channel every Friday at 6 p.m. ET, with audio on the major podcast apps.
The idea is in the title: Cube steers the conversation and Epps supplies the jokes, on a front-porch set built to call back to the Friday films. The trailer showed a heavy guest list, and the hosts have named Cedric the Entertainer, Regina King, Bill Burr and Stephen A. Smith among the guests to come.
Comedy fans will want to circle the episodes with Katt Williams and Michael Blackson, both on the announced lineup.
The opener with Dre made headlines on its own. The producer told his old N.W.A bandmate he was excited about artificial intelligence in music, while Cube pushed back on the idea of letting computers do the creative work. Dre also talked about signing Eminem and said fans have heard only a small fraction of the music he has made.
The podcast arrives as Cube pushes forward with Last Friday. He told Complex he has written the script, that Lawrence Lamont is set to direct, and that he hopes to shoot in the spring. He was careful not to promise a cast, including a return for Chris Tucker: “Nothing is 100 percent until we start shooting and get it in the can.”
Our take
Cube and Epps already have the rarest thing in comedy, chemistry audiences have watched for 25 years, so a weekly show where they simply talk feels overdue. If Listen & Laugh keeps booking comics like Katt and Blackson next to music and sports names, it could become a home base for Black comedy conversation, and a long warm-up for Last Friday.
See them live: Michael Blackson and Chris Tucker both have upcoming shows listed on their profile pages.
Sources: Complex, Complex, Men’s Journal, The Humor Mill
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