Interview Time: Affion Crockett Talks Drake Impressions, Wannabe Comics Hurting The Art Form, And His Hit TV Show

Making his name via YouTube and Nick Cannon’s TV Show Wild ‘N Out, Affion Crockett is the new TV funny man that sketch comic fans can’t seem to get enough of. With roles in movies such as Soul Men, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, and Dance Flick, he’s come a long way since his childhood days of trying to impress his mother with impressions of Scarface.

Renowned for his unquestionable talent for imitating other celebs - fan favourites include Jay-Z, Drake, and Chris Brown, these comic skills landed him his own TV show on the Fox network in the United States entitled In The Flow With Affion Crockett. Inspired by Dave Chappelle’s infamous Chappelle’s Show, it set the platform for Crockett to take the show to a whole new level. Exclusively discussing his plans with TaleTela, he also shares his thoughts on why Drake is good at what he does, wannabe sketch comics, the Wayans brothers, and the UK comedy scene...

How are things?

I’m well man. I can’t complain. I always try to stay creative and that’s just the space that I live in. That’s what I love to do. As long as my mind is going in that direction it’s always good. 

Starting with the early days, how did you get started in the world of sketch comedy?

I’m a dancer first. I’m a b-boy, a pop locker, so I’m pretty rooted in the hip-hop game. You know what I mean? So I started doing everything on stage, like dancing and all that kind of stuff, and then I would also do impressions. I’ve always had the ability to do characters and mimic peoples voices. So I used to watch Def Comedy Jam a lot back in the nineties and I’d see comedians do the same thing I could. They had a lot of energy, stage presence, and some of them would go on stage and only do impressions. So I thought to myself that if that was a formula that was considered as stand-up comedy then I could already do that. So why not go ahead and give it a shot and see if I can make it in the world of stand-up. So that’s exactly what I did. I put my characters together and put a lot of energy in to it and went on stages.

Who did you look up to in the world of comedy as you were growing up?

There are so many people, from Eddie Murphy to Richard Pryor. The Wayans family of course. Jim Carrey. Benny Hill. I used to watch a lot of the Benny Hill Show when I was a kid. Tracey Ullman, as I said before. Anyone that had real stand out comedy - Monty Python, Rowan Atkinson and his character Mr. Bean. Sacha Baron Cohen. There’s so many brilliant comedians that came before me and I’m a fan of their work. So I just sit back, soak it up, and then their influence comes out in what I do. 

When did you realise you were good at doing impressions, and what was the first one you can remember doing?

When I was a kid I would always do [impressions of] Scarface around the house. My mother would laugh, and I was like, “Wow, I can make her laugh. That’s pretty good.” My mother’s from Trinidad & Tobago, so I would impersonate her as well. Anytime my mom would laugh at what I did, that’s when I knew I was funny.

You’ve just finished the new show on Fox. How did it do? How was it received? 

It was received well, especially with my core fan base. Sometimes the networks may not understand a show like this right away because it does dwell in the hip-hop space of creativity, but it was a good showcase to do what I do. My fans have grown tremendously because of the show so I’m obviously very happy about that.

Do you have any information on the ratings of the show?

Nah, I don’t have that on me but I do know we were doing pretty well. The difference with this show is that it was not a traditional pick-up for a network like Fox. We didn’t have the first 12 shows or episodes done and they wanted to do something else after. It was a special five week situation, like a showcase. We only had six shows. It was really a platform for them to showcase what I can do and whatever I wanted to do after that was on me. 

So you’re saying you had the first six episodes ready, they’ve aired, and now you’re pretty much doing what you want to?

Yeah. I’m just gonna produce more shows, maybe using another platform or on another network, but Fox gave me a great stage to begin the show on and now more and more people know me from that now. It was a great experiment, if you will.

Are you guys now 100% done with Fox now?

We haven’t had the official conclusion yet but we have finished airing on Fox, and they are now moving on to the other new shows that they have been producing. 

Explain to those in the UK, who might not have seen or heard about the show, what In The Flow With Affion Crockett is...

Basically the show is me commenting on the world as I see it, a lot of it through the eyes of a hip-hop comedian. There are a lot of impressions very much in the spirit of In Living Color, in the same spirit of Tracey Ullman, where I play a bunch of characters myself. Chappelle’s Show. It’s in the spirit of all those. It’s edgy, there’s a lot of celebrity cameos. It’s a pretty wild ride. 

Will it ever air in the UK?

That I don’t know. That was something I wanted to ask you guys, how are you guys watching the shows? Is it via the internet or what?

It’s pretty much all via the internet...

It’s good to know that. It’s pretty much out of my control but we’ll see. I do wanna come to the UK though and get to know the UK and my UK family. 

Can you pick your favourite sketch from the show?

I really can’t say, it’s difficult to pick one. There was this one I did for the first episode where I play Dave Chappelle. I have Dave calling me to congratulate me on the show, and to let me know about all the pitfalls to watch out for. The way we crafted it was me playing Dave talking to myself via phone, so I’m playing us both but I play Dave convincingly enough to get the message across. It seems to be a sketch a lot of people say is their favourite. But I have so many... I mean me and Russell Simmons have a series called Hustles With Russells, and to have the Godfather of hip-hop co-signing my impression and wanting to be involved is great, and he’s always been supportive of my work. So that’s another of my stand outs. 

Touching a bit on the Dave Chappelle sketch, before you perform the sketch you tell the audience that you got the blessing from the Wayans Brothers and Chappelle. Is this true, did you actually talk to the Wayans and Chappelle before you did the show?

Well the Wayans part of that is absolutely true. I’m very good friends with the family. As you could see I had Damon Jr. and Damien there, the younger generation, so they’ve always given me a lot of advice and taken me under their wing. They said exactly what I said in the set up before the sketch - “We see what you’re doing, we appreciate it, we can tell that you are a student of the game” - because a lot of people think they can do sketch now. It’s the computer/internet generation. So they figure they can just go and shoot something and put it on the internet and then that makes them a sketch comic. However, it takes a little more work than that, and that’s what I’ve always tried to display. The Wayans saw that I really studied them and other comedic greats and really appreciated the fact that I put the work in.

Over the years you have done many impressions. Who would you say is your favourite person to impersonate?

I would say that Chris Rock is one I like to do a lot. A crowd favourite is Jay-Z. They always love to see me do Jay-Z. Russell Simmons. (Laughing) Drake is another one. 

Have you ever met many of the people you’ve imitated, and if so what do have to say about the impressions? Do they ever get mad?

Nah, for the most part all of the guys I have met they’ve all been fans of my work as well. They know that when I do it that it’s coming from a place of respect. It’s all good. It’s not me trying to tear them down. So they can laugh at themselves as well. 

You mentioned that Drake is a crowd favourite. Have you met Drizzy, and if so what does he think to your work?

I just spoke to Drake the other day actually. He was just like, “Man, you’re hilarious. I love what you do. It’s all good.” 

What about Lil Wayne? You haven’t had him get at you with the amount of sketches you do with him involved?

Nah, but he’s Lil Wayne. He doesn’t seem to be the type of guy that cares about someone being funny. He’s making his money. He’s one of the top rappers out so I don’t think he’s going to care about me. Little old me? Nah. 

You briefly mentioned earlier that you were originally a dancer. Were you professionally trained or trained by the streets?

Trained by the streets man, and the classic movies we all love. If you’re a hip-hop head you grew up on Wild Style, Beat Street, and Breakin’. That’s the era that shaped my whole culture when it comes to hip-hop. That’s why with everything I do I cannot abandon those roots. 

You’re definitely somebody who has embraced the use of the internet, via YouTube and various other websites, with your sketch comedy. You’ve racked up millions of views because of it. What’s your opinion on it being used as a tool, because while there are pros there must also be cons surely?

Yeah definitely. I mean I think it’s too unfiltered. I’m always gonna applaud anyone who is good at what they do and be a champion of that work. I love to see people study the craft and get really good at it. But now there are too many people over saturating the market. If there are 400 rappers on YouTube how are you gonna find the ones really worth listening to. There may be only 20 worth listening to, but because everyone thinks they can rap, or because everyone thinks that they’re a comedian, some of them fall by the waist side and then the standard gets lowered. However there is a pro to it. You put the business back in to the hands of the producer. If you can really produce then you can go on the internet and make your money. So although Fox was a great thing for me, it’s not necessary to need Fox to a degree. 

You’ve also done a few movies in the past. What’s the difference in filming the show for Fox and making movies?

In all honesty... sketch and film are shot kinda similar. The difference for me personally is I play multiple characters. So unless it’s a movie like Coming To America or The Nutty Professor where Eddie Murphy played practically every character in the movie, that’s where sketch is different to me. I go to work everyday preparing to play someone totally different whereas most movies I’m playing one character throughout so I have to remember what that character’s state of mind is from seeing different scenes from day to day. That’s probably the biggest difference for me. 

As you’ve stated, you’re a hip-hop comic. You’ve expressed your love of hip-hop, you even appeared on the Illa J album Yancey Boys. So who do you listen to? Are you new school, old school or do you listen to other genres other than hip-hop?

I’m definitely into traditional hip-hop. I love the golden era/nineties sound. For me J-Dilla is one of the best producers of all time. He’s underrated and not really well known, unless you’re a digging-in-the-crates type of person. Pete Rock, that kind of production. You know? The heavy snares. The Diamond D’s of the world, and more recently Little Brother, Foreign Exchange - my North Carolina family. 9th Wonder, Phonte, and (Rapper Big) Pooh. Those guys are carrying on the tradition set out by the A Tribe Called Quest’s and Slum Village’s. That’s what I love to listen to. The Talib Kweli’s, the Mos Def’s, the Common’s. All of those types of artists. I’ll get in to some of the new guys, don’t get me wrong. I bump Drake’s album all the time. I think he brings something different. When we spoke the other day I said to him, “It’s cool that you’re able to be yourself on these records. You’re not trying to be the gangster, you’re not trying to be a drug dealer.” Drake is just a guy that’s just saying, “Look, I’m trying to grow up in the industry and sometimes it’s hard.” And he raps about it. For me personally, I can appreciate that because it’s coming from a young man’s perspective. 

Speaking of rapping, you’re pretty comfortable with the flow yourself. Are there any plans to release an album, or maybe even a comedy album like all the greats have?

Yeah, but maybe on the comedy album tip. That’s something that may be in the works for me. I don’t know about doing a full album of straight music. Only because, especially in the US - I may be able to in Europe because they really appreciate true artistry, they like to put you in a box and categorise you and then after two weeks they don’t appreciate you anymore. This is why you’ll see a lot of our artists from the past are always in Europe touring and getting a lot of love over there because they can’t sell a record in the US. So yeah, maybe I’ll do something overseas like a collaboration album with 9th Wonder or something crazy like that. A lot of people don’t know much about my lyrical background. 

So what’s next for you?

Like I said, I’m not stopping with production. I’m about to put the show back up, take it to another network. I wanna get some travelling in, so I definitely wanna touch down in the UK. I have a film that I am producing. It’s a hip-hop parody that is out of this world. It combines everything that I do - all the characters, all of the dancing, all of the rapping. It’s gonna be crazy!

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