美国国家公共电台 NPR Tiffany Haddish: 'I Know What I'm Supposed To Do Here On This Earth'

Tiffany Haddish: 'I Know What I'm Supposed To Do Here On This Earth'

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And our next guest - well, this is how she introduces herself in her new memoir¹.

TIFFANY HADDISH: Hello, my name is Tiffany Haddish. I would like to invite you to read about a few of my experiences in life so far. I know that a lot of these stories will seem unbelievable. I look back over my life and I'm like for real? That happened?

GREENE: I mean, you could just look at Tiffany Haddish's career this year and ask that question. She was the breakout star of this summer's raucous² hit movie "Girls Trip."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GIRLS TRIP")

HADDISH: (As Dina) Can you go ahead and make some Patron shots for everybody up here, on me? I'm going to take care of everybody in first class because (singing) I'm every woman.

GREENE: Then last month, she hosted a little program maybe you've heard of.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

DARRELL HAMMOND: Ladies and gentleman, Tiffany Haddish.

GREENE: Haddish became the first African-American woman stand-up comedian³ to host "Saturday Night Live." In her monologue⁴, she addressed the topic of the moment - sexual harassment⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

HADDISH: Listen, fellas, listen. OK? If you got your thang-thang (ph) out, and she got all her clothes on, you're wrong. You're in the wrong.

(CHEERING)

GREENE: On the day Tiffany Haddish swung by our New York studio for this interview, she confessed that she was flat-out tired.

Do you get to go to sleep or do you have to do, like, seven more interviews?

HADDISH: Yeah. I got to go do "The View" and then I get to go to sleep.

GREENE: Oh, that'll be fun, right?

HADDISH: And I'm going to meet Whoopi, and I'm going to be so happy. And then I'm going to have the bestest of dreams (laughter).

GREENE: And that's the thing about Tiffany Haddish. From the outside, she's arrived - full on celebrity⁶. Inside, she still kind of seems like the girl from South Central LA who is super excited to meet Whoopi Goldberg. And you read her new memoir, "The Last Black Unicorn⁷," you start to understand how hard she had to push to get here, through a marriage that she says turned violent and, before that, three years in foster care and group homes.

It was really a challenge from a social worker - right? - who helped put you on the comedy path.

HADDISH: Kalita Lewis, and I'm still looking for her, and I'm going to tell her thank you.

GREENE: Maybe she'll be listening to this.

HADDISH: I hope so. But she - I was getting in trouble in school. She was coming up there all the time, and she was like, you've got two choices this summer, Tiffany. You can go to the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp or you can go to psychiatric therapy. Which one you want to do? And I was like...

GREENE: Those two choices.

HADDISH: Yeah, those were my choices.

GREENE: Bringing up the Laugh Factory, I mean, this famous comedy club in LA - I mean, you went to that comedy camp, and it was Richard Pryor who gave you some advice. What did Richard Pryor tell you?

HADDISH: (Laughter) Richard Pryor - I was on stage telling jokes and he goes, stop, stop, what are you doing? And I was like, I'm telling a joke. He goes, no, you're not. I said, yes, I am. He goes, no, you're not. He said, look, people don't come to comedy shows because they want to hear about your problems. They come to have fun. If you're having fun, the audience is having fun. And then as I got older, I started realizing, oh, man, I'm going to try to do this in everything in life because once I started having fun on stage, people were nice to me. People were kind. It was easier to move forward.

GREENE: Which is extraordinary to think about because a lot of your life was not fun.

HADDISH: Yeah, it's not fun, but I made it fun for me.

GREENE: Because I think about - I mean, the reason that you were even talking to a social worker was, you know, your mom, I mean, no longer able to take care of you after this horrible car accident. I mean, she sustained a serious brain injury. And I just - I wonder, how much did that change your life? It led to time in foster care and without her.

HADDISH: Yeah, it changed my life tremendously, I mean - but at the same time - like, OK, because I was with her for a few years before we got taken away from her, so that's where I feel like I really developed my comedy chops because I figured if I make her laugh, you know, she won't - she won't hit me. Because, you know, when you have a brain injury, it's very hard and especially if you were - before the injury, you were very intellectual, intelligent person that has an excellent vocabulary and then you can't pull your words anymore and you get frustrated⁸. And she would hit and stuff. And, like, I was just trying to - if I could make her laugh, then I probably won't get hit. But I'm grateful for the experience, though. You know, like, I've built a whole career off of being funny, trying to, you know, keep from getting punched in the end (laughter).

GREENE: Well, you talk about what you explore in your comedy, and it can be dark and it can be so personal. Was there an example in the book where you felt this is just too much? I actually can't make this funny.

HADDISH: That marriage, man, which I didn't - I was, like, debating, like, going back and forth⁹. Like, maybe we shouldn't even put that in there. We shouldn't even - just let that go.

GREENE: And we should say, this was a marriage - I mean, you were - we should just - I mean, it was abusive and terrible (unintelligible).

HADDISH: Yeah, but you know what? The thing about it is like it wasn't all bad. I was there for some years (laughter). It wasn't always bad. Also, you know, this could probably help someone who's going through some relationship like that. I mean, it is what it is, and I'm sure there's people that are very upset with me, but - for even writing it, but...

GREENE: Why do you think they'd be upset?

HADDISH: Oh, well, wouldn't you be upset if somebody put out your faults (laughter)?

GREENE: Oh, you mean your ex-husband would be upset at this.

HADDISH: I would think. I would think. I mean, I don't know.

GREENE: The words that really stuck with me - I didn't know any other way to be loved.

HADDISH: I didn't. I mean, it was like living with my mom all over again, you know? So...

GREENE: I - you said this is not the book you expected to write. What did you mean?

HADDISH: I expected to write a hella funny book (laughter). I expected to write a book that was just like every page you're busting¹⁰ up laughing. But this book is like - it's a little bit of a bipolar book (laughter) I think. I don't know. You go through everything in this book. Even when I was doing the audiobook, I was like, we have to stop. It's emotional. I'm having too many emotions.

GREENE: And you did write, if she can do it, I know I can.

HADDISH: Yeah. I hope a little girl or a little boy reads this and be like, my life is hard, but it ain't that hard. If she can survive that, I could survive anything. Like, it's just 'cause I honestly believe in my heart that it's all about how you think. Like, your thoughts are what either have you excel in life or have you fail in life. I just feel like it'll really help somebody. If not, it'll give people something to talk about (laughter).

GREENE: Tiffany Haddish, it has been a real pleasure, and I hope we get to talk again sometime.

HADDISH: I hope so, too. I'm going to take a nap.

(LAUGHTER)

GREENE: You deserve it.

HADDISH: I'm so sleepy.

GREENE: You deserve it. Thank you so much.

HADDISH: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M EVERY WOMAN")

CHAKA KHAN: (Singing) I'm every woman. It's all in me. Anything you want done, baby...

GREENE: Her new memoir is called "The Last Black Unicorn."

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

3 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

4 monologue   

n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白

参考例句：

• The comedian gave a long monologue of jokes.喜剧演员讲了一长段由笑话组成的独白。
• He went into a long monologue.他一个人滔滔不绝地讲话。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 busting   

打破，打碎( bust的现在分词 )； 突击搜查（或搜捕）； （使）降级，降低军阶

参考例句：

• Jim and his wife were busting up again yesterday. 吉姆和他的妻子昨天又吵架了。
• He figured she was busting his chops, but it was all true. 他以为她在捉弄他，其实完全是真的。