Jerrod Carmichael Loved Going to Uncomfortable Places for ‘Don’t Be Gay’

"This is a culmination of all of my work so far," the comedian tells TheWrap of his new HBO special The post Jerrod Carmichael Loved Going to Uncomfortable Places for ‘Don’t Be Gay’ appeared first on TheWrap.

May 25, 2025 - 11:10

Jerrod Carmichael Loved Going to Uncomfortable Places for ‘Don’t Be Gay’

A lot has changed for Jerrod Carmichael since his last HBO standup special, “Rothaniel” in 2022, where he revealed his unusual first name and the fact that he is gay. Since then, he hosted the Golden Globes, where he joked he was only chosen because he was Black, and launched and starred in his own HBO reality series.

Now he’s back with his third comedy special, in which he riffs on breaking the one rule his family had growing up: “Don’t Be Gay,” as well as obsessing over D’Angelo’s life-changing 2000 music video for “How Does It Feel.”

Ahead of the May 24 debut of “Don’t Be Gay,” Carmichael chatted with TheWrap about going to uncomfortable places with his comedy and how his boyfriend reacted to jokes about their relationship.

TheWrap: How did your approach to this special differ from your previous ones?

Carmichael: I worked on it for at least a year. Some material is even older than that. This is probably the most time I put into material.

I definitely did a more free-form comedy form in my previous special. This is kind of like a culmination of all of my work so far, everything from the documentary to written jokes to storytelling, just all of those things that I’ve learned over the years in one act.

It’s kind of broader and out to the world more than my last special, or even my first special. I am performing and telling jokes and stories and [it’s] a little more expansive.

Jerrod Carmichael in "Rothaniel" — Jerrod Carmichael in his 2022 special “Rothaniel” / HBO

Do you run any of these jokes about your boyfriend past him before they go into the routine?

No. These are my observations. This is my story to tell. I don’t run it by him. He came to the taping and he was hearing material for the first time.

What was his reaction?

Exactly what I thought. Not angry, not laughing, but kind of … you know how someone squints at you like, “Oh, that’s what you’re thinking about?” Because it is so personal and these are just the thoughts that I have during an argument. So it wasn’t shocking to him, but definitely someone hears your interpretation of a relationship or a fight, and they’re just, “Uh huh.”

Does that end up benefiting the relationship?

Yeah. I found that saying the things you’re afraid to say gets you what you want.

You also name-check Michael Che at one point. I’m guessing you didn’t give him a heads up either.

He showed up when I was doing it in LA and I didn’t know he was in the room. And then, I get off stage and he’s the first person that walks up. And I’m like, “Oh my god, I’m so happy you’re here.” He loved it.

One of the biggest moments in the special is when you share a really personal story about when you felt targeted for being gay. How hard was it to share that?

Well, it’s a story that [I’m] able to kind of laugh at with some distance. I told the story, really, because I thought it was funny. I mean, it was horrible although it was funny. That’s always exciting to do, to go to a place that could be heavy and finding some light.

Is that kind of your whole approach to comedy?

Louis [C.K] talks about this, like, you can go to very uncomfortable places. And you can kind of guide an audience through an uncomfortable story or uncomfortable thoughts, as long as you know where you’re going, as long as you have a plan and it’s crafted. A big goal for me is trying to articulate an experience of something that may not be easy, but that’s what makes it more rewarding.

I recently wrote an article that touched on how “retard” is being used by Shane Gillis and other comics, and I noticed you use it in “Don’t Be Gay” as well. Do you think that’s partly a generational thing?

It is a generational thing. It’s a word that you grow up hearing and saying. I can’t speak for Shane or any of the other guys what their intention is. I’m definitely not saying it because of a current trend or anything. It’s just something I grew up with. [There’s] a lot of words that we won’t have to list, but a lot of words that I grew up with just stayed with me. I’m saying it meaning no harm. I’m telling a story from my childhood, you know. It’s from the perspective of a child in the ’90s, right?

What do you say to people who might be offended by that?

I don’t know what I want to say. I mean, people come to the show, people laugh. It’s never been a thing that someone said to me after a show.

I will say that you can be offended by art, and that’s OK. I would hope that they’re able to breathe through it and still find something funny and still laugh. I’m definitely not somebody that’s just like, “Too bad, so sad.” My purpose is to entertain. I want to make something entertaining and some of my favorite pieces of art are things that make me personally offended. And if it works in the art, then it works in the art. I just hope they can still enjoy it.

How did you decide the line you were going to end this special with?

It kind of just came together. Sometimes you start with, like, scattered ideas and it’s almost like a free associative therapy. Beginning a session, I would start with a thought or a feeling, and then I would go away from it, and then come back and realize I’ve been talking about the same topic the whole time, even when I didn’t realize it. And my sets kind of are crafted that way.

I just do the material that I’m excited to say and the things that I’m excited to share, and at some point during the process I realize, “Oh, this is actually a set.” It’s like, cohesive material. And that just kind of happens over the course of development.

Sometimes I don’t even realize it. It really is from God, I don’t realize how I’m doing it. I don’t realize that I’m crafting something. And when you have that realization, it’s time to record.

“Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay” is now streaming on HBO and Max.

The post Jerrod Carmichael Loved Going to Uncomfortable Places for ‘Don’t Be Gay’ appeared first on TheWrap.