Written by Lauren Stern | Photos by Astrid Stawiarz (Cartoon Network/Adult Swim)
For many New York Comic Con attendees, Saturday October 11 was the mecca of the weekend, but for me, it was the day I just wanted to sleep. After spending two days walking around the showroom floor, talking to celebrities for our exclusive interviews, and recording every single “ooh” and “ahh” moment, I was pretty exhausted. The lack of sleep and the dehydration that comes with this big event was already taking it’s toll and by the early afternoon, it was pretty hard to keep it together.
It wasn’t until I sat down with the cast of Black Dynamite that I got that boost of energy I so desperately needed. This was mostly due to Tommy Davidson and Kym Whitley, who voice the characters Cream Corn and HoneyBee on the popular Adult Swim program. Davidson notably stuck out to me from the get go as his infectious personality hit me like a ton of bricks from the moment he walked into the press room. With Whitley dressed as Honeybee by his side, it seemed like these were the man and woman of the hour, and I found myself anxiously awaiting for them to arrive at our table.
After watching laughter erupt from the other tables multiple times, Davidson finally sat down with us, where he palled around with us for a few minutes while Whitley was fixing her hair and makeup. Davidson, dressed in a cleanly pressed sports jacket and jeans, treated myself and other journalists with some jokes and famous movie quotes. Since he was being so candid, I had to ask him if he was ever tired, a question I typically don’t ask anyone, but one that was burning through my mind as I watched him move from table to table.
“I’m like a toddler,” Davidson admits, “I actually realized that over the years that I’m not the kind of person that like ebbs and flows too much. I’m either on or I shut it down like a machine. But I work hard. I work hard. Everything I do, I put everything I have into it.”
Working hard is a complete understatement for Davidson. He’s practically a machine, as he spends the majority of his time touring the country with his stand up while voicing Cream Corn and 200 little, surrounding voices on Black Dynamite. With a busy schedule like this, one has to wonder how he finds time to fit in all of these projects.
“Stand-up is just like Soul Train, it just don’t stop,” Davidson joked, “It actually works for me, not doing movies in the last I’d say ten years, because at a time I was doing movies back to back. I did 15 movies in a row. But because that slowed down for me, now it’s stand up. There was a time I was doing only TV. In Living Color was one of the hottest series that was on TV and I did that five years in a row. Then I did episodics on TV, then that slowed down. I think the main thing is that I’ve been able to go from one thing to the other and even when stand-up slows down, then I can do Black Dynamite. I can do The Proud Family. I did Ren and Stimpy and The Simpsons. I’ve been doing animation for a long, long time. So I’m just trying to say I’m lucky.”
After getting a little taste of how Davidson manages his time, we were treated to Whitley, who was a little sleepy, but ready for our questions. Before she and Davidson can give us the scoop on the next season of Black Dynamite, we pried them into giving us the 411 on what it’s like to working with Michael Jai White.
“Michael called me about the movie before it was even a movie,” Davidson revealed, “He’s creative, fun, he’s funny as hell…”
“Michael is not fun,” Whitley interrupted, garnering a few laughs from fellow reporters, “He is very serious. He is funny, I don’t know about fun. It’s not like woo lets go have fun with Mike. Mike will punch you.”
“Yeah it’s not fun to be around someone who can kick your ass,” Davidson added, “It’s in the back of your mind all the time.”
After diverting the conversation with jokes about a fellow journalist’s large camera, Davidson and Whitley gave us more of what we can expect from Season 2 of Black Dynamite. The two voice actors revealed viewers will be treated to more ‘70s lampooned references, including Soul Train and Sammy Davis Jr. (voiced by Davidson – who was famous for his Sammy impersonation on In Living Color). In addition, Whitley confirmed Bob Marley will be appearing this season as Honey Bee’s romantic interest. As far as the season as a whole is concerned, Whitley told us that the cartoon was going to be “more vibrant.”
“We’re really happy. This took a long time, it was a long process.” Davidson said, “We didn’t know if we were going to get picked up for another season, and getting picked up that first season was a miracle. The best thing about the show is Carl, Michael, and Byron all stuck true to what they were going to do. They put the most cutting edge episode first, which I thought they were going to back away and save that for later. They started out running and we haven’t stopped. The thing is something really special. It’s not Boondocks. It is what it is. It’s Black Dynamite.”
Season 2 of Black Dynamite premieres this Saturday, October 18th at 10:30pm E/P on Adult Swim.
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As the Managing Editor, Lauren Stern is responsible for curating Pop-Break.com’s content. This includes managing the editorial staff, coordinating the content calendar, and assigning publishing dates and deadlines. She graduated Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism and Philosophy. She spends her free time searching for the best gluten-free food in the Tri-State area, playing with her dogs, and reading an insane amount of books. She tweets constantly about pop culture and social issues and hopes you follow her musings @laurenpstern.
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