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Theyve all had their share of relative success but have struggled to break into the mainstream.
According to Haddish, now is their time.
From the first time she met me.
Im gonna be your friend.
I was like, Who in the hell is this little crazy-ass girl?
But yeah, she knew it from the first time shed seen me.
I wanted to go back to school and get my high-school diploma.
How long that shit gonna last?
I said, Youre not going to be calling me disrespecting my job right now.
I said, Of course not only to go out on tour, but because Tiffany is my family.
Shes like my sister, my daughter, my niece, everything in one.
I wanted to verify I had her back in this game too.Marlo Williams
Tiffany said shed seen me.
I knew of Tiffany for years, but we didnt know each other personally.
Im in an interracial marriage and Tiffanys character Shay is married to a white man on the show.
Tracy [Morgan] had heard all of my stories and wanted to connect with that.
To have a relationship with us already and doing shows with us …
I think she just saw that theres this talent out there that nobodys pushing.
Given the opportunity, why not me?
Whos to say that we would have been able to have an opportunity like this ever?
Weve all had our struggles.
Weve all had those moments when we thought,This is it, and it wasnt.
This is it now, you know?
Tiffany allowed us and trusted us to go out there and do our thing.
Weve been good friends for a long time.
That has never kept us from being honest with each other about comedy.
Weve always had a very honest and open relationship.
When I was doingLast Comic Standing, she was doingFunniest Wins.
She hosted the viewing party for myLast Comic Standingdebut.
I remember her saying, Now youre a comic.
Now youre really on your way.
Now youre doing this.
Shes been doing stand-up longer than me.
Her and April Macie have been my mentors in comedy.
Those two have always been that for me.
She asked me to come open for her in Bakersfield so she could see where I was.
Sometimes youre watching a comic and wondering when theyre going to get the light to get off the stage.
But she had such a stage presence.
I was like, Oh, shes a star.
Comics know when people are talented, but the industry gloms on in a different way.
Other people have to validate you first before the industry is willing to get onboard.
As a comic, though, we know.
We know when theyve got the light, that twinkle in their eye.
We had taped it at the club here in Long Beach, California.
The people loved me.
Thats what I admire about Tiffany the most; people adore this woman.
They love her stories; they love her personality.
I think Tiffany saw that in me, you know?
I ruffle the feathers in my own LGBTABCDEFGPTSD community all the time.
But I think she sawme.
She didnt see the wig and the boobs and the butt.
She heard the material, the content of the material, and she said, Funny is funny.
She told me that day, If I make it, Im coming back to get you.
I had pretty much almost threw in the towel with stand-up because it was such a struggle.
You cant get a break.
You cant get Flame Monroe in three minutes.
It takes you five minutes to get over the initial shock that Im not a woman.
And they bought it.
They told me explicitly, We had never heard of you until Tiffany brought us your name.
So thank you, Tiffany Haddish.
I love you with everything in me.
The man and the woman in me loves you.Flame Monroe
