Being a father key to success for veteran comic Sinbad

Sinbad. He’s like your favorite brother, uncle or cousin whom you can’t wait to see because he always has a smile on his face and a story to tell. You never know what he’s going to say but you do know for sure that it’s going to be funny. It seems like we’ve known him forever.

Sinbad first achieved notoriety in 1983 as a finalist on the television comedy competition Star Search, hosted by Ed McMahon. Even though he didn’t win, it was only a matter of time before he would reappear on the national stage. Three years later in 1986, he landed on The Redd Foxx television series and in 1987 he appeared on an episode of The Cosby Show which led to a recurring role on its spin-off, A Different World starring Lisa Bonet. He’s been making audiences laugh ever since.

In 1990, Sinbad performed his first stand-up comedy special for HBO called Sinbad: Brain Damaged. The special was recorded at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. He released his second special two years later Sinbad: Afros and Bellbottoms which he performed at the Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden. In 1995, he won an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Variety — Series or Special for Afros for the special.

After A Different World ended its run, Sinbad appeared on numerous TV series including Roc and Moesha. He also hosted Saturday Night Live and eventually starred in his own television series The Sinbad Show. It wasn’t long before Sinbad’s larger-than-life persona propelled him to the big screen. He had supporting roles in the films Necessary Roughness and opposite Robert Townsend in The Meteor Man. In 1995 he co-starred with Phil Hartman as a con man on the run from the mob over an unpaid debt in Houseguest. He became a household name a year later when he went toe-to-toe with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the holiday comedy Jingle All the Way, and played the role of a Secret Service agent guarding the president’s son in First Kid.

The Benton Harbor, MI, native, who is a huge music fan, also created the ’70s Soul Music Festival Summer Jam featuring performances from 1970s and 1980s musical acts such as Earth Wind & Fire, The O’Jays, Teena Marie, Gladys Knight and many more.

Sinbad, who’s performing stand-up comedy at The Wilbur on Friday, was in Boston this week collaborating with the Berklee College of Music. He recently spoke to the Banner about fame, being counted out in Hollywood, and starting his stand-up career in Boston.

On fame…

“Getting famous brings trials that no one is ready for. No one’s ready to be famous. I don’t care what you say. No one’s ready. Being famous has a lot of pitfalls and drawbacks to it that no one cares for. It’s not normal for people who want to be around you that you don’t know. You have to achieve some kind of balance. Some people say, ‘keep people around you that keep you humble’ but sometimes the people around you can’t keep it humble. So you have to find something that grounds you whether it’s church or whatever you believe in you have to find something that keeps you human.

“At the time I wasn’t ready to be married and to have kids. I didn’t want that. But I know my son saved my life. No matter what else happens to me I love them and they’re the most important things to me. And now my daughter, who’s a singer, I was just at SXSW where I was her roadie. I’m carrying her gear and I’m watching her do her thing.”

On being counted out…

“The hardest part about comedy is dealing with people who really don’t understand what funny is — dealing with people in Hollywood who’ve decided you’re done. Shoot, I’m at my peak. It’s not like sports. It’s more like music. The thing about comedy, about entertainment, if you can stay healthy … Clint Eastwood directed a great movie, American Sniper. When I see that it gives me so much inspiration. My best work is still ahead of me. That’s what cracks me up sometimes. I get so excited about what I’m going to do and when I’m dealing with somebody who doesn’t believe in me I say ‘Dude, I’m so far down the road from what you’re talking about. I’m already doing the work that’s in my mind. What makes me frustrated is trying to convince people on who you are.”

On starting his comedy career in Boston…

I started comedy in 1983, 1984. The first thing I remember was standing in the alley of the movie theater waiting to go see the Prince concert Purple Rain. My brother was here working in a summer program. He was doing a summer internship in Boston. He lived in the ’hood before it got gentrified. We saw it change. We saw them come in and move everybody out. What was amazing was I had no money. I had no job. A brother was hungry and I said ‘Show me where a comedy club is.’ I met Lenny Clarke. I knew who Lenny Clarke was. He got me time on stage at the Boston comedy club. After I was done, they gave me work, they gave jobs. I made something like $6,000 in one weekend. That’s when Boston was the mecca: Boston and San Francisco. Comics who lived there made six figures a year. It was the mecca for comedy.”