Shed
G: Venting for a Living
by Lisa Birch
While waiting for the screening to begin of Tyler
Perry’s upcoming movie “Meet the Browns,” everyone’s attention turned to the conspicuously
tall, bald-head man with the microphone at the front.
“Can I vent?” he asked.
I thought, “Ok, who is this and what am I getting ready
to hear?” I was the skeptic in the ATL audience who didn’t shout back with everyone else, “Vent,
brother, vent!”
It was morning time and I
just wanted to watch the movie. What I expected to be a "pass-the-time-away" stand-up
comedian’s performance ended up feeling like an everyday, reminiscent-style conversation
about life and family with a naturally funny dude named Shedrick Garrett,
better known as Shed “Can I Vent” G.
In our interview conversation later, Garrett explained that
he doesn’t consider himself a comedian. He actually just “vents” real experiences
that happen to him. During his “venting” that morning, I would find out that Garrett
is the other man behind the character
who steals the show in many Tyler Perry movies. He plays the on-screen double
for the spicy grand matriarch Madea.
“The funny thing is that I grew up in Colorado, and not
a lot of people knew about Madea,” he explains. “I was a barber and I used to buy
the Tyler Perry DVDs and play them in the shop. Madea is like a character in
everybody’s family. Because I am animated and do the things that I do, (emulating)
comes kind of easy.”
The
Blank List
Years before Perry would ever experience Garrett’s
stage presence and eventually offer him an opportunity, the ball player from
Denver was focused on a career in the NBA. While taking a physical exam during
his senior year at Norfolk State University, Garrett learned he had a heart murmur
and had to seriously re-consider pursuing the sport. Not wanting to risk his
life for the money, Garrett made one of the toughest decisions and pulled
himself out of the NBA draft. The career he hoped for all through high school
and college was over before it even started.
“I prayed about the situation, and God had other things,”
says Garrett. “But I’m going to be honest with you. A lot of times when we pray
to God, many of us pray with a list, and that’s what I did while growing up—‘God
let me have this,’ ‘God, let me have that.’ So when everything happened with
the heart murmur and I pulled myself out of the draft, I didn’t know where else
I was going to go. I just prayed and gave God a blank list and said, ‘God, I
just believe that You are going to do the things that You have in store for me.’
When we pray with a list, we might be selling ourselves short. So since then, I
pray with a blank list and He’s been guiding me in all kinds of positive
directions.”
“Man,
I’m not a Comic.”
Although he has always been able to make people laugh
quite effortlessly, Shed G says he never dreamed that his natural ability could
be his means to earn a living. While in college at Norfolk State University, Garrett’s
peers talked him into hosting a variety show when one of the emcees didn’t come
through at the last minute. The show featured some well known comedic talents
in the industry. Reluctantly, Garrett hit the stage. After he brought up the
first comedian, he went to the back and Cedric the Entertainer offered up some
words that would plant a seed for what was to come. He asked, “Man, how long
you been doing comedy?” Garrett replied, “Man, I’m not a comic. I don’t do
comedy.” Then Cedric enlightened him, “No, you do comedy. You had the people
laughing. That’s all comedy is.”
Carrying a brand new perspective about his innate gift,
Garrett hosted all the shows throughout the rest of college and later went back
home to host and perform various shows in Denver. His friend at the House of
Blues in Denver knew Garrett had a clean act, so he invited him to open for the
Isley Brothers. “That was my first big break. Then came The Temptations, then
Cassandra Wilson, and Jerry Butler, then I did shows on cruises….”
These were the defining moments that Shed “Can I Vent” G became more of a
reality to Garrett himself and all the people he increasingly began to entertain.
Roots
go deep…
A clean act is definitely what Garrett believes helped open
such major doors so very quickly, but he admits that his performance hasn’t
always been totally free of some profanity. “I would throw in a few cuss words
here and there until one time my grandmother, who is an evangelist, and my
grandfather, who is a Bishop came to a show, and my grandmother said, ‘Baby,
you funny. All the little cuss words you said, that took away from your funny.
Do your grandmamma a favor…I’ve never asked you for anything before in my life—do
not cuss for me.’ After that, I never cussed in my show again because I didn’t
want to disappoint my grandmother…and I didn’t want a whooping.”
Garrett’s family ties have always been deeply rooted,
not just with his grandparents, but with his mom and his sister. Many people
don’t know that his mother died from a drug overdose. Garrett uses that devastating
personal tragedy to breathe life into others who struggle through the same
kinds of circumstances. “Whenever I visit cities, I like to go talk to kids in
juvenile centers and people in underprivileged places. I want them to know that
even if you have a family member or a mother or father addicted to drugs, you
still can make it. But you have to be assertive and focused. And God has to be
that foundation or else nothing will work.”
For Garrett, his younger sister Sparkle is the symbol
of love in his life right now. “She has a different father from me, and she
lost him a couple of years ago, and then we just lost our mother, so now she has
nobody but me…so I have to be that father figure for her.” Garrett, 34, who is
single, says he is ready to get married and wants to have children but knows he’s
not half as outgoing in his personal life as he is in business. “If it’s
business, I can talk to anybody, but when it comes to my personal life, I’m shy
as helicopters.”
The
Groove Zone
What’s next for Shed “Can I Vent” G?
Right now, he is taking advantage of his front row seat
in the multi-dimensional world of a great writer, producer and director. Garrett
says he is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside Perry. “I just sit
and watch and learn,” he says. Garrett is continuing to play the double for
Madea and is also continuing to “vent” on stages across the country.
He is excited about his television show called The
Groove Zone that airs in Denver and in Aurora, Colorado. The Groove
Zone showcases positive news and lifestyles in which Garrett interjects his
natural style of comedy in interviews with guests about history, personal
finance, education, the community, art and more.
If you’re in Colorado, you can catch The
Groove Zone on Sundays in Denver, channel 58, from 2 pm to 3 pm (MST).
The show also airs on Friday nights in Aurora, channel 8 (Aurora 8), from 11 pm
– Midnight (MST).
Go
ahead, vent!
Well, despite the busy days, booked nights and hectic
travel schedule of Shed “Can I Vent” G., he seems to have enjoyed carving time
out to share his story with VERTICAL FIX. At the start of our interview, Garrett
had just finished his morning exercise routine. The night before, he taped interviews
with Lyfe Jennings and Wyclef Jean and worked on other footage for The
Groove Zone. After we talked for about an hour, and he finished painting
the picture of his life—on stage and off—he was headed to the next endeavor, and eventually would land on a plane to fly back to Atlanta. I got some great insight on what this funny man is
made of—and what sticks out most for me is his surrender to God's direction for his life; his blank prayer list; and the laughs that came so easy during our conversation.
Afterward, I was less of a skeptic about the tall, bald-head man who holds a
microphone and asks, “Can I Vent?” I don’t know when I’ll encounter the stage
or screen presence of Shed G. again, but next time, I’ll be one of the first to shout
back, “Vent, brother, vent!”
Copyright ©2008 VERTICAL FIX, LLC
For more of Shed "Can I Vent" G., visit him at www.canivent.com.
