To wrap up the last week of Haitian Heritage Month, The Sit Down with EmEz Show welcomed Miami’s own hilarious Haitian American comedian, Success Jr on Thursday, May 27th 2021.
EmEz, who is also a fan of his comedic style, overemphasized how funny he believes he is, deeming Success Jr as “arguably one of the funniest Haitian Comedians on this earth,” which I can fully support. Prior to Success Jr entering the conversation, EmEz played Success’ hilarious rendition ofRonald Isley’s“Trapped in the Closet” entitled,“Trapped in the Doum,” and it was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Success Jr then blessed us with his naturally calm, slightly introverted, hilarious personality, ready to kick off this well anticipated conversation with EmEz. Success recently launched his “Pikliz Culture Potato Chips,” and so EmEz congratulated him on that right away. Success then went into explaining how that deal came about,
“I didn’t want to be typical, I feel like I have hit a lot of goals of mine and just doing videos is not going to take me to the next level. I just wanted something that can give me longevity; I’ll be around even when I am not around, and my kids will be able to profit.”
So smart and unique, and I believe he is the first Haitian comedian to have such a deal, so congrats to Success Jr and his team for sealing that amazing deal!
Emez was interested in how Success managed himself and his brand during the pandemic, and he shared that he was still working on the deal with the chips which was delayed because of the pandemic. He also shared that, “the pandemic was good to me, I didn't drown, I was prosperous, it was cool.” Like many folks I know, including EmEz, I concur in saying that the pandemic was challenging, yet a prosperous time for me as well. It truly was a time that tested you, your drive, resilience, separated the doers from the talkers, & clearly Success Jr is a doer. EmEz mentioned that the last time he had a conversation with Success, he was discussing the creation of the first Haitian-scripted sitcom and wanted to know how that was working out. Success shared that due to COVID the show was delayed because they could not host casting calls, but they are still working on it. Post-pandemic has been treating Success very well, he says, due to the fact that all the bookings that were set in place for 2020 are now coming through fruition in 2021, so he is booked and busy!
Success Jr is considered to be a “niche-comedian” with his “Mama Junior” skits, and so EmEz wanted him to elaborate a bit more on how his fans and people of Haiti are receiving him and his comedic style. Success responded by sharing some things with us, “A lot of people say that you need to venture out to make a career within the Haitian community, and that Haitians don’t support it, but that is a false narrative; Haitians support. With my chips, I sold 3,000 bags in 2 weeks!” WOW. If that is not considered support, I don't know what is! In reference to the sitcom that he wrote and produced, he states that it “brings the Haitians with me to the mainstream, so I don't have to totally leave my people, I am not leaving them at all, I am bringing them with me, and that is the whole idea behind the chips also.”Success also shared that the premise of his sitcom is to shed light on the upbringing of a Haitian-American family, and the chips is to showcase some of the spicy flavors that people who have experienced Haitian cuisine can attest to. One example of that, is Charlamagne tha God who stated on air, how much he loves Haitian Pikliz, that confession helped inspire Success to have his first bag of chips to be the Pikliz flavor, and so he thanked Charlamagne for that. He also goes on to emphasize how other cultures can boldly confess their heritage, and he wants us to be able to do the same by declaring, “I am a Haitian comedian, that’s me, and I am going to bring the Haitian people to the forefront, that’s my goal.” EmEz stated that he loves that initiative because “we need more Haitian influencers to bring more Haitians to the forefront.” I couldn't agree more as a Haitian writer. Success went on to discuss how “Haitian Twitter” is really a thing, is hilarious, and to be honest, after I stumbled upon it one day, I can honestly say between Haitian & Black Twitter, I cannot stop laughing and retweeting the hilarious posts I come across.
After a short break, EmEz and Success Jr dived more into the Haitian culture after EmEz asked him, “What does it mean to you to be Haitian in this climate, in this world today?” Success responded by stating that it feels like, “Resilience. Till this day, we as Haitian Americans, as a Jaspora, we are in the middle kind of...a lot of people in Haiti think that we are better off and they’re less sensitive to whatever we’re going through...I feel like we are constantly battling stereotypes and such, and you have to be resilient and keep your head up even though now a Haitian man is a prize...Haitian men are special, we are the epis of everything.” That last statement definitely had both EmEz & Success Jr chuckling in agreement as two Haitian American men, proud of their Haitian heritage, as they should be! EmEz then asked his infamous question inquiring about Success Jr’s favorite Haitian dish to run home to when he was younger and now, where he confesses that Legume (a spinach dish that has carrots, oxtails, cabbage, and some other tasty vegetables that you would top over white rice and our classic red, black or white bean sauce), is now his favoritedishto which EmEz shouted in excited agreement, but before it used to be the Macaroni Au Gratin. I honestly love both, but what can I say, I'm a greedy foodie.
The next question inquired about the last time Success went to Haiti, which part does he visit, and how often does he go back. Success shared that he has not been to Haiti since November 2018 for a music video shoot, and he has not been out there ever since because in 2019 he was on tour, and then the pandemic hit in 2020, which hindered all his travel plans. Before 2018, he said he would visit quite often, like 3-4 times a year for booked shows in Port-Au-Prince, Petionville, or where his family is from in Saint Marc. Come to find out, EmEz ' family is from Saint-Marc as well, so stay tuned to see if after some DNA tests, we find out that Mama Junior is EmEz’s aunt! Lol.
To hear more about Success Jrand what he has in store for his fans, watch the full interview below on EmEz’s Youtube Channel The Sit Down with EmEzto really get to know the always hilarious Success Jr.
Congrats on all of your success, Success Jr!
For more info on Success Jr, follow him on his website, YouTube Channel, IG, and Facebook.
(Photos Courtesy of Success Jr’s Instagram Page)