MIKE TYSON – Undisputed Truth

Interview with Damien Prout

December 4, 2012 2:30pm

I was fortunate enough to participate in a conference call interview with the one and only former Mike Tyson.  The main subject of this interview was to discuss his Broadway live stage show: MIKE TYSON –  UNDISPUTED TRUTH (Directed by Spike Lee)  The following article is based off of that conversation with Mr. Tyson.

I think it is fair to say that many people still hold many misconceptions about Mike.  Though some of those misconceptions may have been spawned by the actions of Mike in his past life.  The man that I interviewed seem to be very open and brutally honest about what was his many mistakes but he also sets the record straight about what was false media reports and hype and what’s the ‘UNDISPUTED TRUTH”.

 

 

 

Mike’s attitude seemed to be very upbeat and he was excited to talk about his Live On Stage event.  My first question to Mike was: Before he embarked on this project did he discuss with his family and friends the ramifications of him discussing his tremulous past?

Surprisingly, Mike stated “As I told my wife, who wrote it, she probably didn’t think it was true and she tried to sugar coat it at first and I had to explain to her that people know this guy, but they do not know the guy you fell in love with.  So she had to write it down as I explained it to her…what kind of guy this guy was back then.”

BOE:   If you were to compare the excitement and/or anxiety of doing this live on stage event to his heavy weight fights which fight would best compare to him being on stage in front of an audience?

MT:     “Believe it or not I have the same anxieties, but uhm..the only difference like I said before is at the end I don’t have to go to the hospital.  But, the anxiety of failing…when an entertainer gets applause, the only applause he hears is the one who is not applauding…he doesn’t hear the 50,000 fans that are applauding, he only hears the one who’s not applauding, he might have dosed off in his chair or something, that’s what he hears, that’s what he looks for, the one who isn’t applauding…that failing like that brings the most anxiety.”

BOE:      I thought you were great in the Hangover 1&2, when I was watching hang over 2 I was hoping they had you in there somewhere, I was looking forward to that.  So with that being said, instead of you just having a cameo scene in a movie would you consider playing a main character in a movie?

MT:       Oh absolutely, absolutely I’m willing to do that as well, I’m open for pretty much everything, I been very grateful for everything that has been happening to me…you know prior to this.

BOE:      How are you doing mr Tyson

MT:        Blackopps!!, Blackopps!!!

BOE:      We are really looking forward to you coming to Durham, North Carolina on April 23^rd to see your show

MT:        My father is from charlotte NC, that’s funny because I’mma talking about him in my show, it should be really interesting.

BOE:      Well that should be a great way to connect with the audience.

BOE:      How did your friends and family feel about you putting this show together know that you were going to be as open and brutally honest as you are?  Did they have any reservations?

MT:        As I told my wife, who wrote it,she probably didn’t think it was she tried to sugar coat it at first and I had to explain to her that people know this guy, but they do not know the guy you fell in love with.  So she had to write it down as I explained it to her…what kind of guy this guy was back then.

BOE:      If you can compare the excitement or the anxiety with doing this type of event to one of your actual fights, what fight would compare?

MT:        Believe it or not I have the same anxieties, but uhm..the only difference like I said before is at the end I don’t have to go to the hospital.  The anxiety of failing, when an entertainer gets applause, the only applause he hears is the one who is not applauding…he doesn’t hear the 50,000 that are applauding, he only hears the one who’s not applauding, he might have dosed off in his chair or something, that’s what he hears, that’s what he looks for, the one who isn’t applauding.

BOE:      I thought you were great in the Hangover 1&2, when I was watching hang over 2 I was hoping they had you in there somewhere, I was looking forward to that.  So with that being said, instead of you just having a cameo scene in a movie would you consider playing a main character in a movie?

MT:        Oh absolutely, absolutely I’m willing to do that as well, I’m open for pretty much everything, I been very grateful for everything that has been happening to me…you know prior to this.

MT:        Let me tell you something brother, I appreciate that, but listen, you heard of the young football player who just killed young lady and himself are familiar with that guy? The guy from Kansas city…listen right, the fact is you have to go through that moment in life in order to be a man, you have to go through everything, doesn’t mean nothing until your heart is totally disgusted and shattered, for life is meaningless but we come back from it!….We come back…we don’t go the full 9 yards, Everybody has to go through moments like that to become a complete human being, man and woman…you have to overcome it….

BOE:      Yeah, you have to experience the lows in life in order to appreciate the highs in your life….

MT:        Oh absolutely, We have to realize that life is not over…it’s not over…our brains plays tricks on us and sometimes what it is; is not what it is.

BOE:      Actually, I really understand that. Being a Black man and dealing with the things I had to deal with in life.

MT:        That is so interested that you say that; Black American looks at themselves as “Americans” then Black too…we look at ourselves in 2 perspectives.

BOE:      yeah, A friend of mine put it in an interesting perspective…he said that we have to be at least 3 different people all at once….One is the professional person when dealing with business, then we have to tone it down a bit so we won’t intimidate other people then we are also that person who can still be down with our boys and our people.

MT:        …and while doing all three of those aspects we also have to allow our consciousness to supersede our color and look at life for what it is.

BOE:      Well Mike, I really appreciate your time and we look forward to you coming to Durham….

MT:        Do you know any Kirkpatrick from Charlotte, NC?  My father’s a Kirkpatrick…

BOE:      Not off the top of my head…but I know a lot of people so sure I know someone who probably knows a Kirkpatrick.

MT:        Yeah, my father is a Charlotte Kirkpatrick, he had a lot of kids so there’s a lot of us. (chuckle)

BOE:      Thanks for making time of me and again I look forward to seeing you when you come to Durham.

MT:        Thank you very kindly

 

Special thanks to DPAC for setting up this interview.