From Southwest Atlanta to Los Angeles, Tevin Williams – known as Mandal – is taking the comedy world by storm. His debut comedy release, “$$$$$$” (pronounced “dollar sign”) is set to debut on YouTube on Oct. 25.
Co-produced by Donald Glover’s media company Gilga and Bay Area Comedy power house Blonde Medicine, the special will begin streaming at 9 p.m. on YouTube. Ahead of the premiere, Mandal will host a 12-hour livestream event called “The “$$$$$$” Call-A-Thon.” The livestream will feature appearances from Atlanta legends Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, and will unfold like an “increasingly chaotic variety show,” according to a press release.
“$$$$$$” feels like a throwback, evoking golden age comedy specials with a retro look. In keeping with that vibe, “$$$$$$” will be available not only digitally but also on a limited edition gold vinyl, as well as a VHS version released via Gilga. The comedy album will be available for streaming on Nov. 20.
Ahead of the premiere, I spoke with Mandal about how he got to where he is now. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I know that you grew up in Atlanta. Whereabouts did you grow up? Were you always interested in comedy?
Mandal: I grew up in Southwest Atlanta. I grew up in a subdivision off of Campbellton Road. When I was five, I really enjoyed [“The Original”] “Kings of Comedy,” that special. I was really into it. Then I went to school, I went to UGA. And then, I was bad at my job. My homeboy made me do stand up. I was doing it in Atlanta for about eight and a half years, and then I moved to L.A. almost two years ago.
When you were at UGA, was there another profession you were looking at?
Mandal: I had a marketing degree, so I had some sales jobs. I had a lot of jobs – I quit a lot of jobs, got fired from a lot of jobs. I had two different jobs at a logistics firm. Then I was working at AT&T, when they had the building in Midtown? I was at that building. [I was in a] sales development leadership program – I don’t know what those words mean, but I was in it.
So you moved to L.A two years ago.
Mandal: Almost two years ago, yeah. I moved to work on this show called “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.” I did warm up on that, and I ended up staying out here.
You mentioned that a buddy was like, you should get into stand up. But how did you get from there to moving out to L.A.? How did that opportunity come about?
Mandal: I did stand up in Atlanta for the longest, so my career is more of a product of the Atlanta stand up comedy scene than it is of L.A. My homeboy started doing it first. I was always interested in it, and then I dared him to do it. Eventually, I did it too. We were going to open mics together, and then he decided to go be a reasonable human being and put his life together. So I was just running around Atlanta doing stand up, and then eventually more connections were built.
What are the differences in the stand up scenes between Atlanta and L.A.?
Mandal: It’s more vast, obviously [in L.A.] It’s more industry. Doing comedy in Atlanta, it’s a lot of people who are hobbyists, and a lot of people who – genuinely, our only measure for success is if we made the crowd laugh or not. And I think in L.A., it’s a little bit more ambitious – people are trying to be stars, and stuff. I think those decisions in that realm are gonna have things that have to do with outside of just trying to be really funny. But they are really funny here too! I mean, a lot of them are funnier! But there was something endearing about being in a local scene where we really were just doing stand up, trying to be successful towards the crowd.
This is your debut stand up release. How did this opportunity come about?
Mandal: I had been doing stand up for a while, and I did a lot of tapings. I did Don’t Tell [Comedy], I did a set on [Jimmy] Fallon, and then I did some other recordings. Eventually, you get to a point where you’ve got to release your own stuff. Blonde Medicines is a comedy label, and they did stuff for this comedian Rob Haze. I hit them up, and then I was working on stuff with Donald Glover’s company Gilga before. So it just worked out, that they were willing to come together. I really appreciate them, and it was really cool that they were able to make a dream like that happen.
I enjoyed the way it was filmed. It felt like a VHS tape from the ‘90s, and then with the animation style – how much influence did you have with that kind of visual style?
Mandal: The dude who directed it is named Khari Johnson. I had this same idea for a long time, honestly. I was one of them kids who was an old soul … so I was always into late ‘70s, early ‘80s stuff. I always wanted to do that, and he just knew everything to do to make it look like that. He had the cameras, he had the animator, he had everything. He pieced it together really well. I’m just always inspired by that era.
I read that you’re developing an animated series with Adult Swim. Is that something you can talk a little bit about?
Mandal: We did these shorts for Adult Swim Smalls called “Lil Daddy,” which was a spinoff from this other short called “Buster & TJ,” that I do with this collaborator Zae Jordan – he’s also from Atlanta, he lives in New York now, but he did a bunch of stuff with Adult Swim. We did this little cartoon dude, and then it went viral, luckily. We’re trying to get a pilot, so we’ll see what happens.
Is there someone’s career that you would like to emulate, or someone who you really liked growing up? Who are your comedic influences?
Mandal: It’s interesting because I feel like it always switches. I feel like I was truly influenced by all the comedians that came before me. I was a big fan of “ComicView,” with Bruce Bruce, Rickey Smiley. But also I was always a little bit of an odd guy. So I loved Adult Swim as well. Very obsessed with Adult Swim and all the comedy coming from there, from Tim & Eric to “The Eric Andre Show,” to any of those things. My favorite comedian of all time is Hannibal Buress. I liked all that, so I kind of have a wide range of what kind of influenced me. I think I was inspired by a little bit of the alternative stuff mixed with that classic comic style stuff too.
We talked earlier about ambition. What are your comic ambitions?
Mandal: That’s my problem, man. I’m really happy to be here! Entertainment is very volatile. Your life is at the mercy of people’s opinions. I think things happen really fast and really slowly, at the same time. It’d be cool if I could sell comedy clubs. It’d be cool if “Lil Daddy” gets a season on Adult Swim. And then, I kind of want to allow God to do His will. If that means a long time, a big success – if that means arenas! Cool. If that means I’m just at the clubs doing the shows, that’s cool too. I’m just happy to be working, because I feel like for a long time I was pursuing this, and it was not my job and I was pretending like it was.
And now it is.
Mandal: And now it is! I feel like I gotta allow that to be good enough, you know?
Mandal’s comedy special debuts at 9 p.m. on Oct. 25 on YouTube.
