For the better part of 10 years, comedian and TV personality Steelo Brim has been sharing the world’s most viral internet moments with us as the host of MTV’s Ridiculousness. At this point, he’s like a modern-day Bob Saget, an entire generation has grown up laughing with him and getting to know him, and it looks like there is no end in sight. Now 22 seasons deep, Ridiculousness isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and now Brim has landed a deal with MTV and Paramount + that should bring us even more content, something that the comedian couldn’t be more hyped about.
“We’re focusing on quality. I’ve been doing Ridiculousness with MTV and the Viacom family for ten years plus now, but I haven’t really had the chance to get my feet wet creatively,” Brim tells us. “Going forward, I’m super excited to show what’s in this brain of mine and what I create on a day-to-day basis.” The details on what’s to come are still tightly under wraps. But if it’s anything like his past projects, we’re sure it’s going to be approached with the natural charisma that makes Brim such an engaging watch.
We linked up with the comedian to talk sneakers, his upcoming projects, as well as his podcast, Wine & Weed, where he champions the idea of the “casual connoisseur,” as well as got some wine and weed recommendations. Let’s dive in!
Fill us in on this MTV/Paramount + linkup and what can we expect going forward with this partnership?
Quality. Me and Chris McCarthy sat down recently and just dove into who I am, the things that we really expect from us as a family, what we’ve been about to create with Ridiculousness, and creating going forward. We’re just all super excited to show what’s in this brain of mine and what I create on a day-to-day basis.
Ridiculousness is now ten years old, which is hard to believe! What’s next for the series? Do you feel pressure to innovate or does the nature of online content keep things fresh?
I think as far as Ridiculousness goes if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. We’re not looking to change things up as much as we’re just looking to stay topical. We have thematic episodes we’ll throw in here and there to give the show a breath of fresh air, but it’s Ridiculousness. It’s the modernized America’s Funniest Home Videos. People will never get tired of watching funny videos and we make them easier to find by creating montages for them.
I wanted to ask a little bit about your podcast Wine and Weed. Through that podcast, you’re pioneering the idea of a casual connoisseur. Why was that something important for you to highlight? As someone who writes about weed and alcohol, I’ve seen how getting too deep into those worlds kills some of the fun.
I feel that way about a lot of different things, not just weed and wine. I’m an art collector and I look at myself as a casual art collector because I’m constantly educating myself. I think as you said, going too deep takes the fun out of it. But if you’re able to approach something and be a student of it and truly come in with your hands up in the most non-confrontational way, there is more to enjoy. It should remain a safe space for you to be able to continue to educate yourself on different things.
So with the podcast, we’re saying, “Hey, we don’t know everything about wine and weed,” and I don’t necessarily ever want to get to the point where I do. But I am somebody who likes to indulge in those two things.
What’s your preferred consumption method when it comes to cannabis? Are you an edible guy?
I guess I’d label myself a joint smoker if I had to label myself. I’m not really a bong smoker, a bong rip is too aggressive, it makes me feel like I’m a freshman in college again. Edibles, for me, a lot of the time are too intense and I’m trying to really consume a healthy amount where I can still live my life and function in the world. I’m not trying to beat you in a competition. Sometimes fans will say to me “I’ll smoke you under the bus!” And I say, “Yeah, probably!”
What gave you the idea to start a podcast? I like that it’s not so much about wine and weed as it is about those two substances being able to elicit interesting conversations.
My producing partner and cohost Chris Reinacher had been trying to get me to do a podcast for a while and I had just been putting it off. He and I would often have these healthy conversations, it was the basis of our friendship. Being able to be real and have these conversations amongst each other given the fact that we don’t look alike was really the key. A lot of the conversations that need to be had within this country aren’t happening because people are afraid. Maybe because they’re dealing with unfamiliar territory or simply because they don’t look like each other so they say “I don’t want to offend anybody.” But we can’t discover any solutions if we don’t have an open conversation and create a safe space to have a healthy dialogue. That’s something we always wanted to do with the show, to tackle things head-on.
It feels real. It’s in my living room so it’s like you’re a fly on the wall. We wanted to give that feeling like, ‘hey, even though we may live within a Hollywood world and people think it’s this big facade on the outside, we want to be able to give you a real perspective if we’re able to.’
Can you run off a list of your favorite wine or weed brands you’ve been introduced to recently. I want that casual connoisseur perspective.
Up north they have some good weed. I’m not really a strain-specific person. I like to try new stuff all the time. Alien Labs is cool. Area 41 is something we smoke on the show all the time. With wine I keep it simple, I’m a Cab drinker so I’ll take a nice Cab from Justin, or if I’m trying to impress somebody I guess a bottle of Opus One, but only if I’m going all out to impress. I’m not trying to just buy bottles of Opus One and live broke.
I know you’re a sneakerhead, do you have a fav silhouette and if so why?
Ahh! I don’t want to answer like a stereotypical sneakerhead, but it’s probably true! I’m going to go with the Jordan 1. I wear it quite often because you can wear it with anything. If you’re ballsy enough I guess you can throw it on with a tuxedo, if that’s your perorate. But that’s probably the best silhouette ever.
What are the craziest lengths you’ve gone to cop a pair of sneakers?
We didn’t have money growing up so I didn’t get a lot of sneakers when I was younger, but I do have a story. I was just starting to get a couple of pairs gifted here and there from Nike and Jordan. I was loving it! I was newly on television just thinking, “this is amazing!” I just so happened to get the Jordan XI Concords and I was saying “Oh my god, I got them a whole two weeks before they come out, this is insane!” And my ex-girlfriend, who I guess was a bad girlfriend for telling me to do this, wanted a pair for herself, so we went camping out and slept overnight outside of the store. I’m happy I didn’t do this, but she really tried to convince me to wear the Concords to the camp out as the biggest stunt ever.
I was like “Why do you want me dead again? Why do you want people to kill me?! This is weird…” I’m so glad I didn’t do it.
What can people expect from you for the rest of the year?
I’m working on a show I’ve been writing for a while. We actually enter production next month. I’m also working on a musical project randomly. I use to A&R back in the day so it’s interesting to be on the artist side of it. I’m closing that out right now, it’s got a lot of big features and different things to be excited about. So I guess those two things will keep me busy, and then aside from that I’ll just be producing television and I’m constantly looking for new ideas!
