Arsenio Hall Talks About His Love of Performing

Reporter: When you were a kid, did you used to go around the house doing little shticks, little routines? Hall: I did everything. It’s like I had a desire to perform. I wanted to be an entertainer. As a matter of fact, watching my dad used to thrill me. My dad was a Baptist preacher and when I watched him do what he did, it was magical for me. I loved watching someone work people like that. And the ultimate of working a crowd is a Baptist preacher, you know? Because very few – How many times have you seen Barbara Streisand get somebody to say, “Yes, Lord! Yes”? You know, it’s like not often. Baptist preachers, they get people to really – you know, emotion. And I loved it, and I always loved performing. I was in theatre, I was a musician, I was a magician. I put my way through – put myself through college a great deal doing magic.