J.B. Smoove, the huge “Shark Tank” fan that he is, got a surprise when he signed up to appear on the show. Or rather - didn’t.
When Smoove got a call from his agent that he could get a spot on a Shark Week episode, it seems Smoove got so excited he didn’t let that second word sink in and thought he signed up for the ABC entrepreneurial game show, not a terrifying dive with actual sharks.
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Whether due to a rock solid contract or just going with the mistake, as Entertainment Weekly reports, Smoove went ahead with the manager’s plan and became certified to dive. So now, he’s a featured star during Discovery Channel’s yearly fanged favorite, Shark Week.
Tonight at 9 on the premiere of “Brad Paisley’s Shark Country” special, you can see Smoove and Paisley get up close and personal with some sharks in the waters of the Bahamas. They even worked Smoove’s titular confusion into an opening bit.
As we know, the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star knows all about how to fake reality. So this might just all be more leg-pulling. But in describing what went down, it sounds plausible that the ever-excitable Smoove chomped at the bit.
"I'm telling you," he continues, "all I heard was ‘Shark Tank.’ Because ‘Shark Tank’ is on all the time.... Shark Week is, what, once a year? ... Come on now! So the natural perception is, 'Hey man, I'm about to be on ‘Shark Tank,’ baby!'”
Truly, Smoove loves “Shark Tank,” and in fact, he has cobbled up some ideas to take to the sharks, and even dreams of being a guest host some time.
"Everybody knows that I am a huuuge ‘Shark Tank’ fan,” Smoove reiterated, “and I have tons of ideas just ready for ‘Shark Tank.’ So initially when my manager called me — honestly, sometimes I get tunnel vision and there is a long moment of un-clarity on what exactly this is. They'll tell me something, but I'll hear something totally different because I'm already juiced up. I'm ready for the celebrity version of ‘Shark Tank,’ you know? I feel like I can go up there and I'm a good judge of what is a great idea because I am an ideas man myself, so I'm always ready to throw my ideas out there."
And further, Smoove is even friends with some Shark Tankers.
“Mark Cuban is a good friend of mine,” said Smoove. “I threw one of my ideas out to him and said, 'Yo, if you guys are ready for me, let me know. I have a few ideas that I need an investor on.' Like everybody who I've met on ‘Shark Tank,’ they laugh like I'm playing around. They don't know I'm an idea wizard, so they tend to smirk a little bit and laugh."
Easy to do when it comes to the hilarious Smoove. But even after soon learning of his Tank / Week confusion, Smoove instantly turned the possible negative of diving with sharks into a positive career move.
“How can I benefit from this mistake and still get a chance to pitch my amazing ideas for ‘Shark Tank,’” asked the comedian.
But the real smooth operator who finagled this massive mixup was Smoove’s old “Curb” cohort, Cheryl Hines.
"Cheryl Hines is the one who facilitated all this, because Brad Paisley called her and she couldn't do it," he recalls. "And she says, 'You know who'll be great? J.B. Smoove!' She knows how much I love Shark Tank already… I blame all this on Cheryl Hines. It was relayed the wrong way, and then re-relayed the wrong way, and then it was relayed the right way, but I still wanted to hear the relay of the wrong relay, you know what I'm saying?”
Despite recently declaring himself to Conan O’Brian as, “a big part of the aquatic world” and “the Black Dolphin,” when it got time to put up or shut up with Brad Paisley, it turned out Smoove took to the waters like a pro, or so he says.
"This was my first time actually scuba diving, but everything seemed like it was perfect for me," he claims. "I aced the test to be certified. When you're being trained, they say, 'Ninety-eight percent of the time, you're never going to use any of this safety stuff we're teaching you, but it's just in case.' So that's the thing I focused on the most — learning more about these damn sharks and what goes down when you're underwater, even though the Black Dolphin has already been in the ocean.”
“I love swimming,” Smoove breathlessly continued, “but I can't say that the Black Dolphin has swam with sharks. I've only swam with tropical fish… Once I was in the water, my natural Black Dolphin instincts kicked in and I went back to my aquatic world. I felt right at home, and the sharks gave me little daps, showing a little love and respect for the Black Dolphin. I get it. This is your part of the ocean, and I respect that. As long as you show respect for the sharks, they're going to show respect back."
Like anyone watching Shark Week shows, Smoove came away with a newfound respect for the misunderstood underwater scaries. But of course, his eyes was never far from the “Shark Tank” prize.
"I will definitely end up on ‘Shark Tank’ because of my appearance and my misstep," he says. "See, this is a different route for me to get on the actual show. They're going to see my passion for ideas. They're going to see my passion for business. They're going to see my passion for the ocean, my love of sharks, and my love of the aquatic world. And they're going to get a chance to see the Black Dolphin. Who knows? Maybe I can [manifest] an idea that revolves around the Black Dolphin."
The ever-concocting Smoove is thinking even bigger than just guest hosting on Shark Tank. He’s thinking Marvel universe.
"This could be enough to a springboard into the Marvel universe. I'm already in the Marvel Universe. I'm Mr. Dell [in the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise]. Who's to say Mr. Dell can't get bitten by a radioactive dolphin, and next thing you know, the Black Dolphin is born!”
Now that’s a cross-genre mistake we would love to see! Then put the Black Dolphin in a “Sharknado” sequel, and things will get really interesting.
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