Comedian Erica Clark used her comedic platform to share her truth about growing up as one of Mr. T’s three children. She shared about how her childhood was defined by disbelief, confusion, and the weight of a famous name. She joked with the audience, “Most people think I’m lying when I say that, but I’m like, why would I pick him?”

Clark, now 46, said that over the years, she’s faced the awkward reality that many assumed her claim was a fabrication. “Growing up, ‘either everybody’ believed me when I spoke of my father, or ‘no one’ believed me; there was ‘no in between,’” she shared during a set on Don't Tell Comedy.

Raised partly in an affluent neighborhood and partly on Chicago’s South Side, Clark described how the contrast shaped her identity. “I grew up in a very wealthy neighborhood, so everybody believed me there,” she said. “But, when I was a kid, we lived on the South Side of Chicago … I’m a Black kid in an all-Black school, and I’m trying to explain … the reason why they’ve never seen my dad before is ‘cause he’s doing WrestleMania with Hulk Hogan.’” 

Clark said her journey wasn’t an easy one. Teachers and classmates doubted her bold claims about her famous father, and she eventually decided to stop sharing information about her dad. But when comedy became her outlet, she let the chopper sing! 

"I always thought it was funny. My dad had on gold chains and everyone else's dad had on a suit. Of course, I know it wasn't normal,” she told NBC News in 2015. She also worked as a special education teacher before fully embracing a career in entertainment. She said that she admired her students because “they didn’t care what anyone else thought. It was so refreshing; there was no sugar coating with them.”

Though her father hoped she’d pursue a more conventional path (teaching, marriage, children), Clark says she’s determined to succeed in entertainment on her own terms. “[My dad] doesn’t want me to do entertainment at all so he hasn’t come to any of my shows before but he’s aware that I do it," she told NBC at the time. And while her dad’s name may get her foot in the door, his fame isn’t going to make her. She said, “You still have to be funny. They’re not going to keep putting you on stage because of who you’re related to.”