Nick Cannon Talks Marriage to Mariah, the Twins & His First Comedy Special

Nick Cannon is still getting used to being a tabloid headline all the time: First for his much-publicized marriage to singer Mariah Carey, 10 years his senior; then for expecting babies for what felt like an eternity; and now for the unusual names they chose for their twins, Monroe (the girl) and Moroccan (the boy).

But he has no problem joking about it all -- to me and anyone who'll tune in and watch his first comedy special, 'Mr. Showbiz' (premieres Sat., May 14, 9PM on Showtime).

There's even a special sweet moment when he talks about how much he loves his wife ... and then jokes that he's set for life, before jumping into singing one of her many lucrative hit songs, 'Hero.'

Yeah, nothing is off limits. Other hot topics: his pal Kanye West, Eminem and where he uses conditioner. TMI? Maybe, but it's all in fun.

I caught up with Cannon to talk about life with Mariah, the controversy surrounding their new bundles of joy, the special and the next season of 'America's Got Talent.' Keep reading for more ...

Congratulations on the babies -- I feel like Mariah's been pregnant forever.
That bums me out! Like everybody thinks she was pregnant for a long time. Why do people think that?

Well there's been so much excitement!
She made the announcement in November, and it's May now -- that's not even nine months!

We are not patient people. [Laughs] You chose two very unique names -- Monroe and Moroccan -- how did you guys pick them?
Yeah, I heard the names have been causing quite the controversy as well. [Laughs] It's funny, I always say we had our names picked out very early on -- we picked one of the names like the first date that we had. But it's kind of weird that they stayed the same. Monroe, obviously, my wife has always been inspired by Marilyn Monroe ... she bought her priceless piano and all that stuff. And I just like the idea that is was more than just naming our daughter Marilyn. I think that would've been a little too cliché. Monroe is a very strong name -- it sounds really elegant.

And then Moroccan was kind of more my pick. When you think about Moroccan, it's kind of both of our names together -- Mariah and Nick together. And I always like the name Rock. Rock Cannon. It sounded like a strong name. We also have Moroccan rooms in our houses in L.A. and in New York. I've always thought that was kind of cool ... I actually proposed to my wife in the Moroccan room in New York, so it has a lot of symbolism. We like it a lot.

I love that. Also with twins, realistically you could be done having kids now ...
Yeah, I think we are if you ask my wife. [Laughs] I keep threatening her with getting her pregnant again, and she doesn't like it. She doesn't think that's funny. I heard women are their most fertile after they have children ... [Laughs]

Watch yourself. Now your special is a lot of fun, but the footage in the beginning of you performing as a kid got me thinking: How is this your first comedy special?
I've had a lot of successful sidetracks as I call them. I've stumbled upon being a pretty good actor, being a pretty good businessman, a pretty good producer -- a lot of doors just opened up. But at the end of the day, my foundation is stand-up comedy. That's what I've always been. It's taken a while -- this has been a life-long dream for me, to get out there and do my own special -- so I'm excited about it.

Who are your comedy icons?
I mean, Eddie Murphy ... when I first saw 'Delirious' and 'Raw,' I said "Ooh, I can do that." Then once I got on the stage and started studying the craft, everyone from Richard Pryor to George Carlin to Robin Williams, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, all those people.

Well your style on stage is very fast -- you get in there, get a laugh and move on. What do you think are the funniest topics you hit on in this special?
Obviously being married to Mariah Carey. That's the hilarious topic I touch on. Everything from Kanye West to Eminem, the N-word, all that stuff. There are a few controversial things, but everything's done with a light heart.

And we learn a bit about you. You sneak food into movies -- just like us!
[Laughs] Yeah. Nothing's changed -- I'm the same old guy!

Except now you put conditioner on certain parts of your body ... that we won't talk about here.
Absolutely. It's good. [Laughs] I'm glad I discovered this thing called conditioner.

Well you definitely aren't afraid to get personal. Does Mariah ever get mad when you share stuff like that?
Not really. I mean, she has the greatest sense of humor ever, and she knows that I'll say anything -- I don't really care. I speak my mind, and I think that's what she loves about me. As much as I can be annoying at times, I think my authenticity is appreciated.

I mean, you compare your relationship with Mariah to being like Halle Berry with Soulja Boy! At least in people's minds.
[Laughs] It is! If you think about it, some people probably see it like that. I hold my wife up high on a pedestal, and sometimes I don't give myself enough credit, so I can see how people would take it like that.

You're already running around, doing 'America's Got Talent' stuff all over the country. And they just announced you're doing the YouTube search again.
Yeah, we're in Vegas for the narrowing down of the auditions. [The YouTube search] is gonna be fun -- that's exciting. We found Jackie Evancho on YouTube last year, so I'm pretty sure we'll find some extraordinary talent again this year.

Do you feel like you're always looking for something different each year, or does it stay the same?
It's kind of the same, but I feel like it's gotten more youthful this year ... the youth culture has been embraced on the show and infused by all the auditioners. There's a lot of young people coming out, so I'm really excited about that.