Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Part 2: The Contemporaries - full transcript

When they say this show
features living color,

you better believe it.

Dick Gregory was

the hottest comedian
in the country.

He gave it all up
for the civil rights objective.

The message became more
about activism than laughing.

After Dick Gregory,
all of these Black comedians

found their place
in the mainstream.

Yeah!

In the '70s...
television is expanding.

JJ's one of my favorite characters,



but it becomes clear
that we didn't write this stuff.

There was comedy
before Pryor and after Pryor.

He goes through this
whole political

and social transformation.

Police got a choke hold
they use out here, though, man.

He showed you the Black
experience without apology.

In the '80s,
Eddie Murphy changed comedy

and changed what it was
viewed as.

I got foreigners from all
over the world walking up,

going "Eddie Murphy!

Fuck you!"

"Suck it,
you Black motherfucker."

Eddie was the rock star,

the young guy with all
the lights, all the cameras,



the leather suits,
the shirt open,

limousines, the entourage.

Like, it was
a different presentation

for comedy, you know.
Bill Cosby was Dad

and Richard Pryor, even,
was Dad.

It made comedy look sexy.

It made it look cool.

If you pay attention to some
of the characters

that he would do,

they did speak
to the political landscape.

Eddie Murphy was the GOAT

because even Richard said, like,

he was, like,
the first movie star.

Eddie was that dude.

To have this young Black guy

be the cop the whole time now,

it's just a complete
power switch dynamic.

In the '80s, you really did
have this feeling of,

"We're here.
Things were opening up.

We don't want to march anymore.

We just want to enjoy

the freedom that we have now."

You know, I think he felt
that fight had been fought.

People try to put pressure
on Eddie Murphy to speak out.

I'm not a very political person.

I'm not.
I'm not.

Look, man, Eddie Murphy was born

to be funny and entertaining.

Now, you want to get
socially conscious,

your ass got CNN.

Turn it on.
What the hell?

There's always this
conversation about comedy.

Is it funny
if you offend your audience?

Is it risky?

Comedy, when it's done right,

it doesn't ask for permission.
It's unflinching.

I am going to make it
my business

to speak as freely as I want to.

- Always have the right to.
- The right to offend.

A comic has a right to offend

the moment we hit the stage.
- Somebody asked me today,

"How many times you get
in trouble

for talking the way you talk?"

I said, "Probably all the time.

But I don't give a fuck."

Eddie Murphy got his start
in stand-up in high school.

I am from Roosevelt,
Long Island.

I grew up in an all-Black
neighborhood, I did.

Did you grow up
in an all-Black neighborhood?

You grew up in a predominantly
White neighborhood?

See, because, like,
we pretty much

taken over New York, the Blacks.

Think about it.
The Whites are going,

"Hey, that's not funny."

He was like 18.

He really had
a pretty quick jump

from doing stand-up
to actually auditioning

and getting
"Saturday Night Live."

Stand-up's
a grown person's medium.

All the comedy I watch,

all the stand-up comedy
I watched,

there's only one kid
who's ever been funny.

That's Eddie Murphy.

Things are happening
quicker for me.

I haven't had to do
the "paying dues" thing

that you have to do when you get
into show business,

like, go work at a club
for 10 years.

Somebody like Eddie Murphy,
that's an anomaly.

He followed maybe
the greatest cast of all time

and had the show up high.

I mean, the thing is, is that
"SNL" had come out

of sort of a White improv world

and so Eddie comes in
and, all of a sudden,

there is not just
a Black presence on the show.

It's the only presence
that anyone wants to watch.

The way that he portrayed
Black people,

that was social commentary.

"Otay."

Buckwheat, Mr. Robinson.

He definitely highlighted
a lot of Black culture

on "SNL."

You know, if you think about it,

Mr. Robinson was all about
what he couldn't do.

"I'mma go down here
and I'mma try

to do such and such,
but, chances are,

they may end up arresting me.

If they do, I won't be

in the neighborhood anymore."
- Summons.

It was that tone
and intent behind it.

Oh, look!

An eviction notice!

Brought by Mr. Landlord.

Can you say scumbucket?

Remember, he did a sketch

where he painted himself
as a White man.

That was a sketch
about White privilege

30, 40 years ago,

and he was doing that
on network television.

Mr. White.

You about to borrow $50,000

from my bank.

But you have no collateral.

You have no credit.

You don't even have any I.D.

Is that correct?

That's right.

- This is a business...
- Uh, Harry.

Why don't you, uh,
take your break now?

It was really showing that
it's a whole different world

for them than it is for us.

- That was a close one.
- It certainly was.

We don't have to bother
with these formalities,

do we, Mr. White, huh?

I'm leaving the show in May.

My idea of what's funny,

I can't project it
the right way on television.

It's like the censors won't let
me do a lot of things

I think is funny, so,
I have to, uh, do movies.

Eddie was killing me.

The only TV he did was "SNL"

and, after that,
it's just all movies.

Oh!

Uh!

I'm sorry about the door, man.
Did that hurt?

It looked real painful.

I think part of the reason
that Eddie Murphy

crossed over so easily is
he was absolutely unique.

Roles like "48 Hours."

When he's singing "Roxanne,"
you go, "Wait!

Shouldn't he be singing
some rap song?"

You got a name, cop?

Not allowing himself
to be stereotyped.

Those aren't the laughs
he's going for.

And I want the rest of you
cowboys to know something...

There's a new sheriff in town.

When he put on the hat and said,

"There's a new sheriff in town,"

that changed the entire dynamic
of Black comedians in film.

Because then,
we can be the aggressors.

Eddie was kind of the first
Black actor

who took charge
in the White world.

Like, you had blaxploitation
stuff in the '70s,

where Black actors
are kind of swaggering

through their own neighborhoods.

Eddie took that and said,

"I can swagger
through any neighborhood."

Don't move!

Sorry for the disturbance, folks.

Everything's under control.
- Yeah?

Eddie, man, real movie star.

I remember seeing Bill Cosby
on Ebony

and I remember seeing
Eddie Murphy on Ebony

and the Bill Cosby one was like
"America's Dad"

and he looked successful.

And then Eddie's was
"The Billion Dollar Man."

He did two specials
that's, like, iconic...

"Delirious" and "Raw"...

And rolled them up, man.

Leather suits.
He was selling out stadiums.

That's what he brought to it.

And a level of fame

that we had never seen...

Black or White, really...
As a comedian.

If somebody said,
"He wasn't a political guy,"

but, like, he was 21 years old
and rich and famous.

I mean, think about this.

The '80s and the '90s
was a cool time to be famous.

Yeah, '80s was about money
and drugs.

That was the '80s.

I like to party
and hang out with friends

and I like winning a lot.

Eddie Murphy is as big
as Michael Jackson

or Prince, or whatever.

This guy was, like,
living the life.

First of all, he was 21.

You know what you think
about at 21?

A lot of sex.

He wanted to get some pussy.

That's why I got
in show business, for pussy.

I figure,
if Jimmie Walker could fuck,

I'm fucking everybody.

God bless America.

Well, the 1980s
were Reagan America.

It was about conspicuous consumption

and the persona he grew
during the 1980s,

it was connected to the
"I got mine" -ness

of the Reagan era.

Are you enjoying your money?
Are you working too much...

The money, I hate.
I hate the money

and I'm burning it all.

Despite his tremendous success,

there were people
in activist circles

who wanted him to do more.

Spike Lee says Hollywood
should do the right thing

and put more Blacks in top jobs.

He says he only counts two
Black executives at Paramount

and he wants that to change.
He said he talked

about the problem
with Eddie Murphy.

Eddie says, "Well, Spike,
I can't jump on a table

and holler and shout
and tell people what to do,

you know, it's their house,"
but my feeling is,

is that, if you gave a company
a billion dollars,

that's your house.

The criticism of him, I think,
is a little bit unfair

because it might have not been
on the scale

that people expected,
but he did help.

Eddie was a guy who did
look out for the other comics.

When he did "Raw,"

Robert Townsend's directing,

Paul Mooney's the opening act,

Keenen gets a production
and writing credit.

When Arsenio first has
"The Late Show,"

before "The Arsenio Hall Show,"

Eddie comes on as a guest,

which bumps Arsenio's
ratings up,

which basically puts him
in a position

to get his own show.

So, you know,
he's pulling people up.

Chris Rock, for example,
became Eddie's protégé, right?

If you ever see
"Beverly Hills Cop II,"

Chris parks Eddie's car
in the movie.

What the hell is this?!

Now, do you go a step further

and do you give Blacks
and other minorities a chance,

where they might
not get a chance?

Behind the scenes,
not too much in front.

Oh, yeah,
a lot of that has happened.

I do my whole Black thing
that I'm supposed to do.

I be having
some Black cameraman.

I do all that stuff.

I'm very Black.

Eddie Murphy changed the shape
of the movie industry

because he demanded

that people of color
had certain jobs.

He was that dude.

He was about opportunity
and gigs, you know?

Because he was a Black man succeeding

at a high level with his talent,

it inspired hundreds,
perhaps thousands,

of young Black men and women

to try to do the same thing.

I'm a child of his.

I'm a disciple of his.

I worshipped Eddie Murphy.

Eddie really changed
the game for me.

I think you could say,

without even being
overtly political,

the success of Eddie Murphy
is political.

The '80s, Ronald Reagan
is the president.

Black America is feeling
the ramifications of that.

We will tighten welfare
and give more attention

to outside sources of income
when determining

the amount of welfare
an individual is allowed.

It was about
trickle-down economics

and there were
a lot of Black people

who were being left out.

Today, more arrests

are being made and more
narcotics are being seized

than ever before.

It was about the war on drugs,

which is a war on Black people
and poor people.

But when you think about
Black artists in the '80s,

there wasn't a lot
of social commentary.

The '80s is the era
of Michael Jackson

as the King of Pop.

Prince, Whitney Houston,

Bill Cosby and "The Cosby Show."

You know, all these individuals
have a high level

of popularity
across the culture,

but they're all nonthreatening,

in the sense that this is
the era of "crossover."

When Cosby got to be
so successful

with "The Cosby Show,"
it was precisely

because it was not political.

We are gathered here
for this special occasion.

Lamont was a good fish,

happy and brave.

I always felt safe
with him around.

At this point in time,
you have White people

walking around saying,
"Bill Cosby's America's Dad."

You know, those people

might be calling him something
different these days,

but that says that you appeal
to a lot of people

and it says that you are
not very threatening.

Hard to get good help, isn't it?

"The Cosby Show" was about

an upper-middle-class family
who just happened to be Black.

He wasn't doing political
and social comedy.

He was apolitical
and he stayed apolitical.

Part of the criticism
at the time was,

"Do they ever talk about race?

Did they ever talk about class?

Do they ever speak
about poor Black people?"

It was quite a legitimate
critique to say,

"Let's talk about some
of these real issues."

Later, in the '80s,

you have other voices
in the culture

that are much more political
and much more conscious.

What's happening?

That wasn't shit.

Looking good.
Shit, my name is Fontaine.

Come on, let me kiss your hand.

No, the one
with the diamonds on it.

I remember watching

Whoopi Goldberg's HBO special
when it came out

and it was a one-woman show,

but it was such a radical show

and, in some ways,
more high-concept

than stand-up because it was
character-driven.

I totally love to surf, okay?

Because, like, I really feel,
like, aesthetically,

like, connected with the ocean.

This is my long,

luxurious blond hair.

It had a lot of, like,
really complex questions

about race and sexuality
and identity buried in it,

which, at the time,
felt like way more sophisticated

than the kind of conversations
we were having, as Americans.

I passed this big dude walking
around in circles

with a picket sign,
talking about, "Stop abortion."

I said, "I have the answer
to abortion."

He said, "What is it?"

I said, "Shoot your dick."

This morning, we want to meet
you a star on the way up.

Whoopi Goldberg is the name.

So you're trying to say

something much more
with your humor.

How do you want an audience
to go home after seeing you?

I want them to go home
with a working mind.

Because people,
as long as they're thinking,

they won't be apathetic,
you see?

The beauty of what Whoopi did,

which is similar to Moms Mabley,
is the character work,

being able to be in a costume
and, through this character,

challenge you on your thinking

and give you stuff
that you never heard about.

It wasn't just joke, this joke,
that joke, that joke.

It was a journey.

And my mother made me go
to my room

because she said it's wearing
my shirt on my head.

And I said, "Nuh-uh, this is
my long, luxurious blond hair."

And she said, "Nuh-uh, fool,
that's a shirt,"

but I don't care
because I'mma have blond hair,

blue eyes,
and I'mma be White."

I remember my first time

seeing Whoopi Goldberg.

She had the T-shirt on her head

and I was like, "I do that.

Does this lady come
to our house?

Is she watching me?
How does she know this?"

She's always used her voice
to champion the underdog

and so you can see it onstage.

It's very natural to her.

Maybe growing up different.

You know, when Whoopi came up,

the Black women that were on TV,
they looked a certain way

and Whoopi got a lot of backlash

because Whoopi was called ugly.

The things that my
characters talk about

are things that
I think about all the time.

It's easier for them,
for my characters,

to talk about these
various things.

Her autobiography informed
each of these characters.

She was able to plug
into different experiences

from the different ways
her life had gone.

Caryn Johnson had lived
a real hard life

before she became
Whoopi Goldberg.

I don't think she even
graduated from high school.

She was apparently addicted
to drugs.

I know that, at one point,
she found herself pregnant,

walked into a Central Park
restroom with a coat hanger,

and performed the abortion
on herself.

She later told the story
through the eyes of a character

in her HBO special.

Like,
you have to take the hanger

and, like,
you have to untwist it

and, like, you turn it
into, like,

one long piece of metal,
you know?

And then, like, you have
to hook it at the end

and then you have to take it
and you put it up and in,

until, like,
you can feel the uterus,

and then you're supposed
to pull.

Like, I just messed it up,
you know?

I just, like,
really messed it up.

I'm not gonna be able
to have kids

and I'm not freaked out
about it.

You know, because, like,
I'm turning 14 next week.

God, you know.

I mean, there's, like,
so much I really want to do.

I saw how deep that special was.

Changed my life.

That's when I went, "Oh,

I'd like to be able to do that.

I'd like to be able
to move people."

It was the "Hamilton"
of its day.

The characters spoke
to different folks

who were being left out
of the boom

that was taking place
during the 1980s.

And this sort of coincides
with the time

that she and Robin Williams
and Billy Crystal

were starting Comic Relief,

pulling all the best comics
in the country together

for this telethon
to deal with homelessness.

During this show,
you'll see exactly...

exactly why the need
is so great

and you'll also see
a telephone number to call

to give your...
- Ocho zero zero...

- 800-5...
- cinco tres ocho.

Whoopi Goldberg is a person

who's conscious of,
not only race, but class,

in a way that universalizes
her themes

because a lot of people
who are not Black can be poor,

a lot of White people
can be poor.

She looked at me and said,
"You people,

you bums and you winos."

I-I-I-I-I'm not no bum.

I said, "I'm not no wino.
I'm on hard times."

She became such a force
in the late '80s

and early 1990s.

It was pretty amazing.

You have to understand
the weight

that a Whoopi Goldberg
is holding in Black comedy.

The Jewish Black woman
that had dreadlocks

that slept with rich White men

and made her own decisions
and opinions and movies.

That is what opens the door
for Wanda Sykes.

Hell! Whoopi Goldberg is
the reason why Black women

can wear braids to work
and locks on TV.

The doors that she has opened
is tremendous

and I'll never forget the first
day I sat in front of her

and she said, "I've been waiting
for you for over 20 years."

"I've been waiting for you."

And I'm like, "I've been trying
to get to you.

I've been working really hard,
trying to get to you."

And when I need advice,
she answers my calls.

If she don't answer,
she call me back

and it'll be the exact thing
that I need.

That woman is a queen.

She is a phenomenal
human being, period.

Whoopi is still that voice
that says,

"No, no, wait a minute.
This is what's really going on,"

speaking truth to power.

She's never stopped doing that.

When you look at Black comedy
in the '80s,

if you weren't Eddie Murphy,
there wasn't a lot of work.

For people like Damon Wayans
and Keenen Wayans

and Townsend, the roles
tended to be small

and tended to be
not very well-developed.

You just recently did
a new movie called "Ratboy"

and you play a pimp in this,
I believe.

Yeah.

And then Fort Greene
in the early '80s

was the home of this incredible
community of Black artists.

Being in Fort Greene
at that time,

Spike is my neighbor

and Wesley Snipes
is my neighbor,

and Erykah Badu and Mos Def
and Talib Kweli.

So there's a consciousness
that comes with us.

"We're gonna make movies.
We're gonna make TV shows."

But no one really considered

that we could get
these movies made.

Until Spike did
"She's Gotta Have It,"

which was shot in Fort Greene.

- There's something about you.
- Good or bad?

I haven't figured it out yet.

I remember watching it.
I was like,

"Wow, I've never seen
this movie."

And the scene that struck me,

and it was very successful
in the theaters,

was the Thanksgiving
dinner scene

because Lola invites
her three lovers over.

All these three guys
are trying to outdo each other.

What would you like,
white meat or dark meat?

White, please.

Figures.

All the class tensions

between the homeboy
and the buppie

and it was just
a wonderful scene.

I was like,
"Wow, this is great stuff."

It got into the
San Francisco Film Festival

and then it got accepted
to Cannes

and he came back
the Black Woody Allen.

I want to thank everybody
for this award.

And I think the most
important thing

about "She's Gotta Have It,"
more important

than whether you like
the film or not,

is that here's an example
that we, as Black people,

have to start making
our own films.

That Big Bang, it just opened
up the whole floodgate

because something like
"Hollywood Shuffle,"

I'm not sure gets bought

without the success
of "She's Gotta Have It."

You shuffled your way
through the Hollywood scene

and you have given us
a delicious movie

and the critics are crazy
about it.

I have to tell people this...
With your credit cards,

you managed to get how much
money on your credit card,

to help you put this together?
- $40,000. I charged the movie.

I'm gonna cut you, sucker!

Why you be gotta
pull a knife on me?

I be got no weapon.

Let's go outside,
so I can cut you.

So, what you think, man?
Do you think it was good?

Oh, I don't know.
I think we can do better.

The movie's about images,

the stereotypes,
and changing them.

I wrote it with my partner
Keenen Wayans.

The movie is
semi-autobiographical.

I kept getting
all these calls...

"They need a rapist
on 'Hill Street Blues.'

They need a mugger
on 'Cagney & Lacey.'"

They looking for somebody
to snatch Sally Field's purse."

And I was like, "Ah..."

Uh, Bobby, I need

a little more Black,
you know what I'm saying?

Like, stick your ass out,
bug the eyes.

You know how they move,
you know?

"Hollywood Shuffle"
still holds up

because it is the absolute truth
in its honest depictions

of what Black performers had
to go through.

We still had to fit
the stereotype

and bust it, at the same time.

"Hollywood Shuffle"

changed Hollywood

because Black people aren't
allowed to critique the system

in a funny,
low-budget production.

Like, what?

The movie was
incredibly successful.

Townsend really represented

kind of like
a Harriet Tubman for us.

He, like, said,
"There's freedom.

But you got to take
a certain road.

Just follow what I'm doing."

And Keenen was
a part of that, too.

Most of the credit
was given to Robert

and so, for me,
it was a big step,

but it wasn't the step.

The step, for me, was

when I went to write and direct
my own movie, which was...

- Let's get that sucker.
- Nobody move!

They released the movie
against "January Man."

That movie was
in about 1,500 theaters.

We were in 200 theaters.

It made $1,900,000.

We made $1,600,000.

For me, that was such
a huge victory.

And that's what led
to "In Living Color," actually.

At the time, a sketch show,

but from a Black perspective,

that was like a Black president.

"Ooh, wouldn't that be crazy?
It'll never happen."

Eddie Murphy talked about doing
a Black "Saturday Night Live"

and Keenen was the guy
who actually did it.

I auditioned
for "Saturday Night Live"

and I didn't get it.

Damon was
on "Saturday Night Live"

and got fired.

So I was like,
"I'll create my own."

I knew all of these
incredibly funny people

who hadn't got a shot.

Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx

and Tommy Davidson
and David Alan Grier.

I was like, "Oh, it's on."

The idea behind
"In Living Color," really,

is to take a familiar format
and sort of

squeeze some new life into it
and the only way to do that is

to bring a different...

perspective to the show.

There is a point where
they've got the pilot.

The White executives at Fox,
they were nervous...

"How is this gonna play?
Are we gonna look racist?"

Peter Chernin, head of network,
he said,

"I'd like to take out
the following sketches...

'The Homeboy Shopping Network, '

'Men on Film, '

and 'Wrath of Farrakhan.'

And then,
when we build an audience,

push the boundaries."

And I said, "I want to kick
the door in, guns blazing."

I said, "If they like it,
they like it.

They don't, I'm good with that."

They aired it.

Rest is history.

"In Living Color" was the first,

really, marriage of hip-hop
and comedy on television.

Hip-hop was just coming in
at the same time.

It tapped into that
hip-hop sensibility

when it was fresh
and oppositional,

before it had been
fully co-opted.

This is Calvin.

He's a Homeboy sapien africanus,

or B-boy, as they're known
in the neighborhood.

"In Living Color"
quickly becomes

this groundbreaking show,

not only
because of how it's cast,

but what the sketches are.

They're not just doing

the Black version
of White sketches.

They're doing
culturally Black sketches.

- Welcome to the...
- Homeboy Shopping Network.

For your automotive needs,
we got car phones,

we got car stereos,
we got car alarms.

And, if you act now,
we could probably get the car.

Probably.

"In Living Color"
is taking the comedic element

and looking critically,

taking inventory
of Black cultural practices

in a humorous way,
in a courageous way.

Alright, kids,
I'm Homey the Clown.

Y'all ready to have some fun?

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

Homey the Clown,
created by Paul Mooney,

who also wrote
for "In Living Color."

You have this children's clown

who is an ex-con
with anger issues.

Tell the nice people how you've
tried to keep Homey down.

Well, I've structured society

in such a way
that men like Homey

face nearly impossible odds
of ever achieving

any sort of educational opportunity.

Sooner or later,
they just end up in jail,

just like Homey.

That character also is talking
in Black Power language.

And so there were things
that were really bold

that were happening.
- Can you put your finger

on what it is
that struck such a chord,

besides the fact
that you're damn good?

I'm pretty much the reason.

I think I'm, you know...

I'm just riding his coattails.

Keenen was so brilliant

at putting
the whole thing together

and organizing the whole thing,

but Damon Wayans was the guy

who was constantly
challenging boundaries.

My name is Anton.

I'm a victim of society

and an entertainer.

"In Living Color" was
essentially founded on sketches

that Damon Wayans couldn't get
on "SNL."

I think you can feel that
in that in-your-face style.

His point of view was
completely different than mine

or anybody else that I knew
and he was really on the edge.

You know,
Lorne Michaels missed out.

They didn't know, and I did.

"In Living Color" was not
without controversy,

because there are, and were,

some members of every ethnicity

which felt, and still feel,

that artists of color
should only uplift the race.

Keenen believed that we have
to be comfortable

making fun of ourselves.

"If it's okay with me,

if it's okay with my family...

This is
from a Black perspective.

I don't have to ask permission."

It was generational.

Older heads were like...

"Um, no,
you've crossed the line."

Younger heads
were like, "Go further,

you know, fuck it.
We don't care."

If living with oppression
is a sin,

then I be guilty!

Oppression for Black men.

By that time, generations had
formed the principle

that we're open-minded,
at least, to see it," you know?

And then we had the gatekeepers
who were willing to do it,

not because they dug it,
but they smelled money.

I think the biggest thing
"In Living Color" did was

it opened up the idea of,
you know, Black creators, okay?

So now, when you look
at Donald Glover,

Kenya Barris,

Lena Waithe, Jordan Peele,

there's not just one anymore.

I'm a Black woman who created
and runs a sketch show, so,

what Keenen did
has been so influential

because it really showed people
like me that, like,

"Oh, we don't have to wait

for somebody to give us permission.

You can do a lot of different
things in this industry

and leave a mark that isn't,
you know,

that isn't influenced
by the White gaze."

Comedy clubs...
They used to be offbeat places

to hang out
in a few major cities.

Now they're everywhere,

generating millions of dollars
in revenues,

as comedians take center stage

on television and in the movies.

Sweetheart,
you just sit there now

and watch me and want me,

know that you could
never have me, okay?

The comedy boom is happening,

in a national sense,
by 1980 through 1990.

Overall, I guess you would say
that it was a White thing.

It was tough, man.

In 1985, in comedy clubs
in this country,

they didn't let two Blacks
perform on the same show

and that was they rule.

The improvs
wouldn't even hire Blacks.

So, welcome to America again.

African-American performers
who had started

after Eddie Murphy's success,

people who started in, like,
the year '85, '86, '87,

are sort of becoming businesspeople

and producing
their own live shows.

We created rooms...

Bars with a microphone
and you next to the DJ booth.

We had the dance hall
or the bowling alley

or the crab shack.

So many comics, they hit
the sidewalk in '86 and '87.

And the Mecca was
the Comedy Act Theatre in L.A.

I'd like to welcome you all
to the Comedy Act Theatre.

See, if you couldn't get
onstage in Hollywood,

you ain't have to worry about it

because the Comedy Act Theatre
was the center of Black comedy.

The Comedy Act Theatre

was started
over on Crenshaw Boulevard

by a guy named Michael Williams.

He was a concert promoter.

He saw a comic named
Robin Harris.

In case you're wondering
who I am,

I'm Robin Harris
on the microphone.

After he saw Robin, he said,
"Look, I got an idea

and I think you're the guy
that can make it happen.

I want to do a Black comedy club

and I need a host
and I want you to be the host."

Fine-looking woman in here.
How you doing, honey?

Got her legs crossed,
like her stuff so good,

she got to hold it down.

Robin Harris
was really a powerhouse,

a guy who had a joke
for every circumstance.

You even dare say something
out loud during his show,

you are not prepared for the
roasting you're gonna take.

Got a gold chain on.
Know damn well it ain't gold.

Just been spray painted.

Can't even walk past a magnet.

It was exciting because it was
Black comics getting

on that stage
that had something to say

and you didn't see that
at the other comedy clubs,

but here, amongst their people,
they were saying it.

They were loud, they were proud.

You go over to a man house,

talking about he live
in some big estate.

He tell you that up in the club.

Go over to his house,
house be so tiny,

you can heat it
with a blow dryer.

After Robin Harris passed,

they kind of handed
the microphone to me.

When I became the host,

I got a lot of Hollywood agents
to come down

and see this Black talent
in the hood, 4030 Crenshaw.

All the agents, instead of going

to the Comedy Store
or the Laugh Factory,

came to the inner city.

Imagine playing a home game
for the championship

and all those people saw
those people in their element

and went,
"I can work with this."

That brief moment in time

shaped a lot of people's lives,

perspectives, and careers.

That place was a legendary spot,

besides the Uptown in New York.

They also were trying
to get the next superstar.

Comedy Act Theatre
probably opened before us.

Where I differentiate
the movements,

I don't think they use hip-hop
the way we use hip-hop music.

The Uptown Comedy Club
was based on hip-hop.

How you doing?
- When you walk in our doors,

it was a hip-hop street jam,

but you couldn't dance
on a dance floor.

Your hair's so short,

you need extensions just
to have naps.

Is it different from other
comedy you've heard?

Uptown Comedy,
it's more like street comedy,

more than, you know,
comedy you see on TV.

You get away
with a lot more stuff here.

The Uptown Comedy Club
was right in Harlem,

on 125th Street.

Wow. Wow.

I haven't been here in so long.

I feel like 20 years
or something.

I feel like it's been that long.

This was the door
to the Uptown Comedy Club,

5 East 125th Street.

On a given night,

we're getting ready
to do shows over here

and someone just got shot
over there.

But I think it was
about 3,000 square feet

and, at the height of it,
we would pack

about 400 people in here, right?

It was an absolute fire hazard.

Black folks doing stuff.

Man, that's what I like,
Black people doing stuff, man.

That's cool.
Had a vision

of bringing this
to you guys, man.

They could've picked
a safer location,

I'll tell you that much, man.

So, at the time,
the young comics told me

that their comedy is censored.

The mainstream clubs did not
want you to be too Black.

You can't talk
about the projects.

You can't talk about roaches.

You can't talk
about food stamps.

So when my brother and I
did the Uptown Comedy Club,

that censor is out the window.

I remember telling,
"No censorship.

Everything you want
to talk about,

you get on that stage
and you talk about it

and bring all your weapons."

When I was a kid, my mom used
to come in my room and say,

"You better get your
stuff together

or I'mma slap the Black
off of you."

I'm saying, "There's no way
my mom could've

slapped the Black off anyone.
If she would have,

everyone in my neighborhood
would be coming up and going,

"Slap me.
I need a job!"

It was a shorthand.

The comics yearned for it.
The audience yearned for it.

These Black clubs, you know,
where Black comedians

were starting to work
through their processes

were the hip-hop generation's
version of the Chitlin' Circuit.

The differences, you know,
from previous generations...

They want to be
successful comedians, right?

But a bunch of them are trying
to get show deals.

And they did.

You so fat...

when you stepped on a scale,

it said, "To be continued."

When it was time for us to put
"Def Comedy Jam" together,

I'll never forget
some HBO execs went over

to the Uptown in Harlem with me,

and they couldn't believe
what was going on.

I mean, there was definitely
a wave popping.

Thank you for coming out!
Peace! Peace! Peace!

And then Russell Simmons
came out,

and, kaboom, it just took off.

From New York City,

it's the "Russell Simmons'
Def Comedy Jam"!

With your host, Martin Lawrence!

Now, thanks to Russell Simmons
and Bob Sumner,

there's a format
that HBO gonna put on

and feature
nothing but our comedy.

We was giving Black comedians

an opportunity to do
their club act on television.

We were taking people from
the outhouse to the penthouse.

Ladies, there's something in us

when we see a string...

go down the crack of your ass!

Ohh! Shit!

Wow!

The phenomena is natural.

Young Black kids
and this hip-hop culture.

Another expression
of their energy.

Russell loved comedy
and used to go to the Uptown

almost, like, every Sunday.

But I was that guy who was
working at the record company,

and then I had relationships
with quite a few comedians,

so that's pretty much
how it all came together.

We taped in October of '91,

and then the shows
actually started airing

the first Friday
in March of '92,

and it just took off
like gangbusters.

Ladies and gentlemen,
put your hands together

for my main man

Mr. Martin Lawrence!

It was nothing
like I ever expected.

Crowd was a definite
hip-hop crowd,

'cause they were like, "Aah!"

They were screaming.

In your dressing room,
you're kind of nervous

'cause you could hear the
rafters shaking in this theater.

Welcome to the Def Comedy Jam,
where we present young Black...

No, I mean...
I don't just mean Black

'cause I know White people
are going, "Oh, fuck!

Is it a Black thing?!"

Martin Lawrence's comedy

is based on just
straight, brutal truth.

Well, he's trying
to bury everybody.

He was like,
"You're about to experience

the Martin Lawrence era.

So everybody move...
Step aside."

You know who Todd girl is,
right?

MC Lyte.

And guess what.

He got a tattoo on his chest,
got "MC Lyte" on his shit.

And I used to fuck her.

I wouldn't wish
following Martin Lawrence

on my worst enemy
in those days, you know?

'Cause Martin had an energy.
He was... It was wild.

It's crazy. It was like watching
church, watching "Def Jam."

There's nothing like killing
for a Black audience like that.

But I love sex. I love it.
And I'm blessed.

If I pull my shit out,
this whole room get dark.

You don't understand.

These Black comedians
could be on HBO

and talk the way they talked
in the Black rooms,

and they didn't have to
compromise their art.

This was understanding
that no one laughs like us,

no one tells jokes like us.

Came to Def Jam, huh?

We're gonna be real Black
this week.

I'll show ya.

Something about
if you do racial material

in front of a Black audience,

it's a thousand times
more powerful than if you do it

in front of
a mixed or White audience.

I wouldn't want
to produce the show

if I had to clean up
the language

'cause it wouldn't be as real.

Here's the kind of motherfucker
hollering about a blowjob.

I couldn't give him no blowjob.

My big-ass lips,
his little old dick.

It wouldn't work.

That'd be like trying to give
a whale a Tic Tac, motherfucker.

That shit wouldn't work.

This was the beginning
of a whole other generation

where they know how to speak
directly to a Black audience.

And it's...
It's kind of cool to watch.

"Def Comedy Jam"
was unapologetically Black.

That's what they were going for.

And that's why the show
was never the critical favorite.

You know, these White critics
didn't get it.

They used to say that this is
HBO's ghetto Black child.

But it's the number-one show.

I know White people are just
like, "Oh, God, look at it!

The niggers are going crazy!"

It made people get cable,

and probably 65% of the audience
watching it on TV are not Black.

It wasn't going
after that audience,

but in not going after
that audience,

you get that audience.

You know,
curiosity killed the cat, bro.

Hopefully this show
will help to promote

a better understanding
amongst Black and White youth.

Millions of people around
the world have already seen

the amateur video
of White police officers

beating an unarmed
Black motorist.

They struck me across the face
real hard with a billy club

after I was laying facedown.

When Rodney King got beaten,

somehow, the jury of our peers,

which didn't look like Rodney,

went in that room and didn't see
the police beating him.

They saw a monster
defying the law.

Tensions exploded overnight
on the streets of Los Angeles

following the acquittal
of four police officers

charged in the beating
of Rodney King.

Ain't no justice! No justice!

No justice right here!
Ain't no justice!

With Rodney King and
the social climate of America,

Def Jam comedians were able
to bring it to the stage

and really, like, talk about it.

I know y'all seen
the Rodney King beating.

Came on every night.
Turned into a TV series.

"Let's watch the Rodney King
beating tonight.

7:30, 8:30, 9:30.

We're whupping his ass
just for you!"

Last week, the police
made me get out the car.

Scared the shit out of me.
So I jumped out the car,

grabbed a blackjack
and started whipping myself.

Just whipping myself.

See, that way, you cut out
the fucking middleman.

See what I'm saying?
You just cut him.

Comedy is one of the best tools

of embarrassing or critiquing
the powerful.

Black comedy at that time

starts to speak to America
and all of its hypocrisy.

If you break the law, you're
supposed to go to jail, right?

Oliver North broke the law,
and now he's out.

Bush and Reagan broke the law,
but they're free.

And so you're pissed at me
for looting?

We saw what's happening.

You can't go back
to just talking about nothing.

It kind of made you
want to just feel like,

"Okay, well, where are you going
as an artist?"

No justice in America,
not for the Blacks!

The justice is for the other
man, not for the brother, man!

The Rodney King era

gave rise to Chris Rock
and Dave Chappelle.

And they represented
the new generation of comics.

They brought the smart
back to stand-up.

In the '90s, after Rodney King,

police brutality continues
and racism continues.

And there was a new generation
of comedians

that wanted to talk about Black
issues, talk about politics.

The two who became huge are
Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.

That's that whole
brutality thing.

I'm not gonna say
White people didn't believe us,

but you were a little skeptical.

"Honey, did you see this?

Apparently, the police
have been beating up Negroes

like hotcakes!"

Shit, there ain't
a White man in this room

that would change places
with me.

And I'm rich!

Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock

inherited the legacy
of those comedians

from the '60s and the '70s,
that social criticism.

But they have
something different.

It's a willingness

to hold a critical lens

to both White America...
and Black America.

But when they did it
in front of White audiences,

a lot of Black people
kind of bristled.

It was a problem.

Please welcome
young Mr. Chris Rock,

ladies and gentlemen.

Chris Rock.

So what's up?

In the late 1980s,

Chris Rock
comes out of New York.

The Comic Strip
was his homeroom.

And he was always sort of
a socially conscious comic.

People are scared of Blacks

and people are scared
of Puerto Ricans,

but there's nothing
more horrifying

than a bunch
of poor White people, you know?

And they're so confused, 'cause
they sit there, they're poor.

They're like, "How did we
get this way? We're White."

Since the beginning,
he was really realizing,

"What am I doing onstage,
what am I saying onstage?

Am I leaving the people
with something?"

He'd buy, like, every magazine,
every newspaper.

He was like,
"The more information I have,

the better my comedy will be."

Chris Rock famously studied
broadcast journalism,

and what he did was become
a broadcast journalist,

just from the stage.

See, the whole damn country
is so damn conservative now.

Everybody's like,
"Jails ain't tough enough.

Jails ain't tough enough."

Jails are fucked up! Okay?

The problem is...

the reason jails are so crowded,

'cause life is fucked up, too!

People are broke.
People are starving.

I think there's no question
that his comedic eye

was tied to
journalistic observations

about what's happening socially
around Black folks.

Shit, if you live
in an old project,

a new jail ain't that bad.

Gun violence and Columbine
and gang violence...

All of these things
were a big issue.

And he was sort of
a voice of reason

through comedy at that time.

I was just searching
for topics and angles

and looking for angles
that other people weren't doing.

Everybody talking
about gun control.

You don't need no gun control.
You know what you need?

We need some bullet control.

I think all bullets
should cost $5,000.

And people would think
before they'd kill somebody

if a bullet cost $5,000.

"Man, I would blow
your fucking head off!

If I could afford it!"

"What if the bullets
cost a whole lot of m...?"

People will be like, "I ain't
just gonna be shooting anybody."

It was a crazy thing to say,
but it makes sense.

Well, Chris is incredibly smart
and incredibly observant,

and whether he's doing a joke
about political B.S.

or niggas versus Black people,

they're all based on close
observation of human behavior.

There's, like, a civil war
going on with Black people,

and there's two sides.

There's Black people...
and there's niggers.

And niggers have got to go.

Every time Black people
want to have a good time,

ignorant-ass niggers fuck it up.

You know, the whole bit
that, like, really blows him up

is the difference between
Black people and niggers.

This is a very common discussion
point in the '90s, for sure,

for most Black people
across the country.

Can't go to a movie
the first week it come out. Why?

'Cause niggas
are shooting at the screen.

What kind of ignorant shit
is that?

Everyone Black knew exactly
what he was talking about,

but he was saying it on HBO
in front of White people.

I don't look at Black people
in this black-and-white way,

this "you're with us or them"
way.

I was making fun of a culture
in a sense,

but it was a culture I loved.

What the people who criticized
him were saying was,

"Is it something you should say
in front of White people?"

Because if you do,

does that not give them
the permission to say it?

I actually don't like that bit.
I think it's...

No, act... That's not true.
I love the bit.

I think the bit's amazing.
I just hate that point.

When you start saying,
"No, these are niggers,"

you're kind of
moving the goalposts.

You're giving people an excuse
to still call us niggers.

Every special I've done,
at some point, people go, "Boo!"

That's how I like it.

I like the audience
to be slightly appalled

every now and then.

"I can't believe
he's saying that."

Chris Rock wanted to pick
that scab off your brain.

He wanted to make you cringe
a little bit, Black or White.

It didn't matter to him.

That's the beauty of Rock, man.

He was such a radical thinker
and a radical comedian.

But if you kind of, like,
are blown back by Chris,

you kind of are sucked in
by Dave Chappelle.

Chappelle!

He has languidity,

this power
that knows he's funny,

knows you're gonna come to him,

is not gonna
have to work for it.

You really lean forward
when you watch Dave.

My mother used to tell me...
Before I ever thought

about doing comedy, she said,
"You should be a griot."

A griot is a person in Africa

who's charged with keeping
the stories of the village.

And she would let me understand
that I'm being raised

in a hostile environment
that I have to tame.

By the time I was 14 years old,

I was in nightclubs,
mastering an adult world.

Chappelle, from all accounts,
was like a child prodigy

and came out almost fully formed
as a comedian.

Don't you think it was, like,
a little suspicious?

Just little suspicious?
That every dead Black person

the police find
has crack sprinkled on 'em?

I mean, come on, now.

He was always a dude
who was speaking truth to power

and always sort of had
interesting takes

on what was going on
in the world.

There are examples
from the "Chappelle's Show's"

two seasons that speak
to the political, to the social.

We are looking
for Clayton Bigsby?

Well, look no further, fella.
You found 'im.

The fact that Clayton Bigsby,

the blind Black
White supremacist,

was on his first show...

that audacity is just wonderful.

What if I were to tell you

that you are
an African-American?

Sir! Listen!

I'm gonna make this clear.

I am in no way, shape, or form

involved in any niggerdom!

The show is most brilliant
in its satirical aspects.

It comes along in a moment

where folks are more open,

particularly
younger Black folks,

to satire as a vehicle
to talk about Black lives,

and he took advantage of that.

But not just in front of a Black
audience, but a White audience.

Hey, hey!

The sketches he created
on the "Chappelle's Show"

will live forever.

But there's all sorts
of controversy, as well.

For instance, The Niggar Family.

Mornin', Niggars!

Why, it's Clifford,
our colored milkman!

And this my favorite family
to deliver milk to...

The Niggars!

Mmm-mmm!

A lot of people, both Black
and White, feel uncomfortable

with what they call
your "overuse" of the N-word.

That word, "nigger," used to be
a word of oppression.

But when I say it,

it feels more like
an act of freedom.

If you could sum up
the story of America in a word,

that might be the word
that I'd pick.

It has connotations in it

that society
has never dealt with.

We didn't really give a fuck,

and we went with
what we thought was funny

and not the person like,

"Well, you need to say this.
You need to say that."

We just did it.

That show becomes
bigger than comedy.

Every now and again, mainstream
news picks a comedian and goes,

"This person's
bigger than comedy."

So, my bosses
are paying you $50 million.

You're making more
than Wallace and Rather

and Bradley put together.

Wow. Go get me a cup of coffee,
bro. Just kidding.

But then, after two seasons,

Chappelle walks away
from his show

and turns down $50 million
and he leaves for South Africa.

Dave's separation from the
business was by choice. Right?

And everybody put a story
together of what they thought,

what they felt, but had nothing
to do with the actual truth.

There's this one sketch.

The premise of the sketch
was that every race

had this, like, pixie,
this, like, racial complex.

But the pixie was in blackface.

What are you serving?

Oh, we have fish or chicken.

Ooh-whee!
I just heard the magic words!

So then we're finally
taping the sketch.

Somebody on set that was White

laughed in such a way...

I know the difference of people
laughing with me

and people laughing at me.

And it was the first time
I'd ever gotten a laugh

that I was uncomfortable with.

And I bounced.

Comedy is a reconciliation
of paradox,

and I think that that was a...
irreconcilable moment for me,

that I was in this
very successful place,

but the emotional content of it

didn't feel anything
like what I imagined

success should feel like.

When he came back, he did
what he loves to do the most,

and that's stand-up.

Stand-up is the one thing
that he can control.

I spoke at my old high school
just to encourage the kids,

and I told them straight-up.

I said, "If y'all wanna
make it out of this ghetto,

you're gonna have to stop
blaming White people

for your problems
and you're gonna have to focus

and you're gonna
have to learn...

how to rap or play basketball
or something!

You're trapped, nigga!
You are trapped!

Either do that
or sell crack rocks.

That's the only way
I've seen it work."

He knew how
to make people think,

and he was evolving
into something

that's gonna be bigger
than making anybody laugh.

Black comedy has been

the province of straight males
for a very long time.

If I ever get married,

I have to go up
to the woods of Africa

and find me some
crazy naked zebra bitch...

that knows nothing
about money.

The way they referred to women
was pretty sexist.

There's that stereotypical
category of Black comic

that you got to be from the hood

and you got to be talking
about White people all the time.

Some brothers got dicks so ugly,

a crack addict
will give the money back.

"Aah! Unh-unh. I'll get high
tomorrow. That's a'ight.

Unh-unh. Ugh."

"Def Comedy Jam"
was the definitive platform

for Black comedy at the time,
and as a result,

people felt like
that was Black comedy.

But that is not our entire
comedic experience.

What about being queer?
What about being a woman?

What about being
from a particular region?

Ladies and gentlemen...

the next first family
of the United States of America.

Change has come to America.

I think over the last,
you know, 10, 15 years,

and particularly with
the election of President Obama,

we start to see Black comedians
fight for diversity.

That becomes their activism.

Cops are gonna stop
and frisk you.

Here's a list of things
you can put in your pockets

to make it
a little more awkward for them

and a little more fun for you.

Oatmeal.

Sushi in one pocket...

wasabi in the other.

When I was on "Totally Biased,"
a Black TV journalist

wrote about the show
and called me a "blerd,"

and I was like,
"Oh, is that what I am?"

I was like, "Okay.
Is that what this is? Great."

I was like, "Well, then,
I'm gonna take my blerd ass

over here
and just capitalize on it.

And then everything widened,

and Black nerds became visible.

Then it was off to the races.

I'm a Black nerd,
and that was illegal

until like 2003.

I was a blerd
when it was really unpopular.

It was deeply, deeply painful
and isolating.

I was the kid that watched BBC.

And as the other kids are like,

"Yo, man, You saw
'Starsky and Hutch'?

Oh, man, that's my dude!"

I'm in there, it's like,
"Hey, guys,

I saw 'Upstairs Downstairs, '

and then afterwards,
we watched 'Show of Shows.'

Sid Caesar! That's a bad moth... "

"Shut up, Wayne Brady!"

We gotta get through 'em.

Just stay together, keep moving,
and don't get bit.

Go!

Are you getting this?
- Yea. What is up?

Ain't that some shit?

These are some racist
motherfucking zombies!

But when Key and Peele
broke through,

we were finally able
to be Black and weird.

I think Key and Peele
broke the mold, so to speak.

You know, when they started
doing their sketch show,

they referenced sci-fi,

they talked about superheroes
and indie music.

Imagine... things that
White stand-up comedians

were able to do
for years earlier.

Key and Peele
are these unique voices

that don't sound like
anybody else

and also talk about
social-conscious things.

Governor Romney and I
have different ideas

on how to best help
the American people.

I saved the auto industry!

You want to give tax breaks
to millionaires!

I killed Osama bin Laden,

and you strapped a dog
to the top of your car!

When I think
about Key and Peele,

it's very interesting
watching somebody

not let the game
put them in a box.

That's why I love
Key and Peele so much,

because they can
sneak up on you.

I love when people
don't expect it.

That's the best part about
comedy, I think, is a turn.

I'm aware that there are people

that's like,
"Well, Wayne Brady, he's safe."

While I don't comment
through stand-up,

I can comment through a sitcom,

I can comment through
an improv scene.

Can you pick out
the man that robbed you?

And I've made my whole career
out of slipping by

and jumping
over those expectations.

Hey, hold up, Wayne.
I think you passed our turn.

The restaurant's back that way.

Nah. That's alright. Relax.

Heh. There he is.

Break yo'self, fool!

Aw It's Wayne Brady, son!

Ohh! Ohh!

As long as you know who you are

and you sit in your Blackness

and you sit
in your sense of self,

you can have a voice.

Comedy, like many
professional spaces,

excludes women.

I felt like
in the last 30 years,

the portrayal of Black women
in comedies has evolved slowly.

We have actually seen Black men

who have been the woman
that's doing this,

clappin' their hands like that.

Why won't they let
a Black woman play that role?

Face the wall and say,
"Old Macdonald had a farm."

The wall!

Why couldn't a Black woman
play Sheneneh?

A lot of my success
early on in my career

was that I was just playing,
like, the "sassy" Black friend.

Those were the roles
that were available to me.

It was very limiting.

I was only
the second Black woman

to have an HBO special... ever?!

Like, what kind of nonsense
is that?

And people would be like,
"Congratulations."

I'm like,
"That's not a congratulations."

That's a
con-what-the-fuck-ulations

has been going on?

When you are constantly
being stereotyped

and you are constantly
being kind of boxed out,

you just get frustrated

and you start creating stuff
for yourself.

Awkward moment.

What's the protocol

for repeatedly running
into someone at a stop sign?

- I missed you!
- Oh, my God. Hey.

I totally didn't even see you.

- It's been so long!
- I know, right?

No, seriously.
What the fuck is it?

If you look at Issa,
she couldn't get any work,

but because of the advent
of digital technology

and the ability
to create your own content,

she made work for herself

and showed people who she was
and what she could do.

"Awkward Black Girl" took off,
and it was also during a time

when I was trying to break
into the industry traditionally

and was just getting "no's."

And that was really important

for Black women
and Black artists

in the face of oppression
and exclusion in Hollywood.

And then HBO goes, "We'd like
you to do that over here."

Issa Rae gets "Insecure."

I made one mistake
during my presentation,

and they lost all faith in me,
you know?

Now I'm the Black girl
who fucked up.

And White people at my job
fuck up all the time!

She created this persona

that helped
so many Black women feel seen.

A Black woman who has anxiety,
who is struggling in her career,

who's having trouble
in relationships,

who's really
just finding herself.

It was revolutionary.

All these people out here
grinding at every level

gave us permission to be
who you are and tell your jokes.

Guys think we don't masturbate.

Especially guys
in a relationship.

"Why would you need
to masturbate?"

Why do you need
to masturbate, man?

Aisha Tyler. She was pivotal.

No one was looking like her

and sounding like her
and acting like her.

Somebody like Wanda Sykes
was coming through,

and you can really see her,
over time, step into her power

as she started
to claim more space.

It's harder being gay
than it is being Black.

I didn't have to come out Black.

That opens the door
for other LGBTQ comedians.

Like, you really see comedians,

like, step into their voice
at that time.

I'm not gonna get pregnant because...

I don't like
having sex with men.

- Have you tried it?
- I think what's exciting

is how much more diverse
the faces are now.

What we're seeing now

is just a multitude
of human experience.

What's interesting is, you know,
these comedians of color

did a lot of speaking
and a lot of advocacy

because at the time there was
so much work to be done.

Are you ready?

Are... you... ready?

Donald Trump will be the 45th
President of the United States,

winning the most surreal
election we have ever seen.

Oh, my God.

I think... America is racist.

Oh, my God.

You know, I remember
my great-grandfather

told me something like that.

But he was, like, a slave
or something. I don't know.

For Black folks, it was like,
"Oh, yeah. This again?"

Two steps forward,
one step back?

Little did we know...
40 steps back.

God, this is
the most shameful thing

America has ever done!

Like, White people finally got
to see the thing manifest itself

that Black comedians

were talking about
for a hundred years.

You will not replace us!
You will not replace us!

What is happening?!
Nazis are out!

They out without hoods,
getting haircuts!

In 2016, we were like,

"Yeah, there's a bunch of racist
people. Isn't that crazy?"

And then they became emboldened,

and now they're, like,

racist and organized.

And it's terrifying.

Confrontations
between White nationalists

and counterprotesters
grew increasingly angry

throughout Saturday morning.

This egregious display
of hatred, bigotry,

and violence on many sides.
- Mr. President,

do you want the support of these
White nationalist groups

who say they support you,
Mr. President?

Trump remobilized Black comics.

I don't know anybody
who didn't get on that stage

and talk about that in the way
it was affecting them.

This new election
changed everything.

We learned White people
know how to keep a secret.

We didn't know White people
was up to something

until they started showing
White people in line voting.

And all the White people

looked like they had a secret
to keep and shit. They...

I was having to walk that line

between saying things
that people might not agree with

and then still having to be

a rational human being
at the other end.

It's White people across
the political spectrum

that if you go, "I think
Donald Trump's a racist,"

and they go, "I mean..."

"You're racist. You're racist.
You're racist."

It's a tired,
disgusting argument.

The anger
here in Charlottesville

has reached boiling point.

President Trump's travel
and immigration crackdown

on people from seven
Muslim majority countries.

It's all fake news.
It's phony stuff.

Rise and resist!

Things have shifted.
So it's just a different world.

The Trump era is a time
where you find out what

everybody's made of and what
your favorite comic is made of.

In a world of panic,
somebody has got to be

the clear voice of clarity.

Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle,
to me, charted that path.

Took us 400 years
to figure out as a people...

that White people's weakness
the whole time

was kneeling
during the national anthem.

They're saying
the things I believe,

and they're giving me
some analysis

that I can then quote
to somebody else or retweet,

and it's also funny.

Some people say young Black men
are an endangered species.

But that's not true.

'Cause endangered species
are protected by the government.

It's like all these things
were happening.

Trump, race.

I wanted to speak comedy to
the politics of what's going on.

I was like, "Okay, can we
be relevant in this time?"

And it's like, you know, "Okay,
I'm ready to take that on."

And the only way
to make anything better

is to fucking fix
a broken system.

The microphone is a powerful
weapon when used correctly.

Dave and Chris have always
used theirs correctly.

My weapon is social media.

Your job is to save lives,
not take them.

You didn't want
to hear a politician.

You didn't want to hear
a religious figure.

You didn't want
to hear a journalist.

Comedians have become
the vessels

for presenting this information
in public.

In an interview on Monday,
President Trump said that

the phrase "Black Lives Matter"

is "bad for Black people."

I fact-checked that statement,
and I found out

that it is, in fact...
not true!

Our political situation
really empowered the new guard,

like my friend Amber Ruffin,
to say,

"Well, we have a platform,
so say what you want to say."

In addition to that,
it's an even...

dumber thing to say.

The second they were like,
"You have your own show,"

I started working
to de-gaslight us.

It was an act of activism.

This is facts.

And this...

this is dumb.

These young comedians
had already established

that they had a singular voice,

and our job was just to accept
what they were going to bring.

I want to thank Trump
for making Black people

number one
on the most oppressed list.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

I'm out here
just like everybody else.

No justice, no peace.

This younger generation,
they've had the freedom,

ostensibly, to tell their truths
as they experience it.

Now, y'all keep asking me.

"Amanda,
who is this special for?"

And I keep telling y'all
it's really for everybody.

Okay. Maybe not for everybody.

Everybody except for racists,

rapists, sexists,
misogynists, narcissists.

You know, folks that are calling
the cops on Black folks

for just living our lives,
yeah, it ain't for you.

Trump Time was just wow time
to be funny and Black.

It forced a lot of us to get
really a lot more political

than I think we ever wanted to.

Out of crisis comes comedy.

Have you ever met niggas
in L.A.?

Them niggas talk like a White
woman ordering at Starbucks.

They have perfected
their elocution...

I believe, because the LAPD
has perfected its racism.

The Trump era
was super challenging,

and you're like, "I can't
imagine anything worse."

But then 2020 happens.

And it just got worse
and worse and worse.

Tonight, a nation on lockdown.

Businesses shuttered.

More than 30 million
without access

to theaters,
restaurants, and bars...

To talk about
what happened in 2020,

you have to talk about the fact
that it's a global pandemic

and most of us are
under lockdown in our homes

'cause we don't want
to spread the coronavirus.

And many of us are watching
the news all day long

trying to figure out,
"Can I go outside yet?"

And then on May 25, 2020,

the news goes,
"Hold on a second.

This coronavirus thing
is serious,

but we have something else
to show you."

This morning, the FBI
is looking into the death

of a Black man
after he was stopped by police

in Minneapolis.

The video of last night's
confrontation

shows a White police officer
with his knee

pinning down the neck
of the suspect.

I can't breathe!

The thing about George Floyd
was you watched it.

And we... it was the pandemic.

We were all home watching
the man killed in real time.

Black people know cops be
murdering like motherfuckers.

We know that.
We've been known that.

I want to live in a world
with real equality.

I want to live in a world where
an equal amount of White kids

are shot every month.

I want to see
White mothers on TV crying...

standing next to Al Sharpton.

The world was beginning

to catch up, finally,
with Black comedy.

Blacks and cops
aren't getting along.

I don't know
if you've seen the news

in the past 400 years, but...

For many White people,
that was the first time

they sat through
one of those videos.

And Black people were like,
"Hold on a second.

I got some other videos
to e-mail you."

I can't breathe.
I can't breathe.

In 2020, you had Ahmaud Arbery

killed by White men
policing their area.

And then also Breonna Taylor
gets killed.

She was shot
at least eight times

as undercover police
rushed her apartment overnight.

Then you're talking about,
like, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta

who runs away
and is shot in the back.

This happens
over and over again.

And this stuff was building up.

There were signs
and there was symbols

of its... of its coming fury.

But we ignored them.

We were told not to go nowhere,
but we were all so frustrated

that everybody
went in those streets.

- Don't shoot!
- Hands up!

- Don't shoot!
- Hands up!

So two pandemics...
Race and COVID...

Had as their central claim
"I can't breathe."

- I can't breathe!
- I can't breathe!

The struggle, I think,

in Black comedy
during that time was...

Like, it was kind of
no longer a joke.

There's a lot going on
in this country, right?

And if I can be honest,
I'm a comedian, I'm an actor.

Everything is just not funny
right now.

You know what I mean?

I'm more tired and annoyed
most of the time.

When the George Floyd
marches started,

the only option left
was me telling stories

about my actual run-ins
with the cops.

Let me tell you a story. So...

A cop gets out, and his gun
is drawn, and he goes,

"Put your hands
on the hood of the car!"

"Hold it right there!
We gotcha!"

And I'm like...

When you see something,
say something.

Do something. Get loud.

Don't let people
get away with racist crap.

You think back to Dick Gregory.
I think Dick Gregory knew

he was living through a moment
where, like,

"I got to make a stand.
I got to take chances.

I can't act like things
are regular right now."

I am gonna fight till this
system comes down to her knees.

The same issues that animated
and motivated Dick Gregory

were issues that were motivating
Black people 50 years later.

When the George Floyd
situation happened,

we were doing shows
in cornfields.

I told Dave,
"People want to hear you talk."

I said, "You've made people
laugh your whole career.

It's not time to be funny
right now."

This kid thought
he was gonna die.

He knew he was gonna die.
He called for his mother.

He tapped into the heart
of how we were feeling,

the frustration, the pain.

I mean, we shut the jokes off.
It ain't funny no more.

This ain't funny. We tired.

People watched it.

People filmed it.

And for some reason
that I still don't understand...

all these fucking police

had their hands
in their pockets.

Dave doing "8:46,"
it was a shift.

We saw comedy change

because we saw the energy
of the world change,

and Dave was guiding us in the
right direction towards purpose,

towards intention,
towards healing.

And that's what comedy is about.

What are you signifying,

that you can kneel
on a man's neck

for 8 minutes...

and 46 seconds...

and feel like

you wouldn't get
the wrath of God?

He told me, "Maybe I need
to get back to being funny."

You know?
I'm like, "Not really."

You make people think,

and that's something
bigger than comedy.

"You better talk
about what's going on,

and you better not be afraid
to say what's right,

because you...
You are needed more than ever."

We'll keep this space open.

This is the last stronghold
for civil discourse.

After this shit, it's just
rat-a-tat-tat-tat, tat-tat!

The time of just laughing,
singing, and dancing is over.

All the comedians
got to get involved,

because the time is now.

The change has got to happen.

And that's really...
That's how I see it.

Every gesture onstage,

every sound has a history.

We have to keep in mind that
comedy is deeply historical,

and Black comedy
can be traced back to slavery.

You're in a situation

where you're dealing with
nothing but pain.

The only way to deal with that
was to joke about it.

So your escape were the moments
that you created.

Enslaved people
simply could not speak back

or complain
about their condition

and how they were being treated,

so humor became a way

of communicating to each other
forms of criticism.

I like to tell people
that a whole encyclopedia

could be written
on this sound alone.

"Mm-hmm."

For the White overseer, right,

it's just a slave making noises,
right?

But other Black people
see it as critique.

There's no question
there's a tradition

of social criticism
embedded in Black comedy.

For example,
Bert Williams making sure

that audiences saw the humanity
in blackface.

That's a defiant stance.

Of course, Dick Gregory
standing in front of White folks

and saying,
"I'm not afraid of you."

America is the number-one
most racist country

on the face of this Earth.

The idea of being bold,

that's a driving force
for Pryor.

This is the fun part for me,
when the White people come back

after intermission and find out
niggers done stole their seats.

Like, Whoopi Goldberg,
her existence is activism.

Moms Mabley and Redd Foxx
talking about sex.

How about the
sexual revolution, Moms?

How do you feel about that?
- That's wonderful.

No filter, no apologies.

The very definition
of Black comedy

is about Black irreverence.

Do I believe in heaven and hell?

I believe
that if you've been Black,

you should automatically
get to go to heaven

'cause you done already
caught hell.

They broke the rules.

That's what you have to do
to be heard.

There's a direct
linear progression

to Chris Rock,
Dave Chappelle, Wanda Sykes...

Cultural analysts,
social activists

who have the courage to say,

"We got to stop the jokes
for a minute

to tell you about what
the hell is happening here."

The only reason people want
to hear from people like me

is because you trust me.

You don't expect me
to be perfect.

But I don't lie to you.
I'm just a guy.

And every institution
that we trust lies to us.

That's our job to tell the
truth that we all see it

that's right in front of us.

That's why people trust us.

They did it joke by joke.

They built an infrastructure
of resistance...

from slavery to this day.

The right to offend
is about freedom of speech,

and Black people in this country
haven't really had

the opportunity to be free.

So as a Black comedian,
you best believe

I am going to
make it my business

to speak as freely as I want to

and have the right
to offend whomever

if it's something
that I stand on.

After George Floyd
and Black Lives Matter

and the insurrection,

there's still
so much more work to do.

We know we can do better.

I'm asking us to do better.
Why are we still...

You know, I say it like...
I get bored with topics.

I still have to talk
about racism?

We still have to talk
about healthcare?

We still have to talk about you
get sick, you could go bankrupt?

We still have to talk about
all of this... this hatred?

Like, can't we move forward?

The movement's not over.

And I think Black comics
have some sense of duty

to speak truth to power.

As Blacks, we have an obligation

that other people don't,
and we just gotta... we wear it.

We got to get more
Dick Gregorys today

speaking about it...

and do it shamelessly

and do it with
all the bravery you can.

In a time
where you're still seeing

a high level of mistreatment

and the gap in regards
to opportunity, equality,

you need these voices
to help close the gap.

But if those voices start
to kind of act and live in fear

and they're quiet,

then that gap is gonna
forever be as big as hell.

So, you know, to me,
my comedic heroes

have done a good job
in closing that

to the best of their ability.

So you can only hope
that people see that

and respect that
and understand that.

Y'all know him as the winner
of the "Last Comic Standing."

Ladies and gentlemen, he doesn't
need any introduction.

Please give it up
for the very funny and talented

Alonzo Bodden.

Do Black comedians
have a right to offend?

No, we have a job to offend.

My God. If you're comfortable,
we're not doing our job.

You can turn the cameras off

'cause you ain't gonna be able
to televise this shit.

That's a wrap. I want to give
a shout-out to the editor.

I know you're gonna have
your work cut out for you.

But please make me look good

and don't have my eye paused
like this too long.

I know you in there
bored, all alone.

Nobody gives a fuck.
Nobody gives a fuck.

That's how you feel.
"Nobody cares about me."

But we know...
if you don't do your job well,

this is gonna
be a piece of shit.

But if you do your job excellently,

like you're paid to do,
this gonna be

the best motherfucking thing
on Earth!

So, editor, do... your..thang.