Starring Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac.
Directed by Spike Lee.
Filmed in one night at a concert on their tour to Charlotte, North Carolina, the
Original Kings Of Comedy are four black comedians whose humour examines black
people and their place in America. Steve Harvey acts as the master of ceremonies,
beginning the night, introducing each of the other three comedians, and entertaining
in between the three. His humour touches the differences between black people and
white people, and how a black band would never have kept playing as the ship sunk
in Titanic. He talks about his parents requiring him to go to church ALL
the time. He weighs into the debate between old school and hip hop, and comes
out on the right side - old school.
D. L. Hughley, the man with an ABC sitcom named after himself, starts things off
with a set including how black people are different than white people, and how
men and women interact. Cedric the Entertainer follows with material including how
black people are different than white people, and about life growing up without much
money. Bernie Mac finishes with a set primarily about how kids today are way too
mouthy and need a "Big Mama" or someone, anyone to "whup their asses" to set
them straight, and how society shouldn't interfere in the way parents discipline their
kids. He didn't quite phrase it that delicately.
The Original Kings of Comedy is an uneven but often hilariously funny
film about life in black America. While a few members of the crowd are white,
and the comedians do make mention of their scattered presence, the material is
directly aimed at a black audience. The concert takes on almost an old gospel
revival meeting feeling, where the audience gets to listen to some great old time
soul tunes, stand up and clap, and generally laugh about the problems they had
growing up and still have living in America. Steve Harvey especially sounds
like a preacher, bellowing to the congregation when he asks them to sing along
and "stay black".
Interestingly, it seems the larger goal of success for these performers is to get a
TV show. Bernie Mac complains everyone else is either on a Black Entertainment
Network show or in their own sitcom and he wonders aloud when he'll get his.
Like many entertainers, they have no qualms about joining the mainstream to
make some serious money, like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock have
done before them.
Each has their own take on how black people are different than one white people
but unlike Pryor or Murphy in their standup comedy days, they mostly avoid real
controversy - D. L. Hughley comes the closest to it when he suggests if he drops
his wallet, he might get 41 bullets (referring to the cop killing in New York city) so
he'll just kick it all the way home if and when
it happens. Most of the differences involve cultural quirks, and little in the
way of a serious critique of racism in America, although the topic is mentioned
occasionally. Perhaps the most ironic part of the evening is at the start,
where Steve dedicates the night to God, and without God none of this would be
possible. Then he immediately starts swearing at a steady rate, with a few g--damn's
sprinkled throughout. As a matter of fact, the performers cuss with reckless
abondon, especially Bernie Mac, who uses motherf---er so many times he even
has a brief monologue on it's acceptability as a noun, adjective and verb. Also
ironically, Harvey chides rappers for running around on stage asking
their audience to stand up, clap their hands, saying he paid his 38 dollars
for them to entertain him. Then he demands (and willingly gets) the audience
to rise and sing along with a silky Bernie Williams number. Lots of room for
nostalgia. Unlike the rappers world of anger, hate and devoid of humour, Harvey
and these men have room for love and humour in their music and lives.
While black viewers can certainly enjoy The Original Kings of Comedy,
non-black ones should find this peek into a world they don't normally see interesting
and occasionally quite funny.
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