The Original Kings of Comedy
Stand-up comedy isn't as simple as a comedian standing on a stage with a microphone trying to get the audience to laugh. It's now an interactive almost physical game with the audience so that their participation can overshadow the comedian's material. When you go to see "The Original Kings of Comedy" in a cinema your audience will probably act a lot like the one in the movie, except that the comedian can't hear them and this will make or break the experience for you.
Live comedy now seems to be the outlet for which performers and audiences can go to for straight-up blatant jokes about really risque subject matters and jokes that can't be delivered in a fictional medium. Comedians today have to be as in-your-face and outrageous as possible to work a crowd, especially a concert hall crowd. And with black comedians in front of a predominately black audience it's bonding experience. It's very emotional and unrestricted like a black church is, but here instead of everyone praising God they're laughing at themselves via the comedians' hardcore material (it's the forbidden fruit of the modern age). The material and the performance isn't insulting (at least not intentionally), it's a method that uses humility as a character builder. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. I'm sure God has a sense of humor but I doubt He would approve of the material here.
The movie is basically a filmed concert of the same title starring four black comedians who are rising stars in Hollywood: Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric "The Entertainer" and Bernie Mac. The film opens with some behind-the-scenes documentary-style of the four talking about the show and themselves and how they relate to each other. There's also little vignettes between performers showing the four talking directly to the camera although they don't really say much they just kind of ramble. There isn't much point to these because they aren't quite that funny, they just seem like time-filler.
As for the show itself it's quite funny. Harvey is the opening comedian and the emcee of the show and gets the most screen time. He is the most interactive with the audience and really gets to the heart of the crowd by pointing out some people making jokes about them. At one point he even gets the jacket of an audience member and spoofs him after he leaves his seat. Harvey's actual material discusses characteristics of being an African-American and makes a lot of really funny jokes about topics that would be depressing.
D.L. Hughley is next and seems to have the shortest set. His material is mostly personal but it's stuff you can relate to, well, sex stuff that is. He also works the crowd very well by picking people out and making fun of them. He's not being mean because he's so aloof and over-the-top you can't take it seriously (although I wouldn't want to be one of the people he points at).
Cedric "The Entertainer" is third and probably has the funniest and most lighthearted material ("light" compared to the three others'). Most of his set deals with the differences between blacks and whites in America. He's successfully able to break down subjects that are pretty serious and make them funny such as the subconscious desire for confrontation and hostility blacks have and whites don't (his words not mine!). His bit on why black men don't play hockey is great although I would have liked more.
Closing the show is Bernie Mac, the most vulgar and outrageous of the four. His material is just as funny as the others but a little disturbing. He raps about what it's like to be a parent of young black children today and how black parents have a tendency to be totally honest and crude with their kids. He also talks about how black parents aren't at all afraid to smack their kids around when they need discipline ("If you're old enough to talk back you're old enough to get hit" is his rationale). Still, it's a bit disturbing at how much the audience relates to and laughs along with his bits about being mean to kids and other people. There's a whole book worth of conservative commentary to write just about Mac's material alone but I'm not going to even bother with it.
I guess what it all comes down to is that "The Original Kings of Comedy" is clearly aimed at the African-American demographic and makes no apologies for it. If you're white (like me), you WON'T be able to relate to the material as well and thus not laugh as hard and/or be insulted. But don't take it personally, everything here is done in relatively good spirits and isn't meant to provoke anyone (if it were the audience would probably boo the comedians for every other joke). It's not surprising Spike Lee directed and produced this film - it says a lot of the same social commentaries as his other films, only this time it's right to your face and there's nothing subtle about it. GRADE: B
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