This idea actually started as a school project years ago. The History of black comedy. Well, that's how this list got started back about five years or so ago for a class ... Well, recently going through my hard drive, I forgot that I had even did this. I updated it a bit, added a few more comics and BAM, there you have, over 100 comics that will be coming throughout the month of February.



There will be comics we all know and love, then they’ll be comics that you might say (who dat.) Hell, there’s comics here that you probably didn’t even know were stand-ups at all (and me either until I did the research on them.)



I‘m gonna start off with a little bonus at the 101. These three comics (all from New York City) were in the stand up comedy circle before they even knew it. They are the younger (and one older) brother’s of a couple of comedy legends (and are somewhat legends in their own right ...)


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101.
Tony Rock
Charlie Murphy
Shawn Wayans
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Tony Rock

Tony Rock is the latest to get started in the business, in 2000 to be exact. His brother was in the game almost 15 years before he decided he wanted to try his hand at comedy. Since then, he has hosted his own stand up comedy show on TV One titled “The Funny Spot.” He alsa made an appearance on the comeback of Def Comedy Jam in 2006.



Charlie Murphy

Charlie Murphy is a few years older than Eddie but it was more than after a decade of his little bro performing when he got his career of the ground. After doin’ bit parts on some SNL skits, he made an appearance in ‘Harlem Nights' in 1989. He started doin’ stand around 1991. He finally made a name for himself on the sketch show ‘Chappelle’s Show’ in 2003 and hosted an episode of ‘Live at Gotham’ in 2009. Latter this year, like his brother, he'll be in theaters with a stand-up special.




Shawn Wayans

Shawn Wayans is the youngest of the three here, but actually started doing stand-up before the other two, way back in 1987 to be exact! He learned the game buy following his older brothers Keenen & Damon on the road and eventually opening up for one of them, Damon. He hosted "Comics Come Home 4" on Comedy Central and the MTV Movie Awards in 2000 with brother Marlon. Sister Kim is also a stand-up comic.

All three comics are currently still doing stand-up. There are many more brother duo's to appear ...
[Edited 2/10/10 17:30pm]

i'm already scurred

Why is it that black comics can get away with exasterbating stereotypes?


The Chris Rock UPN youtube clip is the funniest thing ever.
But it's rife with stereotypes, albeit firmly with tongue in cheek.

But Eddie Murphy has done highly offensive "rice dick" and AIDs jokes
that people still forgive him for today. Why is that?

TheVoid said:

Jokes

LittleBLUECorvette said:

So, the offensive remarks Howard Stern makes about blacks
are just jokes too right?

AIDS jokes.

There are plenty of jokes about black people I've heard white
folks say over the years (I grew up in Alabama afterall) which
were to them just jokes.

Richard Prior was really funny.
I think Dave Chappelle is truly genius. Christ Rock as well.
I also find the comedian that plays Oprah(I forget her name) on
Mad-TV to be absolutely hilarious.

Wanda Sykes is hit or miss, but her book where she described
seeing Prince live had me in stitches.

I also think people over look Whoopie Goldberg's standup routines.

TheVoid said:

You know when someone is joking and someone isn't.

A comment and a joke are two totally different things.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

That's no excuse


The gay community was offended by this. When a stereotype is being
so effortlessly thrown around it hurts minority communities.
Homosexuals weere dying of this this desease in droves.
The president of USA (Reagan) just sat by and let them die without
so much as uttering any words with regards to the epidemic.

Gays were being kicked out of public pools, and not allowed
to be 'around' people due to ignorance and fear. And to have
Eddie spew shit like "AIDS on their lips" on stage was
irresponsible. And not funny.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard white people say,
"What color am I?" when asked to do something they consider
below them. To them it's just a joke, but to me it's distasteful.


The intention may have been to humor an audience. But part of that
audience wasn't just unamused--but deeply hurt by it. And instead
of apologizing, he went on to mock homosexuals in 'Raw'.

I'm glad he was caught for his tranny incident.

Calling these harmless jokes doesn't make it o.k.

TheVoid said:

No I wasn't talkin' bout the Aids. He was more ignorant about the topic back then as was everyone on aids so he was just saying stuff (the mid 80s.)

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I would agree that everyone was more ignorant on the subject.

But when I watch T.V. and I see old depictions of minorities on T.V., even
though they are a reflection of past attitudes (or at least past attitudes
that were allowed on television), I'm still quite offended.

I hate watching shows where the female lead is only allowed to scream and
wait to be rescued. I hate watching shows where the black character is only
there to pick up luggage, wash clothes, or say something funny. Once in a while
the black character is allowed to be a religious "oracle", but never a fully
fledged human being.

I'm not saying Mr. Murphy is a bad guy--just that his jokes offended me
and I didn't find him funny.

Oddly, Richard Prior was able to point out stereotypes too and display
them on stage, but I found him genius at it.
Especially his line, "Yall know what an epidemic is right? It's when
white people have it. Before that, it's just a damn shame. Once they
get the disease, all of a sudden it's an epidemic"

LittleBLUECorvette said:

AIDS is not an untouchable subject. I don't believe anything is untouchable.
We need to have (or find) the ability to laugh at everything. EVERYTHING.
Family Guy has the balls to make AIDS joke and they're funny as hell.

The problem with Murphy's AIDS jokes is that he made them at a time when it was literally dangerous and irresponsible to put that sort of thing out there. People were being isolated, chased out of their homes and communities, bashed and worse because of AIDS. People didn't have the facts that are common knowledge to most today. He was not being funny, he was building a stereotypical macho bullshit shell around himself (gee wonder why). Eddie is a genuinely funny guy and didn't need to go there.That shit was not funny. It was triflin on his tranny lovin part.
[Edited 2/1/10 21:35pm]

johnart said:

I agree with this.
But lawd, you're in a 'mood' today.

TheVoid said:

You're a twat.
[Edited 2/1/10 21:44pm]

johnart said:

What really astounded me was that when the gay community reacted to Eddie's supposed 'harmless jokes' and let him know that they were indeed not harmless. That they really hurt people.

He capitalized on this with further jokes mocking them in 'Raw'.


Again this is why his tranny revelations were so delicious to me. He's like the
Larry Craig of standup comedy.

TheVoid said:

Because I drink and I am of an advanced age I can't remember if I posted this here or in another forum, but I had a transexual friend (I still do, I suppose, but have not seen her in years since moving down here), who for many years told us this story about Eddie Murphy picking her up in his limo in NY and shit. We'd all be like "Uh-huh, yeah girl." thinking we were just humoring her. When that shit broke out I was like I'll be damned, that bitch was speakin truth all along.

johnart said:

It's like nobody believes me that I once did Prince in his booty. Just give it time, honey. Just give it tiiiiimmmmmeee.

TheVoid said:

Shawn Wayans=funny?


nah, bruh....

If not #1, I hope Paul Mooney is at least #2 on that list.

TheVoid said:

yeah they are. he makes jokes at other peoples' expense

bboy87 said:

His stand is decent, you do notice he's outside of the top 100.

WaterInYourBath said:

He's around the top ten ...

TheVoid said:

well, just because something is a joke doesn't mean it's harmless! Jokes can be patently offensive. They can be unfunny and offensive, and they can be funny and offensive.

The truly skilled comedian can get away with offensive material because it's so damn funny

I think Michael Richards is a perfect example of that not being the case. He may well be a racist, I don't know, but I personally believe he was attempting to do comedy when he went on that rampage, not just freaking out onstage. But he was so out of his element as a comedian it was among the biggest mis-fires of all time. He tried to silence hecklers by personally embarrassing them (a normal tactic), but since there was absolutely no comedy in what he did, all that was left was horribly offensive comments. It's incredibly tricky, but a better comedian (black or white) could have made racial comments and had the whole audience laughing again.
[Edited 2/2/10 17:18pm]

Chris Rock has that blacks vs N's routine. If I agree with him does that make me racist..lol

TheVoid said:

I think nothing is off-limits, as such, but it depends on the intentions and who exactly the joke is on and why.



Chris Morris is a genius.

Back with a dose of ten comic, numbers 100 through 91.



100. Kim Whitley


This young lady from Ohio started out her career in the early 90s’ and is best known for her role in the "Friday" movie series. She has appeared in 1st Amendment Stand Up and the Roast of John Witherspoon last year.


99. Darrel Heath
http://www.youtube.com/wa...O0Ln7ZFmhw


Darrel Heath is a funny young brother who is an associate of the Wayans family. He has appeared in "Don’t Be a Menace," "Woo" and recently "Black Dynamite" among others. His stand up appearances include The Soul Train Comedy Awards in 1993, a 1994 Def Comedy Jam episode, Comic Justice and Jamie Foxx’s Lafapolloza.


98. Doug E. Doug


From Brooklyn, Doug E. Doug is best remembered as the funny cat Sanka from "Cool Runnings." "Class Act" with Kid N Play (did y'all know Play is a stand up comic nowadays ...) and the cast of Cosby. He started his career as a stand up comic in the late 80s’. He was one of the clean comics in the Def Jam era, a rare feet in it's own. That is one of the reasons Mr. Bill Cosby cast him in his sitcom. Surprisingly, he rarely showcased his sand-up on any of the many stand-up series from the 1990s’.


97. A.J. Johnson
http://www.youtube.com/wa...xWgAJqgJ6k


The first West Coast/LA comic on this list. His first appearance was on "House Party," gettin’ ragged on by a guy coming up later on in this series. After doing episodes of Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam, he starred in Friday and The Players Club. In 1998, he appeared on Master P’s "I Got The Hook Up All-Star Comedy Jam" a stand up showcase and later on BET’s Comic View.


96. Joe Clair
http://www.youtube.com/wa...m05RTCUHQE


A host of BET’s Rap City [not Chris Thomas though, as he just missed the cut.] Joe Clair was the greatest host in Rap City history. Besides Rap City, he appeared on Def Comedy Jam, Comedy Central's Comic Remix, The Funny Spot and recently has been showing up on 1st Amendment Stand Up.


95. Phyllis Yvonne Stickney


A well rounded lady in the entertainment game. Some of you might know here for her acting roles, books, plays, clothing lines, ect. This lady from Little Rock has been doing comedy for over 30 years and continues to this day. Her act has been featured on BET Comic View, Showtime at the Apollo, The Funny Spot and the stand up movie/film "Talkin’ Dirty After Dark" which featured many comics on this list too come ...


94. Godfrey
http://www.youtube.com/wa...24UV3k-jxU


This young’n has come into his own in the decade of the 2000s. I first saw his act on a Comedy Central Presents years back and thought this guy was mad hilarious. He’s done many stand up specials like BET's Comic View, 1st Amendment Stand Up and is usually a correspondent on those VH1 shows about certain decades and the Best Week Ever.


93. Dap Sugar Willie


Y’all may remember him as 'Lenny' the lil' pimp dude from Good Times and other 70s' shows like Sanford and Son. I did some reading up on this brother and he was quite big in the 60s’ and 70s’ (though there is not a lot of info on the web about him.) He was very famous on the chitlin’ circuit. He did many x-rated albums like "The Ghost of Davy Crocket" and "From North Philly (Live.)" HE passed away in 1995.


92. Craig Robinson
http://www.youtube.com/wa...pxyn65QUfA


This cat’s comedy is very creative. He usually comes out on stage with a keyboard and everything. I first seen him on one of the later seasons of HBO's Def Comedy Jam and on an episode of Cedric the Entertainer Presents ... Recently, he has appeared on 1st Amendment Stand Up, Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and a host of movies in the past years.


91. Steve White


Steve White, a very underrated comic. You probably don’t know him by name, but you’ll call him 'that guy' when you see him. He does lots if Spike Lee Films (joints.) Just think, that guy who called out Larry Bird from "Do The right Thing". Also, had a supporting role in the series Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper. His stand up has been showcased on Def Comedy Jam in the early 1990s.[url]
[Edited 2/2/10 19:58pm]

Godfrey definitely has improved. I remember when he did one of his first tv appearances on ComicView