Os Verdadeiros Reis da Comédia

As a sometime stand-up comic, it was a great treat that this summer brought a big-name stand-up concert film, namely Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy". The film, a record of the highest-grossing comedy tour of all time, is not revolutionary and says nothing new about comedy or those who practice it. But it's chock-full of laughs, magnetism, and good, rollicking fun.

The concert in "Original Kings" was taped at Charlotte, North Carolina's Charlotte Coliseum, and it's a great testament to the often unfairly neglected stand-up art that comedy performers could fill such a prodigious space. The MC of the evening, who holds forth from an elaborately decorated stage set, is the WB's Steve Harvey, who has a wonderfully exasperated stage persona and a voice full of gusto as he sounds off about the stupidity of Rae Carruth, the idiosyncracies of black church elders, and the asininity of the band on the Titanic playing as the ship went down. He's got a rip-roaring sense of energy that gets the show started on a good note.

D.L. Hughley's set is perhaps the lowlight of the film. His delivery is not as punchy as that of the other performers, and unlike Harvey, he seems to use profanity as a crutch rather than as a proper comedy tool. Still, his performance has its moments, and he's likable enough that his onstage time doesn't get too dull.

Fortunately, things pick up when Cedric the Entertainer, a big, cuddly bear of a guy in a chocolate brown fedora, takes the stage. His set is the highlight of the film, full of sharp commentary about Tiger Woods, blacks on the space shuttle, and the particulars of a "ghetto wedding". He fills the stage with his expansive body language, and his silly dance interludes are among the best moments in the picture. Someone should give this guy his own TV show, and fast.

Closing things out is Bernie Mac, an abrasive, raspy-voiced, pop-eyed provocateur whose act is the most down-in-the-dirt of all the performers featured. His riffs on the virtues of beating children, the problem of living with a gay six-year-old nephew, and the importance of a certain twelve-letter-word to the black vocabulary, are sometimes more hostile than funny, but his gritty delivery and fast pace socks the best jokes home nicely. Besides, the audience in the theatre where I saw the film gave him applause at the end of his set, the only performer onscreen they did that for, so who am I to argue?

Lee's direction sometimes gets in the way of the performers, with showy camera moves that distract from the words. The film is at its best when Lee's cameraman, Malik Sayeed, just plops his camera down and lets the comics do their stuff. There are some nice reaction shots of the crowd, who are clearly having a great time, and the way that the laughter of the onscreen audience blends with that of the people in the theatre really makes you feel like you're part of the show.

"The Original Kings of Comedy" is not as great as earlier stand-up films like "Bill Cosby Himself" or "Eddie Murphy Raw", films that fell together more cohesively than this one does. Still, if you're looking for some Friday night laughs, you would be well advised to head to the theatre and hail to the Kings.

I saw this in the theaters when it came out in 2000. It's still just as funny 21 years later. I'm seriously laughing at all the offended, pearl clutching white people in the reviews. If Black comedians making racial jokes at the expense of white people during a set upsets you so much, it says way more about you than them. And I say this as a lily white woman in her 40's.

This was a great stand-up movie, and it's wonderful that stand-up is coming back in this form. I have been exposed to stand-up ever since I was a little kid, and I have seen the evolution of stand go from 90 min concert movies like this one, down to 1 hour specials, and even down to 30 min specials as well. And The Kings bring back a variety show for us in the movie format, and the result is a masterpiece.

For those of you who only saw racism in the jokes, then you really weren't paying attention to what was being said, and knowing the attention span of the average American, that's not hard to believe. Did anyone notice that the WHITE people in the audience were laughing just as hard as the black? I think that it's because most of us white folks can take a joke, and understand that the comic is really playing around, without doing a "my god, that's a racist remark" defense that many people here seem to be doing. What these men were doing with comparing black and white is NO DIFFERENT than when Jeff Foxworthy compares and contrasts rednecks and sophisticated people.

Now, the fact that the comics were using stereotypes...hmmm. How do I say this? Folks, I have collected comedians for years, and my collection spans from CD's, DVD and VHS tapes. I have comedians that few people have heard of. My collection spans over both genders, different nationalities and ethnic groups, and I must say that every comedian needs to joke about something that the audience can and will understand, and stereotypes are the key thing to do just that, because everyone understands stereotypes. And besides, some comedians will even take a common stereotype and make it their act...Tim Allen used the stereotype of the man's man; Roseanne Barr used the disgruntled housewife, and Jeff Foxworthy used the redneck angle. Now, a comedian can go without stereotypes, but he/she runs the risk of losing the audience. And besides, it's not the stereotype that makes the joke, it's the exaggeration behind the joke.

And as far as the comedians in the movie here, they really strive for a good show. Steve Harvey did great jokes, and even did things, that while not really funny, were great entertainment, like when he was playing samples of different songs for the audience. Hughley was funny as well, especially when he was interacting with the audience. The other two comics I have never sen before, but I have no complaints, as they round out the show nicely. Each comic owned the stage when they were on it, and they would be hard to top. And folks, I like Chris Rock, but he wasn't as funny as these guys are, simply because he tries waaay too hard, and these guys are just here having fun.

A great performance by some great comics, and I would recommend this to anyone. A+++++

I just had to comment on this documentary.

It is funny, but to paraphrase Ralph Wiggum, not ha ha funny. It seems most of the jokes revolved around race, drugs, sex, homosexuality and child abuse. You know, the typical amateur hour fare with African-American comedians far less talented than the insightful and intelligent Chris Rock. (I miss the Chris Rock show)The behind the scenes footage is interesting though. You do not often get to see that part of a comedy show. Like all Spike Lee "joints", it is interesting enough to watch once, although, the target demographic appears to be African-Americans. And also, turn on closed-captioning during the Bernie Mac routine. He is about as incomprehensible as Boomhauer of TV's "King of the Hill" fame. I couldn't understand a word he was saying sometimes.

**1/2 out of *****

The success of this tour surprised many whom were not familiar with these comedians, mainly because they are superstars on the African-American, not mainstream, comedy circuit. These men are funny as hell! The TV shows they appear or have appeared on do not give them the freedom to turn loose like they do in this film. One of the best sequences was when Harvey complained about rap and urban contemporary music (he was so right!) and gave respect to old school R&B. This is absolutely the best comedy that was released all summer.