Chris Rock: Bring the Pain

Chris Rock's Bring the Pain may be the funniest stand-up comedy I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The barbs are excrutiatingly accurate, raunchy, and hilarious, and are (no kidding) extraordinarily thought-provoking.

Just so you know where my commentary is coming from, I am a 40 year old, white, middle-class male from Houston, Texas. I have seen Rock's talk show on HBO, and haven't really cared for it. I thought he was reasonably entertaining on Saturday Night Live, but nothing spectacular. When it comes to stand-up comedy, I'm a big fan of circa 1978 Steve Martin stand-up (Wild and Crazy Guy) and I love Seinfeld's 'I'm Telling You for the Last Time'.

Do yourself a favor, rent/buy 'Bring the Pain' and prepare yourself for some mind-blowing, prejudice-shattering, side-splitting hilarity.

I don't know if Rock will be mentioned in the same breath with Pryor, Cosby, or even Murphy. Where Pryor was all about 'it's a black thing', looking from the inside out, and Cosby is about doing away with the artificial divisions of *color* and focusing on the rightness of *personal conduct*, Rock has found his own niche of effortless race humor, although he is perhaps most closely aligned with early Eddie.

By today's standards, even the tossed salad euphemism is tame. But the key is Rock does have talent at building comic architecture; there's a foundation for all the jokes, the first level follows the shape of the foundation, and so on up. And visually, he knows how lead the crowd by stalking from side to side when changing stances.

Pryor only had one note when acting for a movie, Cosby never really made great film headway, but Murphy blazed the film trail for any comics who dared to follow. Not sure if Rock has what it takes to make a real dent there.

Coincidentally, we watched this for the first time when mayor Nagin made his 'Chocolate City' comments that drew so much fire. Note Rock's skill with this notion, in contrast to a bumbling fool like the mayor of New Orleans.

Chris Rock's Bring the Pain is his best standup yet. Bigger and Blacker had some good things, but Chris' material is so well thought out, planned and executted to hilarious precision here it boggles the mind.

He tackles Marion Barry (the crackhead at the million-man-march), OJ, Domestic Abuse, Tossed Salad Man, Women and relationships, Foood, the ghetto, and one of my faborite stand-up speeches ever- Niggers and Black people. Rock brings comedy that is so hard hitting, side splitting, and controversial, it makes Lenny Bruce seem like Jackie Martling. Along with George Carlin and Denis Leary, Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians ever, and this sepcial proves it.

The much-anticipated feature-length debut special from Saturday Night Live alum Chris Rock. Rock would only spend 3 years at SNL before heading off on his own, eventually reinventing himself as a prominent name in stand-up. He had released an album, Born Suspect, while still a cast member of SNL, and enjoyed some success with his HBO debut, the half-hour special Big Ass Jokes, but his success was limited. However, there was a buzz coming into this night, with a captive crowd just waiting for Rock to deliver big. It's an expectation seemingly shared by Rock, himself. Right off the bat, album covers from stand-up greats (Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Flip Wilson (as Geraldine), Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Pigmeat Markham, Woody Allen and Eddie Murphy) are overlayed on footage of Rock making his way to the stage. Easing in with some material directed to his audience in Washington, Rock takes some jabs at Marion Barry (Note for the kids out there: He's kind of like the black Rob Ford) participating in the Million Man March festivities, which then leads him into a nice little run on crack that easily reels in the audience. From there, he explores politics, prisons, and the OJ Simpson trial before going into his views on the divide in the black community, highlighting the polarizing ways some in the community carry themselves, and unafraid to turn that spotlight inward with some keen criticisms. Once he's done covering these themes, Rock settles in and spends the last 15-20 minutes of his time exploring relationships between men and women, his charisma actually winning women over while he's pointing out their flaws. This isn't surprising as there aren't many who aren't won over by his million-dollar smile. This set turned Rock into a superstar, and it's easy to see why. Years later, it still seems vibrant and vital. Many would go on to emulate his style, but few ever made it work like he did.

What does this mean? Does Chris Rock make black people less intimidating to whites simply because he points out their weakness? Last time I saw "Live at the Appolo" on TV, all I saw was a lot of crotch-grabbing and swagger and not much thought-provoking thoughts like Chris Rock presents in this show. If your black, laugh at yourself. If your white, laugh too, but realize it's your everyday actions that "Bring the Pain."