Chris Rock: Bring the Pain

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.

While he is more popular for his recent concerts like "Never Scared" and "Bigger and Blacker" to his HBO T.V. Show as well as his early work on "Saturday Night Live," this is a must-own for any fan of the brilliant and daring Chris Rock.

This was his first "big" concert for the Home Box Office and it did deserve the Emmeys it got because it is very well written and will cause laughter to ensue every minute!

Rock wisely mixes his vulgar words along with his political views and general beliefs, thus, allowing each act to have a message behind it as well as the punchline getting executed 'no problem.'

While he is incredibly similar to his idol's Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Eddie Murphy, Chris relies less on "shock value" and doesn't repeat himself as often as other comedians do.

Recommended for people 16 and up ( contains strong language and brief sexual humor ).

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."

I only saw Chris Rock: Bring the Pain recently, having previously owned the album of the same performance. Although the HBO special shares many routines in common with the album, there is also material not on the recording waiting to be discovered.

Rock's routine is hilarious, with even the most topical bits still funny after fifteen years. Sketches about Marion Barry and the Million Man March continue to draw laughs, long after their expiration dates. Other, politically incorrect lines about race relations in the United States hold up long after the race debates of the nineties. This is in large part due to Chris Rock's energy and skilled delivery of the material.

The last twenty minutes or so of the special drag out somewhat. Rock switches from cutting racial commentary to more standard material dealing with relationships. This material is nowhere near as humorous, and comes as a letdown. Still, the special is well worth watching, and will definitely make you laugh.

I wasn't a Chris Rock fan until I saw this show. I'd catch just a few moments of the show while channel surfing, and didn't think much of it. One night, out of boredom I watched a few minutes of his material and was floored. I couldn't believe how funny he was. On further airings I caught the complete show, and discovered his humour also contained cutting social insights which added to the humor.