I saw the show the other night. He is indeed one of those comedians who over the years has continued to, IMO "tell it like it is." Although, I 've never seen him in person, I'm sure he'd have me LMAO, because alot of what he says is true.
The lady who did the interview (one on one with Paul) (a sistah) is not the person who wrote this article.
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Paul Mooney makes no effort to tone down his act and his performance are not for the faint of heart.
Paul Mooney is considered by many to be the godfather of modern black comedy. (ABCNEWS.com) UpClose: Paul Mooney
Aug. 6 — "I saw so many white people in here I thought I was in the wrong club. No, I did. I said, oh my God, I'm not doing my job. Because you know I scare 'em But sometimes they join those little fraternities and those sororities and stuff. And they tell them, look, now you have to pledge. You go into the club. You see Paul Mooney, the complete show and then you can join."
— Paul Mooney at the Washington, D.C. Improv
UpClose tonight, Aug. 6: Paul Mooney, the godfather of modern black comedy.
Raw. Edgy. Irreverent. Controversial. There's really no word that adequately sums up Paul Mooney. I'm not even sure what to call him, except the funniest person you may not have heard of. He's not quite a stand-up comedian, social satirist or racial comic. He's all of the above and none of the above.
A few weeks back at the urging of an African-American colleague, Marie Nelson, I visited a comedy club in downtown Washington to see Mooney's act. I confess I had only vaguely heard of him, probably because I had seen his name on the marquee. So there I was, a middle-aged white guy, in a primarily African-American audience, watching an African-American go after White America. It was a frontal assault, but I couldn't help myself. I was laughing. Many of the African-Americans were doubled over. Some were laughing so hard, tears were popping from their eyes. The whites were laughing, too. Not a nervous laughter. But clearly a different kind of laughter.
There's a survey released each year showing the top 10 television programs watched by African-Americans and the top 10 shows among whites. Rarely is there much crossover.
Comedy may be similar. Paul Mooney knows whom he's talking to and makes no effort to tone down his act to try to play to as wide an audience as possible. He welcomes whites to his show but his performance is not for the faint of heart. A sample:
"The white man has all the freedom. He's got everything on his side. He's the one that will say, niggers, Puerto Ricans, minorities, don't you write on our wall. It's graffiti. It's against the law. Then he'll find a mountain and put his face on it. Oh, he's a bitch."
"I know how to make white folks stop going to Starbucks tomorrow. Just put it on the 6:00 o'clock news, the niggers have just bought Starbucks. Oh, my God, I'm never going there. I like my coffee black, but not that goddamned black."
There are a few topics off-limits for Mooney. He won't do wife beating and child abuse jokes. His comedy is laced with expletives and the n-word. And it's topical, a not so subtle commentary about race in America. He didn't flinch after 9/11 and effortlessly worked it into his routine.
"I told white folks. I told black people. Everybody gets their nigger wake-up call. And 9/11, it was a nigger ass wake up call ... white folks were so worried about us, they were so concerned with us, so worried about the land niggers, they forgot about the sand niggers. And white people in America, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart as a black person, thank you for making us tough, we'll get through this terrorist s**t ... You've been terrorizing us for 500 years. Lynching, sicking dogs on us. I'm worried about my white friends. I'm concerned about you. I'm opening up a school. How to be a nigger and survive."
Mooney has been around the block once or twice, having written for Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. In some sense, he's the father of modern Black Comedy. Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock were inspired by him. That doesn't stop Correspondent Michel Martin from confronting Mooney about his brand of humor.
Once you see him, you might come up with the right word. Paul Mooney is hard to define.
Richard Harris
Senior Producer
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Paul Mooney
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