Funny, I was just watching this last week for acting purposes… But since Quincy Jones felt the need to throw the 1960s under the bus this week, let me post this… More serious people, who are more directly affected by homophobia than I, can speak to some of the uglier comments around Q’s revelations […]
As I’ve been wading into the deeper end of the ‘awkward/uncomfortable comedy’ pool, I’ve been going back and looking at some of the people who make me laugh and inspire me as a writer and an actor. Mel Brooks of course is on that list. Do I think it’s a coincidence he crossed paths […]
A week or so of rumors became official today when Eddie Murphy was named the host of next year’s Academy Awards telecast. To one generation, Eddie is Donkey from Shrek and Norbit (sigh), but to my generation, Eddie was OUR stand up idol. Richard Pryor was the pioneer, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle are […]
The Cosby Show, by almost any measure, was the definitive 80s sitcom. Based on the real life and stand up routine of Bill Cosby, the show revolved around the Huxtable family. Patriarch Dr. Cliff Huxtable, his lawyer wife Clair, and their five kids. A show that really doesn’t need much of an introduction, on to […]
Richard Pryor is universally recognized as the black comedian who set the stage for the onslaught of African-American stand ups who followed him in the 80s, 90s, and present day. An argument can be made that there are funnier stand up films by some of the comedians that came after him, but Richard Pryor Live […]
Probably the most controversial choice of the television side of the countdown, Saturday Night Live has ran for over 30 years and has more than earned its reputation as one of America’s top comedic showcases. Created by Lorne Michaels, the show itself is not African-American by definition, but there is usually one black castmember every […]
Originally written for Sylvester Stallone (who would take parts of the original idea to make Cobra), Beverly Hills Cop is universally agreed to be the film that made Eddie Murphy a movie star. Don’t need much more for the intro, on to the tale of the tape… Relevance: In terms of African-American ‘movie stars’ (which […]
Lucas, Spielberg, and Scorsese all get their well-deserved credit, but doesn’t Mel Brooks deserve a little more love for pumping out his own classic films in the 70s/early 80s? Chief among them is his parody of the Western genre, Blazing Saddles. The story revolves around a black sheriff put in charge of a racist town […]
malikaziz.com 