By Terry Tang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s Monday morning at the House of Blues. Helping to
promote the comedy concert film, “The Original Kings of
Comedy,” Steve Harvey tells journalists that fellow comedian
Bernie Mac has the perfect slogan.
“I don’t think that could’ve gotten put no
better: “˜White folks looking forward to this
picture,'” Harvey said. “That ought to be the
headline!”
All joking aside, “The Original Kings of Comedy” is
the film incarnation of a very successful two-year tour that made
serious money. But the tour’s prosperity went unnoticed by
most mainstream media.
“Scary Movie” hit new levels of gross with the
highest box office opening for a film directed by an African
American. Hollywood observers as well as the press immediately saw
the potential for a franchise. Yet, for two years, the media
spotlight failed to shine the light on four African American
comedians who, time and again, sent thousands rolling in the aisles
of sold-out venues.
Paramount Pictures is betting that the punch lines of Harvey,
Mac, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer can transcend the tour
circuit and win over moviegoers. It also doesn’t hurt to have
director Spike Lee at the helm.
A sort of homage to other comedy concert films like Richard
Pryor’s “Live at the Sunset Strip,” “The
Original Kings of Comedy” is the brainchild of producer
Walter Latham. With an initial desire to bring top working
comedians to African American audiences, Latham has watched the
tour move from theaters to arenas seating 20,000.
“The Kings of Comedy” tour premiered in 1997 with 58
shows. In 1998, D.L. Hughley was recruited to the lineup for a tour
of 40 shows. Both tours combined earned an astonishing $37 million
in ticket sales.
Although their numbers surpassed that of the Backstreet
Boys’ 1999 tour, the “Kings” have yet to really
be considered household names. But the film, which documents one
show in Charlotte, N.C., may be the door to more notoriety.
While he is reluctant to admit it, Lee attributes the past lack
of visibility to race. In the director’s view, only a select
few African Americans seem to succeed at one time.
“I just think that there’s always been this
phenomenon where there can only be one or two at a time. We only
got so many slots and right now it’s filled up,” Lee
said. “We got Eddie (Murphy), we got Will (Smith), these
other guys. It’s as simple as that. But you know, if
you’re talented, there’s room for everybody.”
Latham agreed that getting the tour off the ground was difficult
without mainstream coverage. The “Kings” had to rely
more on word of mouth.
“Last year, we sold out Madison Square Garden in a week.
And the (New York) Times didn’t report about it,”
Latham said. “So, it’s been a struggle from the
beginning just to garner attention for what was going on. It
wasn’t that we didn’t want it. They didn’t find
it newsworthy.”
Even without the phenomenal ticket sales, the “Kings of
Comedy” shouldn’t be falling off the media radar
screen. In Lee’s opinion, consumers who look to the press for
entertainment are missing out on the big picture.
“I think that when those editors don’t send out
their critics to review this stuff, they’re doing a
disservice to their readers,” Lee said. “Because their
readers come to newspapers every day for information and if you
just close their audience, then you’re not doing what
newspapers are supposed to do.”
The fact that some of the men’s jokes revolve around
African American cultural nuances has some wondering about the
film’s crossover potential. However, the four
“Kings” have already proven to attract audiences of
every color and class.
“Just because something speaks about the black experience
does not mean it is not universal,” Lee said. “You love
our music, you love our athletes but when it comes to movies, then
it gets touchy. It becomes visual.”
“I mean, neorealist cinema is one of my favorites, “¦
I can’t speak a word of Italian,” Lee continued.
“I love Kurosawa. But I’m not Japanese.”
Meanwhile, D.L. Hughley knows he cannot stop people from
generalizing “Kings of Comedy” as a “black
film.”
“Some are gonna be predisposed to see what’s
happening. Some are gonna be predisposed to saying
“˜That’s a black film,'” Hughley said.
“Some people of color may even say “˜There’s
nothing in there for me.'”
“Ultimately, if you come and your mind is open, there is
not a person that can see, breathe or walk that we can’t make
laugh,” Hughley continued.
Away from the comedy clubs, all four entertainers are amusing
themselves and others on TV and in film. Hughley will return to
work on “The Hughleys,” which UPN rescued from
ABC’s cancellation pile. Harvey and Cedric The Entertainer
are set to start a fifth season of “The Steve Harvey
Show” on the WB network. Mac is currently shooting a film
with Martin Lawrence and Danny Devito.
Away from the cameras, all four men agree that nothing beats the
adrenaline rush of doing their stand-up routines. For Harvey,
stand-up always lets him have the last laugh.
“That is the one thing that they can’t ever cancel.
They can’t tell me they ain’t bringing me back next
season,” Harvey said. “I get paid on the amount of
people who pay their money to see me and how many times I can get
them to come back.”
FILM: “The Original Kings of Comedy” is now playing
in theaters nationwide.