This collection of anecdotes, tales, jokes, toasts, rhymes, satire, riffs, poems, stand-up sketches, and snaps documents the evolution of African American humor over the past two centuries. It includes routines and writings from such luminaries as Bert Williams, Butterbeans & Susie, Stepin Fetchit, Moms Mabley, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Redd Foxx, Ishmael Reed, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, and Chris Rock. This anthology includes classic stage routines, literary examples, and witty quotations presented in their entirety.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"If I really want to scare the hell out of my white friends, I drive out to the suburb they live in and walk down their street slowly, carrying the real estate section of the New York Times." This bon mot from 1960s comedian Godfrey Cambridge (1933-1978) is among the many jokes, snaps, comedy sketches, satires and folk anecdotes gathered in African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today. Selected by editor and writer Mel Watkins (On the Real Side), the witticisms come from such luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, Satchel Paige, Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor, Damon Wayans and many others. ()
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Comedy of and by blacks often reflects a strong counterpoint to comedy about blacks in mainstream white America. During slavery and Reconstruction, blacks embraced the minstrel show format, a caricature of blacks via whites in blackface, to find their reflections even in the debilitating genre. That desire continued in film with Stepin Fetchit, Willie Best, and the Amos and Andy series. However, Watkins draws from a deeper well and includes literary sources of jokes, rhymes, poems, and stand-up comic routines that reflect nearly two centuries of black American humor. Chris Rock, Flip Wilson, and Martin Lawrence are included as examples of contemporary humorists. Watkins also includes such pioneer comedians as Bert Williams, who often performed in blackface; Moms Mabley; and Redd Foxx. He also provides excellent examples of black humor and social commentary through excerpts of literary work, including Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Ishmael Reed, and others. This comedic focus provides a prism view and critique of America usually shielded from mainstream exposure. An entertaining and thoughtful work. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Collection of Humor,
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This review is from: African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (The Library of Black America series) (Paperback)
This collection of African American humor will take you from the beginning to the end, approximately from the 1800s to present day. Learn how slaves coped with their hardships behind the guise of humor that was directed at their masters without them ever catching onto it. See how their humor changed when African Americans were integrated into American society, how fierce and forthright it became, and come all the way to present day to comedians like Chris Rock and Richard Pryor. This book has many parts and selections from various authors. Some of the early selections are difficult to follow, for the language is traditional slave language, but later selections are much easier. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes culture and likes to laugh.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
A cheerful smile, humble demeanor, and the ability to make slave owners laugh were highly esteemed traits among the Africans brought to America as slaves. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cunjuh man, coon cage, black theater circuit, fer ter git, gonna whoop, second comic, riot season, dey gib, dis mawnin, dey wuz, black comedians, side towel, folk humor, black comics, bad nigger Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Big Betsy, Brother Fletcher, New York, Uncle Remus, Miss Cramp, Old Master, First Comic, Brer Coon, Buh Rabbit, Brer Possum, Mars Dick, General Ham, Jim Crow, Mars Jim, Richard Pryor, Martin Luther King, Miss Meadows, United States, Black Jesus, Knights of Nordica, Cunjur Man, Declaration of Independence, Pennington Potter New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
A cheerful smile, humble demeanor, and the ability to make slave owners laugh were highly esteemed traits among the Africans brought to America as slaves. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cunjuh man, coon cage, black theater circuit, fer ter git, gonna whoop, second comic, riot season, dey gib, dis mawnin, dey wuz, black comedians, side towel, folk humor, black comics, bad nigger Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Big Betsy, Brother Fletcher, New York, Uncle Remus, Miss Cramp, Old Master, First Comic, Brer Coon, Buh Rabbit, Brer Possum, Mars Dick, General Ham, Jim Crow, Mars Jim, Richard Pryor, Martin Luther King, Miss Meadows, United States, Black Jesus, Knights of Nordica, Cunjur Man, Declaration of Independence, Pennington Potter New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 64
books:
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4
books
cite this book:
- Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (Penguin Classics) by Joel Chandler Harris on 8 pages
- Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston on 4 pages
- The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) by Charles W. Chesnutt on page 30, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Strength of Gideon and Other Stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar on page 82, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Wife Of His Youth And Other Stories Of The Color Line And Selected Essays by Charles W. Chesnutt on page 30, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 64 books this book cites
- African American Lives by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on page 310, and page 552
- The Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. 8: Poetry and Criticism, 1940-1995 by Sacvan Bercovitch on page 424
- Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference by Stephen Wagg on page 243
- Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference by Stephen Wagg on page 243
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