The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers:

Cedric the Entertainer (writer)
Steve Harvey (writer)

Release Date:

18 August 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Documentary

Tagline:

We Got Jokes.

Plot:

A concert film featuring four major African American stand up comedians.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Concert Film | The Matrix | Stuttering | Racial Overtones

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Jan. 7

3:30 AM

SHOW

Cast

Steve Harvey	...	Himself
D.L. Hughley	...	Himself
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Himself
Bernie Mac	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Kings of Comedy (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sex related humor.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Australia:MA | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Coliseum - 100 Paul Buck Boulevard, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

Spike Lee shot the film on digital video over two nights.

Quotes:

Steve Harvey: When you go to church that much when you're a kid, you don't really care for church that much. So what you got to do is find little things to like about church, that make you want to go. And the one thing I liked about my church might seem a little strange to you. But the one thing that made me want to go all the time was when I found out that there was people that cussed at the church. That might not do it for y'all, but dammit, that done it for me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Boondocks: Return of the King (#1.9)" (2006)

A Lot of Laughs

As a sometime stand-up comic, it was a great treat that this summer brought a big-name stand-up concert film, namely Spike Lee's "The Original Kings of Comedy". The film, a record of the highest-grossing comedy tour of all time, is not revolutionary and says nothing new about comedy or those who practice it. But it's chock-full of laughs, magnetism, and good, rollicking fun.

The concert in "Original Kings" was taped at Charlotte, North Carolina's Charlotte Coliseum, and it's a great testament to the often unfairly neglected stand-up art that comedy performers could fill such a prodigious space. The MC of the evening, who holds forth from an elaborately decorated stage set, is the WB's Steve Harvey, who has a wonderfully exasperated stage persona and a voice full of gusto as he sounds off about the stupidity of Rae Carruth, the idiosyncracies of black church elders, and the asininity of the band on the Titanic playing as the ship went down. He's got a rip-roaring sense of energy that gets the show started on a good note.

D.L. Hughley's set is perhaps the lowlight of the film. His delivery is not as punchy as that of the other performers, and unlike Harvey, he seems to use profanity as a crutch rather than as a proper comedy tool. Still, his performance has its moments, and he's likable enough that his onstage time doesn't get too dull.

Fortunately, things pick up when Cedric the Entertainer, a big, cuddly bear of a guy in a chocolate brown fedora, takes the stage. His set is the highlight of the film, full of sharp commentary about Tiger Woods, blacks on the space shuttle, and the particulars of a "ghetto wedding". He fills the stage with his expansive body language, and his silly dance interludes are among the best moments in the picture. Someone should give this guy his own TV show, and fast.

Closing things out is Bernie Mac, an abrasive, raspy-voiced, pop-eyed provocateur whose act is the most down-in-the-dirt of all the performers featured. His riffs on the virtues of beating children, the problem of living with a gay six-year-old nephew, and the importance of a certain twelve-letter-word to the black vocabulary, are sometimes more hostile than funny, but his gritty delivery and fast pace socks the best jokes home nicely. Besides, the audience in the theatre where I saw the film gave him applause at the end of his set, the only performer onscreen they did that for, so who am I to argue?

Lee's direction sometimes gets in the way of the performers, with showy camera moves that distract from the words. The film is at its best when Lee's cameraman, Malik Sayeed, just plops his camera down and lets the comics do their stuff. There are some nice reaction shots of the crowd, who are clearly having a great time, and the way that the laughter of the onscreen audience blends with that of the people in the theatre really makes you feel like you're part of the show.

"The Original Kings of Comedy" is not as great as earlier stand-up films like "Bill Cosby Himself" or "Eddie Murphy Raw", films that fell together more cohesively than this one does. Still, if you're looking for some Friday night laughs, you would be well advised to head to the theatre and hail to the Kings.