Keeps it REAL!
by Yugen Rashad - JazzUSA.Com - 8/2005 - Posted 07-Aug-05
Laughter is good for the soul. If one pays attention funny things around us comes in abundance to produce a smile. From the most mundane deeds to the serious issues in life, humor is what keeps us going. I love comedians because of their abilities to extrapolate humorous narratives from the ordinary, and extraordinary act. With their help our souls are filled with the joy. We all have risked a night out at the local comedy club. You walked into a room filled with people and anticipation. The stage is set for an evening of laughter. In a few moments the comedian appears. Stepping to microphone, the words transport our worlds into a rapture of humor. We grin, laugh, and nod in agreement.
Down through the ages every generation has their favorite. And for my dollar Paul Mooney is a comedian of Herculean stature. Producer of screen plays, movies, actor and social activist, Mooney is an anomaly. As social critic, satirist, and psyche master, he stands head and shoulders above the rest of the comedy circuit in the 21st Century. Comics help keep our humanity in tact with. The history of African American humor as an anecdote is instructive.
During and after World War I and II when Southern Blacks begin to migrate to North, comedy profiled identity and sense place. Black struggle was often depicted in comic terms because the enterprise of comedy tells the story of how people overcome indifference.
The forties and fifties found Black people prepping for the tumultuous sixties. Social change was reflected in music, art and literature. Revolution and protest was in the air. Comics bold enough to tell the story made this the focal point of their routines.
The balance of the century showed the group loosing ground to mediocrity. Black pride and hope no longer the watermark, as the American melting pot reached a boil. The last quarter of the 20th century Black people lost ground. Cross over into the mainstream became the anthem.
Gone was boisterous consternation about cultural displacement as integration took hold. The fight against racism was replaced with a weird diversity and multiculturalism defined by the right wing conservative movement. And today most comedians are light in the pants. With short views of life, coupled with no historic perspective. Not many are willing to put it on the line. Paul Mooney does. I consider him to be more valuable to Black people then even Richard Pryor was in his hey day.
Mooney comes from a tradition of excellent funny people such as Dewey Pigmeat Markham, Jackie Moms Mabley, and John Elroy Sanford, or Red Fox . His routine also is a reflection of the next wave that included Clerow Flip Wilson, Bill Cosby, Richard Claxton Dick Gregory, and Richard Pryor, of whom he collaborated with. The third wave are people like Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, Whoopie Goldberg, Marsha Warfield, and the Wayans Brothers. This was at a time that found Black people at the highest moment of integration and forgetfulness. Sinbad, Steve Harvey, and Cedric the Entertainer arrive at a time of Black identity crisis, and the illusion of inclusion. As if it couldnt get worse, Chris (Rock and Tucker) epitomize the narcissistic, self absorbed, bling-bling generation.
Mooney comes as warrior to slay comic mediocrity. He resets the focus and raises the question.
Unlike todays sophomoric horde of funny men whose routines rely too much on sex, toilet jokes, and aimless profanity, Mooney has no peer when it comes to educating about conspiracy, race relations, and, simply put - dumb s--t. His live act, and limited recordings, are informed by a desire to reveal a deeper truth about our world.
The race man that tells it like it is, Mooneys style is informed by an abiding understanding of urban blight, corporate greed, government corruption, the affects of integration, racism and economic politics. Mooney deals with the most controversial subjects of the moment and finds the hot buttons and pushes them in: celebrities in trouble, Hollywood, Euro centricity, and the duplicity of the Black bourgeois.
The academy of Paul Mooney is one I believe parents should enroll their children. There is no denying the social function of comedy. Applications of humor to educate is nothing new. As a teaching tool humor is a feather that replaces harsher forms of discipline.
A character film maker Spike Lee created in one of his movies when talking about relationships with women, said when I cant make them laugh, I book! A little humor can tame a tumultuous anger. The reasons may vary. I believe humor makes us human. Its about a relationship building through a sharing of experiences.
For Black people and our paradoxical experience with this country, comedy is a bridge to over come and high step over the obstacles placed in our path. We laugh when their was a time all we could do was cry. Paul Mooney is steeped in this tradition.
A man of griot stature, he brings a tradition of humanity we need more of. His forays demonstrate the commonality among us.
Never afraid to slice through taboo. Always in cue to educate with laughter. A social critic, a healer, a conjure man, Mooney has the gift to express whatever the situation calls for, and does it with a smile. Audiences better get hip to him. There is only one Paul Mooney.