The Original Kings of Comedy

It was the highest-grossing comedy tour ever, but it still slipped under the radar of the larger (read: white) cultural consciousness. That says a lot about the chasm between races that exists in this country. To judge from the routines of Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Freddie Mac in Spike Lee's new concert film, the gap isn't gonna narrow any time soon.

From Hughley's spiel about why blacks don't do extreme sports (whites need to construct excitement; blacks have enough already trying to get a loan approved or take out a wallet without being shot 41 times) to Harvey's explanation of why they have no time for Titanic (a black band sure as hell wouldn't be playing while the ship went down), the performers revel in deconstructing racial differences. Never are the contrasts more apparent then when Lee trains his camera on the selected whitey in the audience -- a nervous, slightly chuckling countenance in a sea of roiling hilarity.

Late in the film, a bug-eyed Bernie Mac probes the dynamics of a certain word for which blacks have a marked affinity, advising the audience, "Don't be afraid of the word motherfucker!"

Okay. This is some funny mu'fuckin' shit. At the Hoyts Providence Place 16, and Showcase cinemas (Seekonk 1-10 and Waqrwick only).
-- Mike Miliard