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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Still Standing

Damon Wayans

HBO · 1997 · 57 min

An hour of character work, nineties pop culture, and exasperated fatherhood.

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Damon Wayans brings character-driven hostility to the stage, blending physical act-outs with a cynical take on family life and nineties pop culture. He treats fatherhood as an exasperating trial, anchoring the hour with an extended run about taking his kids to Disneyland and the nausea that follows,. The performance leans heavily into the sketch sensibilities he developed on television, featuring routines about pimps aspiring to be screenwriters and a prolonged breakdown of the O.J. Simpson case.

Filmed for HBO and directed by Terri McCoy, the 1997 release arrived as Wayans was distancing himself from a string of mid-nineties film misfires like “Celtic Pride” and “The Great White Hype”. The set serves as a pivot back to his core strengths, capturing the kinetic stage presence that made him a breakout on “In Living Color”,. It operates as a vulgar time capsule of his stand-up before his move to broadcast family sitcoms, though specific material regarding Magic Johnson anchors it firmly in the sensibilities of its decade.

The set list

5 bits

  1. A pimp pitching a movie concept to a Hollywood studio executive

    Character vignette contrasting inner-city street culture with Hollywood business

  2. The guilt and trial of O.J. Simpson

    Biting, racially observational dissection of the 1990s case

  3. The bathroom habits of his 14-year-old son

    Raw, unrated comedic observations about teenage family life

  4. The durability and physical resilience of crack addicts

    Observational humor drawing on inner-city realities

  5. Magic Johnson playing for the Los Angeles Lakers while HIV-positive

    Edgy, irreverent sports commentary reflecting mid-90s headlines

How it plays

Tone
Raw, ribald, racially provocative, crass, and biting.
On stage
Foul-mouthed, observant, and playing himself rather than his famous sketch characters, channeling comedic fury and inner-city experiences.
Pace
Dynamic and blisteringly funny with energetic storytelling and character vignettes.
About
marriage, children and family life, work, earthquakes, celebrities, Disneyland

What the critics said

Praised by reviewers as an exceptionally hilarious, blistering hour that captures Wayans at the peak of his comedic fury, though noted in retrospective reviews as reflecting the less politically correct sensibilities of the 1990s.

In the room: Appreciative and enthusiastic live audience response with consistent laughter.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, moviefone.com, mtdb365.com, actoragecheck.com, dvdtalk.com, post-gazette.com, filmadviser.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

An HBO comedy special originally broadcast in 1997 touching on mid-90s cultural touchstones such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial and Magic Johnson's return to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Details

Released
Runtime
57 min
Where
HBO
Director
Terri McCoy
Honors
2 nominations total
Topics
Before
The Last Stand? (1991)

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