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Brick Wall Comedy

The Original Kings of Comedy (soundtrack)

Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and 1 more

MCA Records · Album · 2000

The 2000 arena tour that proved stand-up could sell out coliseums.

The Kings of Comedy tour proved that stand-up could function as arena rock. Prior to this 2000 release, filling a sports coliseum was a feat largely reserved for music acts. The audio album captures the North Carolina stops of the $50 million tour, stripping away the backstage footage from Spike Lee’s accompanying film to focus purely on the mechanics of four professionals handling a room of thousands. Mixed with a handful of early-2000s hip-hop tracks from artists like Big Tymers and Juvenile, the album isolates the auditory experience of a major industry shift.

By the time they hit the stage at the Charlotte Coliseum, the lineup was already dominating television. Steve Harvey acts as the night’s MC while anchoring his own sitcom, warming up the crowd with bits on the Titanic and the Black church. D.L. Hughley, also starring in a network show, delivers a fast-paced run of crowd work, mocking the front row with rapid precision before moving into material on bungee jumping and race. Cedric the Entertainer leans heavily into physical comedy on stage, but the audio translates his specific vocal inflections as he runs through impressions of different types of cigarette smokers.

Bernie Mac closes the show. His deliberate set about raising his sister’s misbehaving kids became the foundational premise for his own Fox sitcom a year later. The recording went on to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 2001.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Growing up in the church and the building fund

    Steve Harvey jokes about the ineffectiveness of the church building fund and mimics Sister Odelle mixing profane language and television theme songs into church hymns.

  2. Black people avoiding extreme physical activities

    D.L. Hughley observes that Black people avoid skydiving and bungee jumping because life already has enough peril, quipping that bungee jumping is 'too much like lynchin' for us!'

  3. The 'hope factor' versus the 'wish factor'

    Cedric the Entertainer contrasts how white people hope nothing goes wrong while Black people actively wish someone would start trouble so they can retaliate.

  4. Raising his sister's children

    Bernie Mac details his aggressive, hard-nosed style of child-rearing and the frustration of dealing with his young niece and nephew.

  5. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    The linguistic ubiquity of the word 'motherfucker' closer

    Bernie Mac breaks down how the profanity functions as a noun, adjective, and split infinitive.

How it plays

Tone
Raucous, unfiltered, observational, and profane.
On stage
Steve Harvey acts as an energetic, profane master of ceremonies; Cedric presents himself as hip and in touch with younger demographics; Bernie Mac delivers raw, autobiographical, aggressive self-deprecation.
Pace
Bernie Mac delivers his material with short, punchy attacks; Harvey weaves multiple short sets throughout the night.
About
African-American culture, race relations, religion and church, family and child-rearing, aging and sex

What the critics said

If you want lots of laughs and don't mind some profanity, The Original Kings of Comedy can deliver.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, filmmusic.com, wikidata.org, soundtrackinfo.com.

Backstory

Captured over the final two nights of the Kings of Comedy tour, addressing African-American culture, race relations, religion, and family.

Details

Lineup
Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac
Released
Taped
Charlotte Coliseum
Where
MCA Records (album)
Director
Spike Lee
Honors
2001 NAACP Image Awards - Outstanding Motion Picture (nominated)2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Award - Best Documentary (nominated)
Topics

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