Just watched this wonderful documentary on HBO produced by Whoopi Goldberg about the famed comic, Moms Mabley. I remember hearing of her years ago as a child -- some joke about a man so ugly he hurt her feelings. That was hysterical to me at the time. Tonight, viewing this show, I learned so much more about her and her comedy and came to understand her to be the trailblazer she hasn't always been heralded as.
Comediennes, I admit, don't always catch my ear/eye/attention, because it seems they tend to riff on topics I don't rather care to hear about -- much to the same tune. You've heard one woman complain about a man, you've heard it all. I dunno where this perception of women's comedy comes from, but I tend to like my comedy a bit more sophisticated or intellectual, if you will. I'm not a fan of slapstick or even physical. The more dry and cerebral the better. Politics, culture, society and all their inherent humor tickle my funny bone. Relationship talk is easy -- Give me highbrow. I wanna be impressed by comedy LOLOL
Anyhoo, I came to realize just how transformative Moms role has been on the comedy circuit. Learned more about her background, her identity, her "radical" politics. Admittedly, I was surprised, but considering the context for her comedy, the times she existed in, it almost make perfect sense. She was able to get a message across in a manner that appealed to audiences. Just as Whoopi, Moms greatly appealed to me as a youth, and I'm glad I finally got to learn a bit more about her. Now, I've just got to find an audio version of "Glory, Glory Martin Luther" -- that clip was hilarious -- because I fully believe that should be sung every MLK holiday. EVERY YEAR LOLOLOL
Check it out yourself on HBO.
0 comments:
Post a Comment