Can today’s comedians compete?

Do you remember the days of Richard Pryor telling jokes on stage in eight different octaves so you could get a feel for each different character he was portraying? How about the raspy delivery of Redd Foxx, the quick tongue of Robin Harris, or the tight leather suits of Eddie Murphy? Each of these comedians established themselves as strong stand-up comedians before venturing out into other things such as television, movies, and even music (Eddie, please don’t quit your day job!). The above mentioned four are considered by many as classic comedians, which makes pose the question for our generation, where is the funny? Who is our next generation comedian that will have enough stay power to become a household name like Richard Pryor was and still is?Comedy back in the day was catered more to an older audience so the comedians dealt with more “adult-minded” issues. Heavy sexual content, profanity and unwanted crowd participation were big laughter and applause getters. Comedian’s back then also dealt with a number of social issues like “Reagonomics”, Homosexuality, and the growing AIDS scare. In Eddie Murphy’s “Delirious”, he touched on all of these issues, plus losing half of your money if you get divorced, and growing up poor with his brother and their version of “Mr. Bubble” in the bath tub. Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx were more storytelling comedians where a humorous story would climax into a hilarious punch line. Richard Pryor once joked about taking his children swimming and being pushed in the pool. Knowing he couldn’t swim he called his kids for help who were on the side laughing and didn’t take dad’s drowning serious until he threatened their allowance.Comedy today is catered to a much younger audience with even more sexual content, profanity, and crowd participation. Where the likes of Robin Harris and Redd Foxx would tell you a joke, today’s comedians like Martin and Bernie Mac add acting the joke out. Comedians in the past did this but the “new-school” comedians took it to the next level. While hosting Def Comedy Jam, Martin Lawrence came out on stage in nothing but underwear, sneakers and a hat yelling to the audience ” I wasn’t ready!… But the show must go on!”. To hear Jamie Foxx’s HBO Special ” I Might Need Security” is one thing, but to see him run like the giraffes with the high butt’s and dance in his circle when he’s talking about “Africa” is something else. I believe the comedians of today brought a new energy to the field of comedy. In Mike Epps’ movie “All About The Benjamin’s”, he uses quick wit and metaphors to help rapper Ice Cube recover some stolen diamonds as well as his winning lottery ticket.So in the end I believe our generation is in pretty good hands when it comes to the comedy field of entertainment. Being that so many of today’s comics site the likes of Eddie Murphy and Robin Harris as influences their comedy will last forever through our current comics and expand to new heights of comedic entertainment. Oh, and if anyone was wondering, my personal pick right now would have to be Martin Lawrence, I hope you saw “Runteldat” and “National Security.” He’s so crazy!