“All Comedy Roads Lead Back to Def Comedy Jam.”

Image from rottentomatoes.com. (left) Steve Harvey, Dave Chappelle, Bernie Mac, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock

In 1992, Def Jam Recordings music label’s co-head Russell Simmons, film/tv producer/director Stan Lathan, and tv producer/talent scout Bob Sumner, created HBO’s Def Jam Comedy series filmed at the epochal Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY. Like its parent record label, it premiered many under-utilized black talent that eventually ruled the era, and so on. It was the membrane between black comedians and the mainstream, with little else in stand up like it. Between censorship and culturally approved American television, it managed to keep its unique voice and principles.

“There were a lot of young black men and women going up onstage and doing comedy. After the show aired for the first year, that number of people who were stepping out there multiplied. After the first season, which was a short season, the number of people available to us became overwhelming. So we were able to keep doing it on a fairly high level.” - Stan Lathan 

While rattling the culture of the industry at the time, the fandom gained on audiences outside of their demographic. However, even with its esoteric content, it was more about ethnic representation than spite towards other major comedy clubs. 

Racial Disparities Encourage Reformation of Mainstream Comedy

In the early ‘90s, bigger comedy clubs weren’t cultured with black perspectives and styles due to exclusion. Within the heat of racial agitation after courts released four LAPD officers responsible for the Rodney King brutality. Weeks later, there was a murder of 15 year old Latasha Harlins by a Korean store owner due to the suspicion of stealing. The store owner was given probation at the time, which kicked off indiscriminate rioting, looting and arson. After the military forced the southern Angelenos in a remission; an outlet for raw emotions and expression was necessary. For humanity, voice and representation, Def Comedy Jam created a space for uneasy and unresolved conversations. A trickling effect that inspired more black led comedy, like the star-filled Phat Tuesdays at The Comedy Store in L.A. Beyond the novelty of the project, and the conveyor belt of doom for failing acts, fans rightfully propped comedians up that grew on Def Comedy Jam as they merged from smaller audiences to national levels. 

Well Known Comedians Got Their Start In Def Comedy Jam

With more black centric comedy clubs opening in other major cities, the spotlight was shifting on lesser recognized comedians. The Def Comedy Jam facilitated icons, like the late Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence, D.L. Hughley, Steve Harvey, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Adele Givens, Laura Hayes, and some. Martin Lawrence, one of Def Comedy Jam’s successful hosts, solidified a time-permeating hit, Martin, a television show also released in 1992. Lawrence was an integral part of black entertainment in the late 80s to still sailing franchises, like Bad Boys and House Party. 

“I ain't scared of you muthafuckas!” 

Belts the late King of Comedy, Bernie Mac, after a previous comic was booed off the Harlem stage. In only his first appearance, his fandom was developing indisputably. Regarded for his comedic poise, rawness, rooted and piercing disposition, Bernard McCullough outperforms for a notoriously man-eating audience. “Y’all don't understand, I ain't scared of yall” reiterated the late comedian. Bernie not only featured on the Spike Lee directed “The Original Kings of Comedy” in 2000, he graced hit films like Friday, while establishing his own self-titled show, The Bernie Mac Show in 2001. It continues with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Steve Harvey who not only had immense success that is still witnessable, they made history in entertainment with their own shows and films. The national level of fandom isn't only limited to the guys, the women inadvertently attacked the industry. One of the Queens of Comedy and “the diva of contemporary comedy”, Sommore, is a mainstay as far as diva comedians are concerned. Sheryl Underwood is another of the diva comedians that showed up to bat in conversations about successful female comedians. She also got her start during the bony part of Def Comedy Jam, featured in films and television, and currently a co-host at CBS’s The Talk. With the likes of sketch comedies like NBC’s SNL and Keenan Ivory Wayans’ In Living Color, Def Comedy Jam takes over the early 90s Friday nights.  

Photo from images.app.goo

Def Comedy Jam Surviving the Scrutiny 

“Black comics have a real forum on Def Jam, not these other places. No matter what anyone says, it’s an honest expression of our culture. There is no emphasis on being dirty. The emphasis is on being honest.” Russells Simmons backfired when the show was scrutinized for its boisterous and “smutty” material and style. In 1994, two years after the show’s debut, a New York Times critic covered the series with a short-sighted review highlighting the vulgarity, while diminishing the material while missing the implicit and cultural references between the lines. From comics, critics and audiences, it was described with deprecation and political correctness, yet dirty comedy wasn’t an unfamiliar thing elsewhere. “…There's something about Def Comedy Jam. That grimy and new york ish”, alum Chris Rock comments. For a newly mostly African-American lineup, cultural differences can inhibit a diverse and receptive audience.

Image by variety.com of Def Comedy Jam's 25th Anniversary. (left) Steve Harvey, Adele Givens, Cedric the Entertainer, Dave Chappelle 

Def Comedy Jam Reaches its Punchline

After 8 seasons in 2008, Def Comedy Jam ended the series, but not without impacting the culture of comedy and expanding on worldviews. Def Jam’s comedians transcended other forms of entertainment, strained the threshold of what’s acceptable, and pushed beyond the brick wall of stand up. Def Comedy Jam aired its 25th anniversary in 2017 with the ensemble; Steve Harvey, Sheryll Underwood, Cedric the Entertainer, and Dave Chappelle. The show memorialized and basked in its history in a conversational production. “Def comedy jam was the shit. It was black, funny and it made a lot of people famous.” Dave Chappelle beams. “All comedy roads lead back to def comedy jam”.

Published on Comedyslaps.com