On this day in comedy on August 4, 1941 Comedian, Writer, Actor, Paul Gladney (Paul Mooney) was born in Shreveport, Louisiana!
His first role as a performer came in the form of ringmaster with the Gatti-Charles Circus, where he wrote and told jokes. This lead to his writing for Richard Pryor and such comedy classics as the race routine between Pryor and Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live, Pryor’s live stand up concert films and comedy albums. They also co-wrote together on Redd Foxx’s Sanford & Son and Mooney served as head writer for Pryor’s NBC sketch show, The Richard Pryor Show, where Mooney was also casting director and introduced to the public Robin Williams, John Witherspoon, Sandra Bernhard, Marsha Warfield and Tim Reid.
Paul Mooney has acted in many memorable comedy films. He was in Hollywood Shuffle, Which Way is Up? and Bustin Loose. Mooney played Sam Cooke in The Buddy Holly Story and Junebug in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.
Mooney’s influenced has spanned generations. He was the head writer for In Living Color on Fox and created Homie the Clown. He was Negrodamus (a parody of Nostradamus) on Chappelle’s Show, where he made outrageous and hilarious predictions to questions such as “Why do white people love Wayne Brady?” Negrodamus’ answer – “Because Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.”
Paul Mooney’s career has been laced in controversy. From the time he called black mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, “Uncle Tom Bradley” at a city function to the time he ran Tracee Ellis Ross out of the showroom at the BET Comedy Awards following a typical Mooney rant about Ross’ mother, Diana’s DUI arrest and the mountain climbing death of Ross’ step-father, Arne Naess Jr. to the time he was yanked from the Apollo Theater stage for talking about then president George W. Bush and his mama. Paul Mooney does no tongue biting.
Mooney is legendary for his stance on race. He wrote the book, Black is the New White. He released the comedy albums, Race and Master Piece. He did the DVD Know Your History: Jesus Is Black; So Was Cleopatra. He was even indirectly involved in the Michael Richard’s N-Word revelation when Richards snapped on black patrons at the Laugh Factory in 2006. Mooney publicly swore off ever using the word again a pivotal word in his act) and forgave Michael Richards for using it. Mooney himself has slipped and used it, but must be given an E for effort.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on August 3, 2001 Rush Hour 2 was released by New Line Cinema.
This sequel to the 1998 smash hit starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan they reprise their roles as Detective carter and Inspector Lee respectively. In this installment they find themselves in Hong Kong mixed up with the Asian Triads and a counterfeiting scam.
The plot unfolds with Tucker on vacation visiting Chan. His plans for a little R & R are derailed when a bomb goes off at the United States Consulate General killing two undercover custom agents. Chan is put on the case which is personal because of Ricky Tan, now a leader of the Triads, who Chan had long suspected had a role in the killing of his father, a former police officer. This distresses Tucker, who wants nothing to do with working a case. He’s on vacation.
Things get complicated when the US and Hong Kong authorities fight over legal jurisdiction. Regardless the action ensues as tucker’s room is bombed, Ricky Tan is shot and Tucker and Chan go to Los Angeles to work the case.
Of course behind every great crime there is a rich white man (according to Tucker) and this one’s is L. A, hotel billionaire, Steven Reign. With the help of an ex-con, Tucker and Chan track a load of counterfeit $100 bills back to Reign. They get knocked out and transported to Las Vegas where they attempt to find the engraving plates. It’s discovered that Ricky Tan faked his death. Tan stabs Reign, who tries to back out of the deal and admits to Chan that he killed his father. Of course this forces Chan to kick Tan out of a window and fall to his death. Chan and Tucker escape a bomb explosion. The film wraps up with the duo heading to New York to blow some of the money Tucker won at the casino.
Directed by Brett Ratner, Roger Birnbaum & Jonathan Glickman with music by Lalo Schifrin, Rush Hour 2 was met with critically mixed reviews. Despite that, the live-action comedy is the highest grossing live-action martial arts film of all time, taking in $347,325,802 on a $90 million budget.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on August 1, 1957, Comedian, Actor, Painter, Playwright, Brad Stephen “Taylor” Negron was born.
Negron exited the womb in Glendale, California. He was of Puerto Rican descent and showed early signs of talent. His initiation into comedy came at the Comedy Store while he was in high school. Negron became an extra and did game shows to gain exposure. Negron was a hustler. He worked as Lee Strasberg’s assistant briefly in a work-study program and for Lucille Ball during her stint as a guest teacher at a college.
Taylor Negron gained traction. He appeared in some of the major film comedies of his era: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Easy Money (w/Rodney Dangerfield), Punchline (Tom Hanks), Nothing but Trouble (Chevy Chase), Stuart Little (Michael J. Fox), Angels in the Outfield (Christopher Lloyd), Call Me Claus (Whoopi Goldberg), Bio-Dome (Pauly Shore) and others. He was also in demand for sitcoms, guest starring on Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Will Smith), Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David), My Wife and Kids (Damon Wayans), Friends, Seinfeld and That’s So Raven among others. In his last role he worked on The Comedians along with Billy Crystal and Josh Gad.
Negron was a talented artist. Beyond acting and stand-up he was an accomplished writer. He penned the successful production, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Taylor Negron – A Fusion of Story and Song, which was met with rave reviews. Negron wrote other produced plays and published several comedy essays (Dirty Laundry (Phoenix Books) and Love West Hollywood: Reflections of Los Angeles (Alyson Books). He was a contributing blogger and a painter. His artwork was displayed in solo exhibitions in prestigious venues such as Los Angeles’ Laemmle Royal Theater and the Hotel de Ville Lifestyle.
Taylor Negron had long suffered from liver cancer when he succumbed in Los Angeles, California at the age of 57 on January 10, 2015.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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We here at The Humor Mill are having a giveaway! We now have for a limited time only DVDs of the hit movie of the summer CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR! Now is your chance to win a DVD that will be mailed to your house!
All you have to do is send an email to us (frank@humormillmag.com) with your name and address and we will send out the DVDs to the FIRST FEW who hdo so by telling us the name of their favorite character and why! This will be for a limited time only with a VERY LIMITED SUPPLY and as soon as you do so, the DVD will be mailed to you!
In the meantime, enjoy the Black Panther featurette below!
During the MTV Video Music Awards Kanye West debuted a music video everyone was talking about titled FADE. As a matter of fact people are still talking about it. Anyway, you just knew a comedian was going to do a parody and that comedian was Tiffany Haddish! Check out the video starring Haddish, Directed By Samson Crouppen with the song remixed by The Hit Brainiac.
On this day in comedy on August 1, 1979 CBS aired series finale of Good Times, “The End of the Rainbow”.
It was in season six, episode 21. Directed by Gerren Keith and written by Michael G. Moye & Jacqueline Henken, this farewell installment tells the last story of the long suffering yet happy-to-be-alive Evans family. James (John Amos) is long dead and Florida (Esther Rolle) has shattered the punch bowl and uttered the immortal “Damn, damn, damn” and now it’s time for some seemingly “real” good times to visit their tenement dwelling.
For once it seems everybody is working. Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis) has a husband named Keith (Ben Powers) who gets a football contract. Meanwhile JJ (Jimmie Walker) has created a comic book character based on Thelma called Dyno-Woman. They love it and now JJ has a steady job. Wilona (Ja’net Dubois) gets employment paying good money and so she moves on up with Little Penny (Janet Jackson) in tow. Michael (Ralph Carter) is in college so he’s not working and neither is Thelma, but that’s because she’s pregnant, not lazy. As a matter of fact, they insist that Florida move in with them 9to help with the new baby of course which is just what a woman of Florida’s age needed after raising three children of her own). Yet the real co-incidence occurs when it turns out Wilona and Thelma’s family all moved into the same building (and never bragged about it to each other). And they all lived happily ever after in syndication.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on July 31, 1992 Bébé’s Kids was released by Paramount Pictures!
The brainchild of comedian, Robin Harris, the animated comedy was produced by Reginald Hudlin and Hyperion Pictures after Harris’ death in 1990. Based on a routine from his stand-up act, Bebe’s Kids tells the story of some bad kids and the trials and tribulations of a wannabe boyfriend forced to deal with them to score points with his potential lady.
Robin meets Jamika at a funeral and before he dies he wants some of that. He wants her so bad he gets talked into taking her and her son out to Fun World to get acquainted. The problems start to stack up when Robin goes to pick up Jamika and her son and there are three other kids there. They’re Bebe’s Kids and Bebe is nowhere to be seen, but she did leave a few bucks for the kids; a very few. Oh well, if Robin wants some Jamika he has to survive one little old day. Off to Fun World they go.
Bebe’s Kids reputation proceeds them. The guards at Fun World warn them they’ll be watched. Doesn’t matter – they go off anyway; running off and destroying everything in sight. It doesn’t help that Robin’s ex-wife is at Fun World, too. She and her weight challenged side kick try to put salt in Robin’s game, but get smacked down with a barrage of mama jokes. Jamika warms up to Robin. Meanwhile Jamika’s son gets no love from Bebe’s Kids as they run amok, get caught by security, escape and recruit other amusement park going kids to be menaces too. There’s a trail with Lincoln and Nixon, a fully demolished Fun World and a trip to Las Vegas that ends with Bebe’s Kids begin spotted and the gamblers fleeing for their lives. Best of all there’s a live action clip of legendary (for good reason) Robin Harris doing stand-up comedy.
A predominately black cast voices the film, including Faizon Love (the voice of Harris), Vanessa Bell Calloway, Nell Carter, Myra J, John Witherspoon, George Wallace, Tone Loc and Marques Houston. Directed by Bruce W. Smith with a screenplay by Reginald Hudlin, Bebe’s Kids made $8,442,162 at the domestic box office. Even though the critics disliked it and it came in #7 its opening weekend, audiences came to embrace the film as a cult classic. In 1994 it was adapted into a video game on Super Nintendo. Later Bebe’s Kids was released on DVD in October of 2004, but was discontinued in March 2008.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on July 30, 1968 Actor, Terry Alan Crews was born in Flint, Michigan!
Terry Crews is that rare combination of intimidating professional athlete turned beloved professional entertainer. Thanks to an art and a football scholarship, Crews led Western Michigan University to a Mid-American Conference Championship in 1988 as a defensive end. In 1991 he was a NFL 11th round-draft pick for the Rams. He went on to suit up for the Chargers, Redskins and Eagles. During his gridiron days Crews would supplement his income by painting portraits of his teammates.
Crews makes the most of his various talents. His first job in entertainment was working for station WJRT in Michigan as a courtroom sketch artist. When he retired from football in 1997, he used his size and gentle-giant persona in the role of T-Money on Battle Dome. He’s used his singing talent in Click and Blended, both with Adam Sandler. Other films include White Chicks, Friday after Next, Norbit, Training Day, Soul Plane, The Longest Yard, Draft Day, Street Kings and The Benchwarmers.
Best known as the father on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris., Crews is omnipresent. He’s been a pitchman for Old Spice and flexed his chest muscles on late night TV. He starred in the TBS sitcom, Are We There Yet?, co-starred on the Fox sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and played himself on the BET reality show, The Family Crews. He’s done music videos, commercials, award shows and has already written his autobiography, Manhood: How to Be a Better Man or Just Live with One. Terry Crews is so versatile lovable he hosts the daytime game show, How to be a Millionaire.
Oh, and did we mention he does a weird thing with his tongue?
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on July 28, 2005 Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out debuted on MTV.
This long running, on and off sketch comedy, improv series features up & coming comedians as well as seasoned vets. Hosted by its creator, Nick Cannon, Wild N Out is a ratings champion and holds the record for MTV2’s biggest premiere.
The basic premise is two teams are pitted against each other in a series of improvisational games. One squad is captained by Cannon and the other by the celebrity guest, who also usually performs the show’s musical number. Examples of the games are:
Let me Holla: Squad members use pick-up lines on a girl and good ones get a bell.
Turn up for what: When the audience replies, “Turn up for what?” the comedian better have a funny line or it’s crickets.
Got props: Use props in a wrong scenario and your squad gets a buzzer and not a bell.
Remix: Gives each squad a chance to show off their ability to remix a song or nursery rhyme. The audience picks the winner of this round.
The audience also picks the winner of ‘R and Beef’ where the audience also makes the suggestion for the problem.
In Pie or Die squad members get custard to the mug if they use a word incorrectly in a freestyle rap.
Talking Spit forces members to hold water in their mouth while opposite squad members try to make them laugh.
In the game Family Reunion squad members introduce audience members as family members and of course the ones with most laughs wins the round.
Eat That Ass Up is a competition to see who can do a given dance the best.
Plead the Fifth has the captains in a cage answering questions posed by the opposing squad. If the captain doesn’t or can’t answer the question they can plead the fifth, but the more you punk out the less chance of winning.
At the end the winning captain gets the championship belt.
Coming in at a half hour running time, Wild N Out has been called a hip hop version of Whose Line Is it Anyway?, launching and enhancing the careers of Corey Holcomb, Affion Crockett, DeRay Davis, Spanky Hayes, Kevin Hart, Dominique, Bruce-Bruce, Cedric the Entertainer, Earthquake, Luenell, Brandon T Jackson, Loni Love, Lil Duval, Sommore, Orlando Jones, Katt Williams, Mike Epps, Charlie Murphy, Darrel Heath, Deon Cole, Karlous Miller, Chaunte Wayans, Billy Sorrells, Nate Jackson, Michael Blackson, Rip Michaels and many more. Musical artists and guest athletes have included Lil Jon, Kelly Rowland, Three 6 Mafia, Big Boi, Warren Sapp, Fat Joe, Sean Paul, Bobby Brown, Common, Serena Williams, E-40, Marques Houston, Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Budden, Method Man, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Redman, Mariah Carey, Big Daddy Kane, Rick Ross, Nelly, T. I., Michael Strahan, Ne-Yo, Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy, Akon, Chris Paul, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and 2 Chainz.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on July 28, 2000 The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps was released by Universal Pictures!
This Eddie Murphy vehicle is a sequel to the 1996 film, The Nutty Professor, which was a remake of the 1963 Jerry Lewis film of the same name. In this edition Sherman Klump (Murphy in make-up) is a genius still, but we get to spend more time with his family who are not. However, they are all played brilliantly by Murphy, who also plays Sherman’s alter ego, Buddy Love (Murphy without make-up).
The plot has Sherman discovering a formula for the fountain of youth. To complicate things, Buddy Love steals it and tries to sell it. Through DNA extraction Sherman is losing his brain cells and Buddy is on the loose as a separate entity from Sherman. With help from his assistant and his fiancé, played by Janet Jackson, Sherman regains his brain cells and dispenses with Buddy Love.
Eddie Murphy played 8 roles in this film. Comedians, Wanda Sykes, Larry Miller and Chris Elliot are featured as well as Richard Gant, Anna Marie Horford, Freda Payne and Jamal Mixon. Though most critics panned the film for what they considered gross and lowbrow comedy, they overall praised Murphy for his versatility and talent. Critic legend, Roger Ebert, on the other hand, loved it – calling it “very funny” and “nothing less than amazing”. Obviously many ticket buyers felt the same way.
On a budget of 84 million, The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps grossed 123.3 million domestically and 43 million abroad.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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