Has Black Comedy Been Beaten Blue? : ‘Def Comedy Jam’ is a hit--but with some African American comics turning to cable shows that limit the raunchiness, clean and subtle could be the wave of the future

The makeshift “green room” at the Ebony Showcase Theatre in South-Central Los Angeles was filled with the sweet smell of fresh soul food and the sting of dueling punch lines from comedians waiting their turn to “kick it” with the overflow crowd waiting in the jammed theater downstairs.

Seasoned veterans of the African American comic scene--T. K. Carson from “The Sinbad Show” and John Henton from “Living Single”--mixed easily with aspiring comics while a monitor showed the live proceedings taking place below.

Onstage, comedian Paul Mooney, wearing a blue scarf over his head, was saying, “White people are always trying to bring big dead white people back to life, like Elvis. You don’t ever hear anybody saying, ‘Hey, I just saw Sammy Davis Jr. shopping at the supermarket.’ ”

The predominantly black audience roared its approval as cameras rolled. The steady stream of comedians had gathered for a marathon taping session of “Comic Justice,” Comedy Central’s showcase for black comedians and vintage film clips honoring black entertainers from the past.

“Comic Justice” is one of a series of existing and proposed programs fashioned after “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam,” the HBO late-night showcase that has propelled the grass-roots popularity of black stand-up comedy into the national mainstream. The 3-year-old show has given unprecedented exposure to young performers who use comedy to express their anger and observations about growing up black.

Yet “Def Comedy Jam” has become just as infamous for the unabashed rawness and profanity used by many of the comedians in depicting X-rated sex and raunchy behavior--no-holds-barred material that might make even fans of Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx or Eddie Murphy blush. And that has created a backlash. Comedians at the “Comic Justice” taping said the success of the HBO series has been a double-edged sword, making black comedians a hot commodity but creating an expectation among audiences and club owners that all black comics must be blue.

Indeed, “Comic Justice” was conceived last year in response to “Def Comedy Jam” as a showcase for “clean” black comedians. “We’re trying to aspire to a higher energy,” explained Jerry Kramer, the show’s director and co-producer. “You can be funny without saying (expletive) before every noun. You can talk about any issue without cursing.”

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The arrival of “Comic Justice” and other black stand-up shows, such as “Comicview” on Black Entertainment Television, comes as “Def Comedy Jam” continues to grow far beyond its limited audience at HBO. Two “best of” compilations are available in video stores. Groups of comedians traveling under the “Def Comedy Jam” banner have been playing to sold-out audiences around the country, and future tours are planned.

Comics featured on the show continue to be feverishly courted by the networks as performers or writers. A special, “Bad Girls of Def,” is scheduled on HBO in July, and “Def Jam” producers have been working on a toned-down version of their show that they hope to sell to a network. The series has even spawned a Latino version, “Loco Slam,” which will air on HBO in June ( see story , Page 62 ).

Comedians at the “Comic Justice” taping acknowledged the groundbreaking nature of “Def Comedy Jam” and praised the series for helping black comedians make inroads. But they and others maintain that the show’s edgy style of humor has promoted an overemphasis among black comics on raunchy, in-your-face comedy rather than on more subtle, insightful humor. Much of the “Def Jam” humor, they charge, is degrading to women, employs racial epithets and uses stereotypes that portray black men and women as oversexed, loud and profane.

And young audiences, particularly those who like rap music, now expect black comics to perform “Def Jam”-style material.

“Audiences who have been attending comedy clubs haven’t changed, but there is a new audience out there, the hip-hop audience, and the ‘Def Jam’ stuff is what they want to see,” said A. J. Jamal, the host of “Comic Justice.” “I’ve performed in front of mixed audiences, and young brothers will come up to me afterward and say, ‘I guess you couldn’t let yourself go off or talk about somebody’s mama because there were white people in the audience, right?’ Then I have to tell them I don’t do that type of material.”

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Jamal and others also complain that aspiring comics, influenced by “Def Comedy Jam,” think they can get by with just a few minutes of raunchy jokes without providing a social context or a personal identity such as a Richard Pryor or a Redd Foxx.

“With Richard Pryor, you never knew the cursing was there,” said Jamal, a former regular on Fox’s “In Living Color.” “It was brilliant. Now it’s ‘F this’ and ‘F that,’ ‘N this’ and ‘N that.’ Like, where’s the joke? These guys don’t even introduce themselves. They just start right off saying those words. Why does it have to be so violent, and why does there have to be so much bad language?”

The creators and producers of “Def Comedy Jam” bristle at the blasts against their program, saying that critics have the wrong impression about the show and the style of comedy.

“We do not look for blue or raw material,” said Stan Lathan, “Def Comedy Jam’s” director and one of the executive producers. “When we sold this show to HBO, it was conceived as a show where we could present a club setting that was real and pure. We do not tell any of the comics what to say or what to do. There are lots of comics who do clean sets.”

Lathan continued: “Sure, there is a lot of blue stuff on the show, a lot of extremely graphic sexual material. But this is the material that these comics do in the clubs. We’re presenting the purest state of black American comedy. This is a fact.”

Rap music mogul Russell Simmons, who created “Def Comedy Jam” and is another one of its three executive producers, said: “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 absolutely no emphasis on being dirty. The emphasis is on being honest.”

Lathan, a television veteran who is also producer and director of Fox’s “Roc,” said: “I understand the sensitivity of many black people to the images that are presented on our show. I agree in many cases that television does a disservice to black people. But ‘Def Comedy Jam’ is a show that’s on very late at night on an adult pay-TV network. It’s available to a very limited audience. It’s not in your face at 8:30 or 9 p.m. on the networks.”

Mooney, a former writer for Richard Pryor and a veteran of the comedy scene, calls the finger-pointing “just more black-on-black crime. ‘Def Jam’ is part of the black experience. If things were equal, there wouldn’t be a need for a ‘Def Jam.’ People need to get hip to that. “

Nevertheless, the creators of “Comic Justice” and “Comicview” say their programs provide a timely and essential alternative to prove that black doesn’t have to be blue. Comedians appearing on the shows are told to check their four-letter and 12-letter obscenities, as well as their more sexually explicit material, at the door. Though some references to drugs and urban ills remain, the comics’ delivery is closer to “Ed Sullivan” than “Def Comedy Jam.”

Andre Wiseman of M. L. Management, which produces “Comic Justice” in association with Visualize Productions, said he and colleagues developed the show because “clean” black comedians needed a television showcase. “We wanted to focus on family values and honesty. We interview everyone beforehand, and all the comedians, including the ones who use profanity in their act, know this is a positive thing we’re doing.”

Mark Adkins, Wiseman’s partner, said: “For some of these comedians, it’s a relief for them to do clean comedy. They can’t use profanity, so they are challenged to do their comedy another way. This kind of show increases their marketability.”

In addition to showcasing comics, “Comic Justice” also spotlights vintage film clips featuring Hattie McDaniel, Eddie (Rochester) Anderson, Sammy Davis Jr. and vaudeville teams. “It’s important to show the legacy,” Wiseman said.

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Unlike “Comic Justice,” which features more established comics, BET’s “Comicview” is designed as a competition for up-and-coming black comedians. The comics are told to do “clean and original” material, which is then judged by a panel of entertainment industry professionals. Weekly winners are eligible to star in their own half-hour comedy special.

Lynn Taylor, producer and director of “Comicview,” said that though her show was not developed as a direct reaction to “Def Comedy Jam,” “we thought there was a need for a lot of good and talented comics who do not use profanity in their acts. We wanted to show that you could enjoy this kind of comedy without having to send the kids or the grandparents out of the room.”

Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle said he thought it was about time that shows like “Comicview” and “Comic Justice” came along: “ ‘Def Jam’ is cool; it’s a good thing. I just think people should realize it’s not the only thing. There has to be a balance.”

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Chappelle said “Def Jam” has definitely had an influence on the expectations of audiences and club owners toward black comedians: “You have to remember, when ‘Def Jam’ started, it was huge. It was a lot of white people’s first introduction to (that kind of stand-up) comedy, and it’s what they thought it was all about. I found when I was touring that, in a lot of people’s minds, especially young people, your comedy was not as colorful if you were less blue. And club owners, when they would see that I’m young and black, would be reluctant to deal with me, saying: ‘He’s one of those “Def Jam” comics.’ ”

Ajai Sanders, a comedian who was also a regular on NBC’s “A Different World,” said she had not planned to perform blue material when she appeared on “Def Comedy Jam” two years ago. But she said she altered her routine because of the audience: “When I was on ‘Def Jam,’ the pressure to be dirty was really there.”

Part of her routine centered on the simulation of a sexually explicit act between her and her boyfriend. The young crowd responded enthusiastically.

“ ‘Def Jam’ started out as a venue where a comic could be fly but clever,” Sanders said. “Now the cleverness has been thrown out. It’s about time we had a show like ‘Comic Justice.’ We need this and ‘Def Comedy Jam.’ I like this better. I’m more comfortable.”

Although she said she is grateful for the exposure she received from “Def Comedy Jam” (“I couldn’t go anywhere without people recognizing me”), Sanders said she would never go on the show again: “I just feel like I need to challenge myself more.”

Chappelle said he just taped his second “Jam” session, and “it went really well. The first time I did it, I was a bit blue, but this time, I was more myself. It was a show of all clean comedians.”

Jamal and others said they believe that the raw style of black comedy is a passing phase. “Eventually clean comedy will come back, comedy that is mainstream, where the language will be more like Bill Cosby,” he said.

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Lathan said that he is not threatened by the competition and that there is room for all the black comedy shows, blue and non-blue.

“We all feed each other,” he said. “We as black producers are all going to benefit--there’s no question about it. It’s gone from the grass roots to the mainstream, and we can have every aspect of the spectrum. And the whole entertainment industry will take on a flavor that will be a little more black.”*

* “Comic Justice” airs Saturdays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. (The episodes taped in Los Angeles will start airing in April.) “Comicview” can be seen nightly at 5:30 and 10 o’clock on BET. “Def Comedy Jam” airs Fridays at midnight and in various other late-night slots during the week on HBO.