Wait. Did you hear that right?
Yes, you did – and it was so funny that you just now caught your breath. What the guy onstage said was so unexpected, so dead-on, so real that you couldn’t stop laughing. And as you’ll see in the new book “Black Out Loud” by Geoff Bennett, his routine reaches back more than a hundred years.
On April 15, 1990, ten-year-old Geoff Bennett was watching TV in his family living room when his world was shaken. He’d stumbled on the debut of In Living Color, the irreverent, hilariously funny sketch show that featured mostly Black entertainers.
Entertainers, in other words, who looked like him.
That show was a first for Bennett. But it wasn’t the only first, by any means.
In the late 1800s, there was minstrelsy, the cast of which were usually mostly white people with burnt-cork-blackened faces – until African American entertainer Billy Kersands came along and performed song-and-dance comedy acts in blackface. Audiences loved him, and he “became the first Black entertainer in America to achieve national celebrity.”
Hot on Kersands’ heels, Bert Williams and George Walker became vaudeville stars in the early 1900s, followed by Stepin Fetchit and his controversial, but very successful, career. Then Hattie McDaniel, who lampooned stereotypes with over-exaggeration in movie roles, became the first Black actor to land an Oscar.
As others made the transition from movies and radio to TV, Rochester (The Jack Benny Show) eased the roles of Black characters into that of friends, rather than domestic workers. Black comedians began recording their acts on LPs, as they moved from live stage to small screen. Some landed their own TV shows, changed popular sketch programming, and made fun of white America right under white America’s noses.
And they made us laugh at ourselves.
“For more than a century,” says Bennett, “Black comedians have been witnesses… And when the world was finally ready to hear the real story of America, it knew exactly where to turn – to America’s conscience: the Black comedian.”
LOL. That was you every Monday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday night, or whenever you caught your favorite comedy show.
Everybody talked about it the next day. Now, read about it.
Yes, you may have a few favorites that aren’t inside this book, but author Geoff Bennett’s work here is pretty comprehensive: he includes today’s hottest Black comedians and some who were once famous but are unremembered today. You’ll have a chance to know them and, while you get acquainted or you read about superstars you love now, Bennett also surprises readers with biographies, little-known facts, and notable accomplishments those stars worked hard for – all in a narrative that’s casual, sometimes profane, but very highly enjoyable. Bonus: read some of the stars’ comedy bits here and LOL while you enjoy this excellent book.
“Black Out Loud” is a great collection for anyone who devours pop-culture entertainment or who just loves to laugh. It’s one of those books you won’t want to let go, so don’t miss it. No, you shouldn’t hear of that.
Want more? Then look for “Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment” by Rhae Lynn Barnes (Liveright, $39.99), a book that dives deep into two centuries of racism in American entertainment. It’s unsettling, but a must-read if you love Black performance history.
