Story Line: Each comedian essentially has a 30 minute segment of stand up comedy. That allows for great pacing and fresh material. Much of what is presented is hilarious. Like Margaret Cho in I'm the One That I Want, The Original Kings of Comedy, talks a lot about sex. The difference is that with Cho the focus is more on abuse or degradation, and with the Kings, it's about fun. D.L. Hughley talks about trying to have sex when you have little children around the house. It's almost Bill Cosby like in tone, but creates an X rated image in your mind. They even shed light on stained underwear.

They talk about differences between blacks and whites, which is a touchy subject since diversity and political correctness are the order of the day. Whites are talked about so that blacks can be talked about. White folks will get anorexia on purpose, and for blacks, "it's on an accident"...poverty. Whites will bungee jump off a bridge. Blacks won't because it's too much like a lynching. Twenty-five years ago, Richard Pryor talked about blacks and the police when he said, "I am reaching for my wallet" so they would know it's not a gun. Today a person can get shot over 40 times holding a wallet, and that makes you realize what has not changed in the last 25 years.

Picking on whites is not nearly as much fun as picking on your own. The black church gets poked at. Blacks may have become recent standard setters in tennis and golf, but don't hold your breath for hockey, water polo, or synchronized swimming. Black folks will only put as much gas in a car as they need to get where they are going, and they have a special way of dealing with bill collectors. If anyone other than blacks were saying this it would be considered racist.

The sex and race jokes are funny, but the area that comes closest to truly giving that original feel like a Bill Cosby or Richard Pryor is when Steve Harvey talks about hip-hop music as compared to "real" music. I'm glad to know I'm not alone! Hip-hop too often talks about spilling blood and dying, and disrespecting women. Who wants to be angry all the time? Going through some tunes by the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire and Lenny Wilkens and the Tower of Power, lets us know what we are missing in today's music.

Tell Me More About It: You have seen each of the four comedians on either network TV or BET (Black Entertainment TV) or if you're like me, you may not know each one's work. That would explain to some degree why they sold out shows across the country but are still not quite household names. Most shows with a predominately African American cast have a small white audience. The media does not see the news worthiness in giving these guys the exposure that white TV stars would have received if box office records were being broken, as is the case here. This reminds me somewhat of the poor reviews that The Best Man got last year by mainstream movie critics. Most just did not get it. Fortunately, there are focused people with talent and perseverance like Spike Lee, that resulted in this movie being made. Now let's hope that people show up on opening week end so the studios will pay more attention to material directed at the African American audience, which also has cross over appeal.

Steve Harvey	D.L. Hughley
Cedric The Entertainer	Bernie Mac
Director: Spike Lee

Steve Harvey: The Steve Harvey Show-TV	D.L. Hughley: The Hugley's- TV
Cedric The Entertainer: Big Momma's House	Bernie Mac: Booty Call
Spike Lee: "Malcolm X"