Black people have been laughing to keep from crying or going crazy since shortly after being brought to North American shores. When you have been ripped from everything you know — history, language, family, culture — developing a sense of humor, whether bitter, wry, sardonic, or self-deprecating is likely a necessary tool for survival.
Notwithstanding this motherlode of African American humor, black comedy is of more recent vintage, although it too has a rich history, one that Black Comedy Month founder Steve Capers has been celebrating and building upon for much of his professional career.
Ten years ago, Capers founded the Martha’s Vineyard ComedyFest, a national stage for African American comics. It has blossomed since then into a multi-week event that occurs every August at Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.
August, in case you didn’t know, is Black Comedy Month. Capers trademarked the moniker a few years ago.
The legendary Dick Gregory made a useful distinction between humor and comedy. Humor, he said, is when you and your buddies get together and crack jokes. Comedy is what professionals do.
Seen in that light, black comedy likely dates to the late nineteenth century, although its roots, as noted, go much deeper. Gilbert Osofsky’s Puttin’ On Ole Massa, for example, is a collection from slave narratives of passages where the supposedly mentally dimwitted “nigra” actually played the white man.
A direct line can be traced from those narratives to the brilliant if controversial comedic talent of Lincoln Perry, better known as Stepin Fetchit. In fact, the argument is well-made that the white vaudevillians who observed black Americans acting in outrageous ways and used blackface to mock them, failed to understand that what they were watching was black people having laughs at the outrageous and hypocritical ways of white folks.
Black comedy pioneers like Bert Williams (1874-1922), one of the most popular entertainers of his day, are today largely forgotten. Black comedy existed in Jim Crow America until near mid-twentieth century as a largely underground phenomenon, where stellar performers like Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley performed on what came to be known as the chitlin’ circuit. Their uproarious and often blue humor was circulated hand to hand via recordings known sometimes known as “race records”. Other outlets for black comedy were found in the music of performers like Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan.
More on the surface was the sly but nonetheless deep and always honest was the humor that came from the pen of black America’s poet laureate, Langston Hughes, most notably in his fabulous creation, Jesse B. Simple, who regularly appeared in the columns of black newspapers that connected the ghettos filled with the masses of black Americans.
The mid-twentieth century civil rights movement was accompanied by breakthroughs best represented by Dick Gregory, who used his rapier-sharp wit and powers of observation to make trenchant social and political observations that evoked first laughter, and sometimes much later, quiet reflection among largely white audiences.
The pace of black comedy quickened after Gregory as folk like Cosby, the inimitable Richard Pryor, Flip Wilson, Nipsey Russell, Sinbad, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock broke through.
Black comedy has often made some black folk uncomfortable. Stepin Fetchit, and later Amos and Andy, who started off first as white actors mimicking black folk, could be simultaneously instantly recognizable, uproariously funny, and yet deeply disturbing for perpetuating unflattering stereotypes.
In that light, the MVCF event is perhaps both ironically and ideally suited for the Vineyard’s Oak Bluffs enclave. The Bluffs have been perhaps the premier summer vacation spot for the nation’s well-to-do black folk for more than half a century. One can imagine the original proper black Oak Bluffs denizens scouring the terrain before allowing themselves to laugh at honest black humor, lest they appear to be condoning less than exemplary Negro behavior.
Times have indeed changed.
This year’s event will largely be a virtual comedy fest. Only the laughs may be live, as the country will likely still be easing into some degree of post-coronavirus recovery. Details are still being worked out, says Capers, with the event, set to run August 3 through August 20, consisting of “past performances of your favorite MV Comedy Fest comedians, interviews, pictures, movies and live streaming events.
This year’s unique character will have a rich roster of past performers to draw upon. Headliners will include Damon Williams, Kym Whitley, Mark Curry, DJDolla, J. Anthony Brown, Marina Franklin, and a host of other established and rising talent.
For his part, Capers has been in and around the comedy world for much of his career. He worked with luminaries like Jon Stewart, the former comedic icon Bill Cosby, and many others at Comedy Central. He’s also worked with BET. In Chicago, he started Funny First Saturdays, featuring the likes of such stars as Curry and George Wilborn. The shows enjoyed a successful run for more than seven years.
Capers said the idea for the MV Comedy Fest came to him while he was at the Vineyard in 2011. “There was no live entertainment,” he says. “I wanted to do something edgy, but because of the Vineyard’s family atmosphere, I wanted it to be profanity-free.”
Capers was quickly able to leverage contacts in his illustrious career to land entertainment giant HBO as a founding sponsor, a relationship that continues to this day.
This year’s ComedyFest, scheduled to run August 3 through August 20, features some of the funniest black comedians performing today. Paradoxically, its total audience, which has been international, may be even broader this year thanks to its virtual nature. Livestreaming events can be access at MarthasVineyardComedyFest.com and BlackComedyMonth.com.
