from the early years. - oh, here's your clean shirt, mr. harry. - thank you, beulah. - when so much of it was seen through a white lens. - we'll talk about this in the morning. - now go to your room. - yes, sir. goodnight, boss. - hey, did you get my email about the two of us hanging together after school or? - no, it must have gone to spam. - i think maya angelou said that "if you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your perspective." (girl screams) (fire extinguisher hisses) (audience laughs) - we are the ones who are saying, "this is who we are. this is why we matter. this is what we want you to understand. we're writing stories for us." - what's this neighborhood technically called, issa? - oh, someone told me it's the black beverly hills. is that true? (upbeat music) - guys, i really don't know, but i do know we have a lot of work to do, and this bench needs to go over there. could you- - oh, but we just moved it here. - oh, don't question my authority. thanks.

- you know what? that looks like fire! - comedy without black people would be like the nba without black players. (kevin screaming) - your biggest, biggest superstars in comedy have been black. (eddie yelling) - just genius and hilarious. - yeah, i said it. (audience cheering) - the chappelle show redefined sketch comedy. - i'm rick james, bitch. (audience laughing) - "in living color" set up a platform for black comedians blowing up. - i don't think so. homie don't play that. (audience laughing) - arsenio hall was, "woo, woo, woo, woo, woo." it was groundbreaking. - [audience] woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. - you had a black man willing to fight the power. - nice being out of jail. (audience laughing) - laughter is healing, laughter purifies the air. actually i don't like to talk about the races, because i'm white.

- and we, as black people, have been doing it forever. - i am, this is a freckle. (audience laughing) - all black comedians discuss race. - it's harder being gay than it is being black. i didn't have to come out black. (audience laughing) - we have to address our pain to make you laugh, and so that we could get through it. - "mom, i'm black." "oh, no, lord jesus!" (audience laughing) (upbeat music) (upbeat jazzy music) - in the 1930s, segregation kept black audiences out of white theaters. in response to this, entertainers would perform on the chitlin' circuit. - the chitlin' circuit were clubs and theaters that were meant to only serve a black audience. there was music, there was comedy, there were shows of variety. but very few of these performers could break the color barrier to reach a larger audience.

- comedy and music have always been release from stress in black culture. - chitlin' circuit comedy was the outgrowth of the chattel slavery experience and the pain that we had gone through. and what did we have left? we could laugh, man. that's one thing you couldn't take. - white audiences have been afraid of black comics, black comedy, because those comedians are truth tellers and sometimes you don't wanna hear the truth. - so what it meant was if you saw black characters on television, they were always gonna be subservient to allay white fears and to protect kind of white comfort. ethel waters was really the first black to have her own variety show. it was 1939, and later was hazel scott in 1950. but they did not last long on the tube. - so in 1956, we had the debut of "the nat king cole show." you had a smooth, suave, black man leading a variety show. ♪ oh, boy, i'm lucky

♪ i'll say i'm lucky ♪ now this is my lucky day - so he was singing and acting in sketches. the problem with the show was you can't show this kind of black representation in southern cities. - advertisers were afraid that if they sponsored nat king cole that white audiences would boycott their products. - and if you can't get sponsorship, you can't exist. and when the show was canceled, what he said was, "madison avenue is afraid of the dark." and they were. (smooth rock music) - in the late '50s, early '60s, the country starts to change more when civil rights hit. then you're getting grittier comedy that is gonna deal with race. - i hate to see any baseball player having troubles 'cause that's a great sport for my people. that is the only sport in the world where a negro can shake a stick at a white man and won't start no riot. (audience laughing) - dick gregory put politics in his comedy.

it was like seeing a curve ball, and he'd throw it and you couldn't see it coming. - 1961, appearing on the "jack paar" show, dick gregory becomes the first black comedian ever to sit down on the couch after his performance. - what kind of car you got? - a lincoln, naturally. - [jack] well, that's a... (audience laughing) - dick gregory in the '50s and early '60s was making $10,000 a week and he gave all that up to march with martin luther king. - dick gregory has been dubbed the father of black political comedy. - and moms mabley was the mother of black female comedians. - he said, "where will you find another man like me?" i said, "in the graveyard." (audience laughing) - she was one of the first black female comics ever, the harriet tubman of comedy. - when she got off that stage, she would transform into her real truth, which was wearing a zoot suit and having two women on her arm. - we have to understand who moms mabley was. she was a gay, black woman.

- nobody knew that at the time because she couldn't be out. no one was out. - redd foxx and moms mabley both toiled for decades on the chitlin' circuit. - redd was back in the day when nat king cole, lena horne, harry bellafonte could play in vegas, but they couldn't stay in the hotel. dorothy dandridge had to go through the servants' entrance to go to her dressing room. she went out by the pool and just dipped her feet, her little, pretty feet, in the water. they drained the pool and repainted it. so redd was from that era, from that chitlin' circuit. - redd foxx, he had comedy albums that were raunchy, and they thought he would never make it on tv. how could he clean up his act? and then he goes on television. - my first wife, i had a 1942 buick, and her. (audience laughing) and i left both of them to come to california. (audience laughing) didn't hurt too bad 'cause neither one of 'em was working. (audience laughing)

- now did he clean up his act? in a way he did. but you knew what he was thinking. (upbeat percussive music) - in 1971, the intensity was something that was really everywhere. you know, we've had assassinations recently, riots, there's nixon talking about law and order. but "soul train" suggested that there's joy in black culture. - we're gonna turn the questioning over to the soul train gang, marvin, okay? - what else do you like to do besides singing at your spare time? - well, i enjoy, i like fooling around. (audience laughing) - one reason "soul train" succeeded 15 years after "the nat king cole show" is because they found a sponsor to take it national. - that was for us, by us and we loved it. - let's welcome them warmly, gladys & the pips, mr. barry white, sly and the family stone, curtis mayfield, aretha franklin. - don cornelius was an icon. this man changed the game.

when i was growing up, you did not miss "soul train." i mean, that was a part of my youth. - it was the regularly scheduled national platform for black culture. someone does popping on "soul train" in 1971 and people are tryin' popping in the schoolyard two hours later. it was a kind of universal black experience. - back in the '80s, which i'll never forget, i was a "soul train" dancer. oh, my god, that was such a huge deal. to go to the set was just mind blowing. and then here walks out don cornelius with his afro. i was just kind of like, "oh, my god! pinch me. is this real?" - "soul train" was clearly geared towards a black audience. but at the same time, in the 1970s, you had flip wilson, who was the first black comedian that could gear a show for all of america and still stay very authentic to who he was. - flip wilson was amazing, he was brilliant. 40 million people would watch that show and i was one of them. and he was also bringing in black artists, black entertainers.

- mm, mm. (audience laughing and cheering) - he proves that black people can be on television, they can have 40 million viewers, they can be shown in the south. and if we were given a chance, it can happen. - now, you don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't fool around with wild women. when you go into training, what do you give up? (audience laughing) - flip wilson was really huge. who didn't know geraldine? say, geraldine, "is it true that blondes have more fun?" - not in my neighborhood. (audience laughing) - and flip played the character so well that you thought geraldine really existed. - when that character came out, baby, the audience just went up. so before there was nutty professor, before there was shanaynay, there was geraldine, baby. - and one of flip's writers was a young richard pryor. and when he found his voice, he became the new king of comedy. (richard laughs) (audience laughing) - woo! (audience clapping)

(upbeat music) - for the first time on television, richard pryor. - hate to take the subway because the first thing you see when you walk down the subway, is some guy down there, "give me a nickel." (audience laughing) - on television, back in the '60s, you gotta come on stage clean. and richard pryor adapted for a while, but he wasn't happy. - and richard, at some point, understands, "this is not who i am. this is not what i care about. and i have to speak in a way that's authentic to me."

- so richard left hollywood. - [richard] people who live in berkeley are put under curfew, they're tear gassed. - in the late '60s, richard pryor went up to oakland. at the time, it was just a black militant, wild thing, man. and he met some black panthers. but the main guy he met there was paul mooney. paul mooney was his muse. - you can't get sight, you gotta get hip to what you are. - and paul mooney told him, "you come out, you do your thing, you be black, you go for it." without paul mooney, there is no richard pryor. - comedy before that and comedy after that is never the same. - richard's appearance in 1975 on "saturday night live" kind of showed what black comedy could be. - you got to get down and say things like, "excuse me." (audience laughing) "would you move out of my way?" and you walk like this, check this walk. (audience laughing) - what people don't know is that richard pryor insisted upon writing a lot of his own material for that show.

so he didn't rely on the white writers to write his skits. he said, "i'm gonna do it myself. i'm gonna bring paul mooney in to come in and help me write this." so they write these amazing sketches that are talking about what blackness is. - it's just a word association. i'll throw you out a few words, anything that comes to your mind, just throw back at me, okay? - and i say blackness because that's exactly what is was. it was about blackness. - colored. - redneck. (audience laughing) - jungle bunny. - peckerwood. (audience laughing) - spade! - honkey! (audience laughing) - nigger. - dead honkey. (audience laughing) - richard's voice was so powerful, nbc gave him "the richard pryor show." (upbeat jazzy music) - so "the richard pryor show" was ahead of its time. they were doing sketches about "star wars." they were doing sketches about a black president. that sketch show was incredible. - yeah, what is it? - mr. president,

you've been courtin' an awful lot of white women. will this continue? - mm. (audience laughing) as long as i can keep it up. (audience laughing) - for the kids that are coming up now, look to the dave chappelle show, and to me, richard was the chappelle show before the chappelle show. and he knew how to take what was deemed taboo, what was deemed dangerous, and make it hilarious. - four years later, pryor's influence was seen on "saturday night live" in a 19-year-old black comic named eddie murphy. - this is how you answer a door in my neighborhood. who is it?! (audience laughing) - he was fresh, and funny, and fearless. - "i wanna be a ho." (audience laughing) - [kim] you could just feel the energy that this kid had and you knew he was going somewhere. ♪ gonna get in a hot tub ♪ gonna get it wet ♪ good god! ow!

- he showed the versatility that white people didn't even think black people was paying attention to, and it made them go, "oh, oh, he knows about all these different white artists and actresses and actors, whatever." he mimicked them, you know? and it made them accept him more and it made us go, "wow!" - how are you? (audience exclaiming) - that's good that we feel good. i feel great! (audience laughing) - now eddie murphy made it real easy for leslie jones, chris rock and kenan thompson to have regular spots on there. - so he's this breakout star on "snl" and then he was like, "boom! i'm gonna land this huge, influential hbo special called "delirious." - my favorite standup, bar none, is "delirious." he does the impressions of james brown. - (vocalizing indistinctly) the band says, "yeah." (vocalizing indistinctly) "yeah." (vocalizing indistinctly) "yeah," the band be goin', "what the (beep) is james talkin' about, man? (audience laughing) - luther vandross. - (vocalizing indistinctly) women going, "ah!"

- but more importantly, elvis. - "elvis, want some lemonade?" ♪ lemonade (audience laughing) ♪ that cool, refreshing drink (audience laughing) - it showed you how talented he was 'cause he could do it all. - he opened doors for so many people, his boy, arsenio hall. - [announcer] "the arsenio hall show" staring arsenio hall! - so black entertainers were being showcased in variety shows and sketch shows and things like that. but in late night tv, it was like the water fountains back in the '60s, whites only. - so when we were watching david letterman in college or johnny carson or jay leno, here comes arsenio hall, a black man. - who does eddie go to for advice when he has problems? do you have somebody you can talk to when you have problems, even on a personal level? - just you. (audience laughing) - that was like a party every single night. - what's up? - [audience] woo, woo, woo, woo. - arsenio created the destination for black entertainers to be themselves. - i was born with the name sinbad. - what's your last name? - bad. (audience laughing) - he kind of set the table as far as like,

"hey, look, hip-hop culture, black culture, it can be represented on tv." - you could watch arsenio hall every night. oh, yeah, 11:30 after the news, "oh, yeah, yeah, hey, hey. let's watch arsenio." it was a thing. - you've had late night shows before that weren't on the same level as arsenio. he was going toe-to-toe with jay leno, all the big shows. he had big guests. - he was able to kind of conquer that in late night space and he was able to give us people like prince and michael jackson as guests, which led that to be a great show. (all laughing)

(upbeat music) - minister louis farrakhan, the controversial leader of the nation of islam. he's been called enlightened and inspirational. he's also been called racist and anti-semitic. many people are thrilled that i'm having him here tonight. others are furious with me. - arsenio's interview with louis farrakhan was groundbreaking, and controversial, and advertisers and networks were like, "we can't have this guy on tv". - so he brings in louis farrakhan, and he sits the minister down for an hour and he lets him talk. - if fear is that nobody will oppose me, and as a result, truth will get out and people might be made free. - america may not have been ready for a sit-down, hour-long conversation with louis farrakhan on late night television, and that's unfortunately, the demise of "the arsenio hall show."

- now arsenio, you gotta remember, he's really well situated because he's part of the black pack. - the black pack was five gentlemen, eddie murphy, arsenio hall, robert townsend, keenan ivory wayans, and paul mooney. - certainly there were other famous black comics but they had never really corralled their forces like the "justice league" or something. that level of talent and that connectivity with creatives was not something that we'd seen before. so it turns into some specials, it turns into some movies, you know, it turns into all sorts of wonderful offshoots. - you know the black pack were very significant because they had agency over their careers and ownership, laying this foundation to what we see now, laying the foundation for shondaland, laying the foundation for own, laying the foundation for tyler perry. all this stuff kind of has its roots in the black pack and what they were able to do. - so it was a really fertile crew. robert townsend made his first movie on credit cards and it was a great movie. - i was auditioning for slaves,

and you know all the stereotypes, then that's when i was saying to keenan, "we should make our own movies." - [both] winky dinky dog. winky dinky dog. - yeah. - my dad and keenan came up very closely together. keenan and him would stand in line at the unemployment office to see what they could figure out. they were both young, broke, extremely talented, just trying to get in the game and they did it. ♪ you can do what you wanna do ♪ in living color - in the case of "in living color." i did pitch it to robert townsend. he didn't wanna do it. so we brought keenan into fox, and we pitched a very bare bones idea, just a black sketch comedy show. we gave him a pilot. - [both] welcome to the homeboy shopping network. - everything past the idea is keenan's thing. - sometimes those little fellas don't like to come out. - well hell, can you blame 'em? i wish i could move back. (audience laughing) - it was an immediate hit out of the box, huge. you know, the younger audience ate it up. they were able to sort of merge the suburban white crowd

with the black crowd and they all just started watching that show religiously. - yeah, keenan ivory wayans and he had his family. we had never seen that before. he had all the wayanses, you had the fly girls and they would come out and it was so much hip hop and it was dancing. you had to be in front of the tv because you never know what sketch was gonna come out. - now i'd like to talk about a film i've been anxiously awaiting to see, "great balls of fire." (audience laughing) - "in living color" was so breakthrough, so innovative, so many great characters and the tone of the writing was from a perspective we had not seen before. - when his mama gave birth to him, he ran off with the placenta. (audience laughing) - we were coming out of an era in television where it was all the white writers' perception of what blacks were. so keenan got paul mooney as head writer. it's a big, big difference. - who are you? - i am the minister louis farrakhan.

(audience laughs) (triumphant music) - so jim carrey had been kicking around comedy in hollywood for years. keenan said, "i know how to use that guy." and he put him in and next thing you know... - a deadly combination. - i discovered jamie foxx from "in living color." - you know we drive up. boom! bust somebody head. and, ah! (audience laughs) - you know, i was like, "who is this guy that can do so much?" he was funny. he really could get into a character that you forget it was him. ♪ just a game i play ♪ i- (screams) - we were doing things that were really on the edge. there was some controversy, there was some pushback from fox. - if living with oppression is a sin, then i'd be guilty! - [narrator] oppression for black men. if only he wasn't so dark. (audience laughs) - another show that really served up our comedy and our music, our culture, was "showtime at the apollo."

- for a lot of artists to make a name for themselves, you had to come through the apollo and prove yourself. - and don't you know backwards begin with a b? (audience laughs) - the apollo theater is a very magical place. you can literally feel the energy of every performer that ever performed there. - i was reading about michael jackson 'cause you know all about the nose, and i don't get it. 'cause they tell me he can't breathe late at night, just... (shrill vocalizing) (audience laughs) "i want my black nose back." (shrill vocalizing) (audience laughs) - they always say if you can perform on that stage, you can perform anywhere in the world. - but the whole family had their noses worked on. do five, get one free. (audience laughs) - the crowd at the apollo was a hard crowd. you had to be good to be at the apollo. ♪ one of these mornings (crowd booing) - i've seen a gospel choir get booed. how you boo jesus, i don't know. the great dave chappelle

got booed on "showtime at the apollo." - from "showtime at the apollo", there became this interest in black entertainment and bet created "106 & park" targeting a younger audience. - no need for a long introduction. give it up for dmx! - [host] please make some noise for rihanna. - "106 & park" had a real monumental statement on the hip hop culture. it was our voice. - what's your favorite collaboration you've ever done? - it's "all i need" with method man. - it was like for the next generation. lil' bow wow, all these younger acts. - we got lil wayne in the house right now. - yes, sir! - "106 & park" compared to something like trl is putting on younger, edgier guests. but at the time there was nothing that was more edgy than "def comedy jam." - tag was a game what we played at the mall. you know where you go to the mall, you see some shit you like. you notice that the price is way too (beep) high. (audience laughs) you find the tag appropriate to your financial needs. (audience laughs)

(upbeat music) - in the 1980s and '90s, black comedians have an extra burden. their comedy is judged through a different lens of authenticity versus, "oh, i'm just trying to placate mainstream audiences." - folks on madison avenue, the advertisers believed that black comedy is too raw and people don't want to hear it.

- then the whole phenomenon that townsend, keenan, murphy and arsenio had helped push what i was able to do with "def comedy jam." - this is where we, as black comedians, come together and unite as one. - the fact that he was on hbo, they didn't have to worry about sponsors. "is ajax gonna pull back 'cause he said the n-word?" and "oh, my god, palmolive doesn't like when we say shit." don't say shit." like, he never deal with all that. - martin lawrence was the best host. - you come here. yes. - martin was good at being spontaneous. he could come off the cuff and when you look at some of those old "def jam" performances, a lot of what he did was improvised. i don't know that he ever went out there with a playbook. - i know big bird outta business, but what the (beep) is up? (audience laughs) - "def comedy jam" was a black comics paradise. - after decades of being told how to behave, what's appropriate, what's okay and what's not okay, black comedians had enough. you will no longer censor me. - we put on the acts that we wanted to see, edgy.

- i'm so broke, if a nigga robbed me, he'll just be practicing. (audience laughs) - "def jam" comes along and boom! now everybody knows bill bellamy, adele givens, bernie mac, steve harvey, eddie griffin. so i'm grateful for it. how could you not be? - she said, "does this (beep) taste like pumpkin pie?" (audience laughing) made me mad as hell, i said, "don't ask me no damn question like that! i ain't never had no pumpkin pie." kick it! (audience laughing) (upbeat music) - you know the women of "def comedy jam" hold a special place in my heart because they are like the women of gangster rap. they had to really make room in such a toxically masculine space. that is not an easy thing to do. - when you get that nfl contract and you get that nba contract, who do you marry? you marry bambi, you run the other way, you should have been (beep) with a country hoe, such as myself, from arkansas. you woulda got your (beep) sucke

and biscuits from scratch up in that mother. (audience laughing) - at about the same time as "def comedy jam," snl was looking for another great black sketch artist because eddie murphy left and chris rock was super young and he wasn't quite ready at the time. he eventually left and became much bigger after snl. - "honey, it'll be aight if you just say you did it." you start thinking, "i guess it'll be aight." (audience laughing) "honey, i did it. is it aight?" "no, it ain't aight! i can't believe you did that." "i thought you said you knew." "i didn't know 'til you told me!" (audience laughing) - so after chris rock does "bring the pain," it was an explosive moment for him and there was no going back. - chris started dealing with social commentary and dealt with real issues in what was going on today, and dealt with 'em honestly. - i think all bullets should cost $5,000. $5,000 for a bullet. you know why? 'cause if a bullet cost $5,000, there'll be no more innocent bystanders.

(audience laughing) - if you can take that stuff and make that funny, that separates the men from the boys. - every time somebody gets shot they'd be like, "damn, he must have did something. shit, they put $50,000 worth of bullets in his ass." (audience laughing) - so at the time, networks wanted to find another late night talk show that could be just as good as arsenio to sort of fill that void. - you know, they wanted chris to do network. chris wouldn't do it. he knew he couldn't do it five days a week and keep the high level of quality that he wanted to do. - and here we go, hbo to the rescue. - chris rock was able to like, wild out on hbo. he had that one sketch where he's just slapping people. like that doesn't sound that controversial, but other networks, they'd be like, "whoa, we're not showing this. we're not showing this." - [reporter] as you see here, davis enters the building, and within seconds, the rampage begins. (audience laughing) - he's edgy. he's always going to make you think. he's always gonna challenge the status quo.

- as late night tv was back on the map, the "king's of comedy" tour was blowing up. - white people hope things don't go wrong. black people don't hope, we wish. we wish a would be a mother (beep) would be in our shit. (audience laughing) - they do this arena tour that sells out all across the united states, and then they get spike lee to film the show. it makes like another $100 million. so it's this runaway success. - "i've had three black people over at my house." if you know how many niggas been over at your house, you racist like a mother (beep). (audience laughing) - i think the "king's of comedy" tour was a game changer because you were seeing something that you'd never seen before, harvey, cedric, bernie, and d.l., you talking about four heavyweights. - i said, "where you going?" he said, "to get some milk and cookies." (audience laughing) he said it so funny, i wanted to hear it again. i said, "get some what?" he said, "some milk and cookies." (audience laughing) - so at the same time, this happens in 2000,

over on hbo, dave chappelle does "killin' them softly." - oscar, you are so mean. isn't he, kids? - he talks about race, you know, poverty, stuff like that. - he's like, "bitch! i live in a (beep) trash can!" (audience laughing) "i'm the poorest mother (beep) on sesame street." - you would catch yourself gut-busting laughing, but then being like, "damn, that's true." you know what i mean? - i didn't know he was taking me to the ghetto at first. i started looking out the window. i was like, "what the (beep)? gun store, gun store, liquor stor, gun store. where the (beep) are you taking me?" - three years after that, dave chappelle teamed up with comedy central, bam! dave chappelle show. - yes, they deserve to die and i hope they burn in hell! (audience laughing) - the chappelle show redefines sketch comedy. it brought "in living color" back to the fore, but it even took it further. - i always wanted to say this, for shizzle. (audience laughing) - it passed boundaries that you thought were, woo, we can't touch.

a blind, black kkk member? - don't be afraid! i feel the light. (audience laughing) - [desus] chappelle was an amazing show. - he was like so on it with the commentary, but still hard funny, which which is hard to do, man, to toe that line. - mm-hmm. - what black man don't have some bloody gloves on his property? nigga, i got one right here. that don't mean i did anything. (audience laughing) - he's willing to tell it like it is and sometimes what it is, is not comfortable, but his ability to make us laugh at those uncomfortable things, that was a gift. - is this the 5 o'clock free crack giveaway? - i feel like dave chappelle can exist because there was a richard pryor that is the mold. - ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. i quit! ow! (audience laughing) - you have to understand that at the height of his power, he felt that the original concept of the show was not where the show was going. - the comedy central star stunned his fans when he suddenly just walked away from the hit tv show

and a $50 million contract. - everybody was like, "what the hell is going on?" we were all perplexed and confused. - i was doing sketches that were funny but socially irresponsible. it's like you're getting flooded with things and you don't pay attention to things like your ethics. i mean, i don't want black people to be disappointed in me for putting that out there. - what dave was saying was that, "it has to be my way." (gentle music)

(upbeat music) - in the '80s and '90s, in comedy, especially black comedy, it's just hard for women to break through. where are the sisters? because sisters have a very distinct voice that you hadn't seen seen since moms mabley. - you know, people always ask me, "what black women comedians inspired you to be a comedian?" and i'm like, "none, because i didn't get to see any." but black women have been funny this whole time, and so often we are simply just not considered star-worthy. - different female comics, they had to do different things in order to get exposure. like with whoopi goldberg,

she wrote her own one-woman act and she put it out herself. nobody would've given whoopi her set if she hadn't did it herself, and she ended up getting it on hbo. - she come up to me talkin' 'bout, "fasten your seat belt." (audience laughing) i said, "(beep) you!" (audience laughing) - she was funny and she was real, and i really related to her characters. the little girl who put the shirt on her head so she could have long hair, that was me. - then she said, "even if you sit in a vat of clorox 'til hell freeze over, you ain't gonna be nothin' but black." and she was right 'cause i sat in the clorox and i got burned. (audience laughing) - although it was really successful, she was the only black female that had a special for a really long time to come. - 2001 was the very important time in black standup because you cannot ignore the sisters in comedy. - "the queens of comedy" was mo'nique, sommore, miss laura and adele givens. and these were ladies, who on their own, were powerhouses.

- (beep) these skinny bitches! look at her shakin'. bitch, 'cause you hungry! (audience laughing) - but to put all that power together, it exploded. - oh no, not tonight, mother. (audience laughing) - i think it was just like girl power unleashed. they got together and they showed us women can do it too. - god bless you. keep supporting us. (audience cheering) people don't know that i wasn't one of the original queens of comedy. they had taken it out a couple times, and then i got the call. we were, and still are, the highest grossing female comedy tour in history. - now you can't talk about black female comedians and not talk about wanda sykes. - being gay is not a choice. it's not a choice. (audience cheering) - wanda gets on stage completely unapologetic. "i am a black woman who is a lesbian." - and if you believe that it's a choice, then you're saying that straight people are straight because they chose not to be gay. right? (audience clapping) and i'm sure a lot of straight guys in here,

you know, i'm talking about 'em. sure there's, on several occasions, you know, you probably think, "you know, i think i'm gonna suck a (beep) today." (audience laughing) - she's like, "this is me, accept it." and we have and we love it. - so to go from a point where moms mabley has to hide who she is to wanda sykes being able to be celebrated for who she is, progression is possible in this country sometimes. (upbeat music) - when barack obama was elected president, there was such this exhale and you felt that the world had shifted, it changed. - and not only has america changed, but we have changed as a culture. we expect fair representation. - when chappelle decided not to renew his contract and return with the "chappelle's show," comedy central knew they needed to do something to capture that magic again. and they looked to mad tv alums, keegan-michael key and jordan peele, and decided to give them their own show. - where'd the picture go? - we deleted it.

- gross. - what? - i had child-birth face. - yeah, i looked like my grandmother having an orgasm. - [both] deleted! - "key & peele" was so brilliant to me because the range of characters was out of this world. - man, how you want me to smoke somebody when i got poop in my pants? - from the wigs to the voices to the risks that they were willing to take, it's unbelievable work. - one of the most iconic sketches on "key & peele" involved barack obama and his alter ego, luther. - a lot of folks say that i haven't done a good job at communicating my accomplishments to the public. - because y'all mother (beep) don't listen! - and it was so popular that obama himself invited luther to come up on stage with him during a white house correspondent's dinner. so funny. - we won't always see eye-to-eye. - oh, and cnn, thank you so much for the wall-to-wall ebola coverage. for two whole weeks we were one step away from "the walking dead!" - "key & peele" proved that an all-black sketch show

could be something that was bankable, and the best thing about it is that it paved the way for the next one. - kevin was a good boyfriend, okay? now he stole my car one time, but he brought that shit back. - uh-huh, with a girl in it! - the creator of "a black lady sketch show" robin thede, packed that show with so many talented black women, so it was huge. - the reefs have an exciting year of gang banging ahead of us, blippity, blippity. - [all] scat, scat, scat. - it's so awesome to see black women really step into so many different characters. the beauty of sketch is everyone is different. so you get the villains, the goofballs, you get straight-lace characters. - sources are telling me that you've been considering switching to another team. are you thinking about a crossover to women? - look, i've taken a lot of lickings in my career and i'm always open to strapping on a new uniform. - and we get to see this awesome ensemble of black women play all of these different characters. - sometimes i just wanna sit down for five minutes without wearing a waist trainer.

- oh, this hoe trying to take deep breaths? - yes! - breathe when you die, honey, okay? - this show shows women writing their hand in history, even giving playing men a chance. - this nigga wear a camo like me? this nigga got a beard like me? oh, he does? all right, i'm gonna sit down. - i love what she has created, an experience that is just us, by us, for everyone else to enjoy all of our magic. - i think it is important for us to have our own authentic voices, the shonda rhimes, the robin thedes, kevin hart, who's now taking his hartbeat productions into the stratosphere. - i know i'm not a fighter, that's why i carry a whistle. i'll blow the shit out of a whistle in somebody's face. (beep) with me if you want to, you gonna win the fight, but you ain't gonna hear shit tomorrow, bitch. (whistles) (audience laughing)

(upbeat music) - my grandmama's the king of fake pass outs. like she'll pass out for three seconds, and wait, and then peek to see if anybody looking. "take me, jesus. ah, ah!" (audience laughing) - when you watch kevin's specials, you know what you're gonna get. you know, you gonna get something talking about his life. kevin is vulnerable. he's authentic. - i just don't feel like i need to whoop my kids' ass. my voice is enough. "shut the (beep) up," is enough. - i love it that kevin hart can sell out a football stadium. you know, i love it that he's the king of the box office.

- comedy movies, his production company. he's got a sirius satellite, you know, network. - you have a mogul showing that you can own your own space. - hi, i'm kevin hart. unless you hate laughter, click and subscribe. - he's able to do what he wants to do as a comedian and as a mogul to create an empire. - there's another mogul who was willing to stand up for his own autonomy, nick cannon. - we started this show together and now he's kind of successful. (audience laughing) - you gonna get your ass beat by a star today! - nick cannon has literally created a world out of his personality. he's quick. - it was like, how spontaneous can you be? - three words after getting shot. - i'm still pregnant. (audience laughing) - we've seen variety shows, but we never seen them like this. he really brought the hip-hop culture to variety. - anything you always wanted to say but never had the guts to say it, this is the show for that. - ♪ hey, yo, e!

♪ how you know the muffin man? ♪ he stole everything i had ♪ that's my cousin, man ♪ hey, yo, tim ♪ how you know the muffin man? ♪ he hit my chick, put a muffin in her oven, man ♪ - "wild 'n out" is the springboard to the higher levels of success because there have been people that have used that platform and that it's been monumental for. - shout out to nick cannon, who helped us very early on in our career, the way he treated us and took us under his wing that will always, like, stand out to me. - desus and mero are two of the most hilarious brothers out there. - you know, you in the hood mcdonald's when the drive-through says, "yo, no walking," like, "you can not walk through here." - people be knocking on the glass like. (knocks) "hello! hello! i see y'all in there." - "yo, i'm in a car, i'm in a car, don't worry about it. look, ten-and-two, ten-and-two. look." and they're like, "sir!" i was like, "hold up." (imitates window rolling down) (audience laughing) "how can i help you?" - late night tv has certainly expanded its stable of black voices and people who can not only entertain, but offer black perspectives,

which have long been missing from late night television. - as far as like pressure and feeling like, "oh, i have to represent this, i have to represent that," it's like we are who we are, and we are that. - the show we make is a reflection of black culture in america. - hell, yeah. - part of their success was going viral to keep the audience engaged. - with cable and streaming, there have been so many more opportunities and platforms for black comedians. - more i think about the future, i think about the black comics that really sort of move me. i think about people like amber ruffin. i think about sam jay. i think about nicole byer. streaming allows for new faces and new players to get into the game to find success. - with the explosion of streaming, black comedians started making these record breaking deals on streaming networks. the list goes on and on. - so to see them be established and getting big checks for doing big series, that shows that there has been some growth in the industry. - you're looking at half of netflix's budget right here on stage. (audience laughing) - thanks, netflix. - thanks, netflix.

- mm-hmm. - not me, not me. i made all my millions on the road. - you mean touring? - no, i got hit by a truck. (audience laughing) - as much as we love to talk about the successes of dave's $60 million, for chris was 50 million, and that's amazing. redd foxx died broke, and he had one of the biggest shows on television. look at the ratings. that's 60 million people. it's absurd that he would die broke. - he died with nothing. you know, eddie murphy paid the funeral costs. - i think it's important that we don't forget about the great people that came before us when signing these huge deals because there were a lot of people who gave their all to the craft and died with nothing financially to show for it. - looking back on everything that you've done, if you could change anything, what would it be? - write in my underwear. (interviewer laughing) - it's a great time to be a black comedian right now, because when you think about our past and where we've come from. (audience clapping) the moms mabley, dick, gregory, redd foxx,

they weren't getting the opportunities as black artists they're getting today. - give me your hand, rick. feel my heart. - oh, that's quite a beat there. (audience laughing) - but that has never stopped us from existing and thriving and telling our stories. - the best thing that we can do is use our platform to uplift other younger black artists and give them their time to shine. - i used to carry extra panties in my purse in case i got lucky. now i carry 'em in case i sneeze. (audience laughing) - black tv is black life, and it is intrinsically a part of not just our pop culture, but of our actual story. - i want a ass so big that if i'm on top, he roll me over, i'm still on top. (audience laughing) - yeah, it's a tv show, but little black kids are watching and that's important. - here's the original chris. (audience laughing) he drowned in a vat of activator. - we have a voice, it was hard work,