from the Nilsens

1. 1
African-American Humor
by Don L. F. Nilsen and
Alleen Pace Nilsen

2. WARNING ABOUT AFRICAN-AMERICAN HUMOR, TABOOS, AND CENSORSHIP
In selecting examples of African-American humor we have tried to be edgy,
but not offensive, but consider the following:
CENSORSHIP FROM THE RIGHT: Blasphemy, Obscenity, Profanity, Swear
Words, Vulgarity, Mention of Body Parts, and Body Functions
CENSORSHIP FROM THE LEFT (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS): Age,
Disabilities, Gender, Ethnicity, Belief System, and all other marginalizations.
Ethnic humor tends to be in the vernacular. It is colloquial, and
ungrammatical and unpretentious, but it is also often “vulgar” because it is in
the language of the common people (compare “Vulgar Latin”).
We’ve tried not to use offensive examples, and we hope we have succeeded,
but remember that what is not offensive to one person might be very
offensive to another person. We apologize in advance if any of our examples
are offensive.
2

3. Use Vs. Mention
An Important Linguistic Concept
Because most ethnic humor is colloquial or vernacular humor, it contains
many vulgarities and obscenities.
These vulgarities and obscenities become part of the “rhythm” of the
delivery.
Therefore many ethnic comedians have difficulty being funny without
these vulgarities and obscenities. Furthermore, they provide some of the
edginess to the humor.
In studying ethnic humor, a linguist sometimes needs to mention or cite
these obscenities and vulgarities in order to discuss the humor. But in
doing so, the linguist is not using the obscenities and vulgarities.
Thus there is a distinction between use and mention.
3

4. 4

5. The World-Wide Influence of
African American Humor
• Humor scholars have always acknowledged the
contributions and effects of Jewish humor on the
subjects and the roles of American humor.
• It is appropriate to also acknowledge the contributions of
African Americans to the overall humor of the United
States—and to the world—especially if we consider the
elements of playfulness and humor in hip-hop.
• Within living memory, the “place” of AA humor has
undergone more change than any other genre. Today,
the mainstream laughs with Blacks, while a couple of
generations ago, the custom was to laugh at blacks.
5

6. Until well after WW II . . .
• Traveling minstrel shows were one of the few theater events available
in rural areas.
• In small town America, amateur actors loved to put on black-face and
costumes and perform their own minstrel shows.
• Popular children’s books included the 1889 Story of Little Black
Sambo by British author Helen Bannerman and the 1907 Epaminondas
and His Auntie by Sara Cone Bryant.
• It was the exaggerated drawings, as much as the stories, that offended
African Americans and made black children feel embarrassed or
ashamed when teachers read the books to mixed school groups.
6

7. 7
Features of AA Humor That Can be
Traced to West Africa
• Extensive Word Play
• An Abundance of Street Language
• Punning
• Signifying
• Verbal Put-Downs
• Mocking of Enemy’s Relatives
• Chanting of Ridicule Verses
• Using the Whole Body (including bent-knees)
for dancing and communicating feelings
• Admiring Trickster Figures
• Verbal Quickness and Wit

8. CREATIVE SPELLINGS
New Spellings of Disk Jockey
•Deejay Djing Djin DJ’n
Names of Groups or Individuals
•DJ Kool Herc DJ AJ
•Blue Jays DJ Clark Kent
•DJ Craze DJ Evil Dee
•DJ Kay Gee DJ Jazzy Jay
•DJ Timmy Juicy J
Tim
New Spellings of Master of
Ceremonies
•MC Emcee
•Mcing MC’n
•Emceein
•Femcee (for a woman)
Run DMC was named to honor
the speed with which he ran
between turntables.
8

9. African-American Names
Can you give examples?
• Names that build on the idea of Cool.
• Names that include Rock or Roc.
• Names spelled “phonetically.”
• Names spelled in all caps.
• Numbers included in names.
• Names that are clipped.
• The doubling of letters.
9

10. Things to Consider Relating
to African-American Humor
• Can you see connections between hip hop spelling and the more
recent text messaging?
• How about the creative names that parents are now giving their
infants?
• In what ways can unusual spelling be a statement of independence
and/or ethnic pride?
• Is there a generational difference in the appreciation of ethnic-related
humor? Why might this be?
• Do you always expect African American comics to make jokes about
racial differences as opposed to other subjects? Can you give some
examples?
10

11. Amos ’n Andy
• During the 1930s the
Amos and Andy radio
show starred white
actors doing blackface
comedy. It was the
most popular of all
radio shows.
• When the show moved
to TV in 1951, African
Americans were hired
as performers.
11

12. 12
• In the 1950s as everyone became more aware
of racism, leading up to the desegregation of
schools, Amos and Andy became so
controversial that the producers put together
a politically correct version. It lost its zing,
and was cancelled.
• By today’s standards, the show was both
racist and stereotyped.
• However, Joe Franklin said that the Blacks on
the show may have “prepared the ground for
the acceptance of real blacks in the American
cultural mainstream.”

13. Two Comedy Pioneers
Pigmeat Markham 1904-81
•Markham was a blackface
performer and when
audiences and critics
demanded that burnt-cork
performances end, they
were astonished to find that
he was actually darker than
the makeup he had used.
•In his most famous skit, he
played the world’s funkiest
judge. The audience would
say, “Here come da Judge,” a
line later used by both Flip
Wilson and Sammy Davis Jr.
Moms Mabley 1897-1975
•Mabley would come on stage
in oversized clodhoppers, a
raggedy dress, and an oddball
hat. She played the role of a
ribald grandmother.
•She was nearly 70 when she
first played for a white
audience at the Playboy Club in
Chicago.
•She later made guest
appearances with Bill Cosby,
Flip Wilson, and the Smothers
Brothers.
13

14. Hip Hop As a Kind of Humor
• Hip Hop grew out of the Civil
Rights Movement of the
1960s and ‘70s.
• It rejects the status quo and
emphasizes the individual.
• Besides music and rap, it
includes break dancing,
tagging, graph writing, and
entrepreneurship.
• It is not restricted to
African Americans, and
is in fact, now global.
• A major feature is the
language play,
especially in spelling
and naming.
14

15. Hip-Hop Humor
Funny Hip-Hop Dance Battle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klhNVqOkKU
15

16. Tricksters are also important
in African-American Culture
16
Gretchen Martin at the
University of Virginia’s
College at Wise has a
recent book about
African-American
tricksters.
The book was published
by the University Press of
Mississippi in December
of 2015.

17. The Range of African-
American Humor
Some of the best
humor in today’s
American culture
comes to us from
African-
Americans.
The following
slides will give
you a sense of
the range of this
amazing
contribution.
17

18. Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady: “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+wayne+brady+comedy&&view
18

19. Louis C. K.’s Take on
African-American Humor
19

20. Cedric the Entertainer
Cedric the Entertainer:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+cedric+the+entertainer&view=
20

21. Dave Chapelle
Dave Chapelle:
httphttp://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml
21

22. Redd Foxx: Another Pioneer
• In a precursor to the
creative spelling in Hip
Hop, Foxx chose to spell
his name with two d’s and
two x’s because he didn’t
want to be either a color
or an animal.
• A recent quote: “Health
nuts are going to feel
stupid someday, lying in
hospitals dying of
nothing.”
22

23. Redd Foxx
Redd Fox and Flip Wilson:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+redd+foxx&&view=detail&mid
23

24. Henry Lewis Gates
24

25. Donald Glover
Donald Glover: “Home Depot”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+donald+glover&view=detail&m
25

26. Whoopi Goldberg: The First Black
Female Superstar
• In the 1990s, Whoopi
Goldberg’s talent for ad lib
and for making a stage
sparkle with power was
show- cased in her role as
host of the Academy Awards.
• She was born Caryn Johnson
and raised in a public housing
project in Manhattan by a
single mother.
• She made her performing
debut at age eight with the
Helena Rubinstein Children’s
Theatre at the Hudson Guild.
26

27. Whoopy Goldberg
Whoopy Goldberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3C1-9at9sA
27

28. Dick Gregory: A Sample Quote
“America is the only
country in the world
where a man can grow
up in a ghetto, go to
really bad schools, be
forced to ride in the
back of the bus, and
then get paid $5,000 a
week to tell people
about it.”
28

29. Dick Gregory
Dick Gregory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAcN5iKArQU
29

30. David Alan Grier
David Alan Grier:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+david+allen+grier&view=detai
30

31. Terry Gross’s Take on
African-American Humor
31

32. Bambi Haggins
Bambi Haggins is an Associate Professor of Film and
Media Studies at Arizona State University.
She was a writer for Why We Laugh: Funny Women,
and a historical consultant for HBO’s Whoopi Goldberg
Presents Moms Mabley.
She is currently researching the field of “Black
Comedy in the Age of Obama.”
32

33. Bambi Haggins
33

34. Arsinio Hall
Arsinio Hall, Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+arsenio+hall&view=detail&mid
34

35. Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart: “Seriously Funny”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+kevin+hart&view=detail&mid=
35

36. Steve Harvey
Steve Harvey:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+steve+harvey+videos&view=d
36

37. D. L. Hughley
D. L. Hughley:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=D.L.+Hughley+Comedy+Show&&view=
37

38. 38
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele
KEY & PEELE: “Obama’s Anger Translation”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv7k2_lc0M

39. Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Martin+Lawrence+Comedy+Specials&&
39

40. Moms Mabley
Moms Mabley:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+moms+mabley&view=detail&m
40

41. Bernie Mac
Bernie Mac:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+bernie+mac&view=detail&mid
41

42. Pigmeat Markham
Pigmeat Markham: “Here Come de judge.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuHKlb2IcWE
42

43. Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+monique&view=detail&mid=C
43

44. Paul Mooney
Paul Mooney:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+paul+mooney+stand+up&&vie
44

45. Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan: “30 Rock” on “The View”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=tracy+morgan+30+rock+youtube&view=
45

46. Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy: “Saturday Night Live” “Buckwheat”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+eddie+murphy&&view=detail&
46

47. Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah and “The Daily Show”:
http://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah
47

48. Conan O’Brien’s Take on
African-American Humor
48

49. Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry: “Madea”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+tyler+perry&view=detail&mid=
49

50. Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Richard+Pryor+Steve+Martin&&view=d
50

51. Chris Rock: A Sample Quote
“Barack, man. He doesn’t
let his blackness sneak up
on you. Like if his name was
Bob Jones or something like
that, it might take you two or
three weeks to figure out
he’s black. But when you
hear ‘Barack Obama,’ you
picture a brother with a
spear, just standing over a
dead lion. You picture the
base player from the
Commodores.”
51

52. Chris Rock
Chris Rock: “Saturday Night Live” Monologue:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+chris+rock&view=detail&mid=
52

53. Nipsy Russell
Nipsy Russell Roasts Don Rickles:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+nipsy+russell&view=detail&mid=91661380106DAA8B1E19916
61380106DAA8B1E19&FORM=VIRE
53

54. African-American Stereotype
in Sports
54

55. Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes and Ellen DeGeneres:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+wanda+sykes&view=detail&mid=7364D0965785F7A8ECBB736
4D0965785F7A8ECBB&FORM=VIRE
55

56. 56

57. Jimmy Walker
• When was the last time you seen a Black embezzler—or a
Black man getting busted for juggling the bankbooks? I
mean, what’s the use of having a Black brother on the
Supreme Court if none of us can commit a crime classy
enough to get it tried there?
• Jimmy Walker: “Dy-no-mite!!!”:
• https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+jimmy+walker&view=detail&mid=C0A4205897
A8DAA0A223C0A4205897A8DAA0A223&FORM=VIRE
57

58. Jimmy Walker
58

59. Mel Watkins’ Take on
African-American Humor
59

60. Damon Wayans
Damon Wayans:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+damon+wayans+snl&view=detail&mid=957901099ACDCB0FC
57C957901099ACDCB0FC57C&FORM=VIRE
60

61. Katt Williams
Katt Williams and Seth Meyers on “Saturday Night Live”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=Katt+Williams+saturday+night+live&&view=detail&mid=232BF5E8E6FE
A2DFA9AF232BF5E8E6FEA2DFA9AF&rvsmid=61A45AB24B538DFEB5766
1A45AB24B538DFEB576&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV
61

62. Flip Wilson
Flip Wilson as “Geraldine” with Tim Conway and Burt Reynolds:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+flip+wilson&view=detail&mid=E2795FC4B21AC74AD2AFE279
5FC4B21AC74AD2AF&FORM=VIRE
62

63. Black-ish: A 2016 Phenomenon
63

64. In Conclusion
Sachmo Armstrong: “What a Wonderful World”:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+sachmo+armstrong+what+a+wonderful+life+hand+shadow&&
view=detail&mid=23D2419B7518A55BCAE423D2419B7518A55BCAE4&FO
RM=VRDGAR
64