Almost three months after the Oscars, Will Smith’s on-stage slap of Chris Rock continues to spark a discussion.
Asked what the Oscar smack means for the future safety of comedians during a panel Thursday at Tribeca Festival, Alonzo Bodden said he isn’t worried.
“I’m not going to get slapped on stage,” he said. “That (Will Smith slap) is the ultimate outlier situation. At the comedy clubs, we are still talking and still doing comedy, so nobody is going to a club and worried about that happening.”
Meanwhile, comedian-host-director W. Kamau Bell claimed a Black Carrot Top could never exist.
“You can be a white comedian and never talk about what’s going on in the world,” Bell told the audience. “But it’s pretty hard to be a Black comedian and never talk about what’s going on in the world without the crowd being like ‘Where’s this dude from?...
Asked what the Oscar smack means for the future safety of comedians during a panel Thursday at Tribeca Festival, Alonzo Bodden said he isn’t worried.
“I’m not going to get slapped on stage,” he said. “That (Will Smith slap) is the ultimate outlier situation. At the comedy clubs, we are still talking and still doing comedy, so nobody is going to a club and worried about that happening.”
Meanwhile, comedian-host-director W. Kamau Bell claimed a Black Carrot Top could never exist.
“You can be a white comedian and never talk about what’s going on in the world,” Bell told the audience. “But it’s pretty hard to be a Black comedian and never talk about what’s going on in the world without the crowd being like ‘Where’s this dude from?...
- 6/17/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s very early to be talking about documentary contenders for next year’s Emmys, but The One and Only Dick Gregory certainly should be part of the conversation.
The film written and directed by Andre Gaines at last gives the late Gregory his rightful due—as one of the most significant figures in the history of comedy, a hero in the Civil Rights Movement and a pioneer in nutrition, health and wellness. It’s hard to separate each of the areas where Gregory made an impact, because they all sprang from a common impulse, to redeem America from its savage racism and to help his fellow human beings.
“It was within the first five minutes of meeting him that I was confident and assured in my belief that I needed to tell his story myself,” Gaines tells Deadline. “And that belief and confidence and the enthusiasm for it just built continuously over time.
The film written and directed by Andre Gaines at last gives the late Gregory his rightful due—as one of the most significant figures in the history of comedy, a hero in the Civil Rights Movement and a pioneer in nutrition, health and wellness. It’s hard to separate each of the areas where Gregory made an impact, because they all sprang from a common impulse, to redeem America from its savage racism and to help his fellow human beings.
“It was within the first five minutes of meeting him that I was confident and assured in my belief that I needed to tell his story myself,” Gaines tells Deadline. “And that belief and confidence and the enthusiasm for it just built continuously over time.
- 7/29/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with full trailer, 9:40 Am: Showtime has acquired The One and Only Dick Gregory, a feature-length documentary about the comedian and activist who specialized in cultural disruption. The pic about the late icon will air, appropriately, on the Fourth of July — following its June 19 world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Watch the first full trailer above. Below is a clip above that focuses on his anti-Vietnam War stance and the angry response from J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI.
Featuring interviews with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart — who serves as an EP on the film — Wanda Sykes, W. Kamau Bell and others, the docu unpacks Gregory’s career as a stand-up comic, activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader who affected the lives of millions through constant disruption and awareness. He inspired a generation through on-the-ground activism, an untiring desire to help and his influential comedy. Featuring archival...
Watch the first full trailer above. Below is a clip above that focuses on his anti-Vietnam War stance and the angry response from J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI.
Featuring interviews with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart — who serves as an EP on the film — Wanda Sykes, W. Kamau Bell and others, the docu unpacks Gregory’s career as a stand-up comic, activist, pop-culture icon and thought leader who affected the lives of millions through constant disruption and awareness. He inspired a generation through on-the-ground activism, an untiring desire to help and his influential comedy. Featuring archival...
- 6/24/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
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