Black Humor

Eddie Griffin's outspoken comedy

Friday, May 23, 2008
Last updated: Friday May 23, 2008, EDT 7:04 AM

BY EVELYN SHIH

STAFF WRITER

Funnyman and actor Eddie Griffin will be taking over Carolines on Broadway this weekend, the first time he will perform at the New York comedy club. Though he has already conquered the movie theater ("Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," "John Q") and television ("Malcolm and Eddie"), he still performs stand-up comedy on a weekly basis.

Griffin has also signed on to star in a new reality show on VH1 about his life, tentatively titled "Eddie Griffin Goes for Broke" and scheduled to start airing in 2009. He took time off his busy schedule to talk about his life and his comedy.

Q. What will your new show be like?

We have no idea. It's reality.
[VH1] approached me with the idea. They're going to follow me around with a camera.

Q. Are you looking forward to that?

My life is a movie. Someone should film it. I am the real "Truman Show."
Q. You live in Los Angeles, and you've done stand-up all over the country. Does the New York area audience play differently than the other audiences?

It's the same everywhere. People are people. They have the same concerns and desires. People got a different accent: the Boston, the Louisiana accents. But they all fall in and out of love. They all laugh at the same things.

Q. You will be appearing in an upcoming documentary, "Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy." What is different about black comedy?

The guy who's doing material about black people is usually black. Because people of any other race may come off as racist if they do the same jokes. Given what black people have gone through in this country, it's hard for them not to.

Because of that, black comedy has more bite than European comedy, I think.

Q. What's a funny New York story you know?

Let me tell you a funny thing about New York. After 9/11, the Fire Department were heroes. Now it's — how many years later? — and when they slash the budget, they slash the fire department budgets. That's so full of [expletive] that it's hilarious.

Where are the flag wavers now?

Q. Will you be doing some political comedy this weekend, considering the political climate we're in?

Oh, yeah.

Q. What did you think about the West Virginia primary results?

What we had was not a primary. What we had was the media having a sports event. Somebody call [Hillary Clinton] at 3 a.m. and tell her it's over!

If [Barack Obama] were a white candidate, they would've announced his win already, like John McCain.

They're just fighting tooth and nail to keep anything of color out of the White House. That's why they call it the White House.

Now there's black humor for you.