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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Royals of Comedy
By Lawrence “eL-Train” Evans
The district will experience comedic royalty this Friday, September 19th, 2008. Who’s coming you ask? Steve Harvey? D.L. Hughley? Cedric the Entertainer? No…none of the aforementioned, self-proclaimed kings of comedy will be in town. Constitution Hall will be the hosting stage for the ground breaking Dick Gregory, influential Paul Mooney and the witty Franklyn Ajaye. Some may be well aware of who they are while others may not be familiar.
Often referred to as comics of an older generation, many of the younger groups may find themselves at a loss for describing who these gentlemen are. These are comedians who others revere (including Queens and Kings of Comedy). It is upon their backs that the Mo Niques, Damon Wayans’, Sommores, Steve Harveys and Richard Pryors stand. (Did he just say Richard Pryor? YES!) From crossing over, selflessly being a humanitarian or being a principal writer for some of the funniest moments in media history, they have all forded their own individual path and will tell a story (or more) Friday, September 19th.
I had a chance to sit down with two of the three comedians, the legendary Dick Gregory and Franklin Ajaye.
Dick Gregory has become well known for more than comedy. After talking to him, it appears that he is used to being a media magnet in many ways. Born in St. Louis, Gregory was a track star who gained national recognition as a record setting distance runner for Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in the fifties. In the sixties he had already completed a stint in the U.S. Army and was quickly being known as a civil rights activist. As the seventies rolled through, Presidential candidacy, television appearances, hunger strikes and authorship were all parts of Gregory’s resume. The eighties brought a mainstream resurgence through the success of his Bahamian Diet Nutritional Drink. Not only was he the developer of the diet drink, he worked with morbidly obese people to bring a better quality of life, through weight loss, to them. The nineties were a time of public speaking and continued comedy.
Throughout all of this, however, comedy remained in his life in one way or another. Don’t call it a comeback: “I do shows and speak to people all across the country throughout the year. I also spend about a thousand dollars a week on newspapers so there isn’t anything going on anywhere that I don’t know about.” I was shocked to hear the response in reference to who influenced Dick Gregory. “There weren’t any negro comics on the radio. The main person that people in the Negro community saw or watched were Black preachers. They were funny, never repeated themselves and they wrote their own materials. They were the first entertainers I ever encountered.”
As everyone who has spoken to a comedian, it is well known that there are those days when they bomb. The bad ones become a little disenchanted with the art while the good ones stand up, dust themselves off and try again. Gregory has had to do neither. “I’ve never bombed, per se. I had one show where I performed at a senior citizens home and they think a little slower than the normal person may speak and I had to learn to slow down and allow the timing of the joke to match their thought patterns. But, I have never gone on stage and bombed.” It was what was said next; however that was really intriguing and summed up why those bomb out nights have not occurred. “For some reason and I don’t know why, but I decided to go to this night club that I was going to perform. I went there the day before I performed when the room was empty. I went onto the stage and did my show before the empty room that seated 1500 people. I got up there and did my act. I walked off the stage and was happy and smiling and the reason was because; when you working for an empty room, can’t no one laugh at you and if a heckler walks into a room or whatever…it beats an empty chair. That is where I learned my respect for people. From then on, I never got butterflies or any type of nervousness because a person in a chair beats an empty chair any day.”
Franklyn Ajaye is considered to be a witty and intelligent comedy that is already known for his earlier work on such projects as the Flip Wilson Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. His style doesn’t pander to stereotypes or seek to expose low level experiences. Noting George Carlin, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor as major influences it is not surprising that his comedy goes over quite well with younger audiences. Younger audiences that crave to hear comedy brought to some of the current issues that affect them today as opposed to canned shows that are preserved for tours and could easily be told three years from now for the same mediocre response.
This came in handy for his stint in Australia where he later returned for seven years and became a permanent resident. “Australia has a high literacy rate. On top of that, they have cable in a large majority of the homes. They are very aware of global events.” Not only is he a comedian but he is an author of five books; one of which has become a comedian bible of sorts, an accomplished jazz musician and an actor (Convoy, Car Wash and Deadwood).
With so many successful irons in the fire, one has to wonder what makes a person choose between them to find a primary career direction. Things are no different for Mr. Ajaye. He has bounced between skills, and while all have brought fame and success, comedy has pulled him in right now. Even despite his most recent achievement with acting in Deadwood, he realized that it wasn’t necessarily something that would play a primary role in his life. As an actor he enjoyed his time on Deadwood but realized that the limitations for roles would be there for him. “I have very long dreadlocks. On Deadwood, they tied them up and put them in a hat for me. There’s not a lot of variance in what they will cast you as when you have this look.”
Ajaye’s full time return to comedy could not have come at a better time. He is brazenly vocal in regards to the election that is coming up. Is it racist to vote for Barack because he is Black? “No it is racial identification, just like it will be gender identification for so many women who will vote republican strictly because Palin is in the mix.” How is Barack doing right now? “The Republicans have cornered the game on being punchy. I wish Barack would throw a few more punches.” It is clear to anyone with ears as to where he stands on the political front. He never says who he will vote for, but is very clear with his current party alliance [not affiliation- he is not a Democrat or Republican]. “The last good president was Clinton. He was fuckin’ up in other ways, but the budget and other things weren’t fucked up like the Republicans have left it. And get this. They [Republicans] are saying that they realize they fucked it up, but to vote for them again because they know how to fix what they fucked up. Who are they foolin’?!?!”
Looking ahead, Ajaye is currently enjoying the return to the stage and is doing dates across the country right now. He will eventually return to Australia where he enjoys the peace and the county’s culture heavy society. As for now, however he will continue to leave the crowd in stitches as he tells people about the present state of the world.
For those who reside or will be visiting the DC Metro Area, be sure to check out a comedy show of original proportions. Just talking on the phone had me holding back laughter to conduct the interview. I can only imagine how the show will compare.
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