Ireneparalegal
12-06-2006, 08:55 PM
At the Laugh Factory, the N-Word Is Back
Dec. 5, 2006, 7:31 am
“Give yourselves a big round of applause for coming down and supporting ‘[N-word] Night.’”
Damon Wayans said Michael Richards wasn’t being funny when he used the “N-word” on the stage at the Laugh Factory in mid-November. On Sunday night, December 3, 2006, another television star stepped onto the stage and used the same word as part of his routine, and got very different results:
Comedy, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and there was a rather prominent six-letter hole in the air at the Laugh Factory on Sunday night. It was the West Hollywood club’s weekly showcase of mostly African American comedians — the first “Chocolate Sundaes” show since the club banned the N-word after Michael “Kramer” Richards’ now-infamous vocabulary malfunction.
At least there was a hole until comedian-actor Damon Wayans took the stage.
“Give yourselves a big round of applause for coming down and supporting ‘[N-word ]Night,’ ” Wayans said, using the word itself, to gasps and laughs. The producers “tried to prep me backstage — ‘Don’t say the N-word.’ They’re going to fine me.” Wayans sprinkled folded bills across the stage floor, green confetti at his feet. “How much you want?” he asked, looking at club owner Jamie Masada, who sat with his head in his hands at his table in a back corner of the intimate room’s main floor.
Anger bubbled just beneath the surface.
“I’ll be damned if the white man uses that word last,” Wayans said, then he went on to use the word 15 more times during a 20-minute routine that suggested Richards apologize personally to O.J. Simpson — “If I Killed Michael Richards, This Is How I Did It” — envisioned Jesus Christ as ethnic stereotypes, cracked offensive jokes about gays in church, lambasted the Iraq war as another fight by whites against dark-skinned people and mocked white celebrities who adopt black children. If they really want to help, he said, “give the … father some money” to improve the family’s life.
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Andy Dick -- The New "Kramer"?
Posted Dec 5th 2006 12:29PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Train Wrecks
Andy Dick hasn't learned anything from the Michael Richards incident.
According to sources, the hopped-up comedian hopped onstage Saturday at L.A.'s Improv comedy club and dropped the n-bomb on a room full of stunned clubgoers.
Andy was heckling comedian Ian Bagg during his routine, when Dick allegedly got out of his seat, jumped onstage and began joking with Bagg. The subject of Michael Richards came up, but the two comics quickly moved past it. As Dick exited the stage, he suddenly grabbed the mic and shouted at the crowd, "You're all a bunch of ******s!"
The stunned crowd gasped and stared at each other. Bagg tried to play it cool and move on with his set, but the laughs weren't there.
Calls to Dick's rep were not immediately returned.
UPDATE: TMZ has received a statement from The Improv acknowledging the incident: "The Improv is aware of Andy Dick's behavior on Saturday night. Our policy is that material deemed offensive by both famous and up and coming comedians is judged on a case by case basis. In this particular case, Mr. Dick was commenting on a current event. Was it intelligent? No. Was it funny? No. But was it racist? No. It was not directed at any audience member in particular and although it was in bad taste -- it was a comment on the Michael Richards fiasco."
Dec. 5, 2006, 7:31 am
“Give yourselves a big round of applause for coming down and supporting ‘[N-word] Night.’”
Damon Wayans said Michael Richards wasn’t being funny when he used the “N-word” on the stage at the Laugh Factory in mid-November. On Sunday night, December 3, 2006, another television star stepped onto the stage and used the same word as part of his routine, and got very different results:
Comedy, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and there was a rather prominent six-letter hole in the air at the Laugh Factory on Sunday night. It was the West Hollywood club’s weekly showcase of mostly African American comedians — the first “Chocolate Sundaes” show since the club banned the N-word after Michael “Kramer” Richards’ now-infamous vocabulary malfunction.
At least there was a hole until comedian-actor Damon Wayans took the stage.
“Give yourselves a big round of applause for coming down and supporting ‘[N-word ]Night,’ ” Wayans said, using the word itself, to gasps and laughs. The producers “tried to prep me backstage — ‘Don’t say the N-word.’ They’re going to fine me.” Wayans sprinkled folded bills across the stage floor, green confetti at his feet. “How much you want?” he asked, looking at club owner Jamie Masada, who sat with his head in his hands at his table in a back corner of the intimate room’s main floor.
Anger bubbled just beneath the surface.
“I’ll be damned if the white man uses that word last,” Wayans said, then he went on to use the word 15 more times during a 20-minute routine that suggested Richards apologize personally to O.J. Simpson — “If I Killed Michael Richards, This Is How I Did It” — envisioned Jesus Christ as ethnic stereotypes, cracked offensive jokes about gays in church, lambasted the Iraq war as another fight by whites against dark-skinned people and mocked white celebrities who adopt black children. If they really want to help, he said, “give the … father some money” to improve the family’s life.
___________________________________________
Andy Dick -- The New "Kramer"?
Posted Dec 5th 2006 12:29PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Train Wrecks
Andy Dick hasn't learned anything from the Michael Richards incident.
According to sources, the hopped-up comedian hopped onstage Saturday at L.A.'s Improv comedy club and dropped the n-bomb on a room full of stunned clubgoers.
Andy was heckling comedian Ian Bagg during his routine, when Dick allegedly got out of his seat, jumped onstage and began joking with Bagg. The subject of Michael Richards came up, but the two comics quickly moved past it. As Dick exited the stage, he suddenly grabbed the mic and shouted at the crowd, "You're all a bunch of ******s!"
The stunned crowd gasped and stared at each other. Bagg tried to play it cool and move on with his set, but the laughs weren't there.
Calls to Dick's rep were not immediately returned.
UPDATE: TMZ has received a statement from The Improv acknowledging the incident: "The Improv is aware of Andy Dick's behavior on Saturday night. Our policy is that material deemed offensive by both famous and up and coming comedians is judged on a case by case basis. In this particular case, Mr. Dick was commenting on a current event. Was it intelligent? No. Was it funny? No. But was it racist? No. It was not directed at any audience member in particular and although it was in bad taste -- it was a comment on the Michael Richards fiasco."