Comedian-host-director W. Kamau Bell claims 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 a Tribeca Festival audience on Thursday night. “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?’ A Black Carrot Top would have to be like, ‘I know I’m making fun of these hangers, but also, Black Lives Matter.’ So, whether you want to or not, there’s pressure as a Black person in America if you have a platform.
Sometimes you have to say something.”Bell was in Manhattan discussing the role and influence of Black comedians following the Tribeca world premiere of the first half of A&E Network’s two-part documentary event, Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution.
Produced by Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat and Time Studios, the four-hour docu explores the progression of Black comedy in America and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society’s injustices.In the film’s prologue Hart states: “The role of a Black comedian today is not the same of yesterday.
Your role is bigger than being funny.”The series features interviews with Hart and Bell, as well as historians, critics, television producer Norman Lear, and a bevy of comedians, including Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, Alonzo Bodden Steve Harvey, Sherri Shepherd, Wayne Brady, Aisha Tyler, David Alan Grier, and Amber Ruffin.The first two hours of the docuseries traces the career and legacies of legendary comedians including Redd Foxx, Moms Mabley and Dick Gregory.
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