As a kid I didn’t understand the satire part, but I was able to gather the punchline at the very end with the Black woman coming out on top.
#In libving colol full#
The joke comes full circle at the end as well, for the misdirect in the punchline. Needless to say, T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh’s impression was spot on.
Bruh, Google that at your own discretion. It wasn’t until later I discovered it was satire towards an actual person, the author Shahrazad Ali, who wrote The Black Man’s Guide To Understanding The Black Woman, which had mad controversy. There’s a T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh skit called “ Understanding The Black Woman” that had her wylin’ out, talkin’ about mad misogyny and “give ’em an open-handed slap in the mouth” towards Black women, and I’m like whoa. When looking back for skits to highlight, I saw so many things that went over my head as a kid but I where still got the gist. They were real about every shot they took. The show was filled with jokes but don’t get it Chubby Checker, In Living Color was not with the fuck shit in the least. There’s something about a Black folk trying to keep a straight face on In Living Color that makes it feel like home. It was moments like those that made the show feel so different. One of the things I absolutely loved were the scenes you could tell cast members were trying not to laugh, or happen to break character laughing. There were so many levels their inside jokes, it’s freaking genius. What’s funny is that looking back, there are so many shots that In Living Color took at SNL for not making use of their Black cast members. Worse, compare that picture to when Saturday Night Live was called out for adding six new cast members, and not having any Black women part of that ensemble back in 2013. Saturday Night Live started in 1975 and added their first Black woman to the cast in 1992 (Yvonne Hudson).
Notice how there are only two white folks on that cast? Keep in mind, that’s back in 1990. In Living Color‘s season one line up was a squad full of killers before adding even more heavy artillery into their main cast in later seasons. And when I say “predominately” I’m not talking 2 or 3 Black folk, or “we got a passing ethnically ambiguous person so we hit our quota for representation.” Nah, check out that cast - you got a squad that would have every god paying rent on Olympus shook if it were to come down to a roast session. Off the bat, you have to take into account that the cast for season one is predominately Black as fuck. Why a joke is funny, the structure of satire, parodies, and inside jokes were all made clearer to me through In Living Color. Delivery, timing, punchline - they became second nature as a viewer. I was imitating the Oswald Bates and Blues singer, Calhoun Tubb, and other characters from the show, and I had them down pat. The more I think about it now, the more I realize all the elements of Black culture and comedy I learned from this show. I remember being all about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, being grounded and having to wait a week before I could play a new game I got called Street Fighter II, and the fondest thing I remember was every night I’d sit and watch In Living Color with my family. There are a few distinct things I remember about being a kid in the early 90’s. Is just loudly criticized when he doesn’t come through”-Edmund Gwenn While the comedian, who has to be much more subtle to be funny, “All the honors go to the tragedian for chewing up the scenery,
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