Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Is John Witherspoon funny?

Seriously, I need to know. Does anybody think John Witherspoon is hilarious? Anybody except Aaron McGruder, I mean.

Aaron just uploaded this video to YouTube (NSFW):

22 comments:

  1. Nope. Not funny. More like unfunny.

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  2. Y'all wrong, LOL. I think he added comic flair to Fridays and the Boondocks. Oh, and Boomerang.
    But I don't think I'd pay to see him tell jokes in front of a brick wall. No.

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  3. He's not funny in this sort of deal. But, c'mon UBM, you gotta admit he was funny in "Boomerang." And occasionally on the "Wayans Bros" show. But that's about it.

    And Kellybelle is right: "Friday," too.

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  4. The problem is that he's been doing the EXACT SAME THING since "Boomerang"... hell, since "House Party". Of course, that's what pays the bills I suppose. But you know the man had chops as he was down with Pryor and Mooney back in the day.

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  5. He's funnier than I am.

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  6. So he's a good comic actor but not a good comic? Which still makes him unfunny.

    He's only funny when he doesn't have to reply solely on his own shtick.

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  7. Yawn.

    You have to admit when he said, "nobody wanna hear that
    Public Enema" that was funny as hayle. Other than that.....BANG, BANG, BANG,

    he's alright. i've heard worse (carlos mancino or however the heck you spell his name)

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  8. You got to coordinate!

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  9. How dee do! (one of his lines).

    Me love John in Friday, The Wayans Bros and the Boondocks. Nice guy too.

    But he obviuosly didn't miss his calling as a stand-up comic, that's for sure. Good thing he left that to Pryor and Mooney.

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  10. "Hoes got to eat too."

    Okay, he's made me chuckle in a movie or two. (Above from "Hollywood Shuffle.") But I don't even remember him in "Boomerang" or "House Party."

    I have to go through those old Richard Pryor shows to see what he was about in the '70s.

    Letterman appears to be a fan. Or at least a loyal friend.

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  11. Witherspoon is funny in the exact same way Don Knotts was funny. A one dimensional clown. His best ever performance was in Boomerang and it has been downhill ever since. Actually, Boomerang just expanded on Hollywood Shuffle, and 'winky dinky dog' was his greatest line. Or was it hoe cake?

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  12. I spent a few years as a musician playing the "chitlin circuit," and it would take more than 10 hands to count the number of real life John Witherspoons I encountered during that time. Those folks, as does John, have always been hilarious to me. His shit is weak but somehow it hits that ghetto sweetspot -PING!

    Peace

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  13. I'm a fan. Plus I kinda agree with the pro steroid/enhancement sentiment. Bring on the post-human era.

    I need Boomerang on Blu-Ray!

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  14. he had a one-hour special on HBO that recently aired. i thought he was quite funny.

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  15. I'm hungry for hoe cakes now.

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  16. He is soooooo un-funny.

    Tomatoes, please!!!

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  17. Glad you mentioned "Hollywood Shuffle." I was going to go crazy tapping out a post about that one. :)

    "You want the wine ho cake?"

    He's normally also very good on "Letterman," imho.

    RP ("say it with me bobby ... Winky. Dinky. Dog!")

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  18. Wow, I turned that off halfway through. I don't think he's been funny since the first Friday movie. Or maybe Boomerang. Invisible Hand is right, it's the same damn character!

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  19. That was all right. I didn't laugh, I think I might have smiled slightly. Which is pretty good for him, because I've seen him once before on Letterman and he was awful.
    He's good in movies though.

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  20. Whoa whoa whoa...I have to say I think John Witherspoon is hilarious. Not for any intrinsic reason but because he is a depiction of black fatherhood that's an exaggerated version of my dad and so many black men his age that I know - just extra, self-justified, quirky, and stuck in the old days when he was almost fly. I have to consider it a trope because as much as my dad hates him we're always like "Negro that is YOU." Hes as accurate a black father/grandfather as, say, the Fred Flintstone type who never quite gets it right.

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