Revolution Televised.pdf

Conclusion 189
Rock encourages residents of Howard Beach to support Tupac Shakur Boulevard.
men married to white women and Niggatrol Maximum Strength
for black men married to black women. The groans in the audience
are palpable, and the looks on the faces of the black women leave
little to the imagination. 29
Like many comedians before him, Rock uses the ridiculous stereotypical
beliefs about black people for humor. For example, within
the preceding joke, Niggatrol tablets are shaped like drumsticks and
are coated with hot sauce. To a black audience with insider knowledge
of practices within the black community, these jokes take on
their own site-specific meaning. However, some African Americans
still believe, as they did during the 1970s, that these ideas allow a
white audience to laugh at and confirm their stereotypical beliefs
about black people.
Even with the early success of The Chris Rock Show, the black
and mainstream press still questioned his popularity within the
black community. Tired of constantly being asked about the black
response to his comedy, Rock taped Bigger and Blacker at the
Apollo Theater in Harlem. The show was edited together from
three live shows and premiered on HBO in July 1999. Similar
to the opening sequence of Bring the Pain, the show’s beginning