NEW YORK - From a comedy standpoint, David Alan Grier would have been fine with whoever won the election.
As the nation's first black president, Barack Obama means a wealth of material for “Chocolate News,” Grier's fearless spoof of a black-oriented news magazine show.
“And if he (lost),” says Grier, chortling at how the pain of such a near miss could have been salvaged for laughs, “it's material for the next 500 years!”
Grier is having a ball with “Chocolate News,” which airs on Comedy Central on Wednesdays. The show bills itself as “the only source for pure, uncircumcised realness from an Afro-centric perspective” (in the bombastic words of DAG, the host Grier portrays).
The new series made clear right away that nothing in the black experience would be spared from its lampooning. In a single half-hour on last month's premiere, it targeted hip-hop culture, the N-word and Maya Angelou (with the chameleonic Grier letter-perfect as this literary grande dame, just one of many impersonations he nails in the show's field reports).
In a later segment that took its cue from film characters like Tyler Perry's maternally domineering Madea, “Chocolate News” identified the Fat Black Momma Syndrome, a behavioral disorder afflicting African-American males who seek authority by dressing up like women.
The report had an update: “They just had the ‘Million Black Men Who Don't Want to Dress Like Fat Black Mommas March' in Washington - but none of them dressed like fat black mommas, so no one listened.”
Yet another report interviewed members of a Detroit street gang to find out how skyrocketing gas prices have crippled urban lawlessness.
“We can't even afford to do drive-bys,” groused one thug. “What are we supposed to do - drive smart cars? Ride bikes?”
In many ways, “Chocolate News” is a latter-day version of “In Living Color,” the innovative Fox series starring Keenen Ivory Wayans where Grier first proved his skill in sketch comedy two decades ago.
“America is grappling with cultural diversity,” he says, “and I just want to put a show on that represents the world in which I live.”
“And if he (lost),” says Grier, chortling at how the pain of such a near miss could have been salvaged for laughs, “it's material for the next 500 years!”
Grier is having a ball with “Chocolate News,” which airs on Comedy Central on Wednesdays. The show bills itself as “the only source for pure, uncircumcised realness from an Afro-centric perspective” (in the bombastic words of DAG, the host Grier portrays).
The new series made clear right away that nothing in the black experience would be spared from its lampooning. In a single half-hour on last month's premiere, it targeted hip-hop culture, the N-word and Maya Angelou (with the chameleonic Grier letter-perfect as this literary grande dame, just one of many impersonations he nails in the show's field reports).
In a later segment that took its cue from film characters like Tyler Perry's maternally domineering Madea, “Chocolate News” identified the Fat Black Momma Syndrome, a behavioral disorder afflicting African-American males who seek authority by dressing up like women.
The report had an update: “They just had the ‘Million Black Men Who Don't Want to Dress Like Fat Black Mommas March' in Washington - but none of them dressed like fat black mommas, so no one listened.”
Yet another report interviewed members of a Detroit street gang to find out how skyrocketing gas prices have crippled urban lawlessness.
“We can't even afford to do drive-bys,” groused one thug. “What are we supposed to do - drive smart cars? Ride bikes?”
In many ways, “Chocolate News” is a latter-day version of “In Living Color,” the innovative Fox series starring Keenen Ivory Wayans where Grier first proved his skill in sketch comedy two decades ago.
“America is grappling with cultural diversity,” he says, “and I just want to put a show on that represents the world in which I live.”
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