How black comedians make jokes about Obama's win
Tommy Davidson's centerpiece joke about President-elect Barack Obama at a Los Angeles comedy club over the weekend "killed" -- in more ways than one.
Davidson, who was a regular on Fox's hip sketch comedy show "In Living Color," bounded on stage Friday at the Comedy Union on Pico Boulevard and said he would like to perform a bit from Obama's upcoming inaugural speech. He stood at an imaginary podium -- then, a "shot" rang out and he collapsed in a heap.
The audience was momentarily shocked, then erupted in laughter. But for some, the laughs stuck in their throats.
"People were crying out, 'Oh, no, don't do that,' " said Lanita Jacobs-Huey, a USC professor of anthropology who was in the audience. "Tommy then sprung up and said with this smile, 'OK, I just wanted to try that out.' It was pretty amazing."
Welcome to Def Obama Comedy Jam.
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--Greg Braxton
Photo of Mario Joyner Lawrence K. Ho / LAT