Chris Rock was already one of humor’s high priests when he stepped onstage at the Academy Awards to present the Oscar for Best Documentary and told the joke that made television history. By the time Questlove walked away with the gold statuette for his film Summer of Soul Rock had been sanctified by his peers in stand-up as well as a good percentage of his fans. One small slap from the Fresh Prince has resulted in a giant leap in ticket sales for Rock and placed him on the throne as comedy’s reigning king.
This means additional dates added to an already heavy performance itinerary, a welcome turn of events for Rock fans, who deified him decades ago but didn’t buy tickets before the Oscars. Rock came up in the comedy industry of the ’80s, his youth setting him apart from peers influenced by Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. Rock made a memorable splash as Rib Joint Customer in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, became known to film audiences as hapless Pookie in 1991’s New Jack City and to television audiences as activist commentator Nat X during his stint on Saturday Night Live.
Everything he did in his career prior to 1999 seemed like a warm-up upon the release of his HBO special Bigger & Blacker. Rock was on point, at the peak of his abilities and brutally honest as he addressed themes of race, hypocrisy and social responsibility. It placed him on everybody’s top five list of favorite comedians well beyond the release of his 2014 sleeper-hit film Top Five and led to numerous invitations to appear at the Oscars.
He may understandably turn those down more often in the future, giving him flexibility to spend more time on stand-up stages. Cancel culture and comedy culture are currently at odds, and both stand-up artists and audiences need an inspirator that can shift societal attention with one joke. They need Chris Rock.
Caesars Palace, May 6-7, ticketmaster.com
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