This is a great idea, Suzen. It would be wonderful to get Roland Fryer involved in this, too, given his specific interest (and even participation) in stand-up comedy.
I also wonder if some of these Glenn Show/Comedian mashups would work better if they began with everyone watching a few clips of great comedians to break the ice and then start talking. (A bit like Fryer's idea of having his grad student assistants watch Richard Pryor to generate ideas.) While it's fairly easy for comedians to wave aside the opening thoughts of a couple of academics like Glenn and John, I'm guessing they'd be more likely to engage with them if they were initially loosened up by giants in their own field on the order of Pryor or Dave Chapelle.
While I'm no expert in comedy, a few obvious potential "icebreakers" come to my mind:
I would love for them to get even more history, and talk about whether Sandford and Son or Good Times would be made today, Blaxploitation movies, Black entertainers in the age of Blackface, Song of the South (progressive? regressive?), etc. And yeah, of course, Richard Pryor and other amazing groundbreaking comedians. It is interesting to look at it all in a far-off time frame and compare it to today.
This is a great idea, Suzen. It would be wonderful to get Roland Fryer involved in this, too, given his specific interest (and even participation) in stand-up comedy.
I also wonder if some of these Glenn Show/Comedian mashups would work better if they began with everyone watching a few clips of great comedians to break the ice and then start talking. (A bit like Fryer's idea of having his grad student assistants watch Richard Pryor to generate ideas.) While it's fairly easy for comedians to wave aside the opening thoughts of a couple of academics like Glenn and John, I'm guessing they'd be more likely to engage with them if they were initially loosened up by giants in their own field on the order of Pryor or Dave Chapelle.
While I'm no expert in comedy, a few obvious potential "icebreakers" come to my mind:
Eddie Murphy's "White Like Me" from SNL
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_LeJfn_qW0),
Chris Rock's "Black People vs. N*****", which I think he later had misgivings about, or perhaps Rock's "How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEvMc-K8XHY)
Even some bits from comics who aren't black would be fun to discuss, such as Bill Burr on white guilt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjJlE2BxQfA), or from an earlier age, Lenny Bruce's famous "Are There Any N****** here Tonight?" (https://youtu.be/IaRqDc41IFQ)
I would love for them to get even more history, and talk about whether Sandford and Son or Good Times would be made today, Blaxploitation movies, Black entertainers in the age of Blackface, Song of the South (progressive? regressive?), etc. And yeah, of course, Richard Pryor and other amazing groundbreaking comedians. It is interesting to look at it all in a far-off time frame and compare it to today.