In addition to the careers of many hip-hop artists, Russell Simmons could prob’ly take credit for a lot of comedians’ careers taking off. In ’92, Def Comedy Jam premiered on HBO, and it was kinda like a big deal.
At 12, this show was all kinds of entertainment for me. The most I’d seen of stand-up comedy was the occasional guests on Arsenio Hall or The Tonight Show (stuff like Eddie Murphy‘s stand-ups were off-limits when I was little). I wasn’t interested in it until DCJ came along and I happened to catch it one Friday night. For the next couple of years, I was stuck on that show, and stand-up comedy as a whole. I would be on my ass laughin’ just as much as the people in the crowd were, and of course I recorded and watched ‘em over and over.
Def Comedy Jam appealed to the hip-hop crowd like crazy, because everything about it was right along the same lines. It was current, it was profane, and of course, the Russell/Def Jam attachment and Kid Capri as the house DJ. To watch it now, it seems normal, with the numerous shows that have popped up since then. But at the time, there weren’t any comedy shows like it. When I would see stand-up comedians before, they were usually middle-aged White guys with suits on. Here, I saw a lot of younger Black comedians who dressed just like the audience. Everything about the show was hip-hop, from the opening music (Public Enemy‘s “Fight The Power”) to the end when the dancers would get on stage with Capri spinning the beats.
There’s a lot of comedians who’d never been on TV before DCJ, and have since gone on to have their own TV shows and movies. I might be wrong about a few of these, but DCJ marks the first time I’d ever seen Bernie Mac, Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle, Steve Harvey, Eddie Griffin, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy, Mo’nique, Mike Epps, and others. Some didn’t make it that far (i.e. Adele Givens, Arnez J., Teddy Carpenter, J. Anthony Brown, Earthquake) but were still standouts on the show who went on to do other things.
In the later seasons, they had numerous hosts, but the original host was Martin Lawrence, about a year before Martin premiered on FOX. Martin was NUTS on this show, especially for how he used to go in on the people in the audience. Nobody was immune to getting caught out there, especially the random white man in the crowd and the girls with fukked-up outfits on. Celebs caught it too, from Spike Lee to Flavor Flav. I’d seen Martin in a couple of movies before, but this was the first time I recall him being his most comedic.
By the time it went off the air in ’97, DCJ wasn’t the show it once was, and it def. ran its course. Still, I don’t think anyone could deny how major it was at its height. After DCJ, every other comedy event from then on was called some kinda “Comedy Jam”, even to this day. I don’t get why they don’t just put out the complete seasons on DVD, but the best-of’s have sold more than a lil’ bit since they’ve been released. It’s actually been so popular throughout the years- even with some of the jokes and antics being dated as all hell- HBO brought it back in ’06.
Of course the show had its critics, but Def Comedy Jam was a whole new look for stand-up comedy that’s been tried a million times since then. In the post-Cosby/Pryor/Murphy era, it was an avenue for a lot of Black comedians who otherwise weren’t being spotlighted.
As the pre-Yoga-and-sweater-vest Russell Simmons would say at the end of each show: “Thank y’all for comin’ out, God bless you, and good night.”
Martin Goes In On Flavor Flav (1992)
Bernie Mac Ain’t Scared Of You Muthafukkas (1992)
Eddie Griffin Does Michael Jackson (1992)
Chris Tucker Is Pissed Off, Maaannn (1992)
Dave Chappelle Explains How “Nigger” Became A Word (1993)
Joe Torry Puts Dick In Ya Life (1994)
A.J. Johnson’s True Meaning Of “Keep Ya Head Up” (1994)
Arnez J. Explains The Power Of Music (1995)
Will E. (D.J. Robo) Battles Kid Capri (1995)
-D!
Posted by Danj! 
