Jay Leno & Rahsaan Roland Kirk

[MartyJazz]

I’m presently reading a book of interviews of various entertainment personalities, who mostly are giving their opinions of what constitutes satire emanating from comedians of the past and present, and I came across this interesting passage in the interview of Jay Leno (who certainly is not a satirist nor claims to be):

“When I was starting out, I used to play a primarily black club in Boston, called the Sugar Shack, just to see if I could work in front of that crowd. I toured in front of predominantly black audiences opening for a brilliant black jazz artist named Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He was really outspoken and radical, and also happened to be blind. He’d go onstage in a dashiki before I went up, and say, ‘I want to introduce a young brother who knows the black experience and knows all about the white devils….’ He’d do the whole radical Black Panther, ‘white devil’ thing, and then: ‘Please welcome Jay Leno!’ I’d walk on and whisper, ‘Shhhh…Don’t tell him I’m white.’ Of course there’d be a huge laugh, because all you have to do is be funny. To me, the real test of comic is when you can play any audience – all black, all white, all female – whatever it may be.”

- from “!Satiristas!: Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs & Vulgarians” by Paul Provenza and Dan Dion, @2010, (p109, hardcover).

[Dan Gould]

but isn't that actually zero degrees of separation between Leno and RRK?

[MartyJazz]

but isn't that actually zero degrees of separation between Leno and RRK?

You're right. Once I created the subheading, I couldn't see how I could correct it.

[Bill Nelson]

I have a problem with the premise of Leno's story: for Rahsaan's Boston gigs in the 70's, Kirk was always booked at the Jazz Workshop on Boylston St. It was always a solid, positive vibe -- sometimes Jaki Byard and Alan Dawson would sit in for the third set. There was never a whiff of disrespect on the part of the owner or management (that I could notice).

I lived in Boston from 1971-79 and noted Rahsaan's every week-long gig at the Workshop. If Kirk ever hung out at the Sugar Shack, it was possibly a one-time stand-up without his band.

[Bright Moments]

still a good story!

[7/4]

after years of trying to be cool, Jay gets close.

[RDK]

I have a problem with the premise of Leno's story: for Rahsaan's Boston gigs in the 70's, Kirk was always booked at the Jazz Workshop on Boylston St. It was always a solid, positive vibe -- sometimes Jaki Byard and Alan Dawson would sit in for the third set. There was never a whiff of disrespect on the part of the owner or management (that I could notice).

I lived in Boston from 1971-79 and noted Rahsaan's every week-long gig at the Workshop. If Kirk ever hung out at the Sugar Shack, it was possibly a one-time stand-up without his band.

Leno certainly may have gotten the name of the club wrong; he used to play everywhere in those days - and it was 40 years ago. I'm not sure where you're getting the "disrespect" part from Leno's quote.

[Bill Nelson]

As for 'disrespect' at the Jazz Workshop, there was none -- hence my conclusion that Rahsaan's gig at the Sugar Shack was solo and a one-shot. I can only speculate why Kirk was hanging there -- maybe there was an open mike and he gave it a shot. Otherwise, Leno's tale leaves me in suspended disbelief.

However, if Leno had gone up against Richard Pryor at the Shack ... BOMBSVILLE!

[Dan Gould]

You're the only one talking about "disrespect" and no one has a frigging clue where you get it.

Its a frigging joke, set up in advance with RRK to riff on his blindness. No one is talkinga bout actual "disrespect".

And if you really don't believe the story, you might ask yourself, why or how, 30+ years later, would Jay Leno summon up the name of RRK as the centerpiece of the joke if he hadn't known him and worked with him?

Edited July 20, 2011 by Dan Gould

[ejp626]

Its a frigging joke, set up in advance with RRK to riff on his blindness. No one is talkinga bout actual "disrespect".

Except the joke itself is lame and has been recycled hundreds of times, which when you think about it is pretty typical of a Jay Leno routine.

[Dan Gould]

I must not get out much cause I'd never heard a punchline like it.

[MartyJazz]

You're the only one talking about "disrespect" and no one has a frigging clue where you get it.

Its a frigging joke, set up in advance with RRK to riff on his blindness. No one is talkinga bout actual "disrespect".

And if you really don't believe the story, you might ask yourself, why or how, 30+ years later, would Jay Leno summon up the name of RRK as the centerpiece of the joke if he hadn't known him and worked with him?

Having known Kirk pretty well during the last decade of his life, I do not doubt at all that he would have gotten a kick out of setting up a joke with a comedian such as Leno in order to get a laugh from the audience. Kirk was very serious off the stage, but he also enjoyed a good laugh and always wanted to give the audience a good time. Your point is therefore well taken about Leno's ability to truthfully recall Kirk considering the latter died in '78 and Leno, despite the long association with Kevin Eubanks (and for a short time previously, Branford Marsalis), has never really been into jazz, although he obviously respects the musicians who come from that music.

[ejp626]

I've heard it long before. The slightly more interesting twist is when the blind man doesn't realize he's Black. This has also been done many times before, perhaps most amusingly in the Chappelles Show skit "Black White Supremacist."

Chappelle show

The skit is a little too long, but it is worth fast-forwarding to the final joke.

Edited July 20, 2011 by ejp626

[JSngry]

I've heard it long before. The slightly more interesting twist is when the blind man doesn't realize he's Black. This has also been done many times before, perhaps most amusingly in the Chappelles Show skit "Black White Supremacist."

Chappelle show

The skit is a little too long, but it is worth fast-forwarding to the final joke.

No, please, watch the entire skit. It's one of the finest TV comedy endeavors ever!

[ejp626]

I've heard it long before. The slightly more interesting twist is when the blind man doesn't realize he's Black. This has also been done many times before, perhaps most amusingly in the Chappelles Show skit "Black White Supremacist."

Chappelle show

The skit is a little too long, but it is worth fast-forwarding to the final joke.

No, please, watch the entire skit. It's one of the finest TV comedy endeavors ever!

Speaking of been there, done that. I had no idea that one of the cable channels is showing The Richard Pryor Show (it might even be BET). Wow. Talk about mind-blowing. I do like me some Dave Chappelle, but Richard Pryor was even more daring and waaaay ahead of his time. I think I'm going to have to pick this up: Pryor Show at Amazon.

[JSngry]

I had no idea either...wow! Haven't seen that show since it was actually on...you talk about a sense of "get it while you can, 'cause it ain't gonna last long", that was the show for that!

The Black Death metal band skit...not even Chapelle could get by with that today. Pryor was an amazing, complex, and amazingly complex, talent. That show was a reflection of that far more than his movies were.