he and i really had a chemistry together. - one of the unique things about the jeffersons is that it featured the first primetime interracial couple, the willises. - george, if we have a problem, why can t we just talk it through like tom and helen? they don t fight. - they don t fight cause they scared to fight. - what s that supposed to mean? - you know damn well what it means. if you two ever really started going at one another, inside of five minutes, he d be calling you - don t say it! - nigga. - he said it! - coming out of the 1960s loving case, which made interracial marriages legal in the united states, you had this representation of what america could look like, of what america could be. (audience laughs and applauds) - i beg your pardon. i ll come back later. - the jeffersons was really groundbreaking. - everything you do, do it cool. that s it. - [marla] the jeffersons had something for every segment of society. - yeah. - government is not the solution to our problem.
- you come here. yes. - martin was good at being spontaneous. he could come off the cuff and when you look at some of those old def jam performances, a lot of what he did was improvised. i don t know that he ever went out there with a playbook. - i know big bird outta business, but what the (beep) is up? (audience laughs) - def comedy jam was a black comics paradise. - after decades of being told how to behave, what s appropriate, what s okay and what s not okay, black comedians had enough. you will no longer censor me. - we put on the acts that we wanted to see, edgy. - i m so broke, if a nigga robbed me, he ll just be practicing. (audience laughs) - def jam comes along and boom! now everybody knows bill bellamy, adele givens, bernie mac, steve harvey, eddie griffin. so i m grateful for it. how could you not be? - she said, does this (beep) taste like pumpkin pie? (audience laughing) made me mad as hell, i said, don t ask me no damn question like that! i ain t never had no pu
really step into so many different characters. the beauty of sketch is everyone is different. so you get the villains, the goofballs, you get straight-lace characters. - sources are telling me that you ve been considering switching to another team. are you thinking about a crossover to women? - look, i ve taken a lot of lickings in my career and i m always open to strapping on a new uniform. - and we get to see this awesome ensemble of black women play all of these different characters. - sometimes i just wanna sit down for five minutes without wearing a waist trainer. - oh, this hoe trying to take deep breaths? - yes! - breathe when you die, honey, okay? - this show shows women writing their hand in history, even giving playing men a chance. - this nigga wear a camo like me? this nigga got a beard like me? oh, he does? all right, i m gonna sit down. - i love what she has created, an experience that is just us, by us, for everyone else to enjoy all of our magic. - i think it is importa
that you ve been considering switching to another team. are you thinking about a crossover to women? - look, i ve taken a lot of lickings in my career and i m always open to strapping on a new uniform. - and we get to see this awesome ensemble of black women play all of these different characters. - sometimes i just wanna sit down for five minutes without wearing a waist trainer. - oh, this hoe trying to take deep breaths? - yes! - breathe when you die, honey, okay? - this show shows women writing their hand in history, even giving playing men a chance. - this nigga wear a camo like me? this nigga got a beard like me? oh, he does? all right, i m gonna sit down. - i love what she has created, an experience that is just us, by us, for everyone else to enjoy all of our magic. - i think it is important for us to have our own authentic voices, the shonda rhimes, the robin thedes, kevin hart, who s now taking his hartbeat productions into the stratosphere. - i know i m not a fighter, that s
- i know big bird outta business, but what the (beep) is up? (audience laughs) - def comedy jam was a black comics paradise. - after decades of being told how to behave, what s appropriate, what s okay and what s not okay, black comedians had enough. you will no longer censor me. - we put on the acts that we wanted to see, edgy. - i m so broke, if a nigga robbed me, he ll just be practicing. (audience laughs) - def jam comes along and boom! now everybody knows bill bellamy, adele givens, bernie mac, steve harvey, eddie griffin. so i m grateful for it. how could you not be? - she said, does this (beep) taste like pumpkin pie? (audience laughing) made me mad as hell, i said, don t ask me no damn question like that! i ain t never had no pumpkin pie. kick it! (audience laughing) (upbeat music) - you know the women of def comedy jam hold a special place in my heart because they are like the women of gangster rap. they had to really make room in such a toxically masculine space.