it s not a choice. (audience cheering) - wanda gets on stage completely unapologetic. i am a black woman who is a lesbian. - and if you believe that it s a choice, then you re saying that straight people are straight because they chose not to be gay. right? (audience clapping) and i m sure a lot of straight guys in here, you know, i m talking about em. sure there s, on several occasions, you know, you probably think, you know, i think i m gonna suck a (beep) today. (audience laughing) - she s like, this is me, accept it. and we have and we love it. - so to go from a point where moms mabley has to hide who she is to wanda sykes being able to be celebrated for who she is, progression is possible in this country sometimes. (upbeat music) - when barack obama was elected president, there was such this exhale and you felt that the world had shifted, it changed. - and not only has america changed, but we have changed as a culture. we expect fair representation.
because there was a richard pryor that is the mold. - ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. i quit! ow! (audience laughing) - you have to understand that at the height of his power, he felt that the original concept of the show was not where the show was going. - the comedy central star stunned his fans when he suddenly just walked away from the hit tv show and a $50 million contract. - everybody was like, what the hell is going on? we were all perplexed and confused. - i was doing sketches that were funny but socially irresponsible. it s like you re getting flooded with things and you don t pay attention to things like your ethics. i mean, i don t want black people to be disappointed in me for putting that out there. - what dave was saying was that, it has to be my way. (gentle music)
i was just kind of like, oh, my god! pinch me. is this real? - soul train was clearly geared towards a black audience. but at the same time, in the 1970s, you had flip wilson, who was the first black comedian that could gear a show for all of america and still stay very authentic to who he was. - flip wilson was amazing, he was brilliant. 40 million people would watch that show and i was one of them. and he was also bringing in black artists, black entertainers. - mm, mm. (audience laughing and cheering) - he proves that black people can be on television, they can have 40 million viewers, they can be shown in the south. and if we were given a chance, it can happen. - now, you don t drink, you don t smoke, you don t fool around with wild women. when you go into training, what do you give up? (audience laughing) - flip wilson was really huge. who didn t know geraldine? say, geraldine, is it true that blondes have more fun?
that white audiences would boycott their products. - and if you can t get sponsorship, you can t exist. and when the show was canceled, what he said was, madison avenue is afraid of the dark. and they were. (smooth rock music) - in the late 50s, early 60s, the country starts to change more when civil rights hit. then you re getting grittier comedy that is gonna deal with race. - i hate to see any baseball player having troubles cause that s a great sport for my people. that is the only sport in the world where a negro can shake a stick at a white man and won t start no riot. (audience laughing) - dick gregory put politics in his comedy. it was like seeing a curve ball, and he d throw it and you couldn t see it coming. - 1961, appearing on the jack paar show, dick gregory becomes the first black comedian ever to sit down on the couch after his performance. - what kind of car you got? - a lincoln, naturally. - [jack] well, that s a. (audience laughing) - dick gregory in the 50s a
that you forget it was him. just a game i play i- (screams) - we were doing things that were really on the edge. there was some controversy, there was some pushback from fox. - if living with oppression is a sin, then i d be guilty! - [narrator] oppression for black men. if only he wasn t so dark. (audience laughs) - another show that really served up our comedy and our music, our culture, was showtime at the apollo. - for a lot of artists to make a name for themselves, you had to come through the apollo and prove yourself. - and don t you know backwards begin with a b? (audience laughs) - the apollo theater is a very magical place. you can literally feel the energy of every performer that ever performed there. - i was reading about michael jackson cause you know all about the nose, and i don t get it. cause they tell me he can t breathe late at night, just. (shrill vocalizing) (audience laughs)