This coming so soon after George Carlin...
Comedian Bernie Mac just passed away at the age of 50 from complications from pneumonia. He starred in TV series The Bernie Mac Show, and appeared in Charlie's Angels 2, Transformers, Friday, and the Ocean's Eleven series.
Like his idol Bill Cosby, Mac wasn't just a comedian but a storyteller. In one skit he describes taking care of his drug addict sister's small children after they are taken away from her. It is an incredibly politically incorrect and even harsh narrative. He does away with the sentimentalities you usually hear in such stories. But the genius is that it is also clear he really loves those kids.
In this clip, Mac describes the need to have love in your comedy, and how listening with his dying mother to Bill Cosby changed his life:
Very sad. He was really the best at what he did. The best of the "Kings". It really wasn't even close. Loved the Bernie Mac show.
ReplyDeleteWhere could I find that bit with the sister's children? I'd like to hear that.
ReplyDelete50 feels really young to me to die from pneumonia! What a terrible loss for his family.
ReplyDeleteI worked overnight for several years, and we kept the tv's in our center set to a station showing comedies most nights. "The Bernie Mac Show" was one of those programs, and I was always amazed how funny it was... and even well-written. Bernie Mac had that rare talent to combine raw humor with heart and a smile. He really was a one of a kind.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this shocked and saddened me. One of my favorite schticks is to imitate Bernie Mac and address little soliloquys to "America." Which didn't go over too well when I was working with Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, few if any of whom had any idea who Bernie Mac was.
ReplyDeleteBut that's also what made it so delicious.
Flying home from Japan once, I watched almost all of Mr. 3000. Not a very good movie, made even worse by the horrors of flying economy class trans-Pacific on a second-rate airline I won't name here... but the guy's charm came through even under those conditions.
And now Ocean's 13 is coming on Stars channel here, and there are a lot of promos featuring Bernie Mac and have been for over a week now. They're a little eerie.
Wow... I really liked Bernie Mac!
This made me so upset and sad over the weekend. He was by far one of my favorite comedians. I really felt he was on the cusp of kicking things into high gear. It's a shame it took so long for his career to really take off with the sitcom and the movie roles. He will be sorely missed, America.
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