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Dick Gregory (New Documentary)

Started by MortSahlFan, September 05, 2021, 11:16:41 PM

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MortSahlFan

One of my favorite comedians. The documentary is available for free (Showtime is free for a limited time) but a friend saw it on Hulu.

There's a lot of stuff that wasn't included, especially from Dick's later years because it didn't fit the stereotype. He would say repeatedly, "Obama's going to cancel the election in 2016" or how Trump's choice of tie (blue vs. white) would be an indicator of which side of the issue he'd be on.... and a lot of other stuff. But, his family was involved, so they're going to make their dad appear they want him to be.

The best part is when Dick is talking, or archival footage. I don't wanna hear from fucking Lawrence O'Donnell. There's too many who love to latch on, with that "justice by association" because it's usually just lip service while doing the opposite for humanity.. By saying they admire Dick Gregory (while not sticking their neck out for anything), it allows them to get trendy justice points while collecting the paycheck.

It's also unfortunate that I live in a black-majority city, but all I get is, "Never heard of him". When I mention the name Nipsey Russell, they incorrectly try to correct me by saying, "No, it's Nipsey Hustle".. It's also unfortunate that they mention that in 2015 he supposedly had early onset Alzheimer before some fellow comedians saying the crazy things he would say, and he did say some crazy things, but then suddenly they say how he became funny again and back on stage. Of course they omitted all the work he did regarding the JFK assassination, something he mentioned a million times, but because he blamed the CIA, I guess they thought it would be better (worse) to leave it out. If you're going to make this documentary about activism, HOW could you leave that part out? And a lot of other things.

Any fans?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4829936/

tourism

Quote from: MortSahlFan on September 05, 2021, 11:16:41 PM


It's also unfortunate that I live in a black-majority city, but all I get is, "Never heard of him". When I mention the name Nipsey Russell, they incorrectly try to correct me by saying, "No, it's Nipsey Hustle"

you have to admit, it's kind of funny imagining mortsahlfan mentioning ancient black comedians he likes to black people expecting some kind of rapport

bgmnts

Pretty badass dude.

His stance on his animal rights and vegetarianism activism was spot on:

QuoteBecause I'm a civil rights activist, I am also an animal rights activist. Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel and vicious taking of life. We shouldn't be a part of it

MortSahlFan

Quote from: tourism on September 06, 2021, 10:52:26 AM
you have to admit, it's kind of funny imagining mortsahlfan mentioning ancient black comedians he likes to black people expecting some kind of rapport

Rapport? They are friends of mine. And Dick Gregory was initially billed as "The Black Mort Sahl". And Dick worked up until his last days. Go to any of his stand-up or interviews from a few years ago and see a ton of comments, mostly from young people.



Paul Freeman Interviews Dick Gregory (2011)

It was an honor to talk with Dick Gregory prior to his 2011 appearance with another legendary and influential comedian, Mort Sahl, at San Francisco's Rrazz Room. Gregory passed in 2017, at age 84. He was still married to Lillian Gregory, whom he had wed in 1959. He has had a profound impact not only on their 11 children, but on generations of comedians and activists.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
You're performing in San Francisco with Mort Sahl. You both gained prominence in the 60s. Do you feel you have a shared history, a lot in common?

DICK GREGORY:
In the 60s, Mort was probably the biggest thing out there. A lot of his stuff was limited. He couldn't work Vegas, because he refused to put on a suit and a tie [chuckles] His trademark was a sweater, open shirt. You can work Vegas naked now... with sneakers on.

So you had Lenny Bruce, who was out there. And when he came to town, all the real hip, hip folks, the heavy drug addicts would be there. When Mort came to town, just the reefer smokers came out. And so I would just sit and listen to him and just admired him. And then met him.

We had never worked together at all. We knew and respected one another. And then one day the New York office put together, said, "Look this would be great, to take all the old comics," so they got about six of us. And I was the youngest. And I'll be 80 in two years. So you can imagine how old the rest of 'em was. So I was thinking, "God, if the audience laughs long enough and keeps us up there, they'll see someone die tonight."

One thing led to another. A couple of them got sick. So it was me, Mort and Irwin Corey and Shelley Berman on the first group. And then, little by little by little, the timing didn't work out, because it was too many of us. It was okay if you're interacting, like in a play. But we were doing separate sets. So then it got whittled down to me and Mort. And originally we weren't doing nightclubs. It was like theatres. And then when it got down to me and Mort, after that nightclubs started booking us.

And it was just fun. Mort said to me, "I'll go on first. You close the show." I said, "Come on, now, Mort. I'm not going to have you mad at me for the rest of your life. I'm opening the show! And you're closing it." And the fun is, normally when you work, you open a show, you get off, you gone. Man, when I get off, I'll stay there, get a chair and sit and listen to Mort. We have that much fun with one another.

Out of town, we get up in the morning and we talk, just discuss world things, real things. And it's just like we've been knowing each other all our life. The chemistry hits on stage. Like if you go to a casino and there's a group playing blackjack, there's another group playing poker, another group's shootin' craps. That's how I look at our act. When you come in to see the two of us, you're in a casino, but it's two different things. I walk out and talk about the world according to Dick Gregory. And Mort walks out and talks about the world according to himself. And we have two different backgrounds. That's what I bring and that's what he brings and the people, they love it.

See there was a time when Mort Sahl could go over most folks' head. But not with the cable news and the news network and 24 hour news. Everybody knows what's goin' on. You just walk up there and start talking.