OIn Living ColorO comedian resurrects dead yet memorable persona
Tommy Davidson has a familiar face - he's one of those celebrities that you recognize but just can't pin down.
He's performed memorable impressions as a cast member on "In Living Color," starred in comedies like "Booty Call" and "Juwanna Mann," and if you watch a lot of Disney, you might also recognize his vocal talents from the The Proud Family.
Still not convinced? Perhaps that's because Davidson has been absent from the spotlight for some time now.
Despite his fame being somewhat dated, Davidson was able to revive his comedic spirit in a fury Wednesday night to a sold-out crowd in the Center for the Arts - his show was presented as part of the Sixth Annual Student Association Comedy Series.
Before starting his act, Davidson issued a warning that the college audience was liable to try to discover a deeper meaning or message in his comedy that didn't exist.
"My show is not supposed to make sense," he said. "So don't try to intellectualize my shit."
Davidson later said in an interview with The Spectrum that the attentive and intellectual nature of college crowds was actually why he enjoyed working them so much.
"If we can laugh together, we can live together," he said during the show, in addition to several comments where he related his comedy's racial focus to a message promoting equality.
During the performance, Davidson skillfully incorporated clich?(c)d observations on differences between black and whites with his true talents: musical impressions, dancing, singing and a bit of good old-fashioned audience heckling.
"You see that? His eyebrows look like a pair of Velcro nunchuks," he said about an audience member in the front row, following up with a crack at another student who was forced to walk with crutches and a cast, dubbing him "funky foot."
"You got the whole front row smellin' like microwave popcorn," he said, trying to hypothesize how the injury occurred at a school not known for athletics.
Davidson also joked about why the first black president would give the shortest inauguration speech in history. He performed the punchline with a lengthy assassination on stage, complete with sound effects, making his greatest talents evident.
Animated singing and impressions included Elton John, Al Green and a bit of Michael Jackson.
Davidson also discussed the difference in how black people dance based on incoming and outgoing styles, whereas white people dance based seemingly on whatever movements "their body can think of."
"White people never leave a dance floor... Have you ever seen 'Carrie'?" he asked. "Shit's falling from the ceiling - they're still trying to dance!"
Davidson also discussed the differences between how white and black women act out their anger.
"White women to the rescue of America!" he shouted, describing how angry white women fear nothing, and that one would even take on a car full of gang members just for holding up traffic.
"White women don't just start cussin'," he explained. "They do public polls first."
After the show, Davidson changed gears and, with a healthy dose of absurdity, got serious about the issues that have shaped his career and life.
He said that the family he considered his own was actually an adopted family of whites.
"Even the dog was white," he joked, calling his upbringing an "interesting situation" that, along with the mixed ethnicities of his neighborhood, made him "uniquely insightful" about people and race.
"I didn't really grow up in a foster family - I grew up in my family," Davidson said.
Davidson described his unconventional childhood as loving, and said that he felt supported by both family and educators throughout his life. He also said that although he wouldn't look to hip-hop music to educate his children, he felt that higher education in addition to music and other activities was the only sane balance.
After the show, the actor and comedian also confirmed rumors that he knew Michael Richards was a racist years before the Seinfeld co-star had made it big, and long before "Kramer's" onstage meltdown.
"I'm glad that everything happened to him," he said. "Not because I wish him harm... I'm just glad he's been forced to look at this and take some responsibility."
