Martin Lawrence January 16, the Joint
One could argue Martin Lawrence hadn’t evolved much from his heyday Saturday night, that many of his jokes seemed familiar or his current-event riffs felt either irrelevant or misinformed. But none of that mattered much. The stand-up comedian-turned-film star killed for almost an hour at the Joint the way few comics can.
Lawrence got out of the gates slowly. Discussing how his age affects his career, the 50-year-old passed on what he does best—take things to an absurd, imaginative place—and instead went for a softball. “People keep asking me, ‘When we gonna do another Bad Boys? They better hurry up and do that motherf*cker before it becomes Sad Boys. Running all fat and sh*t.”
On the other hand, Lawrence’s long-form story about meeting Barack Obama played to his strengths, taking many twists and turns when describing a White House visit. The kitchen smells like ham hocks and collard greens. Sasha and Malia get their hair pressed. And, during a private meeting, the president—who smokes Lawrence up—refers to a character on former TV show Martin when he asks, “What the f*ck did Tommy do for a living?” This bit smashed.
The original host of Def Comedy Jam still has indomitable energy, using constant physicality as he worked the large stage. The crowd loved his character work—someone getting punched by Mike Tyson, someone getting their leg stolen and replaced by a longer leg—and his comparison of a couple that just fell in love and a couple that can’t stand each other.
He explored certain subjects on a surfacey level, versus the introspection he showed toward his own demons. On Bill Cosby: “How you gonna f*ck with Cosby? America’s Dad. They say it’s up to 50-something women now. Fifty-something women? I don’t believe that. Maybe 27. Cosby didn’t have to roofie nobody. All he did was put that pudding pop in them.” Pretty lame.
He then moved toward self-reflection: “I can’t talk about Cosby. I can’t talk about nobody, as much sh*t as I did in my lifetime. I’m still walking around this motherf*cker, what the f*ck they gonna find on my ass? I know I did some sh*t in Cleveland once.”
That led to an honest take on his past problems: “I was so f*cking high I pulled up at a light, and I looked over and a cop pulled up right beside me. I looked at the cop and drove right through the f*cking light. I just pulled the f*ck over. Cop said, “What were you thinking?” I said, “I’m high. Can you give me a ticket? I gotta learn.’”
It was a mixed bag from Lawrence, but you wouldn’t know that by the audience’s reaction.
