"African American Lives" is a show on PBS that traces the ancestral roots of people like Don Cheadle, Maya Angelou, Tina Turner, etc. Chris Rock was featured on the show last night.
One interesting bit: He talked about his grandfather who was a cab driver and preacher. He said he writes jokes the same way his grandfather wrote sermons, using bullet points. He wants his jokes to have the force of an argument and not having them fully written out helps with that.
He also said if he had known the positive side of his family's history when he was young, he probably wouldn't have become a comedian.
Sandpaper Suit is NYC standup comic Matt Ruby's (now defunct) comedy blog. Keep in touch: Sign up for Matt's weekly Rubesletter. Email mattruby@hey.com.
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