Byko: Who is the black King of Comedy?

WITH HIS funny, sober, nerve-touching Oscar monologue Sunday night, Chris Rock used his strength - exploding hypocrisy and throwing shade on both sides of the racial divide.

Rock solidified his grip on the superstar crown previously held by Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and, yes, Bill Cosby as America's favorite African American standup. Chris Rock is the African American King of Comedy.

Rock's monologue was widely anticipated, but the brewing race controversy may have kept some viewers away, and Oscar ratings slumped to an eight-year low. Not Chris Rock's fault.

Rock was not the first to kick Oscar in the gonads (that the statuette doesn't actually have).

The mercurial Pryor had his own #OscarSoWhite moment decades before the digital age.

As one of four cohosts of the 1977 Oscar show, Pryor said, "I am here tonight to explain why black people will never be nominated for anything."

Pryor said, "This show is going out to 75 million people. None of them are black. We don't even know how to vote. There's 3,349 people in the voting thing. And only two black people: Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte."

At Pryor's career peak, 40 years ago, he was monochromatic - he used the broad sword of humor to viciously and hilariously attack racism.

Despite the broad grin under the bramble of his mustache, Pryor seemed angry, perhaps with good reason, but anger isn't a winning hand with the majority of Americans.

America's most successful humorist ever - he wore too many hats to be called a "comedian" - was Will Rogers. Although a Democrat, he made fun of all politicians, both Democratic and Republican. He was sunny and had a light touch.

Another sunny personality, before falling into the well of disgrace, was Bill Cosby - the biggest black comic star of all time and the biggest American comedy star of any race for several decades.

Unlike Rock, Murphy, and Pryor, Cosby steered away from profanity and race, focusing instead of the universal theme of family life.

Pryor's heir was Eddie Murphy, who was just as direct and funny as Pryor, but, like Rogers, he was not angry, he was not "threatening," and he poked fun at both sides. He made fun of black attitudes and actions and did it with a smile.

Rock took that franchise to the next level.

Sunday night, he did what he was expected to and skewered the overwhelmingly white Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rock called the Oscars the "White People's Choice Awards," but wondered why there were protests this year.

"It's the 88th Academy Awards," he said, "which means this whole 'no black nominees' thing has happened at least 71 other times."

Speculating on why there weren't protests when there were no nominees in the '60s, he said, "We had real things to protest. You know, we're too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer."

That suggested today's America is not yesterday's America, which made a lot of us feel good, even for a moment. Then he pivoted to mock Spike Lee and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith for boycotting the show.

He then reversed field again: "This year, in the 'In Memoriam' package, it's just going to be black people that were shot by the cops on their way to the movies."

Like all good humor, it contained a kernel of truth that was both funny and painful.

Some in the room had to wince when he said Hollywood is racist.

"But it ain't that racist that you've grown accustomed to. Hollywood is sorority racist," he said.

"It's like, 'We like you, Rhonda, but you're not a Kappa.' That's how Hollywood is."

At the monologue's close, Rock complained that we're not supposed to ask women about their gowns because that's sexist.

"Everything's not sexism, everything's not racism," he said.

Rock used to beat those "isms" in his HBO show and his concerts.

In concert, Rock lambastes white people in the audience, but gets the loudest screams from blacks when he directs his fire at them, using words I can't print here and striking attitudes that cut across the color line.

Rock's talent has removed him from the handcuffs of race - he's rich and famous - but the wrist marks left by the cuffs never go away.

The indelible mark racism has left on America will probably never go away, not in our lifetimes anyway.

In the meantime, Rock tells us, it's OK to laugh at it.

stubyko@phillynews.com

215-854-5977N>@StuBykofsky

Blog: ph.ly/Byko

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