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Looking for some quality comedy entertainment to check out?
Who better to turn to for under-the-radar comedy recommendations than comedians?
White is a dedicated martial artist, and he brings that energy to the ass-kicking and booty-getting Black Dynamite.
The braggadocio of the character is backed up.
The film works in part because the silliness rests comfortably atop Whites pecs.
Its no wonder, then, that comedianMatt Braungerloves it.
I want people to be able to sit and watch this hour and just forget, he says.
What drew you toBlack Dynamite?Its almost a perfect satire because it feels like the real thing.
And it revels in the absurdity of the blaxploitation era.
For some reason, with that level of stonedness, it worked.
Its one of those things that Ive tried to talk about in my act, but its so unrelatable.
People would just wander into Larrys dorm room.
[Short pause.]
Im gonna go!
Yeah, that was uncomfortable for everyone.
But movies like that, theyre just cartoons.
I mean,Black Dynamiteliterally gotturned into a cartoon, so there you go.Exactly.
And its a great cartoon, but its also a lot darker than the movie is.
Its a lot more serious, which is not a bad thing.
Black Dynamite stands up suddenly from a desk and you see the boom mic.
Its just him and this guy who looks formidable.
Theyre about to fight, and he slaps the guy and it looks like an accident.
The actor goes Motherfucker!
and it cuts, and theres a new guy.
Which is just an incredible insult, and it hurts.
I just love that.
The guy realizing he got slapped and hes like,The fuck?
This isnt worth it.
Youre paying me what?I like those two especially.
But if they kept doing it, it would take you right out, and that would be annoying.
Speaking of the fights, Michael Jai White sells the shit out of all of them.
He knows his form and can make his leg go up so high.Hes the real deal.
I was just thinking this morning about how much time and effort hes probably put into his training.
Like, hes an actual scary martial-arts guy, for sure.
We did actually have a friend who was a circus guy.
He could walk on tightrope, he could juggle fire, he could do backflips.
And anytime there was a party wed be like, Mike, cmon!
Its incredible that the grand conspiracy is deduced from a classicBatman-style word association.So funny.
I remember watching that scene and going,That scene must have been really fun to write.
Definitely didnt expect an origin story for Roscoes Chicken and Waffles in this movie.Its got so many things firing.
One reason this movie is underrated, along with a movie likeTop Secret!, is the silliness.
I love the pure silliness.
Chicago Wind is just looking back and talking to himself, not watching the road at all.
You know whats coming: Hes gonna drive off a cliff.
An absurdly high cliff.
All the penis-joke emporiums closed down.
Luckily, my wife had a baby, and I became a stay-at-home dad.
It was a perfect time for that.
Over that year, I took a huge chunk of that special and threw it out the window.
I started writing more about what I was going through and the absurdity of it.
Then it gets into a flashback to what I call my garbage days as a single guy in Chicago.
I met Doug and I thought,I can never be you, dude.He had everything.
He was definitely wealthy.
Had three kids and a wife.
But he was pretty miserable, an a-hole, and judgmental.
People would film it and put it on Instagram.
A big thank-you to all those people.
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Have audiences changed at all post-lockdown?
Ive talked to a lot of my friends, and weve all had that.
I had two guys I had to throw out at a show, and thatneverhappens.
I always just roll with it.
Ill make fun of them, give them a little bit of leeway, then shut it down.
Usually the person wises up, but these guys would not stop.
I finally was like, You guys gotta go.
That didnt rattle me as much as when I found out the guys were in their 50s.
Its the Twin Cities, its a drinking culture thats fine.
But these guys were fucking annoying.
I dont know what it is.
But I like the crowd-work videos because it shows a moment in time that is unique.
And comics dont have to burn material that way.
The thing is most people who go to a comedy show hate hecklers.
Its annoying; it disrupts everything.
Thats the same face people make when theres a heckler.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
