'Phat Tuesdays,' directed by Reginald Hudlin, focuses on a landmark Comedy Store night, but it also works as a look at an entire era in Black culture.
,” lots of television), it’s an oral history with pictures, interspersed with clips of comics in their youth, that details what Dave Chappelle calls “an under-recognized cultural moment.”
That might have something to do with the character of its central figure, comedian and actor Guy Torry, who created Phat Tuesday, and though it is true that Torry is the executive producer of the series, there is much testimony to his generosity, openness and all-around niceness, qualities that also come through in his onstage segments. He seems to be using the documentary as a platform to thank all the people who helped him, and to give credit to the people he helped.
Before there was Phat Tuesday, there was the Comedy Act Theater, where in the early 1990s Guy’s already established older brotherwas working as the emcee; running through the docuseries is a story of sibling rivalry and support. The Leimert Park venue was founded in 1985 by Michael Williams as a place for Black comedians who had trouble finding spots in largely white clubs, or had to adjust their routines for largely white audiences, to work in a Black neighborhood.
“If you’re not in front of the right crowd and the right people to make things happen,” says Guy, “nothing’s going to happen.” There were celebrities in the audience, from music, movies and sports, and crowds outside hoping to get in. “You would have thought it was Studio 54,” says actor-comedian Finesse Mitchell. “It wasn’t just a comedy club, it was a nightclub,” says actor-comedian Aries Spears. The success of Phat Tuesday would keep the Comedy Store afloat through otherwise lean years.
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