The Dante Interview:
When White Comics Playing Black Rooms
- by Shayne Michael
Dante has the honor of being the first white comic on Comic View. In Los Angeles he played a number of black rooms including Mavrick's Flat, the Comedy Act Theatre, the Town House as well as Smokey Gains Night Club in San Diego. Dante has also been on BET ten times in eight years. He was on the sitcom The Blackberry Inn.
Smokey Gains was Dante's debut in front of a black audience. He remembers it well. The room held audience members that looked like the San Diego Chargers or their fans. "It was scary," said Dante. "I was the only white person in the room. But I also remember being a very competent comic." Nevertheless, Dante's first experience in front of a black audience didn't go well. He remembers asking the audience to name an influential person in black culture. He wasn't ready when they answered "Oprah". The set fell apart after that.
Rather than give up on playing black rooms all together Dante went back to Smokey Gains the next week and watched the other comics. As he did he began writing new material that related more to black culture. "I noticed there were ten comics who did jokes about cockroaches at their homes. So I started writing jokes about cockroaches... I was finding the strongest stuff from my act and finding the stuff that would fit the culture of black comedy" Three weeks later he was ready to go up again. This time he had carefully selected half the set list from old material and another half that was written just for the Someky Gaines audience.
The new material Dante developed was often strong enough to cross cultural barriers. "I remember a lot of the jokes I wrote for a black crowd went over well with a white audience because the black crowds were such a hard judge of my material."
What is the biggest challenge playing black rooms? "People are people and that's one thing white comics don't get. They'll forget they're people and look at the audience as the enemy. They're people and they want to laugh. The only difference is the culture. Obviously you're not going to Beverly Hills and do a joke about 50 Cent. Just like you wouldn't talk about Frank Sinatra at a black club."
"You don't see many black open mics. If you're not good enough to pass up an open mic, they don't want to see you." But still, it's hard to pin down what type of comedy a black audience will and will not like. "I thought they would hate Andrew Dice Clay, because his crowd is a touch, rock 'n' roll, New York audience. And they loved him. I can imagine a black audience would love Weird Al because he crosses over to so many audiences. He makes fun of rap - and he's about as white as you can get."
Another challenge as doing Comic View eight times. "Each time up, you get nine minutes. It was the same TV show so you can't do the same material." This forced Dante to come up with new material about black culture often. However, once the audience accepted him Dante says it became easier to do material unrelated to black culture. "After my first few sets, they got to know me. After about three sets, I didn't have to make it a specifically black set."
How are black audiences different? According to Dante, they expect better comedy. He also says it's a myth that being black will help you win over a black audience. He illustrated by telling about how Damon Wayans a huge ovation then walked half the audience because he was working on new material. "It doesn't matter if your white or black." What works in black clubs? According to Dante it's high energy and material based in hip-hop culture. If you have that much you'll do better than the next comic. Dante has also observed that comics who shine in black comedy are those who talk about cultural issues like music and church.
Dante then described a comic named "Honest John," who looks like Obi-One Kenobi. Dante points out if you put the man in a suit, he would be your stereo typical white comic. But because he looks like Obi-One-Kenobi and talks about weed and his love for black women, black audiences like him.
Although Dante said there are no real rules about which type of comics black audiences would or wouldn't like, he wouldn't expect a prop comic or a magician to do well in front of a black audience. Although he can imagine the Amazing Jonathan doing well. The Amazing Jonathan is closer to a man spoofing magicians. For instance, if the Amazing Jonathan did a trick involving a guillotine, someone would loose a limb. Dante also felt clean comics would need to be very funny and the best story tellers of yesteryear, like Bill Cosby, would not do well on today's hip-hop circuit.
What advice does Dante give to comics who might play black rooms in the future? First, he recommends going to watch the show at least three times before putting yourself on stage. "If can't research the room, go up with confidence. But not researching the room is like doing a roast without researching the person you're roasting."
"The worst thing you can do is show that you're uncomfortable... It's no different when the guy with confidence at the open mic does better than the same comic with none, even though the one with confidence has shitty material."
"I also learned you have to make fun of yourself first." Dante usually does this by pointing out the fact that he's the only white person in the club and more importantly letting the audience know it doesn't bother him. According to Dante black audiences are so use to the white comic feeling uncomfortable when they're the only white person in the room that black audiences find it hysterical when a white performer takes the stage and doesn't feel that way.
What are the advantages of being able to play black clubs? According to Dante a big one is money. "I've played colleges and made five times as much playing a black theater."
Dante has another big advantage after playing so many black clubs. "America is a melting pot," said Dante. "If you can only play white rooms you limit yourself. If you think playing black rooms is too hard you limit yourself and don't learn to overcome it - And you don't learn to become a stronger comic."
What are some of the disadvantages to playing a black room as a white comic? "As a white comic you are always on the outside. People would say things to me like you're pretty funny for a white person."
There are other disadvantages too. "I got burnt out with Hollywood looking at me as the white black guy." Dante wasn't the only person in Hollywood that found himself type cast by the type of rooms he played. "Certain comics also rock in black rooms, but they can't do anything else. Bernie Mac had that problem for a long time, he just couldn't cross over."
Dante also stopped playing black clubs because they were kind of dangerous. On one tour through Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska Dante noticed there were only about thirty people at each show. As the tour came to a close, Dante realized the tour was nothing but a front for a drug run when they paid out thousands to the comics completely in five dollar bills.
At one show he Dante watched 500 people run out of a hotel because someone claimed to have a gun. On a yearly basis Dante said in black clubs someone would threaten to kill him ten times, twice in Hispanic clubs, and two times each year someone in a white club would simply threaten to kick his ass. According to Dante those audience members who threatened to kill him were usually seated in the balcony, where it was hard to see them.
At least one time a man got up to get his gun from the car. Dante's response was to continue making fun of him as security grabbed him while he exited the club. Eventually, Dante won that heckler over as he was being wrestled outside by the bouncers. As he left, escorted by two security guards Dante asked, "Are you still gonna shoot me?"
The man replied, "No you got kinda funny. But I'm gonna shoot these two mutha fuckers here."
When someone threatens to shoot Dante he usually responds by saying, "If you're going to shoot me just go ahead and do it." In essence he shifts the focus of the room from laughing at the heckler to laughing at the fact Dante and the heckler are having such a stupid argument. Once the heckler doesn't feel the audience is laughing at him, the heckler usually settles down. It sounds like a dangerous strategy. But, according to Dante, waiting until the show is over is even worse. "If they are gonna shoot me I'd rather have them try when I'm on the stage than when I'm walking back to my car."
Today Dante is married with children. With a new child, his first hand experience touring black clubs and the dangers that accompanied those experiences, he no longer actively seeks out Def Jam comedy nights. He will still plays black clubs when the booker seeks him out. You can catch Dante ever Tuesday at the Canoga Park Bowl. He also can be seen at the Stargazer on Mondays.