Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to ’90s Sitcoms

This informative debut from PBS News Hour co-anchor Bennett surveys the history of Black comedy in the U.S. The author begins by looking back to the late-19th-century foundations of onstage comedy for African Americans: Black performers starring in minstrel shows. Bennett approaches this thorny legacy as indicative of “the difficult choices Black artists have long faced to be seen and heard” and highlights later performers in the genre, like Hattie McDaniel, who subverted its racist stereotypes. He follows the evolution of Black comedy as performers gained more visibility and control, spotlighting stand-up comedians like Richard Pryor and the explosion of Black-centered television from the ’70s to the ’90s. However, the book’s structure, with each chapter concentrating on the life of a prominent comedian or, later, popular TV show, comes off as overly encyclopedic, lacking much justification for why some comedians are getting deep evaluation while others pass by as brief references. Still, Bennett incisively reflects on how Black comedians have consistently had to navigate the tension between white audiences laughing with and at Black performers, as well as the line between the “public” humor Black performers use for white audiences and the more “subversive” humor they use for Black audiences. It makes for a valuable primer on Black comedy and a perceptive view of Black comics as “keen observers” of a culture that marginalizes them. (Mar.)