By Caitlin Donohue
Paul Mooney made comedy what it is today. And if you didn’t already know, he’s ready to educate you on the subject. Mooney’s new memoir, Black is the New White (Simon Spotlight Entertainment), lays bare a life spent writing for the seminal auteurs of black comedy, all while keeping it real and making white people nervous. Young pups will recognize him as the prophet Negrodamus from The Chappelle Show, but Mooney, who used to put down riffs for his best friend, Richard Pryor, also has credits on Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, and Sanford and Son. Me and Mr. Mooney had a chat the other day in anticipation of his upcoming shows at Cobb’s Comedy Club starting Thurs/5. He had some words of wisdom and, surprisingly, didn’t call me a honky once.
You know you are a bad, bad man when you’ve got beef with Oprah: Mr. Mooney’s controversial humor has made him a comic legend.
San Francisco Bay Guardian: You grew up a hambone dance champion in Oakland. Do you see any changes in the place since back when you were growing up there in the 50s and 60s?
Paul Mooney: Oh honey, has it changed. I can’t find my grandma’s house because of all the golf clubs and white folks these days.
SFBG: Are you stoked to be back in the Bay Area for your upcoming show?
PM: I love San Francisco. The Asians, the Latinos, they all love me. I love the people’s attitude, they’re educated and happy about being here. Everything will be legalized in San Francisco. Only last time some Asian girl tried to give me trouble because I said ‘chop chop’. Everybody says ‘chop chop,’ it means hurry! I said that’s a crock of shit, that’s someone looking for something. Sometimes people walk in [to my act], they think they can take it. It’s comedy. If you can’t take it, you don’t have a sense of humor, get out! If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don’t cook!
Mooney was the writer behind the groundbreaking, racially charged 1975 Richard Pryor/Chevy Chase ‘word association’ skit on SNL