Thanks to a 40-plus year career in comedy, television and film – and now music – Tommy Davidson is a household name in Black culture. But what many might not know about is the deep connection he has with our city thanks to our reputation for producing comedic giants and trailblazers.
“St. Louis has my heart,” Davidson said. And he will have the region by the funny bone when he returns to Helium Comedy Club for a three night engagement starting Friday, August 1.
Those are strong words for a city that is notoriously tough on comedians.
“First of all, I’m a killer,” Davidson said. “That’s what they want. So, when I’m in that room, all I have to do is be myself.”
His ties to the city go deeper than being guaranteed to elicit laughter at his countless St. Louis gigs over the years – on stages that have ranged from stadium to intimate rooms. The Black Hollywood mainstay, who is gearing up for a series with Martin Lawrence on BET+, says he owes one of his big breaks to a St. Louis comedy icon.
Decades ago, Davidson was an emerging comic in a crowded field of individuals looking to repeat the success of Eddie Murphy – who used comedy as a springboard to become one of the biggest movie stars of the decade.
Redd Foxx held a comedy competition in Hollywood and caught Davidson’s set. The prize was $500 – big money for a young comic in the 1980s.
“He said, ‘This money is yours, easy,’” Davidson said. “I knew him from that point on for the rest of his life.”
Some years later, Davidson had made a name for himself as a cast member of the groundbreaking sketch comedy show “In Living Color.”
“Me getting on ‘In Living Color’ let me know that God don’t play around,” Davidson said about the show. “And if He’s got something for you, he’s not going to let you get something that ain’t.”
When it premiered as an anchor show for the startup Fox Network 35 years ago, “In Living Color” became an instant cultural phenomenon. Along with Davidson, creator Keenen Ivory Wayans and several of his siblings, “In Living Color” launched the careers of Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez and others.
Photos courtesy of Tommy Davidson
“On that show we actually set a precedent for comedy excellence that hasn’t been touched since,” Davidson said.
It’s not bragging if it’s true.
One day during his four-year run on “In Living Color,” Davidson received a phone call out of the blue. The late Dick Gregory was on the other end. Tommy Davidson didn’t know how Gregory tracked down his number.
“He called me, and he didn’t even know me,” Davidson said. “He said, ‘I wanted to let you know you are a national treasure.’”
Out of that cold call from one of his comedy heroes – also a St. Louis native – came a 25-year friendship.
It was a bond that extended after “In Living Color” ended and Davidson’s success continued as a standup comedian and actor.
Gregory offered emotional support to Davidson when Davidson’s mother was dying of cancer. And when he received his long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he called and requested that Davidson be there. When he arrived, he was told that Gregory wanted him to host the festivities.
“Everybody was there – Stevie, Smokey, I mean everybody,” Davidson said. “He wanted me – and it was like; I couldn’t believe it.”
Through his connections with Foxx, Gregory, Cedric The Entertainer and the Torry brothers – for whom Davidson expressed condolences for the recent loss of their mother – Davidson is tethered to the region.
“St. Louis crowds are my crowds,” Davidson said.
Tommy Davidson will return to St. Louis from August 1 – August 3 at Helium Comedy Club, St. Louis Galleria St, St. Louis, MO 63117. For tickets or more information, visit https://st-louis.heliumcomedy.com.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
