“Give it up for me – I lost 160 pounds y’all,” comedienne Cocoa Brown said as she paraded herself around stage in a black one piece jumpsuit.
Her statement was met by a good portion of the Chaifetz Arena audience shouting out affirmations like“You go girl,” “go head Cocoa,” and other encouraging responses.
“That’s right, my divorce was just finalized,” Brown said.
Even more cheers – though this time they were mixed with gut-busting laughter.
At Saturday night’s Festival of Laughter, Brown was the unlikely MVP of a night of urban comedy that showed the magic of what can happen when acts bring their A game.
Hosted by Rickey Smiley and headlined by Mike Epps, the show was one of the better comedy revues to hit Chaifetz in recent years.
Brown was by far the least recognizable name on the lineup that also featured Tony Rock, Earthquake and St. Louis’ own G-Thang.
But the nearly sold-out crowd gave such a warm response to her set – including several pockets of standing ovations- she was moved to tears.
If there was a tinge of disappointment that Smiley (who is also host of his own Radio One syndicated morning program) wouldn’t be performing his own designated set, it didn’t show.
He kept them so tickled through the interludes with references to his childhood, experiences as a single parent and growing up in the church that the thought to do anything other than holler with laughter never crossed their minds.
Smiley worked especially hard to entertain as he segued from act to act – he even turned a section of the audience into his “Rickey Smiley Mass Choir.”
G-Thang was the first comedian on the bill. Though some of the material was recycled from his recent visits, he was warmly received by his hometown crowd.
Brown followed him and brought the house down with her relationship woes. Her closing bit where she used football jargon to help the ladies “keep it interesting” in the bedroom was particularly well-thought and perfectly timed.
Tony Rock lost favor with the crowd shortly after his introduction with a dig about the Rams’ departure from St. Louis, but quickly earned it back with material that sang the praises of the self-esteem, capacity for winning arguments and danger instincts of black women.
He pointed to the popular news program Dateline to argue his point – saying that a white man is on TV every Friday for murdering his wife.
“A black woman ain’t no easy kill,” Rock said. “And even if we do kill her, we’ll get lost in the woods trying to hide the body and have to call the police to get help.”
Earthquake was in top form and fared much better than his previous few visits to St. Louis.
“When they said there was an active shooter on the campus of Florida State University, my heart stopped,” said Earthquake, after pointing out that his daughter attended the school. “But when they said the shooter was in the library, I knew my daughter was safe.”
Though funny, Epps was the weakest link of among the lineup – mainly because of rehashed material and an awkward ending that included an ill-fated attempt at “joanin’” with friend and longtime featured performer G-Thang.
But jabs at Katt Williams, Bill Cosby and the acting chops of Ice-T, particularly in Law and Order: SVU, were among his best moments.
