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The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 87
Fresh: 75 | Rotten: 12

If you want lots of laughs and don't mind some profanity, The Original Kings of Comedy can deliver.

90

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 3

If you want lots of laughs and don't mind some profanity, The Original Kings of Comedy can deliver.

audience

80

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 17,003

My Rating

Movie Info

In 1997, four of America's leading African-American stand-up comedians -- Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Bernie Mac, and Cedric The Entertainer -- joined forces for a concert tour that became one of the top money-earning attractions of recent years, consistently selling out 10,000 to 15,000 seat arenas from coast to coast. The Original Kings of Comedy captures the tour's rough and raunchy humor on film. The concert documentary was shot in February of 2000 during a two-night stand in Charlotte,

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Documentary, Comedy

Feb 27, 2001

$37.7M

Paramount Pictures

All Critics (89) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (75) | Rotten (12) | DVD (7)

Footage shot from over their shoulders reveals a sea of faces out of which individuals quickly emerge, as the comedians -- especially emcee Harvey -- enthrall and provoke audience members.

September 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A consistently hilarious assemblage of highlights from the hit concert tour of the same name.

June 6, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Seeing the film in a crowded theater is a lot more fun than watching it on TV would be, and the crappy, grainy look does create a sort of you-are-there immediacy.

August 9, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What comes out of these comedians' hearts hits the most powerful chord, and the audience wants more of it.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The key to such a movie's success is its ability to capture the 'you are there' feeling -- a task that The Original Kings of Comedy is largely effective at.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What makes the film an almost nonstop ride of hilarity is the poetry in each comedian's profanity.

January 1, 2000 Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Some segments are marred by poor sound quality. Others produce monster laughs.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review

Easily the funniest movie of the summer.

July 24, 2006 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | Comment
One Guy's Opinion

The film offers more than just yuks, however. As in Lee's best work, the film intelligently discusses race and race relations, though this time through the guise of humor.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

This is comedy with a sense of showmanship, and Lee cuts shrewdly to the rhythm of the jokes.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

It is Bernie Mac who is the true King of Comedy here, following in the footsteps of Pryor and Murphy before him as he crosses from church-raised testifying, to furious black cultural theorizing, to barely controlled comedic genius.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

I laughed myself into a headache. I laughed so hard I was hoping they'd get bad for awhile so I could relax a minute, wipe the tears out of my eyes.

January 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Comment
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Apesar de praticamente se limitar a registrar o show dos quatro comediantes, sem jamais se preocupar com o lado humano destes, o filme se destaca graças ao humor cáustico e sem barreiras de seus protagonistas.

July 3, 2003 Comment
Cinema em Cena

Are they funny? Most of the time. But the humor, passing itself off as insightful social commentary, rarely rises above simple stereotypes.

May 22, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Blather | Comment
Film Blather

Watching Spike Lee's concert movie is the next best thing to having been in the house when the Kings of Comedy caused a laugh riot in Charlotte, N. C. last February.

May 20, 2003 Comment
Palo Alto Weekly

It is during these intimate scenes where Lee's style is more clearly evident, using settings such as a basketball court or a poker game, along with inventive camera angles and editing to give a spontanaeous feel.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | Comment
Film Quips Online

Frequently hilarious comedy concert film, directed by Spike Lee.

October 30, 2002 Full Review Source: ViewLondon | Comment
ViewLondon

Bernie Mac is the best way to close out the show. He lunges straight into the audience's face, politically incorrect and proud of it.

June 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Comment
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

like most stand-up shows, has plenty of peaks and valleys... could easily have been trimmed by at least half an hour without any major losses.

June 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | Comment
Kalamazoo Gazette

It is a simple, straight forward record of four hugely talented African-American comedians, Steve Harvey, DL Hughley, Cedric The Entertainer and Bernie Mac, as they bring the house down in Charlotte, North Carolina.

April 17, 2001 Full Review Source: BBC | Comment

It is, for the most part, funny, sometimes raunchy, and always from the heart.

March 21, 2001 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Original Kings of Comedy

I don't know why Spike Lee directed this but it's hilarious, all up in Charlotte.

April 22, 2010
Chiefilms
Lenny Muggsy

Super Reviewer

I've never seen so many fat black chicks laughing at one time in one crowd. Also I only laughed hard at one joke during the entire DVD, and that was Hughley's "two week notice" bit. Steve Martin's rant about today's rap music was pretty spot on though.

March 8, 2008
jagfire
Taylor Bond

Super Reviewer

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