If one year marked the handoff to a new generation of Black comedy, it was 2011. A comic from Philadelphia turned a concert film into a box office story, a beloved stand-up was taken far too soon, and the scenes in Lagos and Johannesburg kept building toward the global stage they now command. Here is how the year looked.
Kevin Hart’s breakout year
No one owned 2011 like Kevin Hart. His concert film Laugh at My Pain opened in fewer than 100 theaters and became the best-performing stand-up movie in nearly a decade, while he hosted the BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium. The arena era of his career started here.
A loss for comedy
In November, comics lost one of the most respected voices among them. Patrice O’Neal died at 41, months after his Comedy Central special Elephant in the Room and a standout set on the Charlie Sheen roast.
Legends in new places
Chris Rock made his Broadway debut in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s The Motherf**ker with the Hat. Eddie Murphy was briefly set to host the Oscars before stepping down alongside producer Brett Ratner. Martin Lawrence put the Big Momma suit back on one last time, and Steve Harvey added a daytime talk show to an already packed schedule.
Controversy
Tracy Morgan spent part of the summer making amends after anti-gay remarks at a Nashville show, returning to the city to apologize in person.
The world stage
Outside the U.S., the future was taking shape. A documentary captured a 25-year-old Trevor Noah preparing his first one-man show in South Africa, and in Lagos, Basketmouth revived Laffs n Jamz, the comedy-and-music night that helped build Nigeria’s live-comedy industry.
Next up in our Year in Review series: 2012.
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