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Spike Lee is a great filmmaker. No contest there. While his films aren't exactly for everyone, there is no denying that he knows how to deliver an entertaining film with a message hidden somewhere in the violence and profanity. Lee decided to take a break, I guess, from profoundly deep black films and took a change of pace by directing a documentary of the Kings of Comedy tour. The Kings of Comedy are, in order of appearance, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac. Some viewers will recognize Harvey from his self-titled show on the WB (snicker), Hughley from his self-titled show on ABC (which moves to UPN, snicker), and Cedric from the recent Budweiser commercial where he sprays his girlfriend with a shook-up beer bottle. Mac is still a stranger to most viewers. Lee does a good enough job integrating audience reactions with the comedy routines, but the problem with the film is inevitable: the majority of the film isn't that funny. Harvey is surprisingly better than his show will allow, though. Hughley resorts to the weakest "laugh-getters", toilet humor and picking on the audience like the obnoxious club comedian in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. I don't know where Cedric came from, but he is not at all original or funny. A fat man dancing isn't funny. Bernie Mac is probably the best of the four, providing original and unique material that produces the best belly-laughs. Why aren't these guys funny? Maybe it's just me, but profanity is not funny. "Motherfucker", "shit", "goddamn", and "ass" are not funny words when they're spewed out in every sentence. Don't want to sound like a grandma, but it's true. Even sadder than the overabundance of profanity is the fact that the audience only really laughs when the comedians cuss. Harvey's best routine is imitating the Temptations' use of one mike while they dance around and utter little "shoo-doo"s. The audience didn't really laugh as much as chuckle. Now, when Bernie Mac imitates dialogue of a gang of boys using "motherfucker" in every sentence, the audience has convulsions of laughter. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but it seemed gratuitous and a desperate attempt at humor. The worst of the four is Cedric, who, when he tires of cussing up a storm, resorts to "black people do this, white people do that" humor. All the comedians are guilty of this weakness, but Cedric is the worst violator. Not only does this demonstrate the lack of any genuinely original material, it also wears out his welcome in no time.

I'm not saying that THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY is completely unfunny. There is Harvey's previously mentioned Temptations imitation (he also has other good material) and Bernie Mac, while overdosing on "motherfucker", is still fantastic while talking about sex and kids. In the long run, KINGS OF COMEDY isn't too memorable and just goes to show how low comedy has sunk in order to make people laugh.
Final Rating: $1.50/$5