Funny stuff

I decided this year that I will start doing comedy again. I wasn't feeling inspired but now I am and I'm ready to be on stage again. Last night I watched a great doc on Showtime about the evolution of black comedy and after watching it was kind of like "Of course I need to be doing comedy. What am I sitting around for?" I don't have dreams of selling out huge arenas but the thought of making even just a few people laugh warms my heart. Seeing the men and women who came before me who gave me the chance to sit around and wonder do I want to or not--amazing. I am a black woman who can choose for herself whether or not she wants to get on stage and if I choose to do it, I can. I can perform in front of a mixed audience at a club like Comic Strip NY or Caroline's because people like Dick Gregory and Moms Mabley went through some hellish circumstances to get blacks out in front.

I feel removed from the civil rights movement sometimes and I think a lot of young black people my age feel the same way. I've felt the cold sting of racism but I have never been immersed in it. It's a passing thing - a mean cop, a cashier at the grocery store who doesn't want to touch my hand. For a flash of a moment I feel what so many must have felt back in the day But I've always had white friends and felt a little out of place in the black world. That probably has to do with my voice. I have a white voice and although now it's fine and I've accepted it, from ages 7 to 13 it wasn't fine at all and I got picked on alot. Oddly enough, I was picked on by black girls which has led to black girl "issues" that I still have today. I was never "black" enough for them. I liked to read, I liked to do plays, I liked coming to school. These were all the wrong things to like and the scars from those mean old bitches saying stuff to me like "Why you trying to be white?" and "you ain't never gone have no black friends talking like that. WE don't want to hang out with you." When I meet a black woman today, I have to immediately tell myself, "Bran, you're a grownup - she's not making fun of your voice."

I don't look back on those years that sadly though-I made some really great friends and from them I learned that it doesn't really matter what the few say. My friends liked me. And by the time high school started, those girls who were mean to me in my preteen years were getting pregnant and dropping out like flies. I hate when stereotypes are reinforced but in the case of those betches.....I was okay with it.

One of my biggest comedy fears is doing comedy in front of an all-black audience. I kind of close up inside thinking about it. It's like I already assume that people will hate my voice and think my comedy is cheesy. I know right? Where's that Brandy Crawford confidence? The Brandy Crawford who doesn't give a shit and always thinks she's the prettiest and the funniest? Well I'm trying to get that Brandy to come out and send nervous Brandy packing. My newest goal is to perform at a black comedy show this year and at least get a couple of laughs. That's all I'm looking for. Seeing all those amazing black comedians in the doc last night made me so proud - Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy and Robin Harris and Redd Foxx are some of my comedy inspirations. My parents loved black comedy and they passed on that love to their kids. We were always watching Richard Pryor be insane or Eddie Murphy cussing up a storm. I watched so much Eddie Murphy standup in elementary school, I could quote it on demand to my friends at school. (Which was fun because there was so much cursing). I still think that Robin Harris is one of the funniest comedians of all time. His humor reminds me of my dad and I learned everything I know about comedy from my dad - he's the funniest man I know - black or white. So much of my childhood was spent laughing.

Here's a clip of Robin Harris doing some funny stuff. If you haven't heard of him, get thee to youtube. You'll laugh a lot - I promise you.





I've been watching a lot of comedy in the past few weeks trying to figure out where I fit in. I'm not vulgar, I'm not self deprecating, I don't hate men, I like my body and for the most part I'm pretty happy in my life. I'm lonely sometimes but it's a good lonely....I have the rest of my life to be married and have kids. This time now - this time is for me. So I'm not your typical comedian I suppose because I love myself and I don't want to get on stage to fuck with people,. among other reasons. I just love laughing and I love sharing my human experience. What I like most about comedy is when I tell a joke or a story and I hear a surprise laugh - a laugh that says to me "Oh shit girl, that happens to me too!"