31 F
Indianapolis
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Get ‘Co-ordinated’ with John Witherspoon

More by this author

With depressing news about the economy being released every day, we all could use a good laugh.

Seeing John Witherspoon definitely is a sure way to trigger contagious laughter.

The hilarious comedian and actor will appear in Indianapolis during four nights at Crackers Comedy Club in Broad Ripple, from Thursday Dec. 18 to Sunday Dec. 21.

Chris Miller, manager of Crackers Comedy Club, said Witherspoon represents the kind of interesting and quality style of entertainment the venue has provided for years.

ā€œWeā€™re excited to have him back because of his style of comedy and his drawā€ Miller said. ā€œHeā€™s very good at what he does.ā€

Witherspoon doesnā€™t have a household name, but his face is recognized by people who remember his silly antics in films such as the ā€œFridayā€ trilogy and ā€œSoul Plane.ā€

Indeed, the image of Witherspoon as a wacky father simulating sexual activity at the dinner table and shouting ā€œBang, Bang, Bang, Bangā€ is hard to forget.

Witherspoon, 66, isnā€™t new to the public eye, and has been working in the entertainment field in some capacity for almost 40 years.

In the early ā€˜70s he began modeling menā€™s clothing for various department stores in his native Detroit, before moving to New York then California, where he encountered a competitive edge in the modeling field.

ā€œI fell off the totem pole right away,ā€ Witherspoon said in a recent interview. ā€œThe guys were taller and much better-looking than I was. I figured out I had to do something else.ā€

With his natural talent for comedy Witherspoon went on the stand-up circuit, performing in clubs throughout the country.

In the late 1970s and early ā€˜80s he appeared as a character actor in sitcoms such as ā€œGood Times,ā€ ā€œWhatā€™s Happening?ā€ ā€œWKRP in Cincinnatiā€ and ā€œHill Street Blues.ā€ By the late ā€˜80s he had scene-stealing roles in classics such as ā€œHollywood Shuffleā€ and the comedy ā€œIā€™m Gonnaā€™ Gitā€™ You Sucka.ā€™ā€

Witherspoon, however, did not achieve universal fame until the ā€˜90s, playing mostly grumpy, funny fathers in rap videos and movies such as ā€œBoomerangā€ (1992) and ā€œFridayā€ (1995) with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, as well as the sitcom the Wayans Brothers (1995-99).

More recently he has appeared as a blind man in ā€œSoul Planeā€ (2004) and as a grandfather in ā€œLittle Manā€ (2006).

This year has been a good year for Witherspoon, with the Showtime networkā€™s launch in March of his first hour-long comedy special ā€œYou Gottaā€™ Co-Ordinate,ā€ which is now available on DVD.

Witherspoon now has, of all things, a rap album called ā€œ63 Cents,ā€ with lyrics based largely on popular catchphrases he created.

ā€œItā€™s not the best rapping in the world, but itā€™s funny as hell,ā€ he said.

He has also released a collectorā€™s line of greeting cards just in time for the holidays, which are available at his Web site, www.bangbangbangbang.com.

ā€œIā€™ve made about 80,000 of those cards, but only sold 10,ā€ Witherspoon said, laughing. ā€œI tried to get Hallmark to carry them and they said, ā€˜Whoa, these are too heavy for us.ā€™ I guess people would rather buy their cards at Kroger or Ralphā€™s or something. Somebody better buy these cards! People look at them and say ā€˜Man, this is so funny! Now take it back.ā€™ā€

- Advertisement -

Upcoming Online Townhalls

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

To be updated with all the latest local news.

Stay connected

1FansLike
1FollowersFollow
1FollowersFollow
1SubscribersSubscribe

Related articles

Popular articles

EspaƱol + Translate Ā»
Skip to content