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Paul Mooney Interview

Written by bfarris

To say that he is a comic genius just might be underestimating Paul Mooney. He has written for everything from Saturday Night Live to In Living Color, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and of course the Richard Pryor comedy specials and his short lived TV series. He created Homey the Clown and the somewhat racially confused “brothers brothers” Tom and Tom on In Living Color and the hilarious word association skit on SNL. More recently he has been on the Chappelle Show, first as “Ask a black dude” and then as “Negrodamus” who was famous for saying “White people like Wayne Brady because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.” Riot Act entertainment recently brought Mr. Mooney to DC along with famed Civil Rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory for a couple shows at the 930 club. Always controversial, Mr. Mooney not only wrote for Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx, but also gave many young stand-ups their chance to break into TV such as Sandra Bernhard and Robin Williams. I was fortunate enough thanks to John from Riot Act to steal a few minutes of his time away while he was rehearsing for the DVD.

HZ: What’s been going on lately?
PM: Rehearsing for my new DVD: Know your History, Jesus is Black and so is Cleopatra, its being produced by Quincy Jones Jr. and my son Dwayne Mooney out in LA. Image is putting it out and that’s why im here with dick Gregory and it’s going to be hysterical.

HZ: You have written for so much, in living color, SNL
PM: I created Homey the Clown, word association, Richard Pryor, yeah all that

HZ: Which of those would you say you are most proud of?
PM: All the Richard Pryor stuff, the special and the short lived series. That’s what im most proud of. That was the mother ship to everything, that was the tree, everything black in Hollywood is the apple from that tree. That’s definitely what im most proud of.

HZ: Do you think we will ever see another Richard Pryor or at least someone who exerts as much influence as he did?
PM: NO. The white folks loved Mark Twain so much, Richard was Dark Twain.

HZ: Do you feel that your writing and his standup was appreciated in its time or is it gaining more appreciation after Richard’s death?
PM: No, it’s the way it is, it’s what it was, and it was the way it was written already. It was appreciated. There is a reason to the rhyme; you have to crawl before you walk.

HZ: Much more recently you worked with Dave Chappelle, how was that experience?
PM: It was fun, I liked it. Dave’s a very talented young man. Talking about apples from the tree, he’s just an apple from the tree.

HZ: Do you think there is any hope left for the Chappelle show getting off the ground again?
PM: Oh definitely, it has to, for the sake of the children. People loved it from 8 to 80, for the sake of the children it has to come back. And water always reaches its own level, the truth defends itself, you don’t have to defend it.

HZ: Will you be making more appearances when it starts up again?
PM: Oh definitely, negrodamus, ask a black man, Mooney on movies, all of it.

HZ: Switching gears a little bit, I have read that you have known the Jacksons since Michael was little, what the heck is going on with him?
PM: Oh Ive always said that he was innocent, he is not a pedophile. That would almost make him normal, he is x-files. Every time I see him I just say “Scully, Scully” he is x-files.

HZ: What about Hollywood, you enjoy working out in LA?
PM: Hollywood is Hollywood. Hollywood is an evil place; it’s almost as evil as Washington DC. Right now they are probably running neck and neck. The government owes Nixon an apology for coming down on him for listening to other people’s conversations when they are doing the same thing right now.

HZ: So I guess you won’t be signing up for any Scientology classes anytime soon.
PM: Am I going to be joining them? They don’t believe in Jesus, so im not into that. They think some spaceship is coming to pick them up, theta or something, I don’t know something weird. And all the black people involved, I guess a slave ship will be picking them up.

HZ: Speaking of Hollywood, have you seen the movie Crash?
PM: Oh yeah, it’s good. It got a couple of Academy Award Nominations, it’s a good movie.

HZ: Do you think Crash is really representative of what is going on the United States now with race relations.
PM: Oh definitely, it just touched the surface. America is racist, it started off that way. If you don’t believe me go to a reservation and talk to the Indians. Race is going nowhere in America, that is why you have all these racial comments about Louisiana. Race is going nowhere and America is the founder of racism. What goes around comes around. You can’t hold a race of people and sell them without having a backlash.

HZ: Is there anything that can improve race relations in America?
PM: Oh yeah, what you want me to solve the problem. That’s a typical white person’s question. What would you do, how would you solve it? You made the mess, like mommy dearest, you clean it up.