THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS O U T & A B
Harlem celebrates the life of Darius Lee Harlem United Neighborhood Community (HUNC) hosted a Celebrate the Life of Darius Lee event for family and friends. Lee, 21, a dedicated student, basketball phenom and popular son of Harlem was killed in crossfire in a still-unsolved fatal shooting at a Father’s Day/Juneteenth cookout, on June19th/20th morning. His mother, Taren Weaver, family and friends celebrated his life at a basket(Bill Moore photos)
ball game. Darius played ball at Houston Baptist University where he was to graduate in December with a bachelors in sports management. His honors at Houston were Most Valuable Player, All- American and Player of the Year, to name a few. Teams White and Gray were coached by Rapper Mysonne and Michelle Smalls. At the games’ end they released balloons in his honor.
O
U
T
July 28, 2022 - August 3, 2022 • 9
Nightlife Comedy GOATs: Chappelle, Rock, Hart, and an actual goat Written by David Goodson
Love going to Madison Square Garden!!! Well, except in the summer. Here’s why…there was a scene in the film “American Gangster” where the lead character arrives to the Ali vs Frazier: Fight of The Century with a floor length mink with the matching fur Stetson hat, cocked to the left. Growing up I personally saw brothers put on their finest when going to that arena and vowed when I go there, I too was gonna be RIGHT!! So yeah, while it was a little uncomfortable in 95-degree weather out came my version of the fur coat/hat combo because Prime Time Saturday night, I was headed to Madison Square Garden for what was surely going to be a special evening: HEADLINERS ONLY: Rock/Hart On the floor, stage right 26th row, let’s GO!! So, who’s going to close, the hometown hero from Brooklyn in Chris Rock or the multi-uber mogul about to take the nation by storm in Kevin Hart? After about a half hour wait the lights dim and the speculation as to who was going to open was about to be answered and to the delight of a house that was about ¾ capacity we get the Black, capital C shrouded in red and green. That familiar looking logo belonged to the actual “Closer,” Dave Chappelle. Mistake maybe? Guest host? Nahh, we getting a set. Chappelle’s appearance at MSG comes days after his show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota earlier in the week. The venue issued the following statement “To staff, artists, and our community, we hear you and we are sorry,” the statement begins. “We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave. is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls.” While the show was moved to another venue called the Varsity Theater, a true message was sent. Their loss was truly our gain. You can tell Dave was fueled. So now that the bar was set, who next? Old-school hip hop fans knew as soon as we heard the strains of the classic breakbeat “UFO” from the group ESG. Soon after the beat dropped, verbal bombs dropped. The state of the world and personal trials, tribulations and accolades provided enough fodder to remind people that he is one the generation’s best and he didn’t even have to mention the incident that had him
thrust in the headlines. “I took it and was back to work the next DAY,” was how he addressed it. Period end of story! In typical Rock fashion he’ll issue a zinger that SOMEONE in the audiences will wilt! “I can walk into any place and identify who’s the hardest worker there, because nobody works harder than a short, Black man,” was the line he used to introduce Kevin Hart, but I had to stop mid laugh as I realized I had to work a double the next day. 12th row seats though, so who’s complaining. Hart, too, was in rare form but real talk it wasn’t about what he was saying. At the end of the night Kevin provided what we expected at a Madison Square Garden performance. He summoned his peers onstage and gifted a gold chained wearing goat to gift Chris Rock. He explained in detail on “The Jimmy Fallon Show,” “Chris is a mentor, friend, inspiration, but he’s a large part of the reason I am where I am today in my career, just from his advice, his insight, et cetera, and he’s my GOAT. Like, he’s my guy and I wanted him to feel that and experience the world of understanding of how I feel about him in front of that audience. So, I gave him the goat and said please give my guy his flowers.” Dave also shared some memories and plaudits for Chris and both he and Kevin deduced that Rock is “an old fill in the blank.” Chappelle, perhaps after a few sips from Gran Coramino, the new Tequila brand founded by Hart, took a few minutes to speak on their camaraderie before the crowd dispersed. “Tonight, being with these guys means the world to me,” he said. “They try to cancel people, but you have to understand something: I’ve been doing this for 35 years. Comedians, we go to their birthday parties, we go to their weddings, we go to their baby showers, we go to each other’s funerals. These men and women that do standup comedy have a culture that would be very hard for you to understand. I’ve said it before, each and every one of you, no matter what you believe, has a champion in our room and we would never silence each other. And when my brothers call me, I come running.” Wise somewhat sober words on what was one of the nights where 100,000 people are going to stretch the truth and claim to be in a 25,000seat arena, I was in the house front row center. Over and out. Hola next week. Til then, enjoy the nightlife.
