You never forget your first time. I’m talking, of course, about the first comedian whose work etches an indelible impression in your brain. For me, that comedian was Eddie Murphy. Like a lot of people, I discovered Murphy via his brilliant character work on “Saturday Night Live,” and his “Raw” tour was the first comedy show I remember seeing live. I was 14 and I’ll never forget being this naive, suburban kid floating in a sea of sophisticated city folk. His impression of Bill Cosby might’ve been the only bit I fully comprehended in an otherwise very dirty night of comedy.
I’m thinking about this at “Comedians You Should Know,” a show that happens every Wednesday at Timothy O’Toole’s in Streeterville. Comedian Sydney Adeniyi is doing a very funny joke about getting mistaken for actor Don Cheadle. Basically, folks (presumably white) frequently tell him he looks like the guy from the “Hotel Rwanda,” to which he responds by noting there’s a lot of black people in that movie. “You know, the one that wasn’t a slave,” they say. Adeniyi’s response: “That movie was about genocide.”
I remember clearly the first time I saw Adeniyi. It was at a bar close to my house called Fizz, which, several years ago, doubled as the home of the Pub Theater. I was reviewing a pretty mediocre variety show that night and Adeniyi’s performance was the single bright spot. I remember thinking to myself, “I need to write this guy’s name down.” Tonight, Adeniyi ends his set with a bit about underperforming in the bedroom and what would happen if there had been a post-game interview. In his best announcer’s voice Adeniyi says, “Sydney, what happened out there,” to which he replies, “First of all, hats off to the other team …”
Check out more at: Chicago Tribune
See another article about that guy Sydney : Currente Calamo