Def Comedy Jam - More All Stars, Vol. 2

For nine seasons throughout the 1990's Russell Simmons' DEF COMEDY JAM exposed hilarious, predominantly African-American comedians to the public via HBO, and created many new superstars in the process. Unfettered by censors, the show allowed up and coming stars such as Martin Lawrence, D.L. Hughley, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, and more to be be as raw and wild as they wanted to be. This all-star episode includes performances by Martin Lawrence, Steve Harvey, Mo'Nique, Tommy Chunn, Don "D.C." Curry, Montana Curry, and more.

This second volume of raw and gritty More All Stars episodes from the early 1990s finds comedians Martin Lawrence and Joe Torry still on active duty as frequent hosts. (Between introducing up-and-coming, African American comics, Lawrence gets in some good licks about the psychological contrast between deranged white men and defeatist black men getting fired from their jobs.) The overall quality of the shows is a bit lower than Volume 1, but Steve Harvey hits a double with satiric observations about why blacks never hitch rides, Tony Brown strikes a nerve with a joke about ice-skating as a white pursuit, and Gerald Kelly delivers a clever penis plaint from his member's point-of-view. ("You tryin' to suffocate me with that thing?"). Speaking of which, the John and Lorena Bobbitt drama--fresh news at the time--figures prominently in the gags, though to uneven effect. --Tom Keogh