Since the early ย90s, Michael Jackson has been Godยs gift to comedians (both good and bad ones).While everyone had a joke when Jackson was acquitted on his second child molestation charge in 2005, Mike Epps may have had the best: ยIยm glad they didnยt get him, goddamn it. But them niggas in prison wasnยt glad; they was mad. ยMan, I wanted him! Damn, Iยve been wantinย to fuck Mike since I was a kid!ย They was in there practicing his dances and shit.ย Then, proving heยs more than a man with a potty mouth and a sick imagination, Epps launched into a sleek impression of Michael Jackson, showing that heยs mastered the singer/sideshowยs voice and mannerisms (ones that many hack comedians have tried but failed to capture).
Epps, who was raised in Gary, Indiana (like Michael Jackson) and has appeared in the Friday sequels, sprinkles N-words and F-bombs into routines about celebrities, street life and his own history as a special-ed student. His anti-PC jokes buck against the idea that any harsh truths should be told gently. Heยs inexplicably co-headlining with family-friendly, character-creating comedian Rickey Smiley today at the Verizon Wireless Theater for a show that should be like gulping a root beer float and then downing a Jรคgermeister bomb. 7 p.m. 520 Texas. For tickets and information, call 713-629-3700 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. $52.75
Fri., Dec. 7, 7 p.m., 2007
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.