Dead Honky, Dead Funny: Who Killed the Last Great Era of Comedy?

Dead Honky, Dead Funny: Who Killed the Last Great Era of Comedy?


The Sketch That Would Break the Internet—Literally

Saw it late one night before working the graveyard and tapping the old CRT. Chevy Chase, clean-shaven and cold as a desk lamp, playing the smug interviewer. Across from him? Richard Pryor, eyes like embers, sitting in a folding chair, waiting.

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The scene starts slow. Word association.

“White.”

 “Black.”

 “Negro.”

 “Whitey.”

 “Jungle bunny.”

 “Honky.”

 “Spade.”

 “Honky-honky.”

 “Ni**er.”

 “Dead honky.”

Not a gasp. An exhale. That line didn’t punch—it detonated.

And nobody turned it off.

Now? That sketch would not air. Not even in a parody of a sketch. X would turn into a ten-alarm inferno. Think pieces would rain down like acid hail. Headlines like SNL Dehumanizes BIPOC Voices.” Meanwhile, context would

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