Bernie Mac makes off-color joke at Obama event

Ron Burgundy · 07-12-2008, 04:06 AM

AP - Comedian Bernie Mac endured some heckling and a campaign rebuke during a surprise appearance Friday night at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Chicago, the 50-year-old star of "The Bernie Mac Show" joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language.

"My little nephew came to me and he said, 'Uncle, what's the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?'" Mac said. "I said, I don't know, but I said, 'Go upstairs and ask your mother if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000.'"

As the joke continued, the punchline evoked an angry response from at least one person in the audience, who said it was offensive to women.

"It's not funny. Let's get Barack on," a man shouted from the crowd, which paid $2,300 each to support the Illinois senator.

About 15 minutes later, Obama tried to smooth things over with a joke of his own.

"We can't afford to be divided by race. We can't afford to be divided by region or by class and we can't afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you've got to clean up your act next time," Obama said. "This is a family affair. By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."

The incident drew response from Obama's campaign, which criticized Mac for his choice of material.

"Sen. Obama told Bernie Mac that he doesn't condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement after the event.

Mac, a Chicago native, said he's a longtime Obama supporter and called the presumptive Democratic nominee a "man's man" while offering him advice for the duration of the campaign trail.

"People like rumors. They're going to say things like you was at the club with Lil' Kim, and you and Kanye West got into a fist fight," he said. "You can't get upset. You've got to keep hope alive."

Mac's appearance was Obama's first celebrity event of the evening. Later at a Lincoln Park nightclub, Obama spoke to a raucous crowd of music fans, who paid up to $500 per person to see a performance by Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy, and two other band members.

"Before these guys go, I want them to know that I had heard a rumor that they had suggested that I had nothing by them on my iPod," Obama said. "That is not true. I love Wilco."

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080712/ap_on_el_pr/obama_bernie_mac [link]

ROB MARINO · 07-12-2008, 02:18 PM

First of all you’re supposed to laugh at a joke not analyze it. Most people that dont find these types of jokes funny are people who can’t laugh at themselves. Remember when women found Andrew dice clay offensive...and he was funny.
Second Bernie mac did not write this joke he mearly changed it a bit and called it his own. I heard and have been telling this joke for about 18 years. so shame on you Bernie mac for plagiarizing . The actual joke goes like this:
A BOY COME HOME FROM SCHOOL AND SAYS TO HIS FATHER “DAD TODAY IN SCHOOL WE WERE TAUGHT TO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEROY AND REALITY. BUT I REALLY DONT GET IT. CAN YOU HELP ME? THE FATHER SAYS TO HIS SON " SURE, WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS GO AND ASK YOUR MOM AND YOUR SISTER IF THEY WOULD SLEEP WITH A STRANGER FOR $1,000,000 AND THEN LET ME KNOW WHAT THEY SAY. SO THE BOY DOES JUST THAT AND REPORTS BACK TO HIS DAD THAT BOTH HIS MOM AND HIS SISTER SAID THEY WOULD SLEEP WITH A STRANGER FOR $1,000,000. THE FATHER TELLS HIS SON “OK SON THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEROY AND REALITY. IN THEROY WERE MILLIONAIRES IN REALITY WERE LIVING WITH A COUPLE OF WHORES.

Stylerod · 07-14-2008, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by ROB MARINO

First of all you’re supposed to laugh at a joke not analyze it. Most people that dont find these types of jokes funny are people who can’t laugh at themselves. Remember when women found Andrew dice clay offensive...and he was funny.
Second Bernie mac did not write this joke he mearly changed it a bit and called it his own. I heard and have been telling this joke for about 18 years. so shame on you Bernie mac for plagiarizing . The actual joke goes like this:
A BOY COME HOME FROM SCHOOL AND SAYS TO HIS FATHER “DAD TODAY IN SCHOOL WE WERE TAUGHT TO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEROY AND REALITY. BUT I REALLY DONT GET IT. CAN YOU HELP ME? THE FATHER SAYS TO HIS SON " SURE, WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS GO AND ASK YOUR MOM AND YOUR SISTER IF THEY WOULD SLEEP WITH A STRANGER FOR $1,000,000 AND THEN LET ME KNOW WHAT THEY SAY. SO THE BOY DOES JUST THAT AND REPORTS BACK TO HIS DAD THAT BOTH HIS MOM AND HIS SISTER SAID THEY WOULD SLEEP WITH A STRANGER FOR $1,000,000. THE FATHER TELLS HIS SON “OK SON THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEROY AND REALITY. IN THEROY WERE MILLIONAIRES IN REALITY WERE LIVING WITH A COUPLE OF WHORES.

Welcome to the board!

I see both points.

#1 Bernie Mac is a pro and should have known this wasn't his normal $50 a ticket audience where he could say anything he wanted.

#2 Bernie Mac is a comedian and his job is to insult people. The "angry" people in the crowd need to fucking lighten up.

TankRizzo · 07-14-2008, 05:21 PM

I don't know which I'm more shocked at...the fact that the guy has never heard this joke or the fact that Bernie Mac was telling it. That's something I think I read out of one of my dad's "Truly Tasteless Jokes" Joke books from the 80s, not in a modern comedy act, let alone from an actual established comedian.

What I'm not surprised at is that some buzz kill got offended and has to complain and potentially ruin it for everyone. It makes me sick to think about what a nation of crybabies we've become.

DosEquis · 07-24-2008, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

I don't know which I'm more shocked at...the fact that the guy has never heard this joke or the fact that Bernie Mac was telling it. That's something I think I read out of one of my dad's "Truly Tasteless Jokes" Joke books from the 80s, not in a modern comedy act, let alone from an actual established comedian.

What I'm not surprised at is that some buzz kill got offended and has to complain and potentially ruin it for everyone. It makes me sick to think about what a nation of crybabies we've become.

A place where a person in the crowd could afford to pay $2300 to get in...you will have complete self important douche bags. Its a given. I would probably just brush it off and ignore the guy/gal.