Jackie "Moms" Mabley

Jackie “Mom” Mabley was the Minnie Pearl of the old Chittlin’ Circuit. There’s only one big difference between the two; “Mom” came first by about 20 years. She appears to have hit the circuit sometime in the early 1920’s, arriving in Harlem at the height of the Cotton Club and everything else which came to symbolize a vibrant Black Renaissance; Langston Hughes, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and the list goes on and on.

Whoopi Goldberg narrates and appears in this lovingly made documentary about the life of one of show businesses arguably most beloved comediennes. Harry Belafonte, Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Billy Mitchell and a host of others, all reminisce about, and add individual bits of knowledge concerning “Moms” and her sometimes not so clear biographical background.

But one thing is sure in all of their minds; this little woman with the big heart was one the most unusual, and outspoken of performers to come down the pike. And to have done this as a woman during the time period in which she lived, made the journey; let alone the actual feat; remarkable to say the least.

Raped twice and forced to give up both children, she never really had another man. She was an un-closeted Lesbian off stage; even dressing as a man and squiring beautiful young women with her wherever she went. Off stage there were no house dresses and funny hats. There were 3 piece suits and gold watch chains, with a fedora to top it off!

I first became aware of “Moms” through the magic of the Merv Griffin Show, which aired after school. She fascinated me with her stories; she told stories more than she told jokes. Her stories always touched on the human condition; as well as politics.

Here again was a woman way ahead of the curve. But armed in that housedress, with no upper teeth in her mouth, speaking from beneath a floppy hat, she could; and did; say whatever she wanted to say. Sometimes the white audiences didn't know if they were being made fun of or not. Black audiences loved her because she could say what they were thinking, and say it on the television!

“Moms” was born in Brevard, North Carolina years before many of the comedians she has influenced, right down to the present day. Arsenio Hall, Kathy Griffin, Joan Rivers, Jerry Stiller and Eddie Murphy all appear in this film to share the influence which she had upon them.

If you have never heard of “Moms” before, then you need to hit You Tube and then get this HBO biopic to catch up with the rest of the world. Here’s something to start you off;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM880a92rgo

Jackie "Moms" Mabley - "Killer Diller" (1948)

I was originally intending to do a short piece about Jackie "Moms" Mabley, the iconic African-American comedienne. I thought that I was going to post a short bio about her along with some memories of watching her on The Merv Griffin Show when I was about 11. She was frequent guest on the show, which aired on WNEW-TV in New York City. That was Channel 5, a part of the Metromedia network, which eventually became Fox.

But I was surprised at the lack of You Tube videos from the Merv Griffin Show with Jackie "Moms" Mabley, who often performed with Redd Fox. She was, after all is said and done, the African-American version of Minnie Pearl, the disheveled comedienne of the Grand Ol' Opry. But good news often follows bad, and I ran across this full length movie with "Moms" Mabley, as well as the King Cole Trio, Butterfly McQueen and a host of African-American acts from the late 1940's. It runs about an hour and a quarter, and it's a fun movie to watch.

Here's a brief recap of "Moms" life story as outlined in Wikipedia. She was born in Brevard, North Carolina in 1894. This was a big surprise to me, as I had always thought she was from the Deep South, somewhere like Mississippi, and also much older.

Her father was a mulatto who ran a General Store, and her mother, who ran a boardinghouse, was recorded as being able to read and write in the 1870 Census. This was only 5 years after the end of the Civil War, so it is surmised that she was either a house servant, or a free woman of color. Again, this was a surprise to me. I had always assumed that her parents were slaves.

By the age of fifteen years old, Jackie, her given name, had been raped twice, giving birth to 2 children who were both given up for adoption. Against her father's wishes, she took off for Cleveland, Ohio where she secured work in a traveling minstrel show as a singer and dancer.

Her stage name, Jackie Mabley, was apparently taken from an early boyfriend, and she was quoted in an Ebony Magazine interview, 5 years before her death in 1975 "that he'd taken so much from me, it was the least I could do to take his name." She became known as "Moms" because she was like a mother to many of the younger comedians playing the "Chitlin' Circuit" during the late 1940's through the early 60's. I knew that.

At 27 years old she declared herself to be a Lesbian, becoming one of the first female entertainers to do so, black or white. In short, she was quite ahead of her time. Since comedy, especially "Mom's", is often rooted in the changes to society at the time in which it is performed, it can be interesting to listen to her acts now, if only to see how little has changed over the years. Minor improvements aside, we are much the same in 2012, as we were back then. I think it’s called human nature.

Here's a link to some of her unique comedy, which influenced performers such as Bill Cosby, as well as Richard Pryor. As a matter of fact, if you listen to some of their old records you will hear them doing some of her jokes. The only difference is the addition of some cursing on the part of Richard Pryor, which may add a bit of spice to the performance, but adds nothing to the jokes themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaStMww636A&feature=related