Compare / Contrast Two Comedians From Two Different Era - 2200 Words

Compare / Contrast Two Comedians From Two Different Era (Essay Sample) Content: DICK GREGORY VERSUS TREVOR NOAHNameInstitutionIntroductionDick Gregory and Trevor are two comedic stars who have reached the prime of their careers and managed to be influential figures universally. Both being comedians of black origin and having experienced a life of hardship under the white man, Dick Gregory a victim of a race that underwent slavery and the complicated history of black America and Trevor Noah a victim of Apartheid, have most of their works dwelling on political instability and modern day slavery. Sometimes they reference to the past events of oppression from the white man. The lives of the two are marked with close to similar events that make their history almost the same but they also have had different paths that make them the different people they are and had them mark different niches in the same field.BodyThe two have always used their celebrity status to address several politically based injustices such as Trevor Noahs address on the unfairnes s of deporting Mexicans and other foreigners from America. He also addresses the issue of the building of the wall on the Mexican border to stop the Mexicans from getting into America. On the side of Dick Gregory, he used his influence to mobilize actions to support some causes such as the parade against the Vietnam War, World hunger and Drug abuse.The two have their comedy based on truthful matters. They do not derive jokes from unrealistic things but their jokes are actual things happening but they tell them in satirical manner that at a point Dick Gregory was named the Black Mort Sahl after a famous white satirist. As they have risen, they have replaced people in the places they have worked and were found to fit those places better. This has had them secure the jobs for a long span of time. In his early days, Dick Gregory replaced a white comedian known as professor Irwin Corey in the Chicagos Playboy Club with a request from the publisher Hugh Hefner. Although he had only perfor med to only black audience, he was able to win over a huge white audience that night despite their inclination to the traditional southern white comedy. (Bruce. (2009 March 13)). His success led to something that the owner of the club had not purposed for. He was able to secure a three years contract from a two weeks one. Trevor Noahs move from South Africa to America was a door opener for him. He became a regular contributor to the scripting of the program The Daily Show with 200 scripts to his name. Jon Stewart then selected him as the replacement of him as the shows host. Even though Trevor Noah is a foreigner, he has been able to take up the role of the host of the political satire program that concerns a foreign country so well that he Jon Stewart has had him retain the role as the host. Jesse. ((2012 June 18)).The two have had transitions in different jobs before they decided to settle for comedy, which they are more successful at doing. Dick Gregory was a poorly performing ki d in school such that what had him going was his athletic prowess. He got scholarships until university but he quit school saying that they made him run at school something that he did not want. He then joined a group of black comedians in Chicago and this is where his career as a comedian started. He has been an occasional actor, makes appearances in television and television programs and was a radio co-host but he remains to be mainly a comedian. (Bruce. (2009 March 13)). Trevor Noah started out as a soap opera actor in South Africa and then moved on to be a radio host of his own show Noahs Ark. He quit the radio-hosting job to concentrate on being a comedian full time. Their choice to have comedy as their full time careers became possibly the best choice they have ever made concerning their career lives.Even though the two seem to have taken almost the same paths in life, they have a distinct difference to them that makes them stand out and possibly attract a differing kind of au dience. For instance, Trevor is a new school comedian whilst Dick Gregory has traversed from his old school era and has been able to appeal to the new school. Dick Gregory started his career at a time when white people could only listen to white entertainers but still was able to overcome this obstacle. Trevor Noah has risen at a time when racism is a minimalistic case. He can address both the white and black audience without race being an obstacle he has to beat to pass his jokes.Trevor Noahs authorship has little to mention to it. Apart from his scripting of programs contents, there is only one book, Born a Crime that speaks of a childhood experience during the apartheid period. In this book, he talks about his life and as we expect, there is humor and comedy. He speaks of the imprisonment of his mother due to her relations with a white man and the moving of his father back to his homeland because of his relations with a woman of African descent. He speaks of his childhood abuse i n this book too. Dick Gregory on the other side has some bestselling books to his name. One of them being the number 1 bestselling Nigger which he tells his mother that whenever she hears someone saying the word nigger, she should know that those saying it are advertising Dick Gregorys book. This book he wrote some time just before the assassination of President Kennedy. Besides Nigger, he has other books to his name and they include: * Write me in! Bantam, 1968. * From the Back of the Bus * What is happening? * The Shadow that Scares Me * Dick Gregory's Bible Tales, with Commentary, a book of Bible-based humor * Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin' With Mother Nature! * (with Shelia P. Moses), Callus on My Soul: A Memoir. * Up from Nigger * No More Lies; The Myth and the Reality of American History * Dick Gregory's political primer * (with Mark Lane), Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King * (with Mel Watkins), African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (Library of Black America) * Robert Lee Green, Dick Gregory, daring Black leader * African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (editor) * "Not Poor, Just Broke", short story * Callus on My Soul, (Longstreet Press, Atlanta, Ga.)While Trevor Noah started his career at the age of 18, Dick Gregory had his entertainment career started in the year 1954, which was the year when he was 22. Both are still active but it is obvious that Dick Gregory has dwelt for a longer time in the field as compared to Trevor Noah who at times seeks the mentorship of Dick Gregory basing his reason to the fact that Dick has more experience in the field.An obvious difference is their era of work. Dick Gregory was a renown comedian in the 20th century, Not only was he a comedian but also an activist who spearheaded demonstrations like those against the Vietnam war where he even took a hunger strike losing weight to an extreme of weighing only 100 pounds. He was also an active participant in feminism movements. He has also been a friend of great historical political figures such as President Kennedy. Trevor Noah on the other side is a 21st century comedian. He has started and risen to the heights of his career in the 21st century with the factor of his birth parents being an interesting factor. His mother is a South African and his father a man of Swiss-German decent. In his childhood, both his parents could not walk with him hand in hand due to his skin color. It was during the apartheid and walking with him could place either his mother or father in the danger of going through torture. He has taken part in charity activities and his political contributions are made only in the form of satire in his comedic shows.The two have had very different jobs before comedy, which they are more successful at doing. Dick Gregory was not educational talented but athletically was a gem on every institution he was in a nd for this reason he went up to University of Illinois no matter his performance in written tests . (Bruce. (2009 March 13)). He however did not finish school but that has not blocked him from being the successful person he is. His decision to join other black comedians in Chicago was a decision that was about to see him reach heights no one who had observed his school performance believed he was going to reach. No one believed that a person of such class performance could deliver intelligent jokes and satirical jokes. He has interacted with the crme de la crmes of education, blended in with them so well, and proved that education is not the only way to prove ones intelligence. He has been able to thrive in other fields too such as in entrepreneurship, conspiracy theory making, social criticism, civil right activism and acting. Trevor Noah has no history of being a student with problems in his education. He however has a quitting incident where he quit the radio-hosting job to co ncentrate on being a comedian full time. He has also thrive in other fields too such as being a writer, both script for TV and film and now a book. Their choice to have comedy as their full time careers became possibly the best choice they have ever made concerning their career lives.Trevor Noahs early life was filled with child abuse. His stepfather abused Trevor Noahs mother and Trevor Noah himself. Frequent reports concerning the abuse went unattended to by the police officers that were reported. Trevor Noah himself says that cases were ditched and never taken to court. When Trevor Noahs mum was successful in securing herself a divorce in 1996, the step-dad who goes by the name Ngisaveni Abel S...