Comedian Kevin J
“Urban” comic Kevin J opened the highly anticipated Screen Nation Awards ceremony last night at the IndigO2. I was unable to make it to the event but I’ve been told that Kevin was forced to cut his set short due to audience members failing to see the funny side after he made jokes about the London riots (Too soon folks???) and black people. Kevin was booed and heckled and then apparently went in to old skool Dot Cotton mode and started to preach to the audience.
Fellow blogger Lisa Bent who was in attendance said,
Kevin J is a fab comedian, however in the context of this event (which is labelled as the Black Oscars) I thought the material could have been more respectful. The riots as we know involved people of many races but Kevin’s material perpetuated the continued one-sided view. This event is about the celebration of the achievements of successful black people and as a result such material to open a show was disrespectful. His riot jokes may have been received well at a different time, at a different event, but many people were angry, shocked and the laughter was far and few.
A guy near to where I was seated stood up and shouted “f**k off your not funny” to which Kevin expressed he was invited to perform.
Yes Kevin was invited to perform, yes he did what he is known for. So did the event booker get it wrong? Comedy has always been and will always be subjective and on the borderline of risqué I acknowledge that. I also acknowledge that it is tough to stand in front of a crowd and express your material. However Kevin lost his cool and insulted a guest at the top table (she may have been an actress) by stating “I can see your tracks from here” referring to her weave. This was followed by gasps and the tone quickly changed.
Proclaiming he was a Christian he then launched in to a speech where he hoped ‘God blessed our souls’ as all he was doing was showcasing his talent which was followed by rapturous applause I presume from church goers, though not before inviting the heckler to take it outside if he wished.
I was embarrassed for Kevin and for Screen Nation. That definitely did not go to plan and it could not have been predicted. But labelling the audience as ignorant for not laughing and being upset is wrong. I felt insulted.
Kevin J is a talented comedian, I respect what he does and he is respected within the black community. Let’s be honest we have opened our arms and allowed him to comment on our culture and our many isms. Kevin in this instance overlooked his material, you win some you lose some. But to be labelled unsupportive coupled with the preaching sermon was just plain rude.
“I can see your tracks from here” – That’s a no no Kevin (hahahaha).
Kevin posted the following tweets last night after the incident…
http://twitter.com/#!/KevinJComedian/status/125783045763645440
http://twitter.com/#!/KevinJComedian/status/125783232099794944
Oh dear… so the audience members were demonic because they didn’t like his material?
I get the impression that up until last night Kevin was used to leaving black folk (probably a younger audience) rolling in the aisles.
I have never seen Kevin’s stand-up routine, however I have been told on many occasions that he is funny. But I guess every comedian crashes and burns in spectacular fashion at least once in his/her career.
Check out Kevin in action below live at the Brixton O2.
……
If that’s an example of the material he showcased at the event in front of a slightly more mature and clued up audience, then I’m not surprised he went down like a lead balloon.
Your thoughts please…..
MAD NEWS UK 
bad day at the office.. you win some you lose some!
makes you stronger if you recognize your mistakes as well as others tho?
He had a serious baptism of fire. It was the weirdest night!
I never heard of him until I saw the tweets to say he was being booed. he clearly must not have researched his respected audience.
I remember one time i was going through the channels and caught some white dude doing a stand up on OH TV. I sat and watched for a few minutes, and he was imitating Nigerian preachers or something, and believe me if he wasn’t white i would have thought it was a black Nigerian doing the stand up. I didn’t get to know who it was, now i am seeing this young man and wondering whether it was him. Oh yeah, people were rolling in laughter too.
He got the wrong black crowd on that night i guess.
the fact is the riots and david starkeys comments have made black people a lot more culturally aware.. the likes of kevin j have gained fame from merely perpetuating stupid stereotypes in front of ignorant audiences.. people who encourage his material are as much at fault as he is for doing it.. the fact is jokes about jamaicans ordering chicken with swagger and black people being rioters and criminals etc are played out and hack and defo not suitable for an audience of affluent educated black people at an event celebrating black achievement..kevin is just one of many culprits but the tide is turning.
“the fact is jokes about Jamaicans ordering chicken with swagger ”
What?? that was one of his jokes? Good Lord!
Young people in the UK with post racial mentalities have allowed Kevin J to feel comfortable with his racism. When black comedians tell jokes about our many isms we can relate, thus find the hilarity in it. This is what the older screen nation audience are used to. Kevin J is funny, but some of his jokes are way too close to the mark for my liking. The organisers got it wrong. As usual, wanting to pander to the urban audience instead of just hiring any one of a crop of young black comedians out there. Kevin J’s attitude afterwards speaks volumes, no humility or acknowledgment that he may have offended people. TeamUK like to endorse people who make a mockery of our culture so expect Kevin Js bookings to triple after this.
I’M WITH HER ABOVE MY HEAD^ ^ ^ ^ ^
And all of the successful and up and coming Black UK comedians were busy were they?
I like how he brought his faith and God in to it – using both to distract people. hahaha. I see what you did there Kevin. Clever. And the gullible churchgoers in the audience fell for it. Haha.
@Melissa
You are spot on.
Melissa – Spot on, i felt exactly the same way.
whats really sad is that there is a whole list of young black comedians that could have done a brilliant job and would have gained from the exposure but instead people with colonialist mentalities decided booking a whiteguy (who cant even do white audiences ) to perform at this show.. in all honesty I’ve never found kevin j funny and his novelty will soon wear off.. he has no jokes and his fufu references are played out same goes for that coon eddie kadi and all the other clowns on the black comedy circuit eating of negative stereotypes and gollywoggery
“gollywoggery” <- lol
To be honest I’ve never heard of this guy before, or heard any of his routines. He obviously felt he had been given a “pass”, probably by TeamUK who “like to endorse people who make a mockery of our culture” as Melissa rightly put it. I expect to see Kevin J in the next Adam Deacon film soon.
@Melissa
Girl your spot on.
I’d never heard of the guy but he was the wrong person and wrong event, in fact it did unfortunately sum up a rather disappointing event.
I couldn’t believe they didn’t go old school with someone like Dibby or Geoff Schumann or even Angie La Mar for an event of this kind.
how can you say they should use those old timers just because kevin flopped?? there are loads of good young black comedians or even white.. jamie howard (he may be white but he at least has good material) would have done a good job what about prince abdi (who was on primetime television not long ago and has been on the circuit for years) what about Ola the comedian? what about nathan caton? what about travis jay? these guys are all young black and intelligent and doing actual things in the REAL comedy circuit, what about babatunde? what about imran yusuf? these are all good comedians and I may even be missing some
@Jones
Kevin J makes jokes about fufu??? Lord have mercy hahahaha. I am going to have to check him out.
how can you say they should use those old timers just because kevin flopped?? there are loads of good young black comedians or even white.. jamie howard (he may be white but he at least has good material) would have done a good job what about prince abdi (who was on primetime television not long ago and has been on the circuit for years) what about Ola the comedian? what about nathan caton? what about travis jay? these guys are all young black and intelligent and doing actual things in the REAL comedy circuit, what about babatunde? what about imran yusuf? these are all good comedians and I may even be missing some
@Jones,
I hear what your saying but the event is an awards show supposedly highlighting the Best in Black Film & TV. My thinking is that by definition you don’t want to alienate your audience so you’ll play it safe. The BAFTAs aren’t going to ask Frankie Boyle to be the warm up act, trust me, no, they’ll settle for someone safe. Thats the only reason I chose the names I did.
I agree there are many “Young” comedians out there I’d be more tahn happy if they used them.
lord …… me better get on with the cooking.. its all going off here!!
We do it to ourselves time and time again…allow white ppl to mimic us and give them an official blackness stamp because he or she has heard one too many of her black friends banter about fufu or chicken. When I can get a gig bantering about egg and chips, I will know that the tide has turned. The best comedy comes from a place of understanding and experience not mimicry. Melissa-ur on point
I had never heard of this Kevin before but I am shocked that people are giving him a pass to make jokes of that nature. When will my people learn? The dumb Team UK crowd need to disappear.
kevin j i hope you’re reading this.. YOU ARE S**T AND SHOULD RETIRE!!!!
Just watched some of his stand up on YouTube.. Interesting……
I’ve been hearing about this guy for a while now and to be honest am confused why they have a white comedians at the so called black oscars. I wonder if they would have a black guy doing jokes at the asian bollywood awards, taking the piss out of them eating curry etc SMH only black people do this to themselves.
It was very funny as the audience was just not having non of it. I was in the audience, and he was not funny. I did find the jokes racist and was very shocked that he was a Christian and tried to pray for the audience members ( including Black Christians) who did not find his jokes funny. Instead of just stepping off he took to abusing female audience re her weave on, and also that black audience members were poor hence sitting in the “crap seats”. He said that he didnot come begging but that he was being paid to appear, i gues we should ask the Awards body NOT to waste their money on such a talent. I speak as a Christian.
they should have got nathan caton or ava vidal for this… at least they actually perform on the comedy circuit this guy is just a novelty for dumb nigerian audiences and acs events.
I blame the event organisers. Hiring him is like hiring Jim Davidson for the MOBOs. The event has been running for long enough now, so you would think that they would now what type of entertainment to book as a warm up act for the show. This shows poor judgement on there part, and yet again a complete lack of thought for their audience. Kevin Js brand of humour is very low brow, and not sophisticated enough for an event that markets themselved on being the black british Oscars. I actually dont blame Kevin at all, he’s been doing this same said standard, stereotypical comedy routine for sometime now, but his audience are those who belive because he can mimick certain accents, he must be “down”! Im sorry, but his comedy is hardly what you would call clever, original or sophisticated. That may have been his downfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tacNkKjxPA watch this video… at 7.25 onwards the brother breaks down issues like this.. the whole video was circulated everywhere during the riots and stuff this guy said really hit home… why wasn’t HE asked to perorm?? he’s an intelligent black comedian based in the uk (not sure where though),,, i guess team uk doesn’t rate intelligent blacks.
Thanks Jerome I was about to post this video. This guy is on point on everything he says
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. When the promoters booked Kevin J they knew what they were buying so the main fault is with them
Kevin J can say what he wants, it’s his comedy and he has total license over it. The audience has a choice – they can laugh or not laugh. in this circumstance they chose the latter. Kevin’s reaction to this, again, is his choice, he has total license to react how he wants, it’s his career. Either way he’s still gonna get paid and trust me when i say this performance will in no way affect his wage packet.
Some people tend to make the mistake of thinking comedians perform for other people. They don’t it’s really all about themselves. Professional comedians will learn to cater to an audience but true comedians don’t.
Maybe kevin will learn from this and in future adjust his set more accordingly or maybe he’s a true comedian. Either way just make the decision not to see him again and move on, there are more pressing matters at hand. It’s supposed to be black history month not white comedian month – has anyone received their 3 acres of land and a mule yet?
p.s Nabil’s documentary say’s it all, preach my bro
Good about time. Jamie next.
………………jheeeeeeeeeze real talk… that brother goes in with that response.. I’d never heard of him then I saw that and watched him live one time he’s got other stuff on youtube still… I dunno why black people are sleeping on him and putting money in that white devils pocket!!
abdul should have performed at the even or even hosted, sad thing is next year they’ll probably get kojo or that coon eddie kaddi kmft