Actor T.Ok. Kirkland has referred to as out Cedric The Entertainer for stealing jokes from one other comic. Cedric made headlines earlier this month after Katt Williams claimed that “The Neighborhood” star stole one in every of his jokes for “The Kings of Comedy” particular, and now he’s accused of stealing a joke from late actor and comic Meshach Taylor.
Taylor starred within the 1987 movie “Model” and its sequel, “Model Two: On the Transfer,” however he’s finest recognized for his function because the loveable character Anthony on the outdated CBS sitcom “Designing Ladies.”
He died in 2014 on the age of 67 from colorectal most cancers, and through an look on “The Artwork Of Dialogue” podcast on Jan. 16, Kirkland reacted to footage of each Taylor and Cedric performing the identical joke.
Kirkland was requested, “I would like you to inform me if he stole this joke or not” earlier than he watched a clip of Taylor on “Designing Ladies” within the Nineteen Eighties telling a narrative a few white Mississippi lady who misunderstood her Black worker’s accent.
“The one manner that I can reply that query is by telling the ‘Bomanicious story.’ It’s a real story. See, there was this white household that lived in Mississippi, they usually had this man who labored for them sometimes named ‘Bomanicious.’ Now, he did numerous small jobs for them on and off for a few week,” stated Taylor as his character, Anthony.
“One night time he had simply completed bartending the celebration and the woman of the home realized that she didn’t have any cash, so she stated to him, ‘Bomanicious, I need to write you a verify however I don’t know methods to spell Bomanicious.’ He stated, ‘Properly, I’ve been which means to speak to you about that. See, once I got here to give you the results you want I informed you my title, after which I stated, ‘however you possibly can name me ‘by my initials.’”
Kirkland then watched a clip of Cedric the Entertainer telling the same joke a few years later.
“He going to stroll up and introduce himself. ‘Charles Johnson. Man, everyone round right here name me Bomanicious although. All people round right here name me Bomanicious. It’s nice, you name me that. Don’t even fear about it. All people name me Bomanicious.”
‘I’m like ‘All proper.’ So, all week lengthy, my ass speaking about ‘Bomanicious, what up, boy? Hey, Bomanicious, you going to run round come over watch the sport with us afterward? Hey Bomanicious run to the shop seize some beer and are available on again.’ My cousin stated, ‘What you calling him?’ ‘Bomanicious. He stated everyone name him Bomanicious. It’s all proper for me to name him that.’ Like, ‘No, man, his title CJ. He stated, ‘You may name me by my initials.’”
“Designing Ladies” ran from 86-93, however Taylor carried out the joke throughout season 3 in 1988. Cedric carried out the identical joke throughout his Netflix particular, “Cedric the Entertainer: Dwell from the Ville” which aired in 2016 — two years after Taylor had handed.
After watching each clips, Kirkland admitted, “That’s stealing. It’s.”
“He noticed a bit and took it and flipped it, however he was alleged to flip it, however he did it word-for-word, and that’s referred to as laziness,” he continued.
Kirkland has been a sufferer of joke stealing himself. He accused Williams of stealing his “Who Raised You?” joke for his final comedy particular. He stated he didn’t care and wouldn’t have recognized except folks referred to as and informed him. Kirkland additionally alleged that “Coming to America” star Arsenio Corridor stole his joke that received him a standing ovation on the Apollo.
Comic T.Ok. Kirkland says Katt Williams and Arsenio Corridor stole his joke.
(🎥 The Artwork Of Dialogue/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/o7vKFCICgd
— The Artwork Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) January 13, 2024
He believes it’s OK to attract inspiration from different comedians so long as you alter it up.
“You may take a bit and flip it to your fashion, proper?” Kirkland defined. “I’ll give an instance. I can watch a soccer recreation, I can watch a basketball recreation and create a joke similar to that. That’s the flexibility that I’ve. When folks ask me, ‘T.Ok. when have you learnt you’re a very good comic?’ And I do know this goes over folks’s heads, however it’s like a monk telling one other man who’s instructing karate, kung fu, he’s going to be nice in the future. The day you can have a look at a doorknob and make it hilarious, you recognize you’re humorous.”
The 62-year-old added that Cedric knew that not many individuals watched “Designing Ladies” and he might get fun, not realizing expertise would ultimately meet up with him.
“He by no means thought a day like this may come,” stated Kirkland. “When you’re gonna take one thing, at the very least change one thing to make it actually you. Does that make Ced not a fantastic comic? Naw. It’s one joke.”
Kirkland added {that a} good comic like Cedric can go on stage for about an hour, and the by-my-initials joke was just a few minutes lengthy and never his complete set.
Followers reacted to a clip of Taylor and Cedric telling the jokes on X. One fan replied, “I’ve heard plenty of comedians inform that joke.” One other fan wrote, “Wow! Straight stole the joke from TV and figured what black folks truly watch Designing Ladies.” A 3rd replied, “One factor about Cedric, he’ll make the joke funnier.”
Cedric the Entertainer has but to answer Kirkland’s feedback.
