Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Bodden lives on the edge with controversial humor

Alonzo Bodden isn't entirely comfortable being called "edgy."

"I hate using that word -- it's a Hollywood word," says Bodden, who headlines Riviera Comedy Club Monday through May 16. In Tinseltown, "What they mean by 'edgy' is to talk about topics that you don't talk about in polite society."

That definition fits perfectly when applied to his stand-up material, which is loaded with observations about such hot-button issues as racial stereotypes, among others. "The race thing is hilarious," Bodden said during a recent call from his home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.

"I talk about being black in our society, but I don't have any anger toward white people," he contends, "just some things that you deal with that they don't understand: A white guy gets pulled over by the cops, he's worried about getting a ticket. I get pulled over by the cops, I'm hoping no one who looks like me did anything."

Though he's "trying to expand and cover all stereotypes" in his act, New York-bred Bodden boasts, "My talent is making fun of people without hurting their feelings."

Or maybe it's that audiences are too nervous to laugh: At 6 feet 3 inches tall, the comic knows he can come across as an intimidating presence onstage. "It makes people listen to me, but I'm not attacking anyone; I'm not threatening anyone, and I think people see that right away. 'He's big, but he's harmless.' "

In his pre-comedy days, Bodden was an aircraft mechanic who worked on stealth fighters. He quips, "It was very cool back then because it was all top secret, so if anyone asked what we did for a living, we were allowed to shoot them. I got four kills, and then people stopped asking."

For a time, Bodden also worked on private planes owned by "the unbelievably rich," including Malcolm Forbes and Donald Trump, and fixed commercial aircraft before becoming a mechanics instructor. He soon realized it was more fun making his students laugh than teaching the lessons, and in 1993 made the leap into stand-up comedy.

In the years since, he's performed for military troops around the globe as part of several USO Comedy Tours ("I'm the only person who's worked on the stealth fighter and entertained the pilots," he says); made three appearances at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival; and in 2001 released his first CD, "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time." These days he's on the road for performances about half the year, including several stops at the Riv and Palace Station's Laugh Trax.

Meanwhile, Bodden has fashioned a second career as an actor. One of his earliest gigs was as the voice of the Thunderon in "The Power Rangers" cartoon series. He appeared in the recent flick "The Girl Next Door" as well as last year's blockbuster "Bringing Down the House." Look for him this summer playing a convict in an untitled movie, composed of "a series of the most offbeat sketches" and produced by the team behind the satire newspaper The Onion.

Though he's found work on the big screen, breaking into television hasn't proved as easy. Bodden says his comedy material is not the type typically embraced by industry execs. "In reality, I think everyone who has friends of different races and ethnic groups, you joke about the stereotypes," he contends. "It's something people do amongst friends, but they would never do it on TV." What industry honchos consider edgy, he says, "is to come out and say those things."

He points to a joke in his act as an example: "I say, 'I love white women, and that's why I can't hate white men because we need them for breeding.' It's absolutely true." But such a comment would not likely fly on network television. "These are the kinds of things that they consider edgy. My act is about telling the truth -- that's what I do, and sometimes you're not supposed to."

The big networks want to keep their offerings "sanitized," he insists. "Look at 'Friends': New York with no black people, just pretty white people who live in a $10,000-a-month apartment and don't work." Meanwhile networks "won't try anything else; they won't show anything that's different, and even what they consider edgy is bad."

Although he'd jump at the chance to star in a sitcom of his own, Bodden says, "Herein, again, lies the problem with TV: I'm black, but I'm not television's stereotype of a black person. I'm not from the ghetto; I don't have kids all over the place; I'm not actively involved in any criminal enterprise, so television's not sure that people like me exist."

But that's not about to keep him from trying. Bodden, who says he has been clean and sober for 16 years, is trying to sell to a network an idea for a sitcom based on "the beginnings of recovery." The show would be executive produced by fellow comic Christopher Titus (who, from 2000 through 2002, starred in his own self-titled sitcom on Fox).

"It's not about drug use; it's about rebuilding your life," 41-year-old Bodden explains of his proposed series, and would follow his character attempting to deal with related issues, including finding love. "It's an edgy sitcom, and that's one of the problems in selling it because we don't want to water it down and do the standard sitcom jokes ... We want to be edgier, so it might end up on cable. But I'd rather it be on cable and really ... push some buttons and talk about things that we're not supposed to talk about."

Out for laughs

As promised when he spoke to Laugh Lines in February, the legendary Shelley Berman returns to Las Vegas for performances May 18 through May 23 at The Improv at Harrah's.

Don't miss very funny lady Cathy Ladman when she plays Riviera Comedy Club May 31 through June 6. Besides having written for the sitcoms "Roseanne" and "Caroline in the City," Ladman has appeared on "Just Shoot Me," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and enjoyed several guest spots on "The Tonight Show."

Before comedian Steve White became the host of the morning drive-time show on local radio station KWID 102-FM, he was featured in the big-screen hits "Coming to America," "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X." See him when he revisits his stand-up roots Aug. 3 through Aug. 7 at Palace Station's Laugh Trax.

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