Chris was born in1966 in South Carolina. When he was six years old, he moved just outside of Brooklyn. Although the area had a somewhat bad reputation, Chris said that the neighborhood around his house was pretty nice and peaceful. Prettynice and peaceful don't really describe his high school years. Chris attended a nearly all-white school across town, where he experienced a kind of racism that white America would like to think no longer exists. He underwent regular beatings. Rock nevertheless was compelled to defend himslef as best he could.
Race is an issue high on Rock's target list. He jokes that racism is so bad that no White man would want to change places with him--and he's rich. Even the White bus boy would pass, he says. One thing Rock doesn't find funny is college campuses. Though he's putting together a human effort for aspiring comic writers at Howard University, he's got a few concerns about Gen Y crowds. "Kids are really conservative nowadays. And they're doing a lot of drugs and stuff, but I guess they're the wrong drugs. "I hate colleges. No, I don't hate 'em, but I rather not play 'em. I like people that pay bills; that have bad sex. Kids never have bad sex. I like grown-ups." Unless those grown-ups happen to be in casino audiences. "High rollers get free tickets. I want people that are dying to see me. I don't need the Kathie Lee crowd. I'll give them a good show, I just don't have as much fun. But I'll do it anywhere. I'm a professional comedian. I can play the Apollo and I can play in front of Congress."
"You just live a life," he explains. "You just
keep quiet and observe, try to be around normal people,"
he laughs. "The barber shop is a great place. I have a crazy
life. My family is pretty normal. I have my sister and my mother;
you just draw from all the people around you. I read about four
or five newspapers a day and every magazine I can get my hands
on to try to get a sense of what's going on in the country,"
he explains. He jokes in his stand-up act and new comedy book
about relationships, saying they are "easy to get into, too
hard to maintain. At first you can't stop talking, but at some
point, you quit because you have heard everything this person
has to say. And it makes you sick to your stomach." On Blacks'
spending habits, he chuckles: "Layaway was invented for Black
folks. A Brother will lay away a house if you let him."
He also warns women that men struggle not to cheat. Monogamy is
rough....Once you commit, you can't cheat. Wanna cheat. Can't
cheat. Dying to cheat. Can't cheat. Can't wait to cheat. Can't
cheat. Some folks gotta go to rehab not to cheat. Some folks cheat
in rehab," he jokes. Listen to people. And at times you're
going to listen to people who you know you are smarter than, but
that's what you are going to have to do to get to the next level."
Rock is using his fame to help good causes and regularly supports
The College Fund/United Negro College Fund and other charitable
organizations. He is also trying to start a comedy magazine at
Howard University for Black students interested in becoming comedy
writers.
"We rule comedy in front of the stage; we don't really
control much behind the scenes...There's no place to develop the
skills," he notes.
Reflecting on his phenomenal fame, Rock reveals, "The last
three years I felt like I was not going to make it. I never expected
to get this kind of acclaim....I knew I was always going to work,
but I didn't ever think it would be a mass thing. I didn't see
any of this. I had the ambition, but I didn't see it on this level.
"It's not overnight," he says of his success. "And
it's not over," he promises, assuring his fans that there
are many more laughs to come.
"What I'm mainly saying is, black people are the same as everybody else," Rock continues. "We're all human, we all sing the same songs, and we all do the same shit."
1) Jim Bessman. Super-hot Chris Rock links with DreamWorks. Sep 28, 1996. http://web5.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/124/651/16896905w3/34!sln_15+0
2) Kevin Chappell. Chris Rock talks about fame, controversy and the challenge of being #1. Oct 1999. http://web5.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/124/651/16896905w3/37!xrn_3_0_A55982855