Bernie Mac

I've introduced myself with comedy, and once you've introduced yourself as something, that's where people keep you. That's where people like to hold you. ”

When I hit my 20s, I struggled to make it. I got married at 19, and my daughter, Je'Niece, was born a year later. I worked blue collar jobs during the day and comedy clubs at night, and I was earning about $25 a year doing stand-up. ”

My comedy comes from pain. I can't stand to see someone hurting. ”

I'm funny. I'm a comedian. I'm not a clown. ”

It's a pleasure to work with someone who is just as strong as you are. ”

I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy. ”

The two sides of Bernie - that's a quiet weapon that I have. ”

I was born October 5, 1957, on the South Side of Chicago, in the Woodlawn area, a neighborhood that hasn't changed much in forty-five years. Our house was on 66th and Blackstone, but the city tore it down when the rats took over. ”

I became the storyteller of South Side Chicago. I used an old Kiwi liquid shoe polish as a microphone. I'd go around the house interviewing everybody, telling stupid jokes, doing voices. I mimicked Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., people on 'Laugh-In,' Flip Wilson. ”

I came up in the community center. I used to be physical director of the South Central Community Center in Chicago on 83rd. It's still there. It used to be around there when I was a kid. ”