We♥Comedy: Eddie Griffin at Topeka Performing Arts Center (TPAC), Topeka KS (2024-05-11)

A return to his hometown area for the ‘undercover brother’–

Comedian, actor, raconteur, and Kansas City MO native Eddie Griffin has played the region numerous times, but finally made his way to Topeka, for a weekend headlining performance at the Topeka Performing Arts Center.

Now in his mid-50’s (with 12 kids!), Griffin has come a long way since being dared by a cousin to go on stage on an open-mic night at Stanford and Sons in Overland Park, scheduled to do three minutes, but ending up keeping them laughing for forty-five. Before that, his first love had been dance- even opening his own studio and choreographing Kansas City Chiefs halftime shows as a teen.

The comedy club’s owner wasn’t as impressed as the audience with Griffin’s profane style, and he was eventually not allowed back from the very club that spawned him. So, he began his own open-mike night in the jazz district, before booking a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, and the beginnings of an increasingly famous career would follow.

In the 1990s, Griffin was a regular on Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam and with his first HBO special, Voodoo Child. He segued his comedic personality into acting, appearing in The Last Boy Scout and Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo and would be cast in the lead for the UPN sitcom Malcolm and Eddie, which ran from 1996 to 2000.

The blaxploitation send-up of 2002’s Undercover Brother and several more comedy specials kept his star burning, along with regular Las Vegas residencies. More recently, he played ‘The Pastor’ in the successful 2018 remake of A Star is Born.

Opening the show was a short set from The Hulk…no, really. The muscular Army veteran Demarquis Mendenhall is known as Hulk The Comedian and brought some of his South Carolina humor to the heartland.

He and Griffin have been friends for some time, as the pair booked the Uptown in Kansas City last year and the comedian even brought up Mrs. Hulk for a brief appearance on stage. The couple could be seen meeting the fans in the lobby after the show.

Griffin appeared immediately following, with no break, and proceeded to go through his seventy-minute set of headlining material. Initial sound issues continued to bother the comedian, threatening and cursing the sound man about the humming and feedback, and even waving goodbye and walking off when it persisted. Things were soon corrected, and Griffin calmed, as an assistant kept his tumbler glass of Macallan 18yr-old scotch full.

Subjects tackled included the upcoming election and the age of the candidates, Will Smith’s notorious Oscar slap, the so-called ‘good ol’ days’, multiple divorces, pre- and post-nups, and a few more sexual in nature topics. Griffin proved himself a veteran stand-up, able to ad-lib when he saw people leave to go to the bar, walk a certain way back to their seats, and responding to occasional catcalls.

His set ended with several impressions done as tributes; to friends and heroes lost, including a spot-on Bernie Mac, some soul singing, a riff on Michael Jackson, an over-the-top Richard Pryor, Elvis (for the white folks in the crowd), and ended with Griffin as an exaggerated Prince, singing an erotically charged ballad.

Eddie Griffin heads back to Vegas for an early-week residency at Planet Hollywood through mid-June.

      (apologies for low-rez cellphone images – Click on any image to enlarge and see in full) 

EDDIE GRIFFIN

EDDIE GRIFFIN

EDDIE GRIFFIN at TPAC Topeka KS (2024-05-11)