You're tuned to the good stuff
I Know Black People
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
Chappelle introduces a new game show and its eight contestants, from a Fordham professor of African-American studies and a Chappelle's Show writer to a Brooklyn barber, a DJ and a high school student. Rounds ask them to define slang terms, explain a fondness for menthol cigarettes, recall details of Good Times and account for distrust of Ronald Reagan, with the host ruling on answers that range from sincere to baffled to bluntly crude. A disputed line from the Good Times theme song goes to the judges, and a final open question about how Black people can rise up and overcome draws both earnest and cynical replies. The DJ wins and is handed a grand prize built on stereotypes.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 9
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Nobody knows. Nobody knows for sure.
Is pimping easy? Hell yeah. Somehow that is correct.
How can Black people rise up and overcome? Well, can they? That is correct.
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.
Rusty Cundieff
Director
Neal Brennan
Writer
Dave Chappelle
Writer
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
The contestants appear as themselves rather than as actors, among them Fordham University professor Mark Naison and Chappelle's Show writer Bryan Tucker; according to The A.V. Club, only the questions were scripted.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:00
Host
Give it up for my new game show.
- 00:05
Host
Welcome to the show, I Know Black People. We take contestants who claim to know black people and put their knowledge of African-American culture to the test. The contestant who answers the most questions, of course, wins our grand prize. Let's bring them out one at a time, now.
- 00:21
Host
Our first contestant is a professor of African-American studies and history at Fordham University, the New York City police officer, is a writer for such black television shows as The Chris Rock Show, and Chappelle's Show. Okay, our next contestant works in a Korean grocery store, is a DJ, and claims to have many black friends. He's a social worker in Wilmington, Delaware. Most of his boys he goes to school with are black. There's a barber in Brooklyn who claims that 100% of his clients are black.
- 00:52
Host
Let's play the game. What is a badonkadonk?
- 00:59
Professor
A badonkadonk. A, uh, badonkadonk is like a, uh, a incredibly attractive ass.
- 01:06
Host
That is correct.
- 01:12
Contestant
Big penis?
- 01:13
Contestant
Uh, he's talking about my rear end, I think?
- 01:17
Host
That is correct. You do have a badonkadonk.
- 01:21
Contestant
I may have heard that once or twice before, yeah.
- 01:23
Host
I'm telling you, Washington Heights. They'll tell the cops, girl, you got a badonkadonk.
- 01:29
Barber
Ooh, that's junk in the trunk. That's what you put your mug on, saddle up and ride. That's a big... ass.
- 01:39
Host
He is correct.
- 01:40
Host
Junk in the trunk, that you put your mug up, saddle up and ride, or an ass are all acceptable answers.
- 01:46
Speaker 1
Black people!
- 01:47
Host
Why do black people love menthol so much?
- 01:54
Contestant
I don't... I don't know.
- 01:56
Host
That is correct. All right. Nobody knows. Nobody.
- 02:01
Contestant
Because that's what Newports are?
- 02:06
Host
That is correct.
- 02:07
Contestant
Is it a fact that they like menthol cigarettes? I'm not even sure.
- 02:13
Contestant
I don't know, the great taste?
- 02:15
Host
That is correct. No one knows.
- 02:18
Speaker 1
Black people.
- 02:19
Host
On the popular show Good Times, what did Mr. Bookman do for a living?
- 02:25
Contestant
Oh, he was the handyman.
- 02:27
Host
That is correct.
- 02:28
Contestant
He was a superman.
- 02:29
Host
That is correct.
- 02:32
Contestant
Let's see. I don't know who Bookman was on Good Times, so I'm gonna have to take a guess. Um, was he a janitor?
- 02:43
Host
That is correct. Amazing. Did not see the show yet. Knows that Bookman was cleaning up.
- 02:52
Contestant
He was the janitor, and his nickname was Buffalo Butt.
- 02:56
Host
That is correct, and a bonus point.
- 02:58
Contestant
Thank you.
- 02:59
Speaker 1
Black people!
- 03:00
Host
Could you name any of Bookman's nicknames?
- 03:03
Contestant
Booger.
- 03:04
Host
That is correct.
- 03:06
Contestant
Buffalo Bud.
- 03:07
Host
That is correct.
- 03:08
Contestant
Chi Chi?
- 03:10
Host
Chi Chi. I'm checking the judges for Chi Chi. I'm sorry that's incorrect.
- 03:15
Contestant
His name was Bookman?
- 03:17
Host
Yes. And he was fat. What did they call him?
- 03:21
Contestant
Uh, janitor guy.
- 03:25
Host
Why did black people distrust Ronald Reagan?
- 03:33
Contestant
Because he was white?
- 03:35
Host
That is correct.
- 03:37
Contestant
Because he was white?
- 03:39
Host
That is correct.
- 03:41
Host
Why did Black people trust Ronald Reagan?
- 03:46
Contestant
Because he took all his money?
- 03:48
Host
That is correct.
- 03:49
Contestant
Because he was a Republican?
- 03:51
Host
That is correct.
- 03:52
Host
Why did Black people distrust Ronald Reagan?
- 03:56
Barber
Hmm. He wasn't supposed to be trusted in the first place.
- 04:00
Host
He is correct.
- 04:03
Host
Tito, Is pimping easy?
- 04:07
High School Student
No.
- 04:09
Host
That is correct.
- 04:13
Contestant
No.
- 04:14
Host
That is correct.
- 04:17
Contestant
Big Daddy Kane would say it ain't easy.
- 04:20
Host
Pimping ain't easy, he is correct.
- 04:24
Contestant
Correct. All right.
- 04:26
Host
I have a hard time with it myself.
- 04:28
Contestant
Yes, pimping, as a matter of fact, ain't easy.
- 04:31
Host
Is pimping easy?
- 04:35
Contestant
Hell yeah.
- 04:36
Host
Somehow that is correct.
- 04:38
Speaker 1
Black people!
- 04:40
Host
Competition's been stiff in the first act. Let's see how it goes in the next round. Are you ready?
- 04:45
Host
What is a Lucy?
- 04:47
Contestant
Now, I should know this. Uh, smoke?
- 04:52
Host
Bam! That's absolutely correct.
- 04:54
Contestant
A single cigarette.
- 04:56
Contestant
A loose cigarette.
- 04:57
Host
That is correct.
- 04:58
Contestant
A cigarette?
- 05:00
Host
That is correct.
- 05:01
Host
What is a Lucy?
- 05:04
Contestant
Is that a way of saying oral sex?
- 05:10
Host
No, but we should start saying that.
- 05:13
Host
What is a Lucy?
- 05:15
Contestant
One cigarette bought at the store from the Arabs.
- 05:19
Host
That is correct.
- 05:20
Host
A cigarette bought at the store, one loose cigarette from an Arab.
- 05:25
Speaker 1
Black people!
- 05:26
Host
What is a chicken head?
- 05:28
Contestant
That's a woman who puts her mouth on the member or sometimes called a crack whore.
- 05:40
Host
That is acceptable. That is one of the many definitions of a chicken head.
- 05:45
Professor
A fallacious woman.
- 05:47
Host
There we go. Mark, things are looking up.
- 05:51
Korean Grocery Store Worker
Let's see. Somebody on TV used to say chicken head. Um, you're such a chicken head, um...
- 06:01
Host
I don't know what show this is, but I'd like to see it.
- 06:05
Contestant
So what are you, stupid?
- 06:07
Host
No, a chicken head is a hoochie, whore, or a fallacious woman, apparently.
- 06:13
Contestant
Uh, it can be used for different things. It's mostly used to describe a hoe or an ugly woman.
- 06:19
Contestant
A woman that likes to suck .
- 06:22
Host
That likes to suck .
- 06:25
Contestant
To give a Lucy.
- 06:27
Host
That's right.
- 06:29
Host
What is a chicken head?
- 06:32
Contestant
Oh, you can find that anywhere. In a hood, on a block. It's a bird. One of those that you just bring home and wear out.
- 06:42
Host
That is correct.
- 06:44
Host
A bird that you bring home and wear out.
- 06:48
Host
That is correct.
- 06:49
Contestant
That's what they're for. That's how they're used.
- 06:51
Host
finish this good time lyric temporary layoffs good times easy credit rip offs good times scratching and surviving good times blank good times
- 07:12
Contestant
I know that one character on good times is J.J. Walker.
- 07:19
Host
It's very good.
- 07:21
Contestant
And I know that.
- 07:22
Host
You get mistaken for him a lot in shopping malls.
- 07:24
Contestant
Another actress on Good Times is Lenny Kravitz's mother.
- 07:30
Contestant
Oh, I'm sorry. That was the Jeffersons, but folks.
- 07:34
It's the credit rip-offs, good times, scratching and surviving, good times, good times. Ain't we lucky we got them Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom
- 07:54
Contestant
Yeah, I remember when When Willis had a drinking problem
- 08:04
Host
Scratching and surviving good times Blank good times
- 08:10
And I've always wondered this myself And it sounds like Hanging in a drawer But it's, it's, it's And is it...
- 08:20
Host
Say it one more time. Say what you just said one more time.
- 08:22
Contestant
Hanging in a jury. And I always thought, as a kid, does that mean that someone is hung in a jury? But I didn't...
- 08:33
Television Writer
You know, I have to say, you can tell, I know the actual song, but those are ones I never could decipher what it was. It was...
- 08:42
Host
Brian Tucker just pointed out a fact that is very true. This is the most disputed lyric in all of the Good Times lyrics.
- 08:49
Contestant
Yes.
- 08:49
Host
I am inclined to give him the point I look at my judges he gets the point all right
- 08:53
Host
And what is the lyric the correct lyric
- 08:55
Host
hanging in a chow line?
- 08:58
Host
I? Had to look it up on the internet myself
- 09:03
Host
And now for the final question are you ready?
- 09:08
Contestant
I'm ready
- 09:10
Host
How can black people rise up and overcome
- 09:14
Contestant
Um, how can they rise up and overcome? Well, can they over-can they?
- 09:22
Host
That is correct.
- 09:26
Contestant
Reparations.
- 09:27
Host
That is acceptable.
- 09:29
Contestant
This is a rap lyric?
- 09:30
Host
No, this is, I'm sorry.
- 09:31
Contestant
Oh, this is a general question.
- 09:32
Host
This is an actual question.
- 09:33
Contestant
All right. That's a, there's a complex answer there.
- 09:37
Host
That is correct.
- 09:41
Contestant
Stayin' alive.
- 09:43
Host
That is correct.
- 09:45
Host
That is correct.
- 09:46
Contestant
Well, stop cutting each other's throat.
- 09:49
Host
That also is correct.
- 09:51
Host
How can black people rise up and overcome?
- 09:56
Contestant
Get out and vote?
- 09:58
Host
That is incorrect. I'm sorry.
- 10:04
Host
Well, folks, our judges tallied up the scores, and we have a winner. Rob the DJ. Rob, come on out. Excellent job, Rob. Congratulations. Here's the grand prize. Of course, it contains a lifetime supply supply of Murray's hair cream.
- 10:19
That's right.
- 10:20
Host
And one pan is a lifetime supply. Trust me. Two bootleg DVDs, and of course, what would a grand prize be without a pack of menthol cigarettes?
- 10:31
Speaker 1
Black people!
- 10:33
Chappelle's Soap. Chappelle's Soap. Chappelle's Soap. Chappelle's Soap. Chappelle's Soap. Chappelle's Soap. Ow!
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from across the archive.
