John Witherspoon at Tommy T’s
Steven Bloom | Sep 18, 2008 | Comments 0
Headlines Tommy T’s August 19 – 22
Well known to movie audiences for his appearances in the series of Friday movies starring rapper Ice Cube, character actor John Witherspoon’s popularity took root in a new generation after he had spent more than 30 years in show business. Getting his start as a standup comic in the early 1970s, Witherspoon appeared in some of the most popular sitcoms of the decade, including Good Times and What’s Happening!! Keenen Ivory Wayans’s I’m Gonna Get You Sucka, and Eddie Murphy’s Boomerang.
After becoming a regular performer on television in the The Wayans Brothers Show in 1994, Witherspoon played the character of Mr. Jones in the Hollywood movie Friday, a box office hit that led to two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. Building on his success, Witherspoon has branched out into screen writing, announcing a new movie project, From the Old School, in which he plans to take a starring role as an elderly man working to prevent the conversion of a neighborhood corner store into a strip club.
John began a career as a standup comic along with other African-American comedians such as Moms Mabley and Flip Wilson had become household names by the late 1960s, through their appearances on television variety shows, but there had been fewer inroads made on the integrated nightclub circuit by black comedians. Despite the obstacles, by the early 1970s Witherspoon had made a name for himself as a standup act. He had also made a number of friends in the business, including Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Sandra Bernhard, Marsha Warfield, and Tim Reid, as well as David Letterman, who would later serve as godfather to both of Witherspoon’s sons.
See him live at Tommy T’s newest Comedy Club in Rancho Cordova!
Click here for Reservations and to buy tickets!
Tell them you saw it on SacramentoComedy.Com!
Click Here To Watch John’s Video!
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