Chris Rock Lauds Fellow Funny Man Martin Lawrence
TV/Film/Stand-Up Star to Receive "Comedy Icon" Honor
on BET Comedy Awards This Tues. Sept. 27
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| Martin Lawrence recieves the Comedy Icon award at the 2005 BET Comedy Awards, airing at 9 p.m., Tues., Sept. 27. |
Pasadena, CA – Star comedian Chris Rock presented equally talented colleague Martin Lawrence with the distinguished "Comedy Icon" award at the BET Comedy Awards, taped yesterday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The telecast airs at this Tuesday night, Sept. 27, at 9 p.m. on BET.
Hosted by TV/film/radio favorite Steve Harvey, this year's program delivers an entertaining mixed bag of big hits (such as Steve Harvey's Rome parody and up-and-comer Katt Williams), some misses (forgivably-stale awards show banter) and lots of well-deserved recognition.
The BET Comedy Awards spotlights outstanding performances in 18 categories, both in front of and behind the lens for television, film and stand-up. While many of their works emanate from essentially African-American experiences, these artists strike universal chords that cross cultures and garner solid mainstream followings.
Comedy Icon honoree Lawrence remains a huge draw on the live stand-up stage, in top-grossing films and on television. The original host of HBO's groundbreaking Def Comedy Jam series, the actor-producer's own successful sitcom Martin debuted on Fox in 1992 to a five-year run, and remains popular in worldwide syndication. Via Def Comedy and Martin, he launched signature phrases like "You go girl!" and "Whassup!" (further popularized by a hilarious Budweiser beer ad campaign) into the American pop culture lexicon.
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| Presenter Chris Rock's new sitcom Everybody Loves Chris set record Nielsen numbers for the UPN net, besting Fox serial The O.C. and NBC's Joey. |
Lawrence and co-star Will Smith pulled in more than $200 million domestically with the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Bad Boys action movie and its 2003 sequel. Establishing another feature franchise, Lawrence saw his highest-grossing opener to date with Big Momma's House raking in $25 million during its first weekend and Big Momma's House 2 set for release in 2006.
Presenter Chris Rock is currently celebrating the ratings success of his new, critically-acclaimed sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, which garnered UPN its highest opening night Nielsen numbers in the net's history. It premiered last Thursday to an estimated 7.6 million viewers, besting Fox serial The O.C. and NBC's Joey, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Other BET Comedy Awards presenters include celebs Regina King (Jerry Maguire, Miss Congeniality II), Tisha Campbell-Martin (ABC's My Wife & Kids), Niecy Nash (Comedy Central's Reno 911 and Style net gem Clean House), Camille Winbush (Fox's Bernie Mac), Brandon T. Jackson (Roll Bounce), Duane Martin (All of Us), Wanda Sykes (Monster-In-Law, Wanda Does It) and more. Irrepressible comedy legend Paul Mooney, who has written for greats such as Richard Pryor and garned new fans as a regular on Comedy Central's sorely-missed Chappelle's Show, also appears.
- J.J. Bolden