There must be a lot of money riding on the success or failure of Black and Blue, because releasing it in the wake of Tracy Morgan’s media dogfight earlier this year will convince the few remaining doubters that he was very much capable of saying those things that he was accused of, and probably would have developed it into his act had he not been called out on it. But the really surprising thing about this program is not how gruesome or disgusting the material can be (that really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows his work beyond 30 Rock and SNL), but just how incongruous it is with his stage persona. With so much of the subject matter being so intentionally left of the dial, you would think Morgan would relish it a little bit more, or take some enjoyment out of his rarely-indulged iconoclasm, but largely, he seems to resent the forum that he’s in, and doesn’t seem to appreciate the presence of an audience at all. He barely even smiles.
To be fair, most of what Tracy talks about here seems to piss him off. There’s no buildup or crescendo here; just a rattling off of grievances about people who seem to be making the world worse. Among the targets are “wheelchair people” and gay people, who he insists are far too sensitive, and George W. Bush, who he claims knew something about 9/11 in advance, and purposefully didn’t find Osama Bin Laden (this was obviously recorded a little while ago). But the biggest target here is women, and how they need to stop being such cockteases. Morgan goes on to describe several sexual acts in great detail (the highlight of which is definitely his description of how he would have intercourse with his teenage girlfriend’s eye socket after she removed a glass eye), with the differences between the way that white people and black people approach them enumerated at length.
It’s not that it isn’t funny, because a lot of it is. Even when you feel more than a little sick at the detail with which he’s imbuing certain topics, it’s mostly straddled in that sweet spot between peculiarity and outright revolt (particularly successful is his take on the then-recently released Mel Gibson tape, which he said sounded remarkably similar to any number of hip hop records, and openly wondered who would be doing the remix). But most of the time, he seems almost indifferent to what he’s saying, and to the people that he’s saying it to (for most of the program, the audience seems to return the favor). His posture could be described as defensive, stalking the stage back and forth while grimacing, even when discussing topics (like sex) that don’t seem to require any kind of polemic. There’s also a strange amount of dead space between jokes, which adds to a general air of detachment.
There are other moments, though, where he seems to become genuinely wistful, and it helps to counterbalance his otherwise outspoken animosity. When he talks about meeting President Obama, and becoming overcome with emotion, it’s a moving moment, and you almost wish that he didn’t follow it up with a joke, especially one that seems to cheapen the experience. You can’t really blame Morgan for wanting to stretch his arms a little after becoming known for work that, while well-received, must seem creatively stifling, at least in comparison with what he lets rip here. But the inconsistency of his affected tone, and the general disaffection of his delivery prevent this from being the eye-opener that he seemed to hope that it would be.
DVD Bonus Features
There are a few deleted scenes that didn’t make it into the original program.
"Tracy Morgan: Black and Blue" is on sale August 2, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy, Concert-Film. Directed by John Moffitt. Written by Tracy Morgan. Starring Tracy Morgan.
