# Is Dick Gregory still funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565 "2007-01-26T15:42:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/1 "2007-01-26T15:42:03Z")
Dick Gregory is going to be at the DC Improv next week. Is he still funny, or will it just be an hour of politics and activism? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/2 "2007-01-26T19:05:03Z")
I don’t know if he’s ever been funny, but he definitely is not currently funny. He appeared at the Comedy Centryl Roast of Hugh Hefner and while everyone else was reeming Hef good, DG comes on and gives five minutes of maudlin tripe about what a hero Hef is for giving blacks opprtunities at his clubs in the 50’s and 60’s when it wasn’t cool to do so. My guess is he is now the type of stand-up who gets applause, not laughs. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/3 "2007-01-26T19:32:17Z")
Is Dick Gregory still alive? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/4 "2007-01-26T20:54:08Z")
The only reference I know to Dick Gregory is when Robin Harris in **Houseparty** says to “leave him alone, so he can have his Dick Gregory”, which I guess referred to some sort of healthful shake mix?? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/5 "2007-01-26T21:06:05Z")
I never thought he was particularly funny, even when his outdated “message” was lukewarmly topical. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/6 "2017-08-20T14:00:21Z")
Updating this thread: > [@lisacurl](#): > > Is Dick Gregory still alive? 😃 > [@](#): > > Dick Gregory, a pioneering force of comedy in the 1960s who parlayed his career as a stand-up comic into a life of social and political activism, has died Saturday of heart failure, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 84. > **[Dick Gregory, Trailblazer of Stand-Up Comedy, Dies at 84](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/dick-gregory-dead-stand-up-comedy-legend-civil-rights-activist-was-84-1004479/)** > > He broke ground at the Playboy Club in Chicago and on Jack Paar's 'Tonight Show,' then became a potent activist for civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/7 "2017-08-20T14:19:58Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Updating this thread: > > [Dick Gregory Dead: Stand-Up Comedy Legend, Civil-Rights Activist Was 84](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dick-gregory-dead-stand-up-comedy-legend-civil-rights-activist-was-84-1004479) Username/post combo of the day. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/8 "2017-08-20T16:21:23Z")
I guess the answer is “no,” then. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/9 "2017-08-20T16:32:27Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I never thought he was particularly funny, even when his outdated “message” was lukewarmly topical. This is a total mischaracterization of his life and work and out of any context. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/10 "2017-08-20T17:46:14Z")
Here’s another article, from the New York Times: > **[Dick Gregory, 84, Dies; Found Humor in the Civil Rights Struggle (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/arts/dick-gregory-dies-at-84.html?mcubz=0)** > > A black satirist who gave white audiences a deeper feel for the nation’s shameful racial history, Mr. Gregory was a national sensation in the early 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/11 "2017-08-20T20:52:37Z")
That his message was considered by some to be outdated and not close to topical a decade ago seems interesting today. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/12 "2017-08-20T22:43:09Z")
The whole point of his life and work was to make his message outdated. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/13 "2017-08-21T00:26:44Z")
We had him at college sometime around 1979. First half was standup, which I remember as funny. Second half was political/social commentary, which was unexpected, particularly at a small Minnesota college. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dick-gregory-still-funny/389565/14 "2017-08-21T02:26:55Z")
I’m 50 and I’ve never known Dick Gregory to be funny or to actually do comedy. Any time his name came up it was about his activism. Since I was in the NYC news area the Walter Hudson story was big news. I was surprised to hear he did comedy at all anymore.