In Memoriam
By M. Abduh

My first time seeing John Witherspoon was on Richard Pryor’s 1977 NBC comedy variety show. Witherspoon appeared in several skits on the show, as well as at a roast of Pryor that concluded the short-lived program. I was young, so my memories of him in the sketches are faint, but the roast remains vivid. “And you know what NBC means?” he asked the audience. “Nigger be careful.”

This, of course, was before Boomerang, the mushroom shirt, “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” and “You have to co-ordinate.” Before funking up the toilet in Friday: “Nobody go in the bathroom for thirty-five, forty-five minutes.” Before he was the Pops on the Wayans Bros. or Huey and Riley’s Granddad on The Boondocks. In other words, I’ve been tuning in to “Spoon” since I was a young buck, laughing at his many bit parts in films and on television for decades: films like Friday, ‪Black Dynamite‬, and ‪The Five Heartbeats‬; shows like Black Jesus, The Boondocks, and Martin. His catchphrases are some of the most memorable and oft-repeated lines in the culture. In short, he was one of the funniest, most impactful comedic performers to appear on any screen, big or small.

Comedian DL Hughley recently asked him how he lasted so long. The reason, he replied, is because “people come out to see this character…this dude who was very funny.” So funny, so significant, that no sequel, no reboot—not Last Friday, not The Boondocks—will be the same without him. His humor, his one-liners, his voice, his stories are irreplaceable.