DARRYL LITTLETON AKA D’MILITANT descends from an impressive lineage of comedians, among them Dick Gregory, Paul Mooney, and Lenny Bruce. These guys, he says, could pick up a newspaper, read it, and tell you ‘what was really going on.’ Think of Littleton as just a brilliant stage comic would be wildly underestimating his contributions to the Black comedic canon. Sure those contributions are at once impressive, but more importantly enduring. Losing him to cancer in 2021 is a loss to the entire community. Littleton was prescient in seeing what Black comedy, as a historical genre, was lacking. Today’s comics, he reasoned, needed to be able to build a bridge across time. From Stepin Fetchit and Mantan Moreland; to Red Fox and Richard Pryor; to Dick Gregory and Robin Harris; to Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence; from Jamie Fox and D.L. Hughley; to Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. “I didn’t want Black comedy history to be lost.” he said. For his book, Black Comedians on Comedy, How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh (2006), he interviewed over 125 Black comedians. The book became the basis for Robert Townsend’s Showtime documentary Why We Laugh, which debuted at Sundance in 2009. He co-authored This Day In Comedy– The Ethnic Encyclopedia Of Laughter with Frank Holder, an exploration of ethnic comedy that is inclusive of Native Americans, Asians and Middle Easterners. In total he authored five books on the history of African-Americans and women in comedy and was the first African-American on the advisory board of the Comedy Hall of Fame. Littleton believed that funny comes in all colors and genders. Littleton was an Emmy-nominated writer and former pro-ducer of BET’s Comic View. He won ABC’s America’s Funniest People, appeared on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and as an actor appeared on shows including the Emmy award winning Parent ‘Hood. He also released two comedy CDs, was an NPR commentator and released the virtual calendar, ‘This Day In Comedy’. The Los Angeles native began his comedy career writing sketches for “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” on CBS Radio. During his tenure there, he became a regular at the world famous Comedy Store and adopted the stage name, “D’Militant” for his slicing and incisive social and political commentary. He also wrote material for D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore, and Don DC Curry. Littleton was not dismissive of any genre of comedy, noting the value that each possessed and how the standard bearers for each form gave way to a new generation. His knowledge was encyclopedic and his observations inciteful. He riffed on how Robin Harris blew the doors open for west coast comics at a pivotal time in the country’s history. “I want to chronicle this knowledge for young comics who think the modern age of comedy began in the 80s with Martin Lawrence,” he said. Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest co-founder Steve Capers re-members D’Militant’s generous spirit. After Littleton agreed to fill in for a comic who was notorious for being late, Capers asked him how long he could do? Without missing a beat, he said three to four hours minimum. Capers immediately threw Littleton on stage where he performed 1 1⁄2 hours of non-stop laughter. Mostly he was a ‘good guy’, Capers offered. And that generous spirit permeated his relationship with his fellow comics. He was known to be a mentor and great friend to many. And what of the future of Black comedy? Diversification was Littleton’s watchword. “You have to let people know you can do more than one thing.” He gives mad props to Whoopi Goldberg, an EGOT, whose career encompasses film, television, theater, producing, directing and being one of the hosts on the country’s longest running and most influential daytime talk shows. It is, he says, the model that Kevin Hart is a master of today. Black comedy exists on a continuum according to Littleton. “There is no beginning or end, just links in the chain.”
