Consider Yourself Entertained

Cedric the Entertainer is a veritable Everyman, a baby-faced comedian who lacks the physical restlessness of Eddie Murphy or the sleazy apathy of Dane Cook. The star whose character made controversial remarks about Martin Luther King Jr. in Barbershop (thereby giving Jesse Jackson an excuse to put on his suit and call CNN) has a remarkable ability to hold his own with the intimidating Ice Cube in an ensemble cast, steal a scene by way of a fairly filthy monologue, and then slip seamlessly into a children's movie playing a hapless lemur. And as one of the anointed "Kings of Comedy" alongside old friend Steve Harvey; the late, great Bernie Mac; and the maddening D.L. Hughley, Cedric appeals to an unusually wide audience with his riffs on race, society, television, music, kids... he can even sell his monologues about gangster rap to little old white ladies, often caught on camera applauding a punch line about Snoop Dogg with an almost disturbing zeal. It seems almost obvious that Cedric the Entertainer was once Cedric the State Farm Insurance salesman and is now considered one of Madison Avenue's most valuable commodities, a guy who oozes enough charm and eloquence to draw you in...then boom, you're the proud owner of a couple of tickets to catch his act 8 p.m. Saturday at Nokia Theatre, 1001 Performance Place. Tickets are $35 to $85. Visit nokialivedfw.com.
Sat., March 14, 8 p.m., 2009