Hey, everyone. We’re going to do something a little different for Black History Month. Usually, we pick a different comedian every day. This month, we’re going to pick one comedian each week and take a deeper dive into their work. This week we’re celebrating Moms Mabley.

Mabley is one of the literal original stand-up comedians of any race. To say she paved the way is an understatement that does a disservice to her contributions to the genre of comedy. She has never received the respect she deserves for her work.

This is from 1974. Moms is 80 and less than one year from her passing, and she still steals the show and breaks Kris Kristofferson at least half a dozen times. She was just a natural entertainer and has a seemingly effortless ability to elicit laughter from the crowd as well as whoever she is performing with.