Just Do It

Paul Mooney

by Ben Kharakh

Wed.-Thu., March 12-13, 8 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., March 14-15, 8 and 10:30 p.m., $15-$29, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, heliumcomedy.com

Paul Mooney has been strutting the fine line between hilarious and slightly uncomfortable for more than 30 years. From his time writing with Richard Pryor to his appearances on Chappelle's Show, Mooney makes his audiences think while they laugh.

City Paper: What do you hope to accomplish with your humor?

Paul Mooney: The goal was to be funny. The rest of it is innate. I've always been good at racial jokes, and you have to just do what you're good at. The Colonel fries chicken, not turkey. It's what was in my face. It's how I learned to survive. If I didn't put humor in it, I'd be like that man in the mall.

CP: Where'd you get your sense of humor from?

PM: My grandmother. I learned to be funny from her. She'd say a lot of things that meant a lot to me. Like, "Birds fly high, but they have to come down to the ground to get water."

CP: After performing for as long as you have, do you still get heckled?

PM: People usually don't heckle me. They just walk out because they can't take it. The racial thing in America is very deep. I could talk about sex and they'll just sit there; religion and they won't budge. But race makes people get up and leave. People are shocked by what I say. I'm shocked. I'm surprised by what comes from out of my mouth.

CP: How do you feel about walkouts?

PM: It has nothing to do with me. I'm not a psychologist — I'm a comedian.