Paul Mooney might be the funniest person you've never heard of i??i??i?? and he's definitely one of the best storyteller comics ever. But this veteran comic's time has come, and his profile received a huge boost in the past few years thanks to his hilarious appearances on "Chappelle's Show," crushing the segments called "Ask a Black Dude" and "Mooney on Movies." His recent appearance on Howard Stern's show on Sirius satellite radio are already legend among listeners since not only was Mooney hilarious, he dropped some jaw-dropping nuggets of gossip that had Barbara Walter's overbite burning with denial.

Mooney's regular appearances at the DC Improv prove he can pull an audience at a comedy club, but he and comic-legend-turned-activist-turned-weight-loss-guru Dick Gregory are taking on the big, beautiful confines of the Lincoln Theatre, whose fancy wallpaper should be smoking at the end of one of Mooney's flame-throwing sets. His biting riffs on race are on par with those of Richard Pryor, who often called upon Mooney to help him write his "Saturday Night Live" routines and comedy albums.

This next recommendation isn't pretty, but good advice often isn't: Wear adult diapers to Mooney's performance because you will soil yourself laughing.

--Christopher Porter, Express (November 2006)