To see Jamie Fox strutting his stuff and telling jokes on stage at the iconic Comedy Store in Los Angeles, you would never know this was a man who only recently recovered from a severe stroke that almost left him for dead.
Yet the Oscar winning actor-musician-comedian, who was felled during a movie shoot in Atlanta in 2023 and spent months hospitalized there, seemed to be better than ever: more physical, more focused, more funny.
He was being interviewed by his daughter Corinne as the highlight of an evening entitled “Netflix is a Joke: FYSEE L.A. Comedy Night” at the Sunset Strip club.
The father/daughter duo—okay, mostly the father– had the packed house in stitches, even when they addressed the stroke, which was also a focus in Foxx’s Netflix special, What Had Happened Was…, which served as his triumphant return to the stage after the debilitating stroke sidelined him for nearly a year.
After his daughter introduced him, Foxx pranced onto the stage, showing off his baggy black jeans with holes in them and striking a pose with his straw hat and glasses.
He reminisced about being at the Comedy Store 35 years ago, and seeing legends like Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy, “back when he was funny,” Foxx noted, before launching into a memory of Murphy’s bit about having sex with a small person. “I’m a little fella from Terrell, Texas, sneaking into the Comedy Store and seeing my hero Eddie Murphy talking some shit!”
That segued into further jokes about Sean “Diddy” Combs and his current sex trafficking trial, piling on the one in his comedy special that he left Diddy’s parties early because they were “too slippery.”
He then launched into a comedic tirade about Atlanta, talking about how famous people there would brag about owning a G-wagon. “This is Hollywood, man. I got a Rolls Royce,” Foxx said.
He did an unprintable bit about different audiences in the ATL and how they responded in various ways to his performances depending on whether it was a Thursday or Friday night.
Foxx also mentioned recently running into Chris Rock and joking that he looked like he’d been working out. “He shoulda been doing that before then,” Foxx said, referring to the infamous Oscar Slap inflicted on him. by Will Smith.
It looks like Foxx has definitely been working out and it was a wonderful sight to see and hear him in such fine form.
It had been one helluva evening that featured a bevy of other comedians who all have one thing in common—they have specials on Netflix. Specials Netflix wants you to not only watch, but consider nominating for Emmy awards, hence the FYC/FYSEE private event.
Fortune Feimster (Crushing It) got the party started by introducing fellow comedian Bert Kreischer, who after taking his shirt off in a signature move, moderated two panel discussions with comedians Sarah Silverman (PostMortem), Mike Birbiglia (The Good Life), Michelle Buteau (A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall), Andrew Schultz (Life) and Tom Segura (Bad Thoughts.)
It was striking how many of them were dealing with tragedy, specifically the death or serious illness of their parents yet finding both the humanity and the humor in those difficult and life-changing situations.
