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Tracy Morgan stand up flap, comedy rules are rewritten for the times

By April MacIntyre Jun 12, 2011, 16:10 GMT

03/26/2011 - Tracy Morgan - 1st Annual Comedy Awards - Arrivals - The Hammerstein Ballroom - New York City, NY, USA © Mario Santoro / PR Photos

Could the late comedians Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, Lenny Bruce, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Hicks or Mitch Hedberg do their acts if they were brought back from the dead?

What about Doug Stanhope? Or Dave Attell?

Many comics make their living being hugely offensive. What separates the pros from the hacks is how they deliver the material and contextually wrap it up to make a point. What comedians say on stage now is so scrutinized for hate language, it's a miracle insult King Don Rickles is still allowed to perform.

Tracy Morgan learned the hard way that dissing gay people in his act has repercussions, and even his fellow comics are taking him to task.

Chris Rock took Morgan to the woodshed via Twitter: “Tracy morgan is a tad off we all know that so when tracy says something i usually don’t take it anymore serious than i would a statement from gary busey or flavor flav. when i first heard the statement i thought it was offensive but it also reminded me of my father saying ill kill you if you ever bring home a white girl but after reading everything tracy said. wow i get it that s–t wasn’t called for and i don’t support it at all. now can i please go to the tony awards without getting my ass kicked.”

Previously, Rock had tweeted: “I dont know about you, but I dont want to live in world where Tracy Morgan cant say foul inappropriate shit."

But for the rest of the 30 Rock cast? Tina Fey called Morgan out for his stage act, then said she knew his heart and that it was "good,", and Morgan's gay costar Cheyenne Jackson gave the Advocate a quote: “I am disgusted and appalled by Tracy Morgan’s homophobic rant.”