Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer, St. Louis’ own king of comedy, paid tribute to fellow comedian Bernie Mac in the year-end issue of Entertainment Weekly, out now.

Mac died earlier this year from pneumonia.

Here’s what Cedric the Entertainer had to say in the magazine.

“Bernie was a really good family man, and that essence came out even though he had this brash, tough comedy style. His comedy would come straight from whatever he was experiencing.

Sometimes it wouldn’t be all the way developed, but he would be willing to go out and there and try it. Even on the Kings of Comedy stage, with 10,000 to 15,000 people out there, he would try stuff that he just thought of. We’d be (backstage) hollering and weeping because it was genius. It (was) just so daring.

Some nights it wouldn’t go as well, but it didn’t matter to him, because he truly was a renegade. He had his own bold sense, his delivery, that voice. Bernie had this specific cadence and delivery, like a black Rodney Dangerfield.”