'Bye Felicia' - The 20 best black comedies, ranked

A coming-of-age comedy for the 21st century, Rick Famuyiwa's "Dope" features solid writing, stellar performances and is basically just fun to watch. The film follows the adventures of high school senior Malcolm (Shameik Moore) and his friends Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori) as they bond via different genres of music, which is refreshing on its own because it gives everything an "out-of-the-box" feeling. In many ways, "Dope" revitalizes a genre that may not have known that it was in need of revitalization. 

"Barbershop," while far less sharp than, say, "Friday," is still vital for what it manages to accomplish, a solid ensemble comedy featuring a very talented black cast including Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson and Ice Cube. The film focuses on life in and around a barbershop on the South Side of Chicago. At the time of its release, "Barbershop" earned a fair amount of controversy over jokes about civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Despite the controversy, the jokes are still funny, and this, the first of three films in the franchise, is still more than worth a watch.

So what if "Friday" sparked the flame for hip-hop legends in stoner comedies? Legends in their own right Redman and Method Man take their clear chemistry as stoners-in-arms and pull off a film that probably wouldn't work nearly as well with any other pair in the starring roles. To say that "How High" was tailor-made for the duo (and their fans) is an understatement, but what earns it a place on this list is the way in which it lampoons pretty much everything the movie steals from other films to make something that never feels less than funny — and shows a versatility in black comedy that is refreshing and unexpected.

Post-superstar Chris Rock turns in a surprising and unexpectedly funny film with "Top Five," taking on writing and directing duties in a movie that feels more than a little autobiographical, with more than successful returns. The film feels like a comedian who's been on vacation for a long, long time working out new material and realizing that, yep, he's still go it. Rosario Dawson is a more than capable foil on the rom-com side, but the contributions of Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan earn "Top Five" its rightful place on this list.

A star vehicle for teenybopper hip-hop stars Kid 'n Play, "House Party" is so much better than it deserves to be. Borrowing (and in some ways improving) on the John Hughes playbook, the Hudlin Brothers took a chance on a coming-of-age flick catering to teens of color, and it turned out to be a classic. This day-in-the-life look has been done and overdone in a number of films you might call classics, but everything about "House Party" proves it belongs up there with some of the best remembered. It's especially notable for the late, great Robin Harris as Play's dad in a hilarious turn that is both a parody and critique of the "stern dad" featured in many teen films of their time.

It would be enough to call "Girls Trip" a massive coming-out party for Tiffany Haddish, but that would tamp down the reality that the entire cast, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Regina Hall, serves as the perfect quartet in this raucous comedy that earns its place on this list by never falling into formula and delivering more than a few surprises along the way. Yes, the real star here is Haddish, who walks a fine line between comedy genius and caricature, but manages to do it almost effortlessly, guaranteeing here a long and fruitful career on screen.

When "CB4" was released in 1993, it was less than a critical darling, but in the years since its release, the film has only aged like a fine wine (or fine bottle of MD 20/20, which would be apropos). Tamra Davis' satire on the hip-hop industry hits its target pretty well but may have been ahead of its time in an industry where so much rides on image and credibility. At the time of its release, the rap coastal wars were just about to kick off, and while the film makes some pointed commentary, so much of it feels restrained in a time when criticism could likely get you killed. That said, the performances, particularly from Charlie Murphy, who takes his first steps out from under his brother's shadow, and Chris Rock finally getting his "I'm here" moment, make this a worthy entry on the list.

Michael Jai White hams it up with a straight face as a Vietnam veteran, ex-CIA agent and all-around sex machine in "Black Dynamite," a hilarious spoof on the Blaxploitation era that seems to take an extra step in its parody, including intentional errors like hanging boom mikes and other nods to the low production values commonplace in Blaxploitation films. Whether it's a plot to shrink black men's penises to kung-fu fighting Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, "Black Dynamite" is a throwback farce that will entertain just about anyone.

While "Life" wasn't the first time Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence shared the screen, the hilarious result is possibly their best together, particularly in Lawrence's case, as he never quite found the necessary niche to elevate him from TV to film. The pair star as a couple of men railroaded for crimes they didn't commit, resulting in an unjust life sentence on a prison work farm. As we see the two men age, the film gets only funnier, even though it's balanced with a sense of melancholy, which only the best comedies can pull off.

Audiences today may not remember Robert Townsend, but he sparked a pivotal moment in black film with "Hollywood Shuffle," a satire of what actors of color had to face as they struggled and strove to make it within the mostly white auspices of Hollywood. The film, which Townsend financed via credit cards, may not be as polished by modern standards, but the skewering the industry takes is one-of-a-kind. Spike Lee attempted to re-create the formula to some extent with his "Bamboozled" in 2000, but Townsend managed to set a tone through humor and masked pain that details a struggle that black actors still have to face to this day.

Remaking a Jerry Lewis classic is a task that could've gone in a number of directions, most of them not so good, but for Eddie Murphy, his take on "The Nutty Professor" was the spark that reignited his career. In the wake of the success of 1992's "Boomerang," Murphy thought he could coast by as a suave leading man, leaving behind the trickster that he built his career on. Here, he returns to the formula that always worked best for him — prosthetic appliance comedy — and hit a home run. His scene with Dave Chappelle as a hacky "Def Comedy Jam"-styled comedian is possibly one of the highlights of a film that has many.

While Richard Pryor was a genius of comedy, the fact is many of his films haven't aged well, largely because not much else was good about them outside of, well, Richard Pryor. One exception to this is "Bustin' Loose," his most well-rounded and memorable comedy, featuring Cicely Tyson as a more than capable foil and a cast of kids that feel like real kids more than actors. Only Pryor can take a film that is on its surface a saccharine family comedy and ensure it gets an "R" rating. 

Michael Schultz's "Car Wash" is one of those comedies that's both simple and effective. This workplace comedy features a cast of now-legendary black comics like Garrett Morris, Franklyn Ajaye and a memorable cameo from Richard Pryor as prosperity preacher/charlatan Daddy Rich. Antonio Fargas stands out as a cross-dressing member of the car wash crew with a heart of gold. The humor is fast and plentiful, and like later films such as "The Cannonball Run," "Car Wash" feels at times like a party among friends more than a movie, which only adds to its charm. 

The original and still-best spoof on the Blaxploitation era, "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," like "Black Dynamite," is equal parts parody and loving homage to a genre that seemed outdated at the tail end of the Reagan '80s (a fact the film hilariously skewers in an inspired scene featuring Clarence Williams III as a black revolutionary gone yuppie). Just as director/writer/star Keenan Ivory Wayans looks to poke at the genre, the inclusion of '70s Blaxploitation vets Bernie Casey, Jim Brown, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes shows a true reverence for the actors who made it possible for a movie like this to even exist.

The second in a three-film collaboration including "Uptown Saturday Night" and "A Piece of the Action" between Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby (before Cosby was exiled by the entertainment industry after allegations of sexual assault going back decades came to light), "Let's Do It Again" is a slight and sublime comedy that exploits the same straight man/funny man dynamic familiar in Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies — but with a whole lot more soul. Cosby and Poitier star as a pair of friends who travel to New Orleans on vacation, happening into an opportunity to use hypnosis to turn a wimpy boxer (Jimmie Walker) into a lanky version of Mike Tyson. Modern audiences will notice names like Biggie Smalls and Kansas City Mack, showing the cultural significance of a small comedy that had a huge audience.

Eddie Murphy, for so long, was a master of the ensemble comedy due to his willingness to be the butt of the joke as well as the jokester. He changes things up in director Reginald Hudlin's "Boomerang." Here Murphy moves into his suave ladies' man phase, which in turn makes him the de facto straight man as he allows a cast of supporting characters, including Martin Lawrence, Eartha Kitt, Grace Jones and John Witherspoon (in a career-making performance), shine in this still-hilarious tale of love and karma. 

Possibly the most poignant film on our list, "Cooley High" was unlike so many of the other black stories being told on screen in the early '70s that capitalized on the Blaxploitation craze. Instead of violent tales of revenge designed to get even with the man, "Cooley High' was just about kids hanging out in the streets of Chicago, complete with red light parties, basketball games, kung-fu movies and hooking up. The bawdy humor mixed well with the subtle (and unsubtle) tragedies that gave audiences a film that started the pivot from the black superheroes of Blaxploitation to the types of films we enjoy today. 

Not only is "Coming to America" Eddie Murphy's funniest movie, but it's squarely in the running for funniest movie of all time. Here, Murphy is at the peak of his powers in a number of roles (which he would exploit again throughout his career to varying levels of success) in this fish-out-of-water tale of a prince who goes to New York City to find a wife. So much of "Coming to America" is simply a showcase for Murphy (and to lesser extent Arsenio Hall). That is in no way a bad thing, but it's also the reason the film is not No.1 on our list. That said, try to hold a straight face as Murphy trots out character after character, from Clarence the barber, his long-suffering Jewish patron Saul, to Sexual Chocolate's Randy Watson. 

Buoyed by the massive popularity of West Coast hip-hop in the early '90s, films like "Boyz 'n the Hood" and "Menace II Society" were all the rage, with audiences fascinated by the realities of black life in South Central Los Angeles. Naturally at some point, all the tales of struggle, strife and tragedy would have to make way for a comedy. It took Ice Cube, coming off his critically acclaimed performance in "Boyz," to create the perfect stoner hood comedy, and with the help of comedian Chris Tucker, they created a bonafide classic. "Friday" excels primarily because it doesn't try to be anything more than what it is: a slice-of-life comedy that's both relatable and absurdly funny. 

One film above all has to wear the crown of best black comedy, and "Uptown Saturday Night" wins it in a walk. The first in the Poitier-Cosby trilogy, "Uptown" features a cavalcade of black entertainers, including Harry Belafonte, Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor (in what could be his greatest cameo ever). After thieves rob an after-hours joint where Steve Jackson (Poitier) and Wardell Franklin (Cosby) are gambling, the pair go on an epic misadventure when Jackson realizes his wallet contains a winning lottery ticket. As ensemble comedies go, "Uptown" fearlessly reigns supreme with culture, comedy and song in a film that featured the finest in black talent in a way that all similar comedies owe a massive debt to.