‘In Living Color’ alum Tommy Davidson coming to new Funny Farm Jan. 8-10

Tommy Davidson, best known for his hilarious impressions on Fox's groundbreaking series "In Living Color" (1990-94), is coming to the new and improved Funny Farm in Roswell this weekend.

He’s now a standup workhorse, spending at least 40 weekends a year on the road.

He was, in fact, at the Uptown Comedy Corner just a few months ago. That club caters heavily to an African-American audience. The Funny Farm attracts a broader mix of customers, more on the north side of town given its location. I called Gary Abdo, a co-owner of Uptown. He had not heard the Funny Farm had even reopened and may visit the club this weekend to check out his competition. (Given the geographic distance and demographic pull of each club, they aren't really major rivals.)

“Tommy has a crossover audience,” Abdo said. “I’ve worked with him since the ‘In Living Color’ days. He’s a great act and a great person. I really like him as human being. That’s not an easy thing to say about most comics.”

“I can work black clubs,” Davidson said in a phone interview earlier this week. “I can work white clubs or mixed clubs.”

He embraces what he calls the "Bruce Lee philopophy" with his comedy. "I just kind of go with it. Bruce Lee talked about water. It's so versatile. It can be hard. It can be soft. It can take the shape of its container. Be water, my friend. That's my comedy. It takes the shape of the container."

Davidson appears to make most of his bucks doing standup now but he is also able to do, what he calls, “his own stuff.”

“Not only do I have the sovereign right to do so, I have the know how and skills to do it,” he said. He doesn’t like to audition with everybody else in Hollywood for movie roles.

“It doesn’t seem universally fair for someone who has contributed so much on a major scale,” he said. “The only one who can make that determination is me. Standup lets me do that.”

Davidson admits over the years that he’s walked away from opportunities that might have broken big. “That had to do with my own fears,” he said. But he has no regrets.

Davidson marvels that 20 years have passed since "In Living Color." "I'm lucky to be in that fraternity. I have guys who now tell me they grew up on me. I used to say that to Henry Winkler!"

A reunion? Not going to happen, he said. Creator Keenen Ivory Wayans, he said, "doesn't have any use for 'In Living Color' anymore."

He is developing his own TV sketch comedy show that is like “Flip Wilson meets 2010.” He wouldn’t mind going on either a broadcast or cable network but isn’t pushing BET. “I just don’t see them as that creative,” he said.

The comic has nothing but props for local mogul Tyler Perry. "I'd love to work with him," he said. "I don't think he sees me. I've seen him at the Soul Train Awards and the Hoodie Awards. One time I said, 'Hey man.' He kind of looked over my head."

Davidson has resisted going a reality show. "I don't have to because I have talent," he said. He acknowledges some reality show stars such as Snoop Dogg do have talent but he just doesn't want to be a part of it.

He'd love to do a biopic of his idol Sammy Davis Jr., someone he impersonated to great comic effect on "In Living Color." He never met Davis but said he got a nice letter from Davis' former wife, something he treasures.

In the meantime, it’s tough times for comedy clubs right now. Abdo said he’s competing directly with nightclubs who are now offering free admission far more frequently than they used to. “The days of paying comics $20,000 is long gone,” Abdo said. Although he had a slow period late last year, he’s hanging in there. “We’re surviving,” he said. “You have to know where to tighten up.”

THIS WEEKEND

Tommy Davidson

The Funny Farm

11000 Alpharetta Highway

Roswell, GA 770-817-4242