Get set to Rock as US comic hits town

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Stand up: Chris Rock is set to smash comedy records on his first UK tour

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He is the superstar famed for his brutally honest brand of observational comedy.

Chris Rock kicks off the London leg of his world tour tonight, enjoying unprecedented advance sales for a comedian.

More than 40,000 people have bought tickets to see the comic hailed as the "funniest man alive".

Rock, 42, who is performing 10 sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy, has only appeared twice in the UK before - once at a low-key performance at the Comedy Store in Soho and once with a notorious cameo at last year's Live Earth, when he angered the BBC by saying "motherf***ers" live on air.

It was that experience which convinced him that a British audience was ready for him.

Rock said: "I was hanging out during Live Earth and I went to the Comedy Store, that small club, and got on stage and it was so good. People were going crazy and the jokes were working so I thought, 'Okay, let me come back'."

In his first British show at the Manchester Apollo on Monday night, Rock entertained a 3,500-strong audience with his views on a typically vast range of topics, from the current weakness of the US dollar to Britney Spears's child custody woes. His 90-minute performances also featuremusings on the success of US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Rock is an avid supporter of the Illinois Democrat senator, who he recently introduced at a Harlem rally as the "next president".

The comedian got his big break when his idol Eddie Murphy cast him in Beverly Hills Cop II. Murphy was so impressed with the 18-year-old stand-up that he befriended him and mentored him during his early career.

Rock would later follow in Murphy's footsteps on Saturday Night Live and also appeared in several films, including New Jack City and Lethal Weapon 3. In 2005, he hosted the Academy Awards.

Much of his comedy is based on his humble childhood growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighbourhood. He depicted this upbringing in the hit sitcom Everybody Hates Chris.

Today, Rock is also famous for his work as a film-maker, actor and voiceover artist. He earned favourable reviews voicing a mosquito in the recent animation hit Bee Movie.

Chris on...

...Barack Obama
"Unbelievable! A black man running for president of the United States - so far he hasn't been shot! Sometimes I don't think he realises he's the black candidate. He thinks he can win fair and square."

...Hillary Clinton
"I think America is ready for a woman president but does it have to be that one?"

...Gun control
"We don't need no gun control. Nah, we need some bullet control. That's why I think a bullet should cost $5,000 If a bullet cost $5,000 there'd be no more innocent bystanders."

...Iraq
"They lied to me. Iraq - the most dangerous country in the world? If it was so dangerous how come they took the entire country in two weeks? S**t, you couldn't even take Baltimore in two weeks."

...Britney Spears's custody problems
"Even OJ got to keep his kids - and he killed their mother."

...The difference between men and women "Men lie the most, women tell the biggest lies. A man lie is 'I was at Kevin's house!' A woman lie is like, 'It's your baby!'"

...America "I love America. America is the greatest country in the whole world. We are all lucky to be here - even black people. If you are black, America is like your uncle who puts you through college but molests you."

... Shopping malls "Every town's got two malls: they got the white mall - and the mall white people used to go to."

 

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