Comedian Chris Rock performed at a sold-out show in Baltimore in the Lyric Performing Arts Center on April 22. Rock reportedly once again skirted “the slap heard ’round the world” during his performance on Friday night, however he did reference the Will Smith incident in an instance or two.
A WJZ-TV reporter live tweeted from the comedian’s show. “I’m all right, I’m all right,” said Rock. “Healed from the nicks and bruises, for the most part,” he reportedly joked.
“#HAPPENINGNOW: @chrisrock in #Baltimore@lyricbaltimore Performing to 2500+ sold out crowd First 30 seconds Rock walks out and says “I’m alright I’m alright…healed from the nicks and bruises…for the most part” then doesn’t mention slap for entire 1.5 hr hilarious show @wjz.”
One Twitter user replied that while Rock didn’t elaborate on the Smith slap, it was referenced later in the show. Another Twitter user added that Rock had attempted to involve the audience member in a joke but they brought up Jada Pinkett Smith. The Baltimore Sun article seems to confirm the account.
“He didn’t mention it, but there was a moment involving a woman from the audience.”
“I went to see Chris Rock last night and he was doing a joke and asked a lady in the front row to help out. He asked her, ‘What’s your name?’ She said, ‘Jada’….he said, ‘sit yo ass down.’ The place erupted.”
While fans enjoyed the Oscars’ slap references, they didn’t seem to mind that the comedian barely referenced the incident during his performance. Rock also posed for a picture with a fan on Saturday while shopping at a record store. The former “Saturday Night Live” star was also scheduled to perform his “Ego Death World Tour” in Baltimore on Saturday night for another sold-out show.
