This South Philly Guy Has the Best Comedy Special on Netflix Right Now
From asking out Wanda Sykes to getting booed by Mike Tyson to surviving two strokes, Keith Robinson has led quite a life.
Keith Robinson, from the Netflix comedy special Keith Robinson: Different Strokes / Photograph by Emily Assiran
No one was quite sure whether South Philadelphia comedian Keith Robinson would return to the stage after he suffered not one but two strokes. Well, not only is he back, but he has his own comedy special on Netflix. It’s aptly called Keith Robinson: Different Strokes. And we caught up with him to learn more about his life and career.
I was born in … Philadelphia General Hospital in West Philly and grew up in the Passyunk projects in South Philly, near the stadiums. We had white folks and Black folks in there, so there were race riots. But breaking into the freight trains was fun for a six-year-old boy.
One person people mix me up with is … Martin Lawrence. I don’t get it. There’s zero resemblance.
These days, I live in … New York. I left Philly in 1992 to pursue a comedy career more seriously.
The last time I worked a real job was … at Shoe World, 12th and Chestnut, 1983. Fitting ladies for shoes. It was terrible.
If you’re wondering why my speech is so slurred … I had a bad stroke in 2016 and an even worse one in 2020. The right side of my body is also affected.
Recovering from my strokes was … easy in 2016. Everybody came to see me: Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Bill Burr, Wanda Sykes. But my second stroke was in 2020 during COVID. I was all alone in the hospital for nearly two months. Not even my family members could come and see me. Truly a horrible situation.
My parents taught me … to never give up.
When people ask me to describe South Philly … I say it’s a mixture of everything. It’s bad. It’s great. South Philly was definitely good to me.
The biggest problem in comedy today is … social media. It takes away from the work ethic of being a comic, where you used to have to go on stage and work it out in front of a live audience. Now, somebody can make a funny face and get millions of followers. Everybody calls themself a comic now.
Keith Robinson, as seen in his Netflix special (image courtesy Netflix)
When I look back on the wretched outfit I wore on Star Search in 1993, I think … never take fashion advice from Sinbad. I had way too much MC Hammer going on.
The most famous person in my phone is … Kevin Hart. He calls me his mentor.
My biggest comedy heroes are … Richard Pryor and George Carlin. There was nobody like them before them. And there hasn’t been anybody like them since.
The first real concert I went to in life was … Steve Wonder. He was on his In the Square Circle Tour at the Spectrum. August 1986. I see a lot of shows. This was probably the best show I’ve ever seen. Just phenomenal.
What I miss most about Philly is … obvious. The cheesesteaks. No matter what anyone tells you, you cannot get a good cheesesteak in New York.
When somebody tells me they want to become a comedian, I tell them … you cannot be good if you’re afraid to be bad. Comedy is an experiment. A process.
The next time you come to New York, you’ve got to go to … the Comedy Cellar! That’s where I perform the most. And be sure to get a bite at the Blue Ribbon.
The best thing about my job is that … I’m in control.
The worst is … getting booed. I bombed at the Apollo in Harlem in 1990. Everybody was there. Mike Tyson. LL Cool J. Big Daddy Kane. And they all booed me. They all watched me die a thousand deaths. Back in my South Philly hood, I became known as “the guy who got booed at the Apollo.”
My next performances … are in September, out on tour with Wanda Sykes. I once asked her out. She told me no, that she’d have to cheat on me. That really messed with me. I felt better years later once I learned that she’s a lesbian.
One thing I wish the 20-year-old me knew is … take care of yourself so you don’t have a stroke. Seriously. A doctor once told me my blood pressure was 245 over 110. That was well before my first stroke. I had plenty of warnings. I ignored them. Don’t be like me!
Published as “One of Us: Keith Robinson” in the August 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
