Review: Donnell Rawlings, From Ashy to Classy, Live

by Betsy Geller

Donnell Rawlings newly released DVD, From Ashy to Classy, was at first a time warp back to the Tiger Woods affair, the Obama fly swatting incident and Michael Jackson’s insomnia, with a ladleful of Brooklyn stereotypes thrown in. As a white girl who hasn’t been to Brooklyn in more than 20 years and for whom Tiger Woods’ didn’t represent an act of hubris on the scale of, say, Bill Clinton… I was at first wondering why I was watching this. However, Rawlings brings nearly everyone into the fold…whites, blacks, gay, Asians, Indians, and even killer whales, whom, as he points out, have a black sounding name but get treated like white guys.

From Ashy to Classy picked up as the second half got less joke-dependent and showcased Rawlings deeper observations about fellow humans. These included polished imitations of voice, gestures and walks– the ones about a man getting into the same revolving door compartment with him, and the angry white man’s tight-white-ass stance could easily stand alone without the preceding warm-up jokes. I couldn’t not laugh.

Rawlings comes off as a likeable guy who can deftly navigate any racial situation thrown at him. Shots of upscale white guys in the audience doing the quiet kind of laughter that they do added to this impression. This is good stuff, and the potential to wonder why you bought it probably won’t set in for at least a few viewings.