Peek-a-Boo, I See You: The Ongoing Search For Craft

ob Sumner was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey January 25 at some mysterious period in the early 60’s. “Conveniently, exactly one month after Christmas so my parents would have enough time to buy me more presents” he pointed out. Although he was raised not 10 minutes away in Roselle, NJ. It was a middle class community where he got to see people on both ends of the spectrum. “We had the best of both worlds,” he said. “Education was good, but you could attain a street knowledge.”

“My parents were cool” Bob recollected. He feels like his involvement in comedy stemmed from them, describing them as “Ozzy and Harriet”. Every Sunday, up until he was nine, they would go to the famed Apollo Theatre where he recalls seeing legends such as Moms Mabley, Flip Wilson, and a young Richard Pryor perform.

Around the time Bob was nine, his parents split up, but unlike the more commonly known bad divorce scenarios of today, he recalls his parents still getting along. They were both well-liked people. His mother worked with RCA record company and also at the factory where RCA televisions were built. Eventually RCA moved and offered her a job in New York, which she took. His father was a barber as well as a school liaison officer. “I got the opportunity to meet so many people there. I basically grew up in that barbershop.” How ironic, that a barbershop called “Hollywood” is where he’d grow up before leading him to the very destination itself.

While one can write that off as coincidence, Bob chooses to take note of things like that. Pointing out that he’s the same astrological sign as such people like Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown, and Rosa Parks. “I feel like there is something there because socially, I’ve always been a leader and so were they.” As I’m sure many comedians will tell you, so much of this business is fate. It’s being in the right place, at the right time, in front of the right people. “When I first met Bernie Mac he was driving a Wonderbread truck and by the time he passed, he’d long been a multi-millionaire.”

Growing up, Bob was always an “A” student, had a deep love for playing basketball, and deejaying. Music seemed to be an underlying theme in his family. Both his brothers were also musicians, a vocalist and a guitarist. “Spinning records was it for me more than any other instrument.” Bob said. Although, his dream job actually wasn’t related to comedy or music at all. “I wanted to coach the Knicks,” he recollected as time went on and the pressures of really settling on a professional direction became more serious, a blessing in disguise struck him, literally. He had gotten into an accident during his first semester at Seton Hall, injuring his knee. Torn between the desire to play basketball for the prestigious Big East program or work his way onto the University’s famed radio station, the decision had been made for him.

Bob landed a job with the radio station, which led him to promoting live shows as well as deejaying at parties. Over time he developed his own radio show within the already famed “Friday Night Jam” lineup, “Mellow Madness”, into a success of notable proportion. “It was just as popular as the commercial stations we had.” Bob pointed out. Through his radio involvement he began helping promote musicians. “I was able to see talented artists with no direction. I just took them under my wing to help them,” Bob said. “This is my gift from God. I wasn’t looking for anything out of it. I just knew something about how to help them, that they didn’t.” His efforts eventually led him to Def Jam Records, where as a producer he would contribute towards a major change in comedy.

In 1992, the legendary Def Comedy Jam burst on to the scene, taking comedy by storm and opening the doors to many comedians that are now considered household names. What was Bob’s involvement in the show? He was responsible for finding the talent worthy of gracing this now famous forum. It would be a tough argument to say that he didn’t come through, and then some. “The initial shows for Def Comedy Jam were very easy for me because I already knew so many comedians through rooms I booked shows at like Terminal D, Club 88, and The Peppermint.” Places like The Apollo Theatre and All Jokes Aside, which is now Jokes & Notes in Chicago, functioned as clubs that Bob frequented to scout more talent. Bob worked with comedian Bill Bellamy and through him got the opportunity to learn more about comedians like Joe Torry and other who were performing out west at clubs like The Comedy Act Theatre, in Los Angeles, which happens to be the first black owned comedy club in America. Def Comedy Jam ran successfully until 1997 when it took what Bob has described as a “break”.