Unlikely Duo Fights Discrimination, One Laugh At A Time

RIVERHEAD, NY — One is black professor and Vietnam vet who grew up the projects and pulled himself out with grit and education. The other is a white comedian who grew up on Staten Island during the 70s and is now a hilarious comedian well-known for doing the warm-up for "The Dr. Oz Show."

They lived in very different worlds, at very different times. Until they met back in July, when comedian Richie Byrne unveiled his first "United We Laugh" event on the North Fork — a comedy show meant to tackle discrimination through humor and community discussion — and James Banks was in the audience.

In a world ripped apart by racism and hate crimes, the only way to bridge the gap is by bringing people together through humor and sharing honest and meaningful conversation about what can be done to work together toward solutions —and hope. Those words define the premise of "United We Laugh," presented by Soul Joel Productions and created and hosted by Byrne that's been touring the East End in recent months.

The next "United We Laugh" features Byrne, as well as comedians DC Benny, Melissa Diaz and Chuck Nice.Moderated by Jim “Dr. Love” Banks, the show is presented by the Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force and takes place Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Riverhead Senior Center, located at 60 Shade Tree Lane. Tickets cost $20 in advance / $15 for students; seniors and can be purchased here or by calling 908-414-7097. Tickets cost $25 at the door.

The first act features cutting edge performances by the comedians; the second act is focused upon a discussion with the comics and the audience on how humor and dialogue can be used to create unity.

After the first show, held at Hellenic in East Marion in July, Byrne and Banks struck up what both consider a life-changing alliance. Today, Banks is a popular "United We Laugh" moderator.

Banks is the college coordinator of multicultural affairs and consultant to the Center for Social Justice for Human Understanding at Suffolk County Community College. From the first, when he and Byrne met to discuss the show, the pair agreed that for any meaningful change to take place, all voices needed to be represented at the proverbial table, including the white voice.

"Jim gets it," Byrne, a comic who has headlined in clubs across the country and has a string of A-list film and TV credits, said. "From that first conversation, he understood what I am trying to achieve with this show. I don't want this to be a 'kumbaya' thing. I want to hear from every voice, including the white voice, and no one seems to get that more than Jim Banks."

Banks, Byrne said, has also held up a mirror through which he has seen himself with new eyes. "I spent my life a pretty privileged white male. Jim can walk in and just by talking, make me realize how much easier my life has been — but Jim doesn't judge me. We have to stop looking at our side and look, instead, at everyone's side — and Jim Banks does that. That's the whole goal of United We Laugh," he said.

In a podcast with Cindy Clifford, a member of the Riverhead Anti-Bias Task Force, Byrne spoke about how United We Laugh has changed him: "Everyone has some biases. It doesn’t necessarily make them bad people.”

Banks agreed: "In his 'I Have A Dream' speech, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. That’s an admirable concept to internalize. Unfortunately, at that time some of my white brothers and sisters used it to proclaim that they don’t see color or that they held no biases. Oops. Guess what? We all have biases and we all see color."

The goal of United We Laugh, both said, is to face those biases head on, with humor, and really talk about them in a safe place where anger is left at the door.

On the United We Laugh stage, both Byrne and Banks said they learned something revelatory about their singular journeys.

Banks shared that he'd had a heart transplant, and was told that he'd died 13 times while in surgery. His new heart, he said, had belonged to a white man."We are all the same color inside," he said.

Byrne, in turn, shared that when his father, who has since passed away, was critically ill, he needed a kidney transplant. And received his new kidney from a black woman, a grandmother who, he joked, clearly loved to chat. "My mother used to say that my father, who was always quiet, was suddenly like that grandmother — she couldn't get him out of the supermarket because he had to stop and talk to everyone!" Byrne laughed.

A black woman's kidney. A white man's heart. Two stories, two lives — two men, Byrne and Banks, joined in a mission: To shed light on the darkness of discrimination.

One truth that's emerged at each show, as audience members and comedians open up and share their own experiences with bias and racism, not only on the East End but everywhere, is that in the end, individuals are more alike than they are different, Byrne said.

Banks addressed why he believes United We Laugh is so important. "We are in a race against racism — and we haven't crossed that finish line yet," he said. "We must find a way to accept differences and to celebrate diversity — and that also means diversity of thoughts. When we present United We Laugh, some people have wanted to silence other people and not allow them to speak their piece. I say 'If you let them bottle it up we can never confront the issues. Let it out! Let's talk about it.'"

United We Laugh has touched a chord, with lines forming at the end of shows with people wanting to bring the show to their communities, Byrne said: "If we can't laugh at people's differences, we can't come together and find that in the end, we're really the same," Byrne said. "Laughing together, around a dinner table or just spending time with friends, that's where all divisiveness dissolves. United We Laugh gives people that safe space to really open up and share their truths, to laugh about them and cry about them and then, move on, together, toward a future where hope replaces hate."