Maybe You Never Cry Again

Maybe You Never Cry Again
By Bernie Mac with Pablo F. Fenjves

With an Emmy Award and Peabody Award winning hit television show on FOX, a starring role in the sequel to "Charlie's Angels" and the celebration last year of his 25th wedding anniversary, it's clear that Bernie Mao is in the midst of the kind of personal and professional success that most comedians can only dream of. But as he candidly shares in his new autobiography, MAYBE YOU NEVER CRY AGAIN, his success has been hard fought and honestly won.

The critics raved over "The Bernie Mac Show" when it debuted in November 2001 on FOX, a premiere which was full of as much controversy—largely over Mac's tough-love parenting tactics—as comedy. Robert Bianco in USA Today called Mac "A comic force of nature," with Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe calling the show "a wonderfully sly family comedy with a few fresh twists." Linda Stasi in the New York Post suggested that the show was a relief from the family sitcoms in which child psychologists appear to have worked over every scene. "I laughed out loud. That's a good and a rare thing in these biblical times we're living through."

In MAYBE YOU NEVER CRY AGAIN, we learn that the TV show has plenty of Mac's real-life experiences to draw from. Frank and unapologetic, MAYBE YOU NEVER CRY AGAIN traces the rise of one of today's hottest performers from his humble beginnings as "Beanie" on Chicago's South Side to the star of such films as Ocean's 11. But this is no lurid "E! True Hollywood Story"—despite abandonment by his father and the tragic death of both his brother and his beloved mother (at the hands of breast cancer when Mac was only a teenager); despite marriage and fatherhood at age 19 and the string of jobs (from bus driver to janitor to scrap yard worker to fish fry cook) that followed, Bernie Mac stayed on the right path. He credits his mother, the woman who "believed in me long before I believed," as the predominant force in his life and the reason for his success.

In addition to a strong moral compass, she provided Mac with his precious "Mac-isms," pearls of wisdom that he sprinkles liberally throughout his story. Suffering is the best teacher of all. Life don't change unless you make it change. Stop living in the past. Self-pity is self brought-on. Failure is just life's way of preparing you for success. And one that perhaps Mac embodies best: It takes a strong man to find the right path and follow it.

For Mac, the right path always led to comedy. When he was about five years old, he first understood the power of performance when he came upon his mother crying on the couch watching TV. As she listened to Bill Cosby her mood changed. "She's laughin' harder. She's slappin' the arm of the chair she's so happy. I look over at Bill Cosby again. I don't know what he's talkin' about—but I know it's got power." As a teenager he frequented open-mike nights at The Regal and amateur nights at clubs like the High Chapparal. He even told jokes on the Chicago El Train for a few dollars. Over the next few years he performed at private parties, earned a reputation as one of Chicago's up-and-coming comedians, and then scored his name in lights with a regular gig at the Cotton Club, the "Tuesday Tickler with Bernie Mac."

"Comedy wasn't a career. It wasn't even a choice. It was a calling. God was telling me to make people laugh." This calling would take Mac on a journey with plenty of peaks and valleys, from an utterly humiliating experience closing for Arsenio Hall one night ("People were throwing bread rolls at me. I ain't lyin'.") to getting a huge unexpected break from comedy idol Redd Foxx during a trip to Las Vegas ("I looked over and saw Redd Foxx, and he was smiling and signaling keep going") By 1989, Mac owned the Chicago comedy scene... and when he got the courage to make the decision to quit driving a Wonder Bread truck and commit to comedy full time, things really started to happen; Def Comedy Jam I and II. Appearances in House Party 3 and Above the Rim. A recurring role on "Moesha". Although he was told, "if you cleaned up your act you could be as big as Cosby," Mac stayed true to his own comedy philosophy.

By the time he headlined the Kings of Comedy tour alongside Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey and D.L. Hughley, he was playing to sold-out arenas across the country. Several film roles followed, and then an opportunity to create a weekly sitcom around his unique brand of humor, family values, and perspective on life.

The World According to Bernie Mac:

On his humble beginnings: "You know how to tell if a person's poor?
You look in the fridge. If there's nothing but baloney, you're talkin' serious poor."
On fatherhood:
'To this day I can't understand any man who won't be a father to his child."
On comedy:
"Comedy isn't about copying the other guy—it's about finding out who you are, and figuring out what you want to say, then doing it in your own special way."
On preparation:
'These days I practice the six P's-Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance."
On today's parents:
"We got a generation here "that's dropping the ball with their kids. If you love your kids you'll want the best for them, and the best is usually the toughest."
On life:
"You gotta stay strong inside. Stay centered. Be true to yourself."

Maybe You Never Cry Again
By Bernie Mach with Pablo F. Fenjves
Publisher: Regan Books
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 0060529326