Comedian Bill Bellamy coined the phrase ‘booty call’
Comedian Bill Bellamy cracks up MGM National Harbor on Saturday after coming to the phrase “booty call.” He coined this pop culture phrase on HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” in the 1990s. Bellamy said, “I’m excited.” He added, “D.C. has been one of my favorite cities my whole career. You guys love comedy. I don’t know what it is; I don’t know what fun stuff you put in the soup! … Let me tell you what it’s like to come to a Bill Bellamy show: imagine a party with laughter. That’s the type of energy that I bring.”
According to Bellamy, the DMV is buzzing over the live Netflix special of Chris Rock this early month at The Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, where Rock has reacted to Will Smith.
Bellamy said the DMV is still buzzing over Chris Rock’s live Netflix special earlier this month at The Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, where Rock reacted to Will Smith slapping him on stage at the 2022 Oscars.
Bellamy stated, “He shot it in Baltimore, and Jada Pinkett [Smith] was from Baltimore, so everyone was like, ‘Oh my God!’ That’s like if you had a beef with Batman and did the show in Gotham.” He added, “It was one of those moments people would remember. It’s something that people will talk about, and people have a feeling about it.” Bellamy was born in New York in New Jersey in 1965. He did fall in love with comedy watching Eddie Murphy. He said, “Eddie Murphy lived right across the water in New York. I was like, ‘Yo, he lives in New York! Wow, I might see him one day!’ He said, “Then I had guys I watched and listened to, like Richard Pryor. People sleep on Flip Wilson. He had this TV show and was hysterical … Robin Williams was my idol!”
Bellamy’s journey and how he earned the name in the industry
Bellamy started his journey with stand-up as a student at Rutgers University before earning fame for himself on HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” (1992-1997), inventing the phrase above, “booty call.” He said, “That’s legacy.” He then added, “There was also a lot of booties that got made off of me. There were a lot of calls during the ’90s that nobody gave me money for, but when you made a booty call between 2 and 4 in the morning, that was me! Do you know how we get notifications on our phones? Wouldn’t it be crazy if every time somebody made a booty call in the world, it would be like, ‘Ding! Ding!’ Mo booty, mo booty, mo booty, baby!” Bellamy said, “When I was doing MTV, that was more just my natural personality.” It added, “I didn’t have to make jokes; I could just be me and be funny, so that was a blessing because I could make the music, I could interview somebody, I could be funny, like if I thought of a funny idea about the video or something crazy, I could say it in real-time. That’s what was dope. That’s what people liked about it, like, ‘Yo, every time I watch Bill; he says something crazy!'”
Bellamy talked about guys going mainstream.
“Iliza has blown up, Amy Schumer has blown up.” It added, “They were brand new, trying to get on, ladies trying to get in this comedy game. Now they both make movies and a lot of money doing what they do. Iliza Shlesinger used to open up for me, so seeing them succeed is so cool. ‘Last Comic Standing’ was a great platform for guys and girls to go mainstream. You want to be funny and get many people to see you.” The statement added, “I always dreamed of being in a movie; I just didn’t know how I could get there.” He said, “I was like, ‘What if I was in a movie with Tom Cruise or what if I was in a movie with Keanu Reeves?’ I used to see these guys in these movies; I remember seeing Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in ‘Good Will Hunting’ and saying, ‘These are some cool-ass Boston boys, they’re best friends, and they made a movie together. That’s dope!'”
Resources:
https://wtop.com/entertainment/2023/03/comedian-bill-bellamy-who-coined-the-phrase-booty-call-cracks-up-mgm-national-harbor-saturday/
