Chris Rock: Bring the Pain

Chris Rock: Bring the Pain is a 1996 HBO television special starring comedian Chris Rock. This was Rock's second special for the network, following 1994's Big Ass Jokes. Rock was already a well-known comedian, but Bring the Pain made him one of the most popular comedians in the United States.

By 1994, Chris Rock's career had experienced a downslide: "I was a . So I figured if I'm not going to be famous, I can at least get really good, and get back to being the way I was before I met Eddie Murphy and saw the big houses and the girls."

Rock became determined to subvert any preconceived notions about him. To prepare for the special, he honed his material for two years by performing nightly in comedy clubs and then launching a national tour. The special was taped at a tour stop at the Takoma Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Bring the Pain premiered on June 1, 1996 on HBO. Rock's performance included bits about then-D.C. mayor Marion Barry, the O.J. Simpson murder case, dating, marriage, and race relations in America. The most well-known and controversial piece of the special is "Niggas vs. Black People", in which Rock states: "There's like a civil war goin' on with black people, and there's two sides. There's black people, and there's niggas. And niggas have got to go. [...] I love black people, but I hate niggas, boy. Oh, I hate niggas. Boy, I wish they'd let me join the Klu Klux Klan [sic]. Shit, I'd do a drive-by from here to Brooklyn."

The special was regarded as one of the finest recorded stand-up comedy performances of all time. Entertainment Weekly called it "groundbreaking" and "a classic".Variety compared Rock to revered comedians Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce and called it "one of the truly remarkable hours of comedy ever to air on television."

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