Moms mabley documentary by whoopi goldberg jeanine

You may never have heard of Jackie “Moms” Mabley, but chances are you’ve busted a gut laughing at some of the many comedians she inspired to take to the stage. Now, almost 40 years after Mabley’s death, a documentary directed by Whoopi Goldberg is finally celebrating this unheralded comedy pioneer.

“In 35 minutes on stage, I can keep laughter in a certain range, building higher and higher ’til, when I tell the last joke, they’re all laughing like mad,” Mabley said in 1971, late in her storied career.

At the time, no one could deny her comedic skills, but few knew the traumatic history from which it sprang.

Born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard in 1897, this singular performer entered the world surrounded by peril and promise.

A member of what was then one of the area’s most prominent black families, she was still just a generation away from slavery.

Mabley’s father, Jim Aiken, died when she was 11. He’d run several businesses and volunteered with the fire department