Jamie Foxx has been an outstanding comedian back since his early days. He was all the rage when he started his career decades ago, and became a sensation in comedy clubs in the United States. The actor was a cunning comedian who was a master at reading his audience and delivering hilarious comedy skits. However, on one occasion, he found himself in a tough spot. This was back when Mike Tyson was in his prime and was known to be a dangerous person.
Foxx was performing in a club when he began with a Mike Tyson joke. However, unbeknownst to him, Tyson himself was in the crowd, and he had a very nasty reputation for knocking people out who bothered him. This gave the Day Shift movie star a chill down his spine. However, what followed was truly amazing and the start of a beautiful friendship.
How Did Jamie Foxx Meet Boxing Legend, Mike Tyson?
Jamie Foxx is one of the most entertaining actors in Hollywood. He is a multi-hyphenate who has successfully made a name for himself by being one of the best performers and comedians in the entertainment industry.
The actor is best known for impersonating former boxing legend Mike Tyson, who has won several world heavyweight championships in his legendary career. Foxx has mimicked Tyson on many chats and comedy shows and has proved his impeccable sense of humor that often mesmerized his fans. The Academy Award-winning actor once recalled the hilarious anecdote when he first met the legend.
He claimed it was the most awkward and scary incident as he was doing a stand-up comedy circuit in Los Angeles and Mike Tyson was sitting in the audience, and he wasn’t aware of his presence until someone informed him. At the time, Foxx was juggling to build his career, but the former boxer was already a big name in the industry, so it was a tense situation for him to crack a joke on him.
When Mike Tyson Scared the Shit Out of Jamie Foxx
On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jamie Foxx shared a hilarious anecdote about meeting the boxing champion Mike Tyson. The Ray movie actor said he initially met him while doing a comedy show in Los Angeles, and Tyson was sitting in the audience. He shared,
“Almost 25 years ago, I was in a club—and I was burning up the clubs in L.A.—and I went into my Mike Tyson joke, and nobody laughed. Do you know why? Because Mike Tyson was in the building. The whole place gets silent, and I’m like, what?”
The 55-year-old actor claimed that someone from the audience screamed at him, saying are you scared to tell the joke? and said,
“Yo! Mike is in here, and I was like, Oh! There was a black girl in the front—she was going, ‘What are you gonna do, Jamie? You scared to tell your little joke?’ And you know, this is when Mike was knocking people out for just smiling the wrong way.”
Jamie Foxx shared that he eventually told the joke and received a standing ovation with Tyson applauding his comedy skills, as he recalls,
“So, that night was pivotal, because a dude yelled out, yo, Mike said to do the joke but that better be funny! Right? So they’re looking at him, and then they turn and start looking at me and I do the joke. I get a standing ovation, and after that, Mike walks up to me and says, There he is! You crazy son of a gun. Come here. We’re gonna hang out. I want you to hang out with me.”
Mike Tyson might have a fearsome reputation, but at his true core, he’s a sweetheart. A generous, courageous champ, Tyson always gave his best to friends and family. His charming innocence and straightforward personality are truly special, making him one of the best sportspersons to ever live.
