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Bert Williams is a man that I have never read about before, i respect him for the fact that he based his humor on universal situations instead of getting laughed by racist people. But Bert also was a superstar of the time where people adored him but also showed him hate for being a black performer on a white stage

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Minstrel shows may have been entertainment at that time when racism and discrimination was okay to people but the times have changed. People don't do that sort of thing anymore and hence that explains their loss of popularity.

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The shows were performed by white people in make-up or blackface for playing the role of black people. There were also some African-American performers and all-black minstrel groups that formed and toured.

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Minstrel songs and sketches featured several stock characters, most popularly the slave and the dandy. Minstrels claimed that their songs and dances were authentically black, although the extent of the black influence remains debated.

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The typical minstrel performance followed a three-act structure. The troupe first danced onto stage then exchanged wisecracks and sang songs. The second part featured a variety of entertainments.

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Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy,superstitious and happy-go-lucky. By 1848, blackface minstrel shows were the national artform, translating formal art such as opera into popular terms for a general audience.

By the turn of the 20th century, the minstrel show enjoyed but a shadow of its former popularity, having been replaced for the most part by vaudeville. The form survived as professional entertainment until about 1910; amateur performances continued until the 1960s in high schools and local theaters.

The genre has had a lasting legacy and influence and was featured in a television series as recently as the late 1970s. Generally, as the civil rights movement progressed and gained acceptance, minstrels lost popularity.

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The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Every show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music.

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Born: 1874

Died: March 4, 1922

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Unlike many other blackface performers, Williams did not play for laughs at the expense of other African Americans or black culture.He based his humor on universal situations in which any members of his audience might find themselves. In the style of vaudeville, Williams performed in blackface makeup like his white counterparts.

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Pioneer of the Stage. W. C. Fields, star of the silent screen, called Bert Williams “the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest.” Williams sang, danced, and pantomimed in clubs, cabarets, and theaters across the country.