Comedian Alonzo Bodden appears at Goodnights in Raleigh

When most folks scan the headlines, they see nothing but bad news. But when Alonzo Bodden checks out the front page, he thinks about jokes, since comedy typically equals tragedy plus time.

“As a comic, you see the Bill Cosby stuff, the controversy with police and the violence in the world of sports outside the lines and you can’t help but think there’s some material there,” Bodden, 52, says while calling from Los Angeles. “It goes back to what (comic) Hannibal (Buress) was doing when his standup touched on Cosby (in August) and rape. He wasn’t trying to sink Cosby. He was trying to be funny and Hannibal is a funny guy. I don’t blame him going in that direction because where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. We’re in a weird space right now.”

Bodden, a clever and topical comic who will perform Friday through Sunday at Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh, can’t even find refuge in the world of sports. “You turn on ESPN and it’s all about abuse,” Bodden says. “When (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell was hit with the fallout from the Ray Rice debacle, he looked like he didn’t know spousal abuse was a bad thing. I don’t like how the Ray Rice incident impacts me. I’m a big, black guy so when I’m in an elevator with a woman I tell her not to pass out.”

Bodden is fascinated by how the same story can be presented differently depending on the outlet delivering the news. “If you watch reports from Fox News talk about what happened in Ferguson (Missouri), you hear how the cops are the victims and what happened was law and order,” Bodden says. “And then you watch MSNBC and you have Al Sharpton, who is the protester and the reporter. You can’t be both. Television news has become a circus.”

The comic says he also wonders what’s going on inside President Barack Obama’s head. “I guarantee you something else is going on back there,” Bodden says. “Obama has to be the picture of restraint due to his position, but you know with some of the stuff he’s seen, he’s thinking, ‘you know, I’m a black man and this is not right and I’m angry.’

“But people get too upset over all of this. I know there are some people that say, ‘let’s kill all of the white people’ – but that would include the women, and that’s just wrong,” Bodden jokes.

And Bodden disagrees with pundits who believe the forthcoming Seth Rogen/James Franco flick “The Interview,” which hits screens Christmas Day, could lead to trouble with North Korea, which is made fun of throughout the film. “I don’t see the big deal,” Bodden says. “North Korea’s missile range is about 10 miles. I don’t see why anyone would be worried about that.”

Bodden, who won the grand prize on Season 3 of “Last Comic Standing” on NBC, is just pleased to be making it as a standup comic. “It beats the alternative,” Bodden says. “I worked a regular job (at Lockheed Martin) and even with all of the travel and aggravation at the airports, this is the best. I found my calling and I’ve run with it.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2014 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Comedian Alonzo Bodden appears at Goodnights in Raleigh."