My landlord comes by. Tries to be nice. He tells me, "Bernard, I like you, but the rent's way overdue, and I've got people lining up around the block for this apartment." "Lining up around the block?" I ask that sumbitch. "Who wants to live in this crack house?" And he says, "You livin' here, ain't you?"

In this bit, Bernie Mac turns an everyday humiliation—being behind on rent—into a comic reversal. The landlord’s claim that there are “people lining up around the block” is exposed as absurd when the apartment is described as a “crack house,” but the punchline lands when the landlord points out that Bernie himself is living there. The joke hinges on self-deprecation and hard-edged realism: pride and indignation collide with the fact of one’s circumstances. It also satirizes housing scarcity and the way desperation can make even bad options seem desirable, while underscoring Mac’s persona—blunt, confrontational, and willing to make himself the butt of the joke.