I'll here collect references to and examples of humour and comedy that crop up in Jimi's music or  interviews - IF there is a clear link to the early days of his career.


JACKIE "MOMS" MABLEY 
As an introduction here are three quotes from the Moms Mabley biography at www.blackpast.org:
"Jackie “Moms” Mabley found fame and fortune as a stand-up comedian during the twentieth century. Beginning as a staple on the chitlin’ circuit and late night talk show favorite, she went on to become an internationally known entertainer whose career spanned five decades."
[...]
"By the end of the decade, she became the first female comedian to perform at the Apollo Theater. By the 1950s Mabley earned $10,000 a week at the Apollo, making her one of the most highly paid performers of that era. She would also appear there more than any other entertainer in the history of the theater."
[...]
Mabley recorded several albums in the 1960s beginning with her 1961 debut, The Funniest Woman Alive. Moms Mabley at the “UN,” which was also recorded in 1961, cracked the Billboard Top 20.

Follow the link to the BlackPast-website for the full biography - I won't actually write about Moms Mabley herself here as there (as far as I know) is no direct link between her and Jimi Hendrix.


Band Of Gypsys
The above quotes tell us Moms was very well known in the same circles that Jimi worked in and he was clearly at least aware of her work. As evidence for this we have a "cover version" of a Moms Mabley routine recorded by the Band of Gypsys in late December 1969 during rehearsals for the upcoming Fillmore East concerts.

The Moms Mabley "cover" is just one of the several bits of humorous fooling around between takes by Jimi, Buddy Miles & Billy Cox. The snippet has been released officially on the Dagger Records mail order cd The Baggy's Rehearsal Sessions, it follows after track 3 "Message To Love" finishes.


1960 USA LP ON CHESS

The "cover version" or rather "re-enactment" is very loose and clearly just a bit of spontaneous fun, it's not a serious attempt at anything, Jimi and Buddy just quote the bits that they like - or can remember. So the recording doesn't follow the Moms Mabley -sketch very closely at all but it's clear that Jimi and Buddy were both well familiar with it.

The original "Moms" Mabley -sketch can be found on the A side of her first album Moms Mabley On Stage (Chess LP 1447) USA 1960(?). ¹ The relevant part starts at 12.34 into this YouTube-clip (the playback starts at the correct spot when you click the link).


The Isley Brothers
Another (indirect) connection with Jimi is this "Moms" Mabley cover version of "It's Your Thing" by the Isley Brothers.






SOURCES
1 Discographies seem to mostly list this LP with the title "the funniest woman in the world". Billboard issues from 1961 however list the lp as "Moms Mabley On Stage" and indeed that is the title with the considerably larger font on the front sleeve.

I haven't so far been able to find anything resembling a confirmed release date for this lp. Moms Mabley gets a mention in the 13 October 1960 issue of the California Eagle:
"Jackie "Moms" Mabley's only slightly risque material is getting a play on some local stations. She fractures this column with her rib tickling jests"

Moms Mabley is also among the artists listed in a Bob Jones Record Shop ad for "Party Records" in the 2 December 1960 issue of The Charlotte Observer. Neither of these two mentions include the name of the lp. The Smithsonian lists the release date as 1961. A late 1960 release date seems to me to be likely, it seems that the lp came out in 1960 but sales only properly took off and the lp charted in 1961?