the world of "urban" comedy

When I hear the word "urban," as in "urban models," I kind of think of tough women with nose rings. Women who don't wear floral prints. Women who didn't come in on a train from Jersey.

With modeling casting calls, I have often had to read between the lines. A call might go out for women with an "urban look." Somewhere down in paragraph three, the phrase "apple bottom" would tip me off that I need not apply.

The word "urban" is often -- but not always, of course -- used to mean "black," fairly exclusively. This can be perplexing. What if you are of, say, Bengali descent, born and raised in Queens? What if you are black and from rural Pennsylvania? Does Laffapalooza want you?