Chris Rock: Bring the Pain is a television special that premiered on HBO on June 1, 1996, starring comedian Chris Rock. This was Rock's second special for the network, following 1994's Big Ass Jokes as part of HBO Comedy Half-Hour. Rock was already a well-known comedian, but Bring the Pain made him one of the most popular comedians in the United States. The special included subjects about then-D.C. mayor Marion Barry, the O. J. Simpson murder case, dating, marriage, and race relations in America.