The Detroit comedian talks leaving corporate America, finding his voice in Hollywood, taking the reins of BET’s ‘ComicView: Rooftop Series‘, and what’s next
For comedian Chris “CP” Powell, the road to becoming one of the newest faces associated with BET’s ComicView: The RoofTop Series wasn’t exactly a straight line.
Before comedy became the career, CP was building a career in the corporate world. He worked in marketing and advertising, including at GlobalHue, a Black-owned advertising agency owned by Don Coleman Advertising. On paper, it was a good job. But CP knew something was missing.
“I had to be honest with myself,” Powell explained during an interview with Humor Mill. “I want to be in a position where I’m getting credit for my creativity.”
That realization eventually pushed him away from the security of corporate America and toward entertainment. And now, years later, that decision has landed him in one of the biggest opportunities of his career: hosting a new iteration of BET’s legendary ComicView. For CP, however, this isn’t simply another television job. It’s personal.
Leaving Corporate America Behind
Powell’s advertising career gave him a valuable education in creativity, business, and working within a major corporate structure. He worked on campaigns for major clients, including Walmart. But there were limitations.
As a young executive, CP wanted more than to simply contribute creatively behind the scenes. He wanted to be the person audiences saw.
“You have to be honest with yourself,” he said. “I’m the one who got to go home with myself every night and not be fulfilled.”
That decision wasn’t necessarily easy. Entertainment is notoriously difficult to break into, and Powell understood the conventional advice: If you can’t immediately get into the entertainment business, position yourself somewhere adjacent to it. But that wasn’t enough for him.
“I didn’t want to play with it,” he said. “I wanted to go for what I wanted.” And go for it he did.
Detroit Made Him Ready
If there’s one thing CP believes prepared him for Hollywood, it was Detroit.
Coming up as a comedian in Detroit didn’t necessarily mean having access to a sophisticated comedy infrastructure. There weren’t a lot of comedy clubs available when he was developing his act. Instead, comedians often found themselves performing in bars where the audience wasn’t necessarily there specifically to see comedy.
“You had to create a buzz around people who don’t even really necessarily want to be listening to comedy,” he explained. For CP, that environment became his training ground. He compares it to an athlete who learns to play basketball with nothing more than a makeshift hoop. Get good enough under those circumstances, he says, and walking into a professional gym suddenly feels like “light work.”
That experience became an advantage when he eventually arrived in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Chicago. Those markets already had established comedy infrastructures, venues, and audiences.
Detroit forced him to develop.
When he performed at home, he often saw the same people repeatedly. That meant he couldn’t simply rely on the same material. “I didn’t want to look stale to people who had been watching me forever,” he said. So he learned how to constantly develop new jokes, new punchlines, and new material.
Detroit didn’t make the journey easier. It made him ready for it.
Comedy wasn’t the only part of entertainment that grabbed Powell’s attention. Acting eventually became another creative outlet. One of the things Powell enjoys most about acting is the opportunity to bring characters he creates to life. He points to his work on Detroiters as an example of what makes the process particularly rewarding—being involved creatively and then having the opportunity to step onto a set and perform a character he helped create.
But another acting experience showed him something else: the business value Hollywood could place on his talent.
Powell appeared in the HBO Max series Love Life, a Paul Feig production that helped elevate his profile. He remembers realizing that the industry was placing a different value on him.
“They pushed my quote up,” he said. “They paid me so much money because they saw the value in me.”
That experience gave him another reason to keep pursuing acting. The creativity mattered. The expression mattered. And, yes, the check didn’t hurt either.
Taking on ComicView: RoofTop Series
Then came ComicView: RoofTop Series. For generations of Black comedians and comedy fans, BET’s ComicView was more than a television program. It was a launching pad. Names such as D.L. Hughley, Kevin Hart, Rickey Smiley, Sommore, Arvin Mitchell, and countless others became part of the show’s history.
CP grew up watching it.
He remembers a period when BET’s programming was almost unavoidable, with ComicView serving as one of the network’s signature comedy destinations. He also remembers the show’s unique ability to expose viewers to multiple comedians tackling similar subjects from completely different perspectives. For aspiring comedians, ComicView was essentially a classroom.
“It was like a course in how to build a set,” Powell said. Those sets were short—often seven, eight, or ten minutes—but they could change careers. And now CP finds himself on the other side of the equation.
He’s not watching ComicView anymore. He’s helping lead it.
“This Is the CP Iteration”
Taking over a franchise with that kind of history could intimidate almost anyone. Not CP. His approach was simple: be himself.
“My approach was to be as organic and authentic as I possibly could,” he said.
Powell doesn’t view the comedians who came before him as competition. He views them as peers and predecessors whose contributions helped establish the platform he’s now standing on. He grew up watching their versions of ComicView, and now he gets the opportunity to create his own.
“This is the CP iteration,” he said. “This is the CP time. However long that is, this is my time.”
That doesn’t mean he takes the opportunity lightly. Quite the opposite. Powell understands that people inside BET took a chance on him. He specifically recognizes the producers and executives who have supported his career. That responsibility motivates him. “I don’t take that for granted,” he said.
When asked whether producers placed additional pressure on him to live up to the history of ComicView, Powell’s answer was revealing. There was pressure. But most of it wasn’t coming from the producers. It was coming from himself. Powell has known producer Jeru Tillman for more than a decade, dating back to when he was relatively unknown outside Detroit. Now, after years of work, he’s arrived at a point where people are counting on him. That makes the stakes different.
After his first show, Powell remembers looking toward the executives and Drew to see whether he had delivered. The response was exactly what he wanted. They were thrilled. For CP, that moment provided reassurance that his vision for ComicView: Rooftop Series was working.
The Comedians Stepping Up
As host, Powell has had the unique opportunity to watch a wide range of comedians perform on the current iteration of ComicView. And according to him, the talent has been impressive.
He praised a number of comedians, including Tony Roberts, Kevin Tate, Ryan Davis, Kelly Kells, Shuler King, Black Ron, and Precious Hall, just to name a few. Powell also emphasized that the current lineup represents a strong mixture of established performers and comedians audiences should know. For him, the excitement isn’t simply about discovering who is funny. It’s about watching comedians who already have reputations for excellence bring their own versions of themselves to the ComicView stage. And if history is any indication, somebody from this generation of performers could be on the verge of a major breakthrough.
What’s Next for CP?
If anyone thought hosting ComicView meant Powell was slowing down elsewhere, they clearly haven’t been paying attention. His upcoming slate is packed. One of his most personal projects is The Hour From Detroit, where he serves as a co-producer and writer while also playing the character Matt.
The character is particularly meaningful to Powell because it challenges some of the stereotypes surrounding Detroit men. He describes Matt as the kind of regular Detroit guy many people might recognize—the blue-collar, everyday person whose personality and humanity can sometimes get overlooked.
“I know 40 people like this,” Powell said. The first few episodes are already out, and Powell is excited for audiences to see where the project goes. He’s also involved with a new Barbershop television project produced with Hartbeat and LOL, which is headed to Amazon. Then there’s his upcoming comedy special, scheduled to premiere on Hulu in November. Powell describes it differently from some of his previous specials. Rather than jumping from subject to subject, the entire special follows one central joke and one continuous through-line. And, as the title suggests, cigarettes are at the center of the story.
The special explores the role cigarettes have played in the lives of people and families, giving Powell an opportunity to take one subject and turn it into an extended comedic journey. He’s also working with comedian Kev On Stage on a new show called “The Airport,” which Powell describes as being similar in concept to The Hospital, but set in an airport.
And then there’s a feature film. Powell is part of a cast that includes Kevin Hart, Pam Grier, Spank Horton, Roy Wood Jr., and Sam Jay. He wasn’t ready to reveal the title during our conversation, but he indicated that the project is a significant one and that an official announcement was expected soon.
This Is Only the Beginning
For a comedian who once sat in a corporate office creating advertising campaigns, CP Powell has come a long way. He traded the security of corporate America for the uncertainty of entertainment. He traded Detroit bars for stages across the country. And now he’s standing on the stage of one of the most recognizable comedy franchises in Black television history.
But perhaps the most important thing about CP’s story is that he never seemed interested in simply being adjacent to entertainment.
He wanted to be in it. He wanted to create. He wanted to perform. And he wanted the opportunity to put his own stamp on the culture. Now he’s getting that opportunity. “This is my time,” Powell said.
And judging by everything he has coming next, CP’s time may have only just begun.
Where to Watch
BET’s new ComicView Rooftop Series airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on BET, followed by The Neighborhood and Ms. Pat. Powell encourages comedy fans to tune in and support the latest generation of comedians coming through the franchise.
Follow CP
Fans can follow Chris “CP” Powell across social media through @Comedienne CP on Instagram and Facebook, @realComedienneCP on TikTok, and Comedienne CP on X.
