Emmy Season is officially here!
Over this weekend, making history, four black actors took wins in all four guest acting categories!
Tiffany Haddish won for her guest hosting gig on Saturday Night Live.
Samira Wiley won for her role as Moira on The Handmaids Tale (she was nominated in the Supporting category last year).
Ron Cephas Jones won for his role in This Is Us (he was nominated in the Supporting category last year).
Katt Williams was nominated for the Florida Man episode of Atlanta.
This was the first nomination for both Haddish and Williams.
The other times when black actors have won the guest acting awards were in 2003, when Charles S. Dutton (Without A Trace) and Alfre Woodard won for (The Practice) and in 2014 with Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) and Joe Morton (Scandal).
The rest of the winners will be announced at the 70th Emmys, which are Sept. 17 on NBC.
Kanye West and Lil Pump teamed up for a surprise new track, “I Love It,” featuring Adele Givens, and the bizarre new video dropped on Friday (September 7). The video was executive produced by Spike Jonze, who also directed Kanye’s “Only One,” “Otis,” and “Flashing Lights.” It was also directed by Kanye and Amanda Adelson.
Check out the full video below;
Principal photography began this week on Warner Bros. Pictures’ inspiring drama “Just Mercy,” based on the award-winning nonfiction bestseller by Bryan Stevenson. The film stars Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” “Creed,” upcoming “Creed II”) and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” “Baby Driver,” “Django: Unchained”) and Brie Larson (“Room,” “The Glass Castle,” upcoming “Captain Marvel”). Award-winning filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“The Glass Castle,” “Short Term 12”) is directing “Just Mercy.”
A powerful and thought-provoking true story, “Just Mercy” follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan might have had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
The film is being produced by two-time Oscar nominee Gil Netter (“Life of Pi,” “The Blind Side”) and Asher Goldstein (“Short Term 12”), with Mike Drake, Michael B. Jordan, Bryan Stevenson, Gabriel Hammond, Daniel Hammond and Niija Kuykendall serving as executive producers. Cretton is helming the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Andrew Lanham (“The Glass Castle”), based on Stevenson’s book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Published in 2014 by Spiegel & Grau, the book has spent 118 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers List, and counting, and was named one of the year’s best books by a number of top publications, including TIME Magazine. For the book, Stevenson also won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, an NAACP Image Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction.
The main cast also includes O’Shea Jackson Jr. (“Straight Outta Compton”) as Anthony Ray Hinton, another wrongly convicted death row inmate whose cause is taken up by Bryan; Rob Morgan (“Mudbound”) as Herbert Richardson, who also sits on death row awaiting his fate; and Tim Blake Nelson (“Wormwood”) as Ralph Myers, whose pivotal testimony against Walter McMillian is called into question.
The creative team working with Cretton behind the scenes includes director of photography Brett Pawlak, production designer Sharon Seymour, editor Nat Sanders and composer Joel P. West, all of whom previously collaborated with the director on “The Glass Castle.” They are joined by costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (“Detroit,” “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”).
“Just Mercy” is being shot almost entirely on location in and around Atlanta, Georgia, with a few scenes also filmed in Montgomery, Alabama.
A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, a Gil Netter Production, an Outlier Society Production, “Just Mercy” is slated for release on January 17, 2020, and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
It’s time for another episode of our movie review. This week, we check out the new film titled Peppermint starring Jennifer Garner, in a role that we haven’t seen her in since Elektra, where she is an action hero that pulls no punches. Except in this role she’s not trained by ninjas, she’s just a mother seeking revenge against the people responsible for killing her family.
If you are not familiar with what the film is about, check out the synopsis below;
Riley North awakens from a coma after surviving a brutal attack that killed her husband and daughter. When the system shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself from citizen to urban guerrilla. Channeling frustration into motivation, the young widow spends years in hiding — honing her mind, body, and spirit to become an unstoppable force. Eluding the underworld, the police, and the FBI, Riley embarks on a deadly quest to deliver her own personal brand of punishment.
Watch our review of the film below!
HBO has renewed the comedy series BALLERS for a fifth season and INSECURE for a fourth season, it was announced today by Amy Gravitt, executive vice president, HBO Programming.
Exploring the glamorous and often cutthroat world of pro football through a group of past and present players striving to stay in the game, BALLERS stars Dwayne Johnson as ex-superstar Spencer Strasmore, who has reinvented himself as a financial manager for today’s players. Created by Stephen Levinson (HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”), the hit comedy series returned for its nine-episode fourth season Sunday, Aug. 12 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT).
Other cast regulars for the current season include: John David Washington, Rob Corddry, Omar Benson Miller, Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, London Brown and Brittany S. Hall.
Season four credits: BALLERS was created by Stephen Levinson; executive produced by Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Peter Berg, Rob Weiss, Denis Biggs, Karyn McCarthy and Julian Farino.
INSECURE follows the friendship of two black women as they deal with their own real-life flaws while attempting to navigate different worlds and cope with an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences. Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Lisa Joyce, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales and Y’lan Noel star in the hit comedy series, which returned for its eight-episode third season Sunday, Aug. 12 (10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT).
Season three credits: INSECURE was created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore; executive produced by Issa Rae, Prentice Penny, Melina Matsoukas, Michael Rotenberg, Dave Becky, Jonathan Berry, Jim Kleverweis and Dayna Lynne North.
Service Broadcasting Urban AC “Smooth R&B 105.7” KRNB in the Dallas- Ft. Worth market has dropped the Premiere Networks syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show a couple of weeks ago. The station has yet to announce plans for morning drive as “Smooth Mornings” replaces the SHMS for now. Look for the station to go with a local host in the mornings.
Smooth R&B 105.7 features all local hosts for the rest of their programming day with KJ Midday, Tony Scott, and Sean Andre. The other Urban AC station in town, Majic 94.5 features the Tom Joyner Morning Show.
This is major news as The Steve Harvey Morning Show was in Dallas, which is a top five radio market and whispers have started that more stations are soon to follow.
We shall see.
Wanda Sykes will star in a brand new stand-up comedy special for Netflix, the streaming giant announced Wednesday.
The hour-long special — Sykes’ fifth overall and first with Netflix — will debut globally in 2019. Her production company, Push It Productions, will produce.
The news comes after Sykes had previously been critical of Netflix for not offering her the same kind of money that comedians like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Amy Schumer received from the streamer for their own comedy specials. Both Rock and Chappelle are said to have gotten $20 million per special they released on Netflix, while Schumer renegotiated from $11 million to $13 million.
Fellow comedian Mo’Nique called for a boycott of Netflix in January after she revealed that she was offered $500,000 for her own special. Sykes chimed in on social media to support Mo’Nique, saying, “Netflix offered me less than half of your $500K. I was offended but found another home.” Sykes’ last special, “What Happened…Ms. Sykes,” aired on Epix in 2016.
Her previous comedy specials include “Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied,” “Wanda Sykes: Sick and Tired,” “I’ma Be Me,” and “What Happened… Ms Sykes.” She can currently be seen on ABC’s “Black-ish,” for which she was nominated for a 2017 and 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series.
Through Push it Productions, she has set up projects with ABC, Fox, NBC, BET, OWN, and truTV, including “Wanda Sykes Presents Herlarious,” the critically acclaimed “Talk Show the Game Show,” and the recently announced series “Unprotected Sets” on Epix.
Sykes is the latest in a long line of comedians to set new specials with Netflix. In addition to comedy stars like Rock, Chappelle, and Schumer, people like Tiffany Haddish, Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin James, and Iliza Shlesinger have all produced original specials. Netflix has also been shining a light on lesser-known comics through series like “The Comedy Lineup,” which showcases multiple comedians doing 15-minute sets.
Source: Variety
Kevin Spacey and Steven Seagal won’t face sex crimes charges from the Los Angeles County District Attorney due to statute of limitations on the decades-old accusations but over in Pennsylvania at the upcoming sentencing hearing for Bill Cosby, the past looks to become part of the present.
On the same day that the much-accused actor’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was vandalized again, Cosby faces a move from the Montgomery County D.A. to have a chorus of accusers damningly come to court to detail their experiences with the man and crimes he may have committed to them.
“The Commonwealth intends to present numerous witnesses who will testify that defendant sexually abused them, says a motion submitted on Tuesday by the office of Kevin Steele before the sentencing hearing set to start on September 24 and run for up to two days. “As discussed below, they will provide testimony relevant to the proper assessment of defendant’s character, background, dangerousness to the community, and rehabilitative needs,” the potentially pivotal filing declares (read it here).
“This relevant information may include uncharged criminal conduct, even if it involved a different victim and did not result in conviction,” the four-page filing adds with implications that could further the tainting of Cosby, who was found guilty in late April in a retrial on on three counts of aggravated indecent assault against former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004.
“The victims’ in-court, live testimony will provide the ‘necessary evidentiary link between the defendant and the uncharged prior conduct,’” the paperwork says, not specifying exactly how many of the more than 60 women who have claimed Cosby drugged and raped them will actually be brought into court. In the retrial, ex-America’s Next Top Model judge Janice Dickinson and four other women besides Constead were allowed to testify on what they said Cosby did to them.
“The District Attorney’s latest Motion is another publicity stunt, not supported by ANY existing Pennsylvania law,” representatives for Cosby said in a statement today. “We expect to respond to this Motion and present our arguments in Court.”
Already essentially under house arrest and with new-ish lawyers again, the 81-year old Cosby is looking at decades behind bars based on the conviction. The hearing in Judge Stephen O’Neill’s Norristown courtroom later this month is likely to include arguments on whether Cosby should be designated as a sexually violent predator, which the Keystone State’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board recommended this summer.
Out in L.A. early this morning, at least one member of the public believes Cosby is “serial rapist,” which they scrawled on his Hollywood Blvd. star in the pre-dawn hours. Now well versed in such attacks upon Cosby’s star as well as that of Donald Trump, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had the words removed quickly and the LAPD are checking security cameras in the area to get more information on possible suspects.
Sunk into the sidewalk in the heart of Hollywood back in 1977, Cosby’s star has been defaced several times in recent years since allegations of his apparent decades of sexual misconduct against dozens and dozens of women have become public.
If Judge O’Neill allows the Montgomery D.A.’s motion, Cosby and his accusers will find themselves mere feet away from each other, as the actor has to be in court for the sentencing hearing.
Source: Deadline
Stand Up To Cancer’s sixth biennial telecast on Friday, Sept. 7 (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. EDT/PDT), has added more names to its star-studded lineup. Jason Bateman, Beth Behrs, Julie Bowen, Josh Brolin, Kaley Cuoco, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Max Greenfield, Jon Hamm, Mark Harmon, Sarah Hyland, Adam Klein, Tyler Labine, Diego Luna, Sonequa Martin-Green, Dave Price, Keanu Reeves, Tracee Ellis Ross, Winona Ryder, Jimmy Smits, Eric Stonestreet, Alison Sweeney, Bree Turner, Sofia Vergara and Marlon Wayans are coming together in the fight against cancer. They join an extraordinary list of previously announced participants including Mahershala Ali, Kathy Bates, Katie Couric, Jennifer Garner, Tony Hale, Marg Helgenberger, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Marlee Matlin, Matthew McConaughey, Maria Menounos, Jillian Michaels, Trevor Noah, Dak Prescott, Italia Ricci, Rob Riggle, Karla Souza, David Spade and Keith Urban. The telecast will feature three musical performances, one by 25-time GRAMMY Award winner and activist Stevie Wonder, one by GRAMMY-winning and six-time reigning CMA Country Vocal Group Little Big Town, as well as one by 11-time GRAMMY nominee and cancer survivor Charlie Wilson.
The telecast marks SU2C’s 10 years of support for cutting-edge research aimed at turning every cancer patient into a long-term survivor. Three patients who are benefiting from Stand Up To Cancer research will appear on the telecast: Caitlyn, a Canadian teen whose hypermutant cancer failed to respond to traditional treatments and spread to two additional organs, enrolled in a Stand Up To Cancer-funded clinical trial and now has no active evidence of disease; Lidia, a retired school teacher from Yuma, Arizona, whose pancreatic cancer was treated in an SU2C-funded clinical trial and, in the initial round of chemotherapy with five experimental drugs, saw her tumor shrink by half; and Brian, a former Marine Corps pilot from Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, whose melanoma recurred twice and spread until it was treated in an SU2C-funded immunotherapy clinical trial and went into functional remission.
This year’s fundraising event will take place at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, with a creative design and production bringing the experience to life for audiences tuning in at home. The historic space will feature a sprawling main stage with Stand Up To Cancer’s animated graphics and SU2C brand colors and other touchpoints layered into every facet of the set and design. Throughout the show, SU2C will bring viewers into the backstage hub, an interactive space dedicated to connecting celebrities from TV, film, sports, music and digital influencers with the public via traditional phone and socially through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
In addition, playing a unique part in this year’s show is Twitch, the leading social video service and community for gamers where tens of millions of people from around the world come together each day for live, shared, interactive entertainment. Hosted by Rachel “Seltzer” Quirico, Twitch fan favorites Markiplier and Pokimane will go head-to-head with other gamers and celebrity participants in today’s most popular gaming title: Fortnite. With a goal to connect its passionate online community to SU2C’s mission to support innovative cancer research, Twitch will live stream the Fortnite competition on the official Twitch channel (www.twitch.tv/twitch) from 4:00-6:00 p.m. PDT alongside the live television broadcast.
During the telecast, when a Mastercard is used to make a donation through StandUpToCancer.org (U.S.) and StandUpToCancer.ca (Canada) or by telephone, Mastercard will match those donations, dollar for dollar, up to US$1,000,000. The Mastercard donation match ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT or when the US$1,000,000 donation match is reached, whichever comes first. Only Mastercard transactions are eligible. (The maximum donation match may be met during the course of the live telecast.)
For donations of $25 or more made online at StandUpToCancer.org/AmericanAirlines from Sept. 3 through Sept. 30, 2018, American Airlines will award 20 American Airlines AAdvantage® miles for every dollar donated through the Miles To Stand Up program.
To kick off the telecast roadblock, social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will unite for a one-hour standalone digital show that will stream live from The Barker Hangar from 7:00-8:00 p.m. EDT/4:00-5:00 p.m. PDT. Its #Up2Us: Stand Up To Cancer | The Digital Live Show will be co-hosted by Max Greenfield, Tyler Posey and Brenda Song, and will feature influencers and stars across the world of entertainment who will rally the next generation of supporters through themes of hope, courage and strength with the message that it is #Up2Us to Stand Up To Cancer. Talent participating in the digital show include Rhett + Link, Uzo Aduba, Beth Behrs, Paris Berelc, Katie Couric, Hannah Hart, Olivia Holt, Ken Jeong, Liza Koshy, My Nguyen, Teni Panosian, Candice Patton, Megan Pormer, Andrea Russett, iHeartRadio’s JoJo Wright, Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler, and more. Instagram and Snapchat will support the proactive initiative with complementary content and stories tied to the sweeping campaign. Additionally, the show will be featured across iHeartMedia’s multiple social platforms.
In addition to Bradley Cooper, the telecast will be executive produced by David Jammy and Katy Mullan of Done + Dusted, Stand Up To Cancer’s co-founders Lisa Paulsen and Pam Williams, as well as Bedonna Smith of Anonymous Content, and Madeline Marotto.
As in years past, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, along with American Heroes Channel, AT&T AUDIENCE Network, Bloomberg TV, Bravo, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, E!, EPIX, Escape, ESPNEWS, FM, Freeform, FS2, FXM, FYI, Galavision, Great American Country, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, Jewish Life TV, Laff, Logo, MTV2, Nat Geo WILD, REELZ, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STARZ ENCORE, STARZ ENCORE ESPAÑOL, TNT, Univision Puerto Rico, and WGN America are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free prime time for the telecast, with additional networks to be announced. Following the live broadcast, the telecast will be available to stream via ComedyCentral.com and the Comedy Central app, as well as its VOD partners. Aspire TV will air the Stand Up To Cancer telecast on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8:00-9:00 a.m. EDT/PDT / 10:00 a.m. CDT. The entire telecast will also stream live on SU2C’s Facebook page and PeopleTV, as well as stream live and on-demand on Hulu and SU2C’s YouTube page.
For the third time, Stand Up To Cancer Canada will simultaneously broadcast a Canada-inclusive telecast across four major English-language Canadian broadcasters: CBC, Citytv, CTV and Global, as well as Canadian services AMI, A.Side, BBC Earth, CHCH, CHEK, Cottage Life, Fight Network, Game TV, HIFI, Hollywood Suite, Love Nature, Makeful, NTV, OUTtv, Smithsonian Channel Canada, T+E and YES TV. In addition, the show will stream live on the CBC TV App, cbc.ca/watch, CBS All Access, the CTV App and CTV.ca, Global GO and GlobalTV.com, and SU2C Canada’s YouTube page, and will be available on-demand on TELUS Optik TV in Canada.
To date, more than $480 million has been pledged in support of SU2C’s innovative cancer research. The organization has brought together more than 1,500 of the best scientists from over 180 leading institutions with an emphasis on collaborative, multidisciplinary teams that deliver new therapies and treatments to cancer patients. Scientists work together on Stand Up To Cancer’s 24 signature “Dream Teams,” among a total of 79 team science grants and awards, whose research is aimed at ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death worldwide. SU2C-funded researchers have planned, launched or completed more than 180 clinical trials involving over 12,000 patients.
SU2C’s wide-ranging scientific portfolio is overseen by a blue-ribbon scientific advisory committee chaired by Nobel Prize winner Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Most grants are administered by SU2C’s Scientific Partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research.
Other members of the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) include Vice Chairs Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., dean, College of Medicine, and professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston; Lee J. Helman, M.D., professor, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and director, Cancer Research Program, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles; Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., professor emeritus of systems biology at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey; and William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. The SU2C Canada Scientific Advisory Committee is co-chaired by Alan Bernstein O.C., O.Ont., Ph.D., FRSC president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and Dr. Sharp. Projects are administered by AACR International-Canada and Stand Up To Cancer Canada.
As SU2C’s founding donor, Major League Baseball has continued to annually provide both financial support and countless opportunities to build the Stand Up To Cancer movement by encouraging fans worldwide to get involved, most notably through its two largest global events – the MLB All-Star Game and the World Series. In addition to MLB, SU2C’s “Luminary” donors include Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, and Mastercard. “Visionary” donors include CVS Health, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and the Sidney Kimmel Foundation.
Additional major donors and collaborators include American Airlines, Merck, Rally Health, Inc., St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and Van Andel Research Institute. Other key supporters and collaborators include American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Farrah Fawcett Foundation, Laura Ziskin Family Trust, LUNGevity Foundation, National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and international collaborator Cancer Research UK.
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are actively collaborating with SU2C Canada. CCS is also a collaborator in the inaugural Stand Up To Cancer Canada – Canadian Cancer Society Breast Cancer Dream Team, along with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR). Collaborators in the inaugural Stand Up To Cancer Canada Cancer Stem Cell Dream Team include CIHR, Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, Genome Canada and OICR. AstraZeneca Canada and Mastercard are the first corporate supporters of SU2C Canada.
About Stand Up To Cancer
STAND UP TO CANCER (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. A division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), SU2C was established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize these communities’ resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. As of April 2018, more than 1,500 scientists representing more than 180 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.
Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., staff at SU2C and the American Association for Cancer Research, our Scientific Partner, implement rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., serves as SU2C’s president and CEO.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit www.StandUpToCancer.org.
LOS ANGELES, CA – September 4, 2018 – Publisher, Kris Millegan will release “On This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter” through his TrineDay Books in 2019.
On This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter is the first of its kind. Diversity in the craft of comedy has never had an encyclopedia. Unlike the other notable arts; painting, dance, acting, sculpting, music and literature, comedy never received the same respect. The hardest of all the arts has long been considered frivolous and devoid of serious craft.
Well, this definitive collection of landmark events, facts, figures, bios, photos, quotes and milestones in American ethnic comedy will change all that. Not only is it a detailed source guide to African-American, Latin, Asian, Native-American and Middle Eastern comedy, but innovative in its presentation.
Instead of On This Day in Comedy being a stodgy collection of humorous information, it’s an exhilarating journey using 21st Century sensibilities. This book incorporates video links to bring the experience of the entertainers, films, TV shows and rare concert footage to life for the reader; lending a greater appreciation to the subject matter and allowing the text to truly come alive. The legends of the genre are given their proper place in history with insightful biographies and then afforded the space to display the talent readers only imagined. Want to know why this person or event is important? Just look!
On This Day in Comedy is not just an encyclopedia, but a celebration of comedy. Every day of the year something happened in the world of comedy and we highlight them. In humorous prose the book takes us through the often-neglected sub-cultures of comedy in America, acknowledging the inclusiveness of the performers, shows and films that made this art form so vital to us and deserves chronicling and preservation.
This encyclopedia will offer rare, and in some cases, never-before-seen photos and obscure textual facts making it an indispensable comedy essential. We all grew up on some form of comedy no matter what generation you’re from and each of these pages will restore fond memories or invigorate new ones.
About the Authors:
Darryl Littleton is an accomplished stand-up comedian, author and producer. He’s the Associate Curator for The Comedy Hall of Fame and an Emmy nominated writer for his work on the documentary, “Joan Rivers: Exit Laughing”. His first book, “Black Comedians on Black Comedy” was an instant classic, taught as part of the curriculum at USC and adapted into the Showtime documentary, “Why We Laugh”, executive produced by Littleton and directed by Robert Townsend.
Littleton began his comedy career writing sketches for “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” on CBS Radio. Soon afterwards he became a regular at the world-famous Comedy Store, adopted the stage name, “D’Militant” and landed a job as D. L. Hughley’s exclusive writer when he hosted BET’s “Comic View”. Darryl was promoted to writer/producer and also penned material for Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore and Don DC Curry.
Littleton’s television credits include Robert Townsend’s WB sitcom, “The Parent Hood”, “Townsend Television” for Fox, HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam”, Comedy Central’s “Make Me Laugh”, Martin Lawrence’s “1st Amendment”, Telemundo’s “Loco Comedy Jam”, Byron Allen’s “Comic’s Unleashed”, “Unsung: The Jeffersons” where he was the go-to expert on 70’s sitcoms and ABC’s “America’s Funniest People” where he was the Grand Prize Winner.
Darryl Littleton toured Europe and Asia as a stand-up comedian entertaining US military troops, released 2 comedy CDs, worked as a commentator for NPR, toured as a public speaker, produced “Black & Blue: The Laff Records Collection” and published six additional books as well as the satirical graphic novel, “1 Broke Activist: The Adventures of D’Militant – Mein Trump”.
Frank Holder is the Founder and Publisher of the Humor Mill Magazine, an urban comedy and entertainment on-line digital magazine distributed to over 1.3 million email subscribers. Since its launch over nine years ago and with the addition of the humormillmag.com website, it is now the leading urban comedy website in the industry.
The Humor Mill is known for being a gateway to introducing unknown comedians to the general public. Since its inception, they have introduced thousands of emerging comedians, while sharing in-depth interviews, and exclusives for their audience.
Holder holds degrees in communication and was a Program and Music Director on such radio stations as WRBB, WERS, WZOU and WMJX. Holder recently launched The Minority Report, which is The State of Urban News & Affairs for the minority community and he’s in preproduction on The Humor Mill Comedy Festival which is set to launch in November of 2018.
“On This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter” will be like no other book in your collection and once you add it you’ll never look at January to December quite the same way again.