Stand-up comedy is a grind. For most, the pay is meager, travel is heavy, and the gigs you do book are juggled in between fulltime work. So, why dedicate your life to such an intense commitment?
For Ron Dailey, aka “Blaq Ron,” he knew what he wanted out of comedy: “I was in it for the pretty girls’ phone numbers.”
Dailey was only joking, of course. (If you’re just catching up — he’s a comedian.) But during a roundtable discussion with four other contestants competing in this year’s American Black Film Festival’s Comedy Wings competition — hosted by Insecure’s Yvonne Orji — it was clear he and the others had wrestled with this question before. Not only is money hard to come by, so are the connections that can grant exposure to bigger audiences, stages, and paychecks. (The $5000 grand prize and a meeting with HBO makes winning Comedy Wings especially enticing for a comic on the rise.)
Dailey, who hails from Dallas, answered the question again in earnest, explaining he was personally grateful for the opportunity to explore social issues that were important to him while helping his crowd process their own pain. “We comics are group therapists,” said Dailey. “We’re conducting an hour-long session when we go on stage.”
Still, as morally rewarding as comedy can be, the comics agreed that it’s a tough business — even more so when you’re black. LeighAnn Lord, a comic from Queens, New York, noted that stereotypes about the black experience are often used against her, while the same behavior might not raise an eyebrow from a white comic. “You can have a white comic be filthy and scatological,” said Lord. “Then we use one little word and people are like ‘You’re a little too dirty!’”
“But then,” Lord continued, “if we’re clean, people are like ‘Oh, can you be a little more black?’ Really?”
Mississippi comic Rita Brent further elaborated on how discrimination in comedy affects black women. “Classically, women — black women, especially — have to deal with the assumption that we’re dirty comics,” explained Brent. “People think we only make d**k and p***y jokes.”
Yet Brent believes these unfair situations have only enriched her humor.
“I’ve learned to just be me,” said Brent. “I won’t let people pull me in every direction. That helps me create unique humor that’s exclusive to my experience.”
Chicago-based T. Murph believes that these challenges have improved his versatility. He also praised each contestant’s ability to transcend audiences. Murph argues: “We perform in front of so many other audiences than the average comedian, it makes us better at what we do.”
“Some comics only have one specific audience,” Murph said, gesturing to the other contestants, “but we can perform in any room. We can hit an alternative room with a white, super progressive college crowd that only wants to hear Hillary/Trump jokes, and we can hit the black bar and grill, hole-in-the-wall and kill it there!”
Houston-based Kris Atkins appreciates that ABFF frees them to be themselves instead of having to constantly juggle the various challenges they experience as black entertainers. “This opportunity gives me a chance to be seen for my art,” said Atkins “I don’t have a résumé like some of the others, but I submitted a tape and got in because my jokes are good.”
Dailey echoed the sentiment, expressing gratitude that his humor could be fairly judged on its merits. “Far too often, we hear that making it isn’t about the funny,” he said. “It’s about marketing and such. But, really, if it ain’t about the funny, well what the f**k is about?”
That night, Dailey transformed into Blaq Ron and was decidedly about the funny. He went first and had the crowd and judges, including Insecure’s Jay Ellis and Ballers’ London Brown, bursting into laughs from beginning to end. Dailey eked out a win over Brent, who finished as the runner-up.
Written By BY BRADFORD WILLIAM DAVIS/HBO.com
The biopic about Sammy Davis, Jr. now has been set up at Paramount Pictures, where producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has his overall deal. The project is on the development fast track, soon to be hiring a writer and a director to make the feature film about the dancer-singer-actor-musician to becoming a reality.
The movie will be based in large part on the 1965 memoir Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr. that he penned with Jane and Burt Boyar.
Davis’ heirs are joining a producing team led by Lionel Richie, di Bonaventura and Mike Menchel. The latter two most recently joined forces for Only the Brave, the feature about the 19 firefighting heroes who died during the 2013 Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona.
Richie was the key to getting all the rights deals done to be able to bring Davis’ story to the masses. “I cannot tell you how excited I am about the signing of the Sammy Davis Jr. project with Paramount,” said Richie. “I knew and loved Sammy dearly.”
Davis’ life could be made into multiple movies as he (and singer Billy Eckstine) were among the first entertainers to truly cross the white barrier in a racially charged America. Thanks in large part to his champion Frank Sinatra, Davis — who even as a child in Vaudeville was entertaining with his incredible tap-dancing repertoire – truly was able to thrive.
He was born in Harlem and performed for troops during World War II. By the 1950s, Davis was recording albums and performing on Broadway. But it was when he joined Sinatra in what was known as The Rat Pack — along with Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop — that he began to
become a major celebrity.
The guys ruled the Las Vegas Strip, often staying at The Sands. He then started appearing in 1960s Rat Pack films such as Ocean’s 11, Sergeants 3 and Robin and the 7 Hoods.
It was his love affairs with white actresses such as Kim Novak, however, that threw him into private and public controversies. Faced with a death threat from Columbia Pictures’ Harry Cohn after he found out that Davis and Novak were an item, the singer was forced to marry a black woman as a beard.
Then came his love affair with the Swedish actress May Britt, which really raised eyebrows during what was a time in America when interracial marriages were banned in many states. But the two were deeply in love, and Davis proudly announced the engagement to the world. Sinatra was concerned and said not to marry Britt, but the two lovebirds were determined. It was a marriage that lasted eight years and produced three children.
During a time in America when there were still segregated water fountains and black performers had to stay in black hotels separate from whites-only hotels (like the Frontier and the Desert Inn in Vegas and the South), Davis — and others including Eckstine, Lena Horne, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Bobby Tucker, The Mills Brothers, etc. — continued to push through the bigotry. Davis later threw down the gauntlet and boldly refused to work for companies that segregated.
The marriage to Britt was not without backlash from the black community as well. Davis, however, continued to push for civil rights even though some in the black community saw him as a sellout; even though he was scared, he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Davis broke down many barriers; played for the Queen of England and even was given his own network show in 1966 — unheard of for a black man at the time.
In 1971, Davis enjoyed a major pop hit with “The Candy Man,“ which was written by others specifically for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That song held onto the No. 1 spot for three weeks.
Davis, who was tirelessly devoted to his work, was almost killed in a 1954 car crash in San Bernardino. That’s how he lost his left eye. During his recovery, he began studying Judaism. He converted in 1961. So did Britt.
Controversy hit again when he backed (and hugged) then-candidate Richard Nixon in 1972. But Sinatra loved the politician, too — eventually even helping out VP Spiro Agnew financially with his legal woes behind the scenes). Davis later got involved with porn star Linda Lovelace and fell in with even more strange bedfellows of drugs and alcohol.
It’s a big responsibility to get the biopic right, so producers have been working diligently to bring the hard-working, stereotype-busting and trailblazing artist to the big screen. The pic will follow him from Vaudeville with his dad and uncle in the Will Mastin Trio to the integrated infantry with Southern whites in WWII to his big break in the short film Sweet and Low in 1947 and his chance meeting with Sinatra.
In his 64 years, Davis made some lifelong friends and influenced the careers of many artists. One of those was Richie, who is passionate about the feature project. “He was so kind to me at the beginning of my career and gave me advice that helped me become the artist that I am today,” he said. “I am so happy for his kids that we can bring his story to the screen.” So are we.
Source: Deadline
MTV award shows are known for contributing some of the most shocking water cooler moments in television history, and the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards were no exception.
Tiffany Haddish set the tone for the show as the night’s host, opening with a parody of Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” during which she swapped the rapper’s lyrics for lines like, “If I’m flying on the zip line, then you know I gotta pee,” in reference to her infamous “Girls Trip” scene, and “got six movies just this year what bitch works as hard as me?”
She took a break from singing to address the night’s attendees, calling best villain winner Michael B. Jordan “so sexy you could probably get a girl pregnant right there on eyesight” and comparing the Kardashians to the “Star Wars” franchise (“They have a ton of money, a new one’s always popping up I don’t know where, and they’re ruled by a bossy overlord who always sleeps in a mask, and she loves black men!”)
But Haddish’s opener was just the beginning of a night full of comical interludes, emotional acceptance speeches, and political statements. Check out the full list of standout moments below.
Millie Bobby Brown Denounces Bullies
Brown wasn’t physically present to accept the performance in a TV show award for her work on “Stranger Things” due to an injury. But she still made an acceptance video in which she called out bullies in the wake of her decision to leave Twitter because of online harassment. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it,” she said. “There should be no space in this world for bullying, and I’m not going to tolerate it.”
Olivia Munn and Michael B. Jordan Throw Shade at Roseanne
Nominees and presenters didn’t shy away from addressing controversial topics, and ABC’s recent “Roseanne” cancellation took the spotlight not once, but twice over the course of the show. While presenting the award for best hero, Munn gave a shout-out to real world heroes, including “that guy who fired Roseanne,” and Jordan called out Roseanne Barr directly during his best villain acceptance speech. “I’m shocked that I won this award for best villain,” Jordan joked. “I thought for sure Roseanne had that in the bag.”
Chadwick Boseman Dedicates His Award to the Waffle House Hero
While accepting the award for best hero for playing T’Challa in Marvel’s “Black Panther,” Boseman invited honorary attendee James Shaw Jr. to the stage to thank him for protecting civilians against a gunman who opened fire at a Tennessee Waffle House in May. “Come on up here,” Boseman said, brandishing his golden popcorn trophy. “This is gonna live at your house. God bless you, man.”
The McQueen Dress Strikes Again
Once again, Haddish redefined what it means to be an outfit repeater by wearing her white Alexander McQueen gown that has become a fashion staple for the comedian. Since she debuted the ensemble at the “Girls Trip” premiere, the dress has made multiple reappearances, including on “Saturday Night Live,” at the 2018 Oscars, and now at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. “Welcome back, and welcome back to my Alexander McQueen dress one more time,” Haddish joked after a commercial break in the broadcast.
The McQueen dress wasn’t the only noteworthy look Haddish sported for her hosting duties. Throughout the show, the comedian cycled through multiple iconic costumes, including an Audrey Hepburn getup from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” the green drapes from “Gone With the Wind,” and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding dress. “She’s from my hood — I had to represent,” Haddish said about Markle, who grew up in Los Angeles.
“Love, Simon” Wins Best Kiss
Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome were the second male couple (following Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s win in 2006 for “Brokeback Mountain”) to win best kiss for a same-sex kissing scene in “Moonlight.” This year, same-sex love triumphed again for Nick Robinson and Keiynan Lonsdale, who took home the award for “Love, Simon.” “If you can live your dreams and wear dresses, you can live your dreams and kiss the one that you love, no matter what gender they are,” Lonsdale said during his speech.
Jordan Asks Fans to Stop Making Boseman Say “Wakanda Forever”
Jordan’s best villain acceptance speech was full of soundbites, including a request to fans to stop asking Boseman to recite “Black Panther’s” most famous tagline. “Chadwick Boseman personally asked me to ask y’all to stop asking him to say ‘Wakanda Forever’ out on the streets,” Jordan joked. “Y’all taking the ‘forever’ thing a little too seriously.” The comment harkened to the “tired of Wakanda” memes picturing an unenthused Boseman throwing the Wakanda sign.
All of Haddish’s Video Interludes
Multiple digital shorts broke up the night’s festivities, each featuring Haddish in scenes from blockbusters like “Black Panther,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” and “A Quiet Place” (renamed “A Dark-Ass Place” in the clip). Whether she was introducing her “Girls Trip” castmates to Wakanda or flirting with a brooding Kylo Ren, Haddish’s comedic cameos drew many laughs from the audience.
Chris Pratt’s “Nine Rules”
Pratt received a standing ovation after accepting this year’s generation award. The “Jurassic World” star gave a lengthy acceptance speech, in which he listed “nine rules” for the audience, ranging from advice on how to poop at parties to religious commentary on God and salvation. “God is real; God loves you. God wants the best for you,” Pratt said. “Believe that — I do.”
Seth Rogen Flashes a Vin Diesel Tattoo
To present the award for best comedic performance to Haddish, Kristen Bell and Rogen prepared a comedic performance of their own by showing each other their new tattoos. Bell donned an avocado on her cheek, while Rogen flashed a lower-back tattoo of Diesel’s face. “It’s all about family,” Bell said in her best Diesel impression while squishing the ink.
“Black Panther” Wins Best Movie
“Black Panther” became the first film with a primarily-black cast to win best movie, and the significance was not lost on its stars. “It’s incredible when the stereotype is that people of color couldn’t bring y’all out to the theater and be able to make these types of films,” Jordan said while accepting the award. “The fact that we’re able to do this on this scale with this movie, this project, means the world to us.”
Source: Variety
Rell Battle thinks protests start too early and black lives should also matter at brunch.
Watch his stand up below from The Conan Show;
Desus Nice and The Kid Mero are on the move. Word is the duo will be leaving Viceland where they have hosted their own daily late-night talk show, Desus & Mero, for two seasons. It hasn’t been revealed where they are headed but I hear they are close to a deal at Showtime for a weekly show.
Desus and Mero started telling the staff about their pending departure from Viceland yesterday. The show’s final episode is expected to air June 28.
I hear Viceland tried to keep Desus and Mero onboard with a new deal but I hear the duo got an opportunity they felt they could not pass on. Reps for Viceland and Showtime declined comment.
With its own style, Desus & Mero has been able to cut through the late-night clutter and stand out, quickly emerging as one of Viceland’s signature shows. Shot daily from the VICE Media Headquarters in Brooklyn, Desus and Mero features the Bronx-bred pals who sound off on the issues of the day, covering news, pop culture, and day-to-day life.
Source: Deadline
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show. In Theaters August 17, 2018
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, and Elizabeth Banks Director: Brian Henson Writer: Screenplay by Todd Berger
Story by Todd Berger & Dee Austin Robertson Producers: Brian Henson, Jeff Hayes, Melissa McCarthy, Ben Falcone.
About the Film: When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in “The Conjuring 2,” as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.
“The Nun” stars Oscar-nominated Demian Bichir (“A Better Life”) as Father Burke, Taissa Farmiga (TV’s “American Horror Story”) as Sister Irene, and Jonas Bloquet (“Elle”) as local villager French.
WATCH the trailer below;
Tiffany Haddish isn’t bothered by what appeared to be shade by fellow comedian and The Last O.G. co-star Tracy Morgan recently.
In her cover story with The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday (June 13), the triple threat opened up about her adored career and the many lessons she’s learned along the way. One was knowing her artistic worth, which caused a bit of tiff on the set of the TBS comedy The Last O.G.
Booked before the release of Girls Trip, Haddish plays the role of Shay, Tray’s (Morgan) former girlfriend whose life has evolved during Tray’s time in prison.
As he hilariously navigates through a gentrified Brooklyn 15 years later, he also tries to win over his former flame. As her brand grew, expectations for her to bust out “She Ready-isms” as Shay came with it, which she refused to do. She also shared how her relationship with Morgan changed as well.
While doing promo for the Vulture Festival in May, Morgan took part in an interview where he brushed off a question about his co-star. “We’re not gonna go there,” he said. “Because this isn’t Tiffany’s show. This is Tracy Morgan. This is The Last O.G. If you’re going to go there, ask that about Tiffany, ask that about Cedric [The Entertainer], ask that about Kraft services, everyone that comes to work on that show. I don’t like that.”
The series was thought of years ago by Morgan and with the help of Jordan Peele, became a reality as the first season wrapped earlier this month.
As comedians like Lil Rey Howery came to Haddish’s defense on social media, the comedian shared how it didn’t bother her.
“You guys, chill. He’s probably just tired of hearing my name,” she said. “It’s exhausting. I’m tired of hearing my name. I could see how that could be irritating, like, ‘Hello, I died, people. I’m back from the dead. Tiffany’s cool, but it’s me sitting here now.’ So, I get it, I’m not mad about it, I love me some Tracy.”
During a sit down with the Associated Press in April, Morgan and Haddish were candid about their unique chemistry. “I already knew that she was a tough cookie before I got to the set,” he said. “That’s what made me pick her [for the role].”
Haddish hinted towards their artistic differences but explained how her ideas were always respected. “You’re able to give more input on how you feel about the character, what you think this should be, or that should be and your point of view of respected,” she said. “It may not be what we do, but it’s respected.”
Haddish and Morgan will reunite with the rest of the cast this summer to film season two of the comedy.
Check out more from her chat with THR here.
Source: VIBE, The Hollywood Reporter
It was written in six days, filmed in 14 and produced for about $450. To call the web series “Struggleing” an underdog for Emmy consideration is an understatement.
But then, that’s exactly the kind of story Brent Harvey was out to tell. Harvey, a Marine Corps combat camera veteran, came to Hollywood after leaving the service to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an actor. The road has been tough, but also funny and inspiring. It was also a little hard to explain to his family and friends not immersed in the Hollywood scene.
“I wanted to creatively express my frustrations with Hollywood in a fun way, while explaining to my Midwestern family what my life was like,” Harvey says. “I also wanted to prove to others it could be done, hopefully inspiring them to take charge of their careers.”
A like-minded group of actors easily saw their own frustrations in Harvey’s scripts and pitched in for the whirlwind production that involved 46 actors playing 76 parts. Harvey is the thread that pulls the stories together, offering his views on auditioning, getting an agent, navigating the gig economy to make ends meet and even finding love, all while chasing the Hollywood dream.
Joanna Bronson, the series director, executive producer and a supporting actor, sees the production of the series itself as its own kind of inspiration. “Just putting this series together shows the way technology, creativity and Hollywood are intersecting in entirely new ways now to create the new possibilities for TV series and films to be produced,” Bronson said. “Content can be shared with the world by anyone who has a story and the fortitude to tell it.”
Harvey hopes aspiring actors and other production professionals look at the series and realize, “We live in a world of infinite possibilities. If you create your own content, you can pave your own path to success as you see fit. You may not out-talent everyone, but you can, for sure, out-work everyone to the top.”
2018 Emmy nomination selection is open until June 25.
Nominees will be announced July 12.
On this day in comedy on June 15, 1969, Filmmaker, Actor, Writer, Rapper, Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson) was born in Los Angeles, California
Prior to influencing the world of comedy, Ice Cube gained fame as a rapper with the hardcore pioneering rap group, NWA. Then against the odds he had a successful solo career after leaving the group amidst a contract dispute. He became an iconic MC (voted #8 greatest of all-time by MTV) a budding actor (Boyz N the Hood, Trespass, The Glass Shield, Higher Learning) and at the urging of director, John Singleton, Cube expanded his reach to other genres.
In 1995 Ice Cube released Friday and turned a quiet joke (What kind of comedy is a rapper going to make?) into a cottage industry. Friday became a franchise and made stars of Chris Tucker, Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Terry Crews, Faizon Love, Sommore and starred Cube himself. He then made Barbershop and added another franchise to his list. Cube then did Are We There Yet? with was a film franchise and a TV series on TBS. Oh, and the Ride Along franchise with Kevin Hart.
Ice Cube has kept plenty of comedians and comedy actors working. He produced Janky Promoters, All About the Benjamins, The Players Club (his directorial debut), Beauty Shop, First Sunday, The Longshots and Lottery Ticket. Besides, Are We There Yet?, Ice Cube also produced Barbershop: The Series and Friday: The Animated Series. All this makes Ice Cube one of the strongest comedy impresarios of all-time.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip: