It might seem like she has the Midas touch, but Issa Rae knows it’s not always that easy to make magic happen and become a success, so she’s making sure to help others who are following in her path.
“I get irritated when others are in a position where they can help others and they don’t pay it forward,” Issa told Sister 2 Sister. “I think that’s the most important part.”
The The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl creator is putting actions behind those words with Color Creative, an initiative that gives “great writers of color a platform and an audience.”
First, the brainchild of Jahmela Biggs, is one of the projects Issa is supporting. It’s a Webseries about falling in love.
“I really, really liked it. It has ‘90s sensibilities in the way that I enjoyed Love Jones so much and it reminded me a lot of it,” the Exhale co-host said. The third episode of the Web series premieres Wednesday on Issa’s YouTube channel.
In addition to creating and supporting Webseries and co-hosting Exhale on Aspire, Issa said she’s also working on a book, a collection of essays. As if that’s not enough, she’s still in the process of producing a series for HBO.
It may seem like Issa mapped an uncharted road to success intentionally, by launching the Awkward Black Girl series years ago, but she said her rise to the top was sort of unexpected.
“I wish it was part of my master plan. I wish I was that smart,” she said. “I’m just taking it in stride. I was very surprised at how fast it did take off. You just don’t expect that magnitude. I never expected to have all these opportunities continue and that’s what I’m most appreciative for,” she said, thanking her fans.
“I have a ridiculously supportive viewership and fan base. They’re so dedicated to our success and I love that,” she said.
article by Tracy Scott via s2smagazine.com
Posts published in “Comedy/Humor”
If you’re of a certain age you may remember the unapologetically silly Police Academy movies — a comedy series which dominated the 1980s. Now, rumor has it, Comedy Central stars Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele may produce a repeat of the beloved franchise.
According to Variety, New Line Cinema wants to reboot the films, nearly all of which starred Steve Guttenberg and featured Bubba Smith and Michael Winslow in supporting roles. Winslow, whose character Sgt. Larvelle “Motor Mouth” Jones famously used vocal sound effects to play pranks and fool his foes, was a particular fan favorite.
No word yet on whether he, or any of the original stars, will be back for a new iteration.
article via thegrio.com
30 Rock veteran Tracy Morgan is returning to primetime in a new comedy for FXX. According to Deadline.com, the network has given a straight-to-series order to the project from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and Sunny writer Luvh Rakhe.
This is a brand new concept unrelated to Death Pact, the comedy pilot FX recently produced, from writers Rob Long and Tad Safran, which starred Morgan as a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero.
McElhenney, Day and Howerton approached Morgan about working with tem in January, with the discussions leading to the new series, reports Deadline. While there had been no formal pass on Death Pact, some cast members already have booked new gigs.
article via eurweb.com
Comedy Central duo Key and Peele are on a roll. After landing on the cover of New York Times Sunday Magazine last year, this week they are cover boys for national weekly news magazine Time. It’s the Ideas Issue, and Key and Peele offer an opinion piece about comedy that may or may not make you laugh, but at the very least will make you think. Check it out below:
Would you make fun of a burn victim? Well, we did. Sort of… We’re comics. In the most recent season of our TV show, in a sketch titled “Insult Comic,” a traditional stand-up comedian professes that he is “going to get everybody” in his set (the guy toward the front with big ears, the fat guy, the woman with comically large breasts). That’s the phrase, isn’t it, when a critic wants to praise a comedian for the fearless nature of his or her comedy? That he or she “gets everybody”? That “nobody is safe”? One of the club patrons in our sketch, however, is a wheelchair-bound burn victim. “You skipped me,” he calls from the audience, with a robotic-sounding artificial larynx. “Go for it,” he says, “I can take it.”
But can we, as a society, take it anymore?
Today it seems that we live in a world of extremes. On one end of the spectrum, we have anonymous Internet trolls looking for opportunities to dole out cruelty with impunity. But in mainstream culture, it often seems we’re drowning in a sea of political correctness that lapped up on our shores a couple of decades ago and has yet to recede.
It’s amazing to think how popular television shows like All in the Family and Good Times might fare today in a Hollywood pitch meeting. Films like Blazing Saddles and Silver Streak wouldn’t make it past the development stage at a studio. Too edgy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — NBC’s Parks and Recreation is getting a stunning new cast member for a night: First Lady Michelle Obama. According to the Associated Press, the first lady’s office says Mrs. Obama will appear on the show’s April 24th season finale. The show’s Twitter account said it’s “time to get real about Pawnee’s obesity,” which is a reference to Pawnee, Indiana, the fictional town where Parks and Recreation takes place, and the first lady’s campaign against child obesity. Obama recently appeared in a comedy sketch on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with Fallon and Will Ferrell also designed to promote “Let’s Move.”
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler helped the campaign earlier this week when she appeared at a “Let’s Move” event in Miami, where Mrs. Obama joked that she and Poehler are best friends. Mrs. Obama won’t be the first White House figure to appear on the show. Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo on the show in 2012.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler helped the campaign earlier this week when she appeared at a “Let’s Move” event in Miami, where Mrs. Obama joked that she and Poehler are best friends. Mrs. Obama won’t be the first White House figure to appear on the show. Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo on the show in 2012.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
One of our favorite girlfriends, Tracee Ellis Ross, may be heading back to primetime TV. According to Deadline, Ross landed a lead role in an untitled ABC comedy pilot, which was written by Kenya Barris (The Game) and previously called Black-ish. The pilot also stars Anthony Anderson, and will mark Ross’ return to TV since BET shelved her family comedy Reed Between the Lines.
Here’s a synopsis of the show:
An upper-middle-class black man (Anderson) struggles to raise his children with some sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions and obstacles coming from his liberal wife (Ross), old-school father (reportedly Laurence Fishburne), and his own assimilated, color-blind kids.
The pilot is being produced by ABC studios, Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young, and recently Larry Wilmore (The Bernie Mac Show) was brought on as executive producer/showrunner.
article by Britni Danielle via clutchmagonline.com
According to Variety.com, Universal Studios has started pre-production on a sequel to its hit buddy comedy Ride Along, with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart on board to reprise their starring roles. Ride Along has topped $117 million in U.S. box office after five weekends, starting its run with three consecutive first-place finishes. The film was budgeted at a cost-effective $25 million.
Will Packer, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez and Larry Brezner will again produce. Tim Story is attached to direct again from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Universal signed the writers to script the sequel last year. The decision to greenlight Ride Along 2 comes on the heels of the healthy opening of another Hart comedy, Sony’s About Last Night, which took in $27.8 million over the four-day weekend.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Will Packer, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez and Larry Brezner will again produce. Tim Story is attached to direct again from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Universal signed the writers to script the sequel last year. The decision to greenlight Ride Along 2 comes on the heels of the healthy opening of another Hart comedy, Sony’s About Last Night, which took in $27.8 million over the four-day weekend.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Jimmy Fallon loves the ’90s. Like, really, really loves the ’90s. After famously reuniting the casts of Saved by the Bell and Full House on Late Night, the 39-year-old comedian gave a nod The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air during his first-ever time hosting The Tonight Show Monday. Of course, he couldn’t have done it without a little help from his first guest, Will Smith.
Dressed in overalls and printed tees, the duo performed the “Evolution of Hip-Hop Dancing,” showing off moves ranging from the “Cabbage Patch” and the “Running Man” to the “Robot” and the “Pop and Lock.” Other signatures included “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” “Kid ‘N Play,” “MC Hammer” and “The Carlton.” Unfortunately, Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air costar Alfonso Ribeiro didn’t make a cameo.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTpn30Pms8I&w=560&h=315]
And while they both attempted to do the “Leg Thing No One Can Do,” it was the “Spank That” move that tripped Smith up. Fallon transitioned into “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” but Smith was still spanking it. The funnymen recovered and decided to “Make It Rain” before “Picking Up the Money Because That’s all You Had.” When Fallon began to demonstrate the “Twerk,” 45-year-old Smith bowed out and walked offstage.
The recurring bit is a fan favorite. During his tenure on Late Night, Fallon performed “The History of Rap” with Justin Timberlake; the singer later helped Fallon with his “Evolution of End Zone Dancing” tutorial. Fallon also once demonstrated “The Evolution of Mom Dancing” with First Lady Michelle Obama.
article by Zach Johnson via eonline.com
Kevin Hart more than lived up to his name on Valentine’s day as Sony-Screen Gems’ About Last Night led the charge among couples. And yet, the comedian-turned-leading man, who stands at just 5’2″ tall, has been quietly building his brand, which has only just blown up at the box office, in order to become one of the most biggest African American stars since Will Smith or Denzel Washington. Prior to this year, Hart was known more in the stand-up world, with Codeblack-produced and distributed (along with Summit) hits like Laugh at My Pain and Let Me Explain, both of which were preceded by the eponymous Kevin Hart.
In less than two months, Hart has become one of the industry’s sturdiest B.O. players with two major narrative feature hits: Universal’s Ride Along, which became this year’s first $100 million-plus grosser and now “About Last Night,” which topped Friday’s box office with $12.9 million, kick-starting a solid $28.5 million four-day run.
Earlier in his career, Hart had memorable supporting roles in such films as The Five-Year Engagement and Think Like a Man. Hart’s seemingly overnight hit status also is due, in part, to the recent success of urban-targeted films in general, including The Best Man Holiday and 12 Years a Slave, both of which were released late last year.
Still, neither of those films broke out the way Ride Along has when it scored a rare three straight wins atop the domestic box office. And while African American-themed films typically do not travel well outside the U.S. (aside from Will Smith — formerly, at least), they are made for a price. About Last Night, for instance, cost only $12.5 million to produce, while Ride Along was budgeted at $25 million. During opening weekend, Ride Along scored 30% of its gross from Hispanics, with Caucasians contributing 12% of the opening. African Americans still delivered half of the box office, though since then the film’s staying power is attributed to a broadened demo base. About Last Night, on the other hand, earned an overwhelming 72% of its opening from African Americans.
Regardless, it’s a steady beat for Hart. Sony is further investing in multi-hyphenate by his upcoming comedy The Wedding Ringer to Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2015.
article by Andrew Stewart via Variety.com
In less than two months, Hart has become one of the industry’s sturdiest B.O. players with two major narrative feature hits: Universal’s Ride Along, which became this year’s first $100 million-plus grosser and now “About Last Night,” which topped Friday’s box office with $12.9 million, kick-starting a solid $28.5 million four-day run.
Earlier in his career, Hart had memorable supporting roles in such films as The Five-Year Engagement and Think Like a Man. Hart’s seemingly overnight hit status also is due, in part, to the recent success of urban-targeted films in general, including The Best Man Holiday and 12 Years a Slave, both of which were released late last year.
Still, neither of those films broke out the way Ride Along has when it scored a rare three straight wins atop the domestic box office. And while African American-themed films typically do not travel well outside the U.S. (aside from Will Smith — formerly, at least), they are made for a price. About Last Night, for instance, cost only $12.5 million to produce, while Ride Along was budgeted at $25 million. During opening weekend, Ride Along scored 30% of its gross from Hispanics, with Caucasians contributing 12% of the opening. African Americans still delivered half of the box office, though since then the film’s staying power is attributed to a broadened demo base. About Last Night, on the other hand, earned an overwhelming 72% of its opening from African Americans.
Regardless, it’s a steady beat for Hart. Sony is further investing in multi-hyphenate by his upcoming comedy The Wedding Ringer to Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2015.
article by Andrew Stewart via Variety.com
Benefitting from its strong date night appeal and Kevin Hart‘s current filmic hot streak, About Last Night opened strong on Valentine’s Day and wound up ahead of fellow 1980s remakes RoboCop and Endless Love this weekend, succumbing only to The LEGO Movie, which easily led the box office over President’s Day weekend.
According to boxofficemojo.com, in its second outing, The LEGO Movie added $48.8 million and so far has earned $129.1 million. Playing at 2,253 locations, About Last Night opened to an estimated $27 million. That’s the best opening for a romantic comedy since 2012’s Think Like a Man ($33.6 million), which also featured Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy and Regina Hall. It is noticeably lower than recent Kevin Hart movie Ride Along ($41.5 million), though that’s a difficult number to match.
According to Sony, About Last Night‘s audience was 63 percent female and 57 percent over the age of 30. They awarded the movie a solid “A-” CinemaScore. Remaining a master builder in its second weekend, The Lego Movie ended Valentine’s Day in a tie with new entry About Last Night, but is expected to zoom ahead on Saturday for a possible $59 million-plus finish over the long Presidents Day weekend. About Last Night took in $13 million on Friday for a projected four-day opening in the $35 million range.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson