Kevin Hart speaks onstage during the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards at Staples Center on September 6, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Kevin Hart‘s new stand-up comedy film Let Me Explain has been a surprise smash at the box office and could potentially become the most successful film of its kind ever. Hart, who has been on a winning streak following his hit film Think Like a Man and popular BET series Real Husbands of Hollywood, already has one very successful stand up film under his belt; 2011′s Laugh at My Pain.
But the performance of Let Me Explain is unprecedented. According to Deadline.com, the film has already earned $7.4 million in ticket sales during its first two days of release, which nearly eclipsed the entire run of Laugh at My Pain. And Variety reports that Let Me Explain made $29 million by Sunday night. The movie achieved this feat while opening in 876 theaters. In comparison, Disney’s The Lone Ranger (starring Johnny Depp) opened in 3,904 theaters and yet only grossed $5 million more than Hart’s low-budget comedy.
Comedian Dave Chappelle attends the DVD signing of ‘Dave Chappelle’s Block Party’ on June 13, 2006 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Chad Buchanan/Getty Images)
Dave Chappelle is back in the spotlight and reclaiming his title as one of America’s favorite comedians. The stand-up legend is co-headlining Funny or Die Presents The Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, a comedy tour launching late this summer. The comedy duo and music band Flight of the Conchords will join him in hosting and performing throughout the tour. “The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival w/ Dave Chappelle & Flight of the Conchords is going to destroy your funny bone this summer!” says a descriptor on the tour’s official site. The 5-weekend tour will kick off its first show in Austin, Texas on August 23rd and will appear in 12 other cities through Sept. 20. Although Chappelle has performed stand-up across the country over the years, his recent series of gigs with comedian Chris Rock had many speculating his big return to the limelight. Now, the tour marks the funnyman’s high-profile return to the center stage since his abrupt departure from Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show in 2003. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 21. article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com
After his scene-stealing turn on 30 Rock, the NBC series’ co-star Tracy Morgan is starring in his own single-camera comedy project, this time on cable. FX has given a pilot order to Death Pact, from writer-creators Rob Long (Cheers) and Tad Safran (The Long Weekend) and producers Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. In Death Pact, Morgan stars as a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero. He runs across three down-on-their-luck friends and former students and sucks them into his new radical self-help philosophy, which involves harsh consequences for failure. The pilot, produced by FX Prods, will film this summer in New York or New Jersey. “Needless to say anything starring Tracy Morgan could be off-the-charts hilarious and we’re betting this one is,” said FX’s EVP Original Programming Nick Grad. “Rob Long, Tad Safran, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum have delivered a terrific starring vehicle for Tracy. We look forward to casting the other three co-stars and getting started with production. This is going to be fun.” The edgy FX should be a suitable home for Morgan’s sensibility, as showcased in his not-always politically correct stand-up. At the cable network, he would join other stand-up comedians including most notably Louis CK. Since 30 Rock ended its run in January, Morgan has been focusing on his stand-up with his international Excuse My French tour. Before his seven-season stint on 30 Rock, which earned him an Emmy nomination, Morgan spent seven years on Saturday Night Live. FX Networks is ramping up comedy development and production as the company is preparing for the launch comedy-focused channel FXX, which will join flagship FX. article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Will (pictured far right) and Monifa Sims (pictured) never imagined that they’d become overnight Internet sensations as a result of a quick trip to their local gas station to fill up their car. Actor Tim Stack of“Pumpcast News,” a regular sketch on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,“takes a break from reading the day’s news to play around with unsuspecting patrons from pump-mounted TV screens. When Stack a.k.a. “Jack Rafferty” spied the Sims at a Burbank, Calif., gas station, he surprised Will with a greeting and asked him if he’d be willing to belt out a song for his telecast. Will, who admitted that he enjoys karaoke, agreed to sing a Bon Jovi classic, “Livin’ On A Prayer,” without hesitation. As Will performed the song without any reservation, his wife of 12 years, Monifa, sat boisterously laughing inside their vehicle. When Will ended his rendition of the song, Rafferty asked Will whether Monifa would join in too. And while Monifa was initially hesitant, after Rafferty mentioned a free tank of gas and Will began singing about the offer, Monifa exited the car. Rafferty was soon able to coax Monifa in to singing a song as well, with the fitness instructor choosing a Eurythmics chart topper, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).” Not only did Monifa belt out the song in near perfect pitch, but her husband soon joined her, chiming in where needed. The couple also showed off their synchronized dance moves. Watch Will and Monifa Sims sing here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNM0ENUCO5I&w=560&h=315] article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ4Rnba85o8&w=560&h=315] Kid President, the cute 10-year-old boy who inspires us to “make the world awesome,” has released a new video tribute for all moms this Mother’s Day. Kid President, whose real name is Robby Novak, said his message was “on behalf of all the kids on the world.” Enjoy! article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Sherri Shepherd wrote the book “Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, Even If You Don’t Have It.”(Photo: Handout) Comedian Sherri Shepherd, co-host of The View, says type 2 diabetes could have killed her, but instead it saved her life. “If I didn’t have diabetes, I would probably be at the International House of Pancakes eating a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup,” says Shepherd, 46. “I would probably be 250 pounds. I would not be going to the doctor. I probably wouldn’t be married to my husband, Lamar Sally. I wouldn’t be healthy for my son, Jeffrey.” At 5-foot-1, she now weighs 157 pounds, down from 197 pounds several years ago. Once she was taking three medications for diabetes, but now that she’s eating healthier, exercising regularly and keeping her blood sugar in the right range, the doctor has taken her off all medications for the disease. Shepherd details her struggles with diabetes and the changes she made in her life in her new book, Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even If You Don’t Have It), written with Billie Fitzpatrick. Almost 26 million U.S. adults and children have diabetes, in which the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin, or doesn’t use it properly. Insulin helps glucose (sugar) get into cells, where it is used for energy. If there’s an insulin problem, sugar builds up in the blood, damaging nerves and blood vessels. There are two major forms: type 1 and type 2. In adults, type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include thirst, hunger, tiredness, blurry vision, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, healing problems and frequent urination. The disease may lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, foot and leg amputations and blindness. Shepherd has a family history of type 2 diabetes — both of her sisters have it and her mother died at age 41 from complications of the disease. Shepherd says she was in denial after she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. “That said to me I’m not diabetic so I can eat the way I want” including barbecue, mac and cheese, pasta, pancakes and waffles, she says. But then in 2007, she was formally diagnosed. At the time, she says, she had no energy, had numbness in her feet, had blurred vision, was thirsty all the time and had to go to the bathroom frequently. Her blood sugar was way too high. She says her doctor was blunt. “She said, ‘Sherri, you love wearing those shoes, don’t you?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do’. She said, ‘You won’t be wearing them with your foot cut off, because if you keep eating the way you are eating, that’s where you’re headed.’ “
Mike Epps and Katt Williams will face off in Blazin Four, a Blazing Saddles-style action comedy. The independent film revolves around a ragtag quartet of gunslingers hired to protect a small town from marauding Mexican bandits. John Luessenhop and Gabriel Casseus, who produced Sony Screen Gems’Takers, optioned the project and will produce. Luessenhop, who also helmed 2010’s Takers and this year’s Texas Chainsaw 3D, is considering taking the helm on Blazin Four. Epps is playing Noah, a lowlife preacher who takes the job on in the hopes of finding redemption. Williams is El Loco, the menacing leader of the Mexican bandits. Found as a baby on a Mexican family’s doorstep, El Loco has no idea he is black — and none of his bandits has the nerve to tell him. The producers are shopping the project around town. article via deadline.com
Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg is developing a 10-part documentary series exploring the history of black entertainment from the 1800s through the present. “The View” host announced her next project last week during the Tribeca Film Festival screening of her debut documentary, “I Got Somethin’ To Tell You.” An audience member asked Goldberg what her next non-fiction project would be after the success of “I Got Somethin’ To Tell You.” She responded by explaining the difficulties of creating her first documentary and how it inspired her to expand on the research of black entertainers. Goldberg said the “history of black entertainers, comedy and vaudeville has not been covered comprehensively onscreen” according to Real Screen. “I Got Somethin’ To Tell You” focuses on the life of comedic pioneer Moms Mabley. The documentary was completely funded through Kickstarter. Goldberg expressed her gratitude to all that donated to her campaign.
From Tambay A. Obenson of Shadow And Act: Cinema of the African Diaspora: Described as Australia’s answer to Harold and Kumar, as well as Cheech And Chong, and also Australia’s first indigenous comedy feature film, Stone Bros stars Aboriginal actors Luke Carroll and Leon Burchill, and is directed by Richard J Frankland. The movie was released in Australian cinemas in September, 2009 and is now making its debut in the USA, viaiTunes, as I’ve been informed. Previously profiled on this blog, the synopsis for the pot-fueled road-trip reads:
Sick of the city life and their dead end jobs, primo-stoner Charlie and his up-tight cousin Eddie decide it’s time to reconnect with their homegrown roots. Taking off in a beat-up Ford they spark it up on a spiritual journey across the Australian Outback to find and return a sacred stone, which Charlie lost in a blaze of confusion. To succeed they will have to survive a series of hilarious encounters with a demonically possessed dog, a depressed drag queen, a jilted ex-lover, a soul-searching cop, and a deadly spider that has come along for the ride. Only one thing is for certain, it’s going to be a blast!
While I can’t say that I’m looking forward to seeing it (I’m not really a fan of stoner comedies), I’ll check it out eventually. It’s not everyday that one gets to see an Aboriginal stoner comedy.
Announced via press release, HBO has acquired all U.S. broadcast and home video rights to Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You from first-time director Whoopi Goldberg. The feature-length documentary about the iconic stand-up comedienne, will have its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 20. Executive produced by Goldberg, Tom Leonardis and George Schlatter, the documentary will debut exclusively on HBO later this year. In the film, Goldberg explores Mabley’s legacy through recently unearthed photography, rediscovered performance footage and the words of numerous celebrated comedians, entertainers and historians, including Eddie Murphy,Joan Rivers, Sidney Poitier, Kathy Griffin, Harry Belafonte, Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Mabley tackled topics such as gender, sex and racism, making her one of the first triple X-rated comedians on the comedy circuit. Once billed as “The Funniest Woman in the World,” she performed on stage and in television and film up until her death in 1975. “Moms Mabley has been a huge inspiration to me and so many others, but not a lot of folks outside of the comedy world know about her legacy,” said Goldberg in a statement. “There are a lot of us who wouldn’t be working today without pioneers like her. HBO gave me my first break on TV, so it’s only fitting that Moms has a home there now. article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com
Kid President, the cute 10-year-old boy who inspires us to “make the world awesome,” has released a new video tribute for all moms this Mother’s Day. Kid President, whose real name is Robby Novak, said his message was “on behalf of all the kids on the world.” Enjoy!
