Def Comedy Jam

Last updated
Def Comedy Jam
Genre Stand-up comedy
Created by
Directed by Stan Lathan
Presented by Martin Lawrence
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
Production
Camera setup Single camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseMarch 7, 1992 (1992-03-07) 
May 2, 1997 (1997-05-02)
Related

Def Comedy Jam is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons, Stan Lathan, and Bob Sumner. [1] [2] [3] The series was hosted by Martin Lawrence and Joe Torry in its first six seasons and by D. L. Hughley for its seventh and eighth seasons.

Contents

Simmons and long-time collaborator Lathan were inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and The Comedy Act Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They teamed up with Def Jam Records label executive and veteran comedy scout Sumner to launch the show. The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997 and in 2006 it returned in the HBO fall lineup. Def Comedy Jam helped to launch the careers of several African-American stand-up comedians.

On September 10 2017 a Netflix special, Def Comedy Jam 25, was filmed at the Beverly Hilton. It was shown on 26 September 2017 and featured many of the comedy stars listed below. [4]

Notable Performers

Spin-offs

The show produced a spinoff called Loco Slam. [5]

Home media

The show was released on DVD boxsets in the US and the UK. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Lawrence</span> American actor and comedian (born 1965)

Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor and comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playing Maurice Warfield in What's Happening Now!! (1987–1988). He was a leading actor in the Fox television sitcom Martin, the Bad Boys franchise, and House Party, Boomerang, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Nothing to Lose, Life, Blue Streak, Big Momma's House, Black Knight, Open Season, and Wild Hogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Simmons</span> American entrepreneur and record executive

Russell Wendell Simmons is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has promoted veganism and a yoga lifestyle, and published books on lifestyle health & entrepreneurship. Simmons' net worth was estimated at $340 million in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Epps</span> American actor and musician

Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film roles include Juice, Higher Learning, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love & Basketball. His television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the medical drama series ER, J. Martin Bellamy in Resurrection, Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House from 2004 to 2012, and Isaac Johnson in the TV series Shooter from 2016 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanaa Lathan</span> American actress (born 1971)

Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. Lathan later garnered further prominence after starring in the 1998 superhero film Blade, which followed with film roles in The Best Man (1999), Love & Basketball (2000), Disappearing Acts (2000), and Brown Sugar (2002).

Sommore is an American comedian and actress. Known as the "Diva of Contemporary Comedy," her comedic style features biting sarcasm and frank discussions about money, sex, and equality between the sexes. She first gained fame as the first female host of the long-running Black Entertainment Television (BET) stand-up showcase ComicView, as well as one of the four female comedians that headlined The Queens of Comedy tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Lathan</span> American film director

Stan Lathan is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood. He has produced and directed numerous stand-up comedy specials starring comedian Dave Chappelle, including Killin' Them Softly, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation, Sticks & Stones, and The Closer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Whitfield</span> American actress (born 1953)

Lynn Whitfield is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991).

Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry, better known as simply Def Poetry Jam or Def Poetry, is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by established and up-and-coming spoken word poets. Performances also include special appearances by well-known actors and musicians, as well as occasional performances by Mos Def himself. Co-created by Bruce George, Danny Simmons, Deborah Pointer, Stan Lathan, and Russell Simmons, the show is a spin-off of the popular Def Comedy Jam which began airing on HBO in the 1990s. As with Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rosenberg (music manager)</span> American music manager

Paul D. Rosenberg is an American music manager and former entertainment attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World of Wonder (company)</span> American production company

World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productions with a key focus on LGBTQ topics. Together, Barbato and Bailey have produced programming through World of Wonder for HBO, Bravo, HGTV, Showtime, BBC, Netflix, MTV and VH1, with credits including the Million Dollar Listing docuseries, RuPaul's Drag Race, and the documentary films The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000) and Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016).

Ian Edwards is a British Jamaican / American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer from New York and based in Los Angeles, California.

Adele Givens is an American comedian, actress and writer. Beginning her career during the late–1980s in comedy, Givens television appearances include The Hughleys, Moesha, The Parkers, Comedy Central Presents, Def Comedy Jam, Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Martin, Tracey Takes On... and The Steve Harvey Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Simmons</span> American painter

Daniel Simmons Jr. is a Neo-African abstract expressionist painter, a published author, poet and philanthropist. Simmons played an instrumental role in the conceiving of and co-producing the hit HBO show Def Poetry Jam, and won a Tony Award for the Broadway version of the show. He is the older brother of hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons. He is the co-founder and chairman of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, which provides disadvantaged urban youth with arts access and education.

Steven Harold Carr is an American film director, music video director, and film producer from Brooklyn, New York. After studying fine arts on a full scholarship to Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, Carr founded design firm The Drawing Board with Cey Adam to create iconic album artwork for Def Jam Recordings artists such as Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J and more. Asked to take his vision to film, Carr created groundbreaking videos for influential hip-hop artists from Slick Rick to Jay-Z, and was signed to Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart Music Video production company in Los Angeles, CA.

Erik Weiner is an American actor, writer, comedian, and producer best known for co-creating the play The Bomb-itty of Errors and his role as Agent Sebso on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Brave New Voices (BNV) is a youth spoken word festival created by the nonprofit organization Youth Speaks in 1998. Its conception was inspired by the inaugural Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam in San Francisco, California, which was the first poetry slam dedicated to youth in the world. In the years since, Brave New Voices has grown to represent young writers from the ages of 13 to 19, and it is the largest ongoing spoken word festival in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tone Bell</span> American actor

Michael Anthony Bell II, known professionally as Tone Bell, is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Joe Hernandez-Kolski is an American actor, spoken word poet, comedian and hip-hop theater artist. He appeared on the fourth and sixth seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam.

All Def Comedy is an American television series featuring stand-up comedy airing on HBO. It is produced by Russell Simmons and a continuation of Def Comedy Jam, Simmons' stand-up series on HBO airing from 1992 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zainab Johnson</span> American comedian

Zainab Johnson is an American comedian and actress. She is best known as a semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing. Johnson is a series regular on Amazon's Upload.

References

  1. Williams, Frank B. (1997-03-13). "STAGE; Totally 'Def'; Spinoff of HBO's hit comedy showcase comes to CSUN". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  2. "Has Black Comedy Been Beaten Blue? : 'Def Comedy Jam' is a hit--but with some African American comics turning to cable shows that limit the raunchiness, clean and subtle could be the wave of the future". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  3. O'Connor, John J. (1993-07-08). "Review/Television; Onstage at the Outer Limits of the Outrageous". The New York Times . Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  4. Allah, Sha Be (2017-09-11). "Def Comedy Jam 25 Launches Sept. 26 On Netflix - The Source" . Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  5. Braxton, Greg (1994-02-20). "Loco Hopes to Hit Grand Slam for Latinos". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  6. "Def Comedy Jam Classics, Vols. 1 and 2". DVD Talk . Retrieved 2011-01-03.