Alias Smith And Leroi

Who is Affion Crockett? Pretty much anybody he wants to be. Calling Affion a gifted impressionist would be selling him short. He’s an actor. He’s a stand-up. He’s a dancer. He’s a filmmaker. And he’s the voices of a generation. Yes. Voices. Chris Rock. President Obama. Russell Simmons… and uh… uh… oh yeah. Jigga Man. […]

The First Daughter of Soul. That is a name you don’t just give to anyone. Unless she’s Lalah Hathaway. Have there been other children of other iconic soul singers? Yes. But only one is the daughter of Donny Hathaway, and only one can sing like Lalah. As unpretentious as a chocolate chip cookie, but every […]

To know Luenell is to love her.  She is the light that catches your eye when you come into a room. It’s not the head of platinum blonde hair, mind you, it’s the sparkle in her eye. It’s this force of nature disguised as a black woman with a bunch of jewelry on, with a voice […]

At the end of the day Maronzio Vance is right. Just know that’s what you’re up against when you begin a conversation with a comedian who without even trying has the ability to ruffle feathers from the fringes of the comedy world to the penthouses of the hip hop elite. He takes no prisoners. If […]

Brandon T. Jackson is on a mission.  After bursting into show business somewhere around the ripe old age of 16 as one of the “Teens of Comedy”, he’s on the verge.  “Of what?”, you might ask.  He’s already famous.  Which he’s none to happy about.  Any basketball wife can be famous.  He wants respect.  Admitting […]

Barry Katz thought he told you that he won’t stop. As one of the most successful talent managers in the business, he was at ground zero building careers for names like Louis C.K., Tracy Morgan, Dave Chappelle and more… But something funny happened along the way. From his penchant for getting fired by his erstwhile […]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Barry Katz is a name you probably don’t know, but as one of the most successful talent managers in the business, he has had his hands stirring a pot that’s been bringing you some of the most amazing names in comedy for over 20 years. Tracy Morgan. […]

Simone Shepherd. The time it takes you to spell her name is about the same amount of time it’s taken her to turn the game on it’s side. She’s the “six seconds Doug. E. Fresh you’re on” of the internet. When Vines came along, no one knew what to do with it. But she figured […]

The Green is for the money. The Gold is for the honey. If you’ve never heard that phrase before then you’ve never spoken to the Bishop Don “Magic” Juan. Pimp turned Preacher, the man has a way with words. He has a way with women. He has a way of flipping the script and turning […]

Here are two things you need to know about Kali Hawk; 1) Don’t box her in. 2) Don’t bring her down. Ever evolving, she seems at times like a four year old bouncing around inside the circus of thoughts serving as her brain, fueled by the idea of “why?” Why do things have to be […]

Reggie Hudlin is like Visa. He’s everywhere you wanna be. Movies. TV. Comic Books. The Executive suite. P-Funk bbq. ( We don’t know if he’s actually been to a P-Funk bbq, but it’s not unlikely.)  He’s a director, a writer, a producer, a suit, and a fan of everything he does. From the Oscar’s to […]

When you get Sinbad on the mic,  good luck getting him off.  He lives for this.  When people say “funny is funny” — that’s Sinbad.  If Cosby is the master, and Pryor is… well, Pryor… then Sinbad is just plain funny. Whenever, wherever, however. There’s no act he can’t follow. Because everything  is material. Even you burning […]

Sinbad got jokes.  Like when people say “funny is funny” — that’s Sinbad.  If Cosby is the master, and Pryor is… well, Pryor… then Sinbad is just plain funny. Whenever, wherever, however. There’s no act he can’t follow. Because everything  is material. Even you burning the stage down.  All he needs is his eyes, his ears, […]

Her friends call her LisaRaye. Not Lisa. Thank you. A lot of things have been said about LisaRaye. Gossip, blogs, tweets, tabloids… a lot of it’s not true. A lot of it is. If you want to know what’s what, ask her. She’ll tell you. Now, you might not like the way you get told. […]

Fame. Debbie Allen has that. How’d she get it? Beauty, brains, perseverance, and talent are the cornerstones that turned her into the triple threat choreographer/ actress/director that we know her as today. Ms Allen (if you’re nasty) is also a card carrying member of the quote club.  You know the quote club; “I’ll be back..”, “Do […]

Malcolm Lee makes movies. But in the world of black filmmakers he holds a special spot. When you think about African-American love stories or romantic comedies, a few films immediately come to mind… Love and Basketball, Boomerang, Love Jones, Claudine (if you’re older) or  Think Like a Man  (if you’re younger) … Maybe even Two […]

Dean Edwards has voices inside his head. And they took up a lot of time. So this podcast turned into a two parter. If you don’t know Dean you should. He was the first guy I ever saw do a “Denzel”, years back when he was still on Saturday Night Live. Fact – There are more […]

Dean Edwards has voices inside his head. They’ve been there for a while. He was the first guy I ever saw do a “Denzel”, years back when he was still on Saturday Night Live. Fact – There are more black NFL coaches than there are Black SNL dudes. He joins the ranks of Chris Rock, […]

Tamala Jones is a quiet storm. She’s spent most of her umpteen-plus years in Hollywood minding her business and racking up credits. Unlike many of the Blactresses that wander the mean streets of LA, she’s managed to keep her dance card full. Because work is work. Sometimes you’re working with Ice Cube, sometimes you’re working […]

Lil Rel Howery will not be ignored. An old soul trapped inside the body of a young dude, he seems cut from the same cloth as Robin Harris and Bernie Mac, with a touch of Martin thrown in to flavor the taste. He might or might not agree with that but if he didn’t he would tell […]