The Queens of Comedy

Following the massive success of The Original Kings of Comedy, producer Walter Latham assembled four prominent Black female working comics for their own arena-style tour. The Queens of Comedy puts Mo’Nique, Adele Givens, Sommore, and Laura Hayes on a Memphis stage to talk openly about sex, family dysfunction, and the realities of womanhood. Hayes acts as the emcee, warming up the crowd with stories about her grandchildren and sisters. Givens zeroes in on the necessity of celebrating physical flaws and the absurdity of naming babies. Sommore questions why mothers buy hula-hoops for eight-year-old daughters and details relationship dynamics. Mo’Nique closes the night by praising big women and offering highly specific bedroom advice.

Filmed live at the Orpheum Theatre, the 2001 special captures the four comics right as their television and film profiles were rising. Mo’Nique was in the middle of her run on the UPN sitcom The Parkers, while Givens and Sommore were already familiar faces from ComicView and Def Comedy Jam. The broadcast intercuts the stage performances with backstage footage and scenes of the women hanging out in the city, breaking up the stand-up sets with a documentary feel.