First Lady

The queen of comedy gets big laughs

Comments (0) By Derrick Mathis Wednesday, May 9 2001

”The belief and the myth is that women aren’t funny,“ says Mo‘Nique. Along with fellow Queen comedians Adele Givens, Sommore and Laura Hayes, Mo’Nique toured last year with the Kings of Comedy, which featured Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer, the stars of Spike Lee‘s movie of the same name. ”With Queens, we brought the funk, and we know we have to because of the success of the Kings of Comedy. We knew we are going to be compared, but we have held our own. It’s the same humor. They came from the male side, and we‘re coming from the female side.“

Both the Kings and Queens embrace the art of cursing and share a focus on sex in their quest for laughs. Predictably, some reviewers have already thrashed the Queens of Comedy as lewd, blatantly offensive and obscenity-filled. One critic of the HBO Queens special came down especially hard on Mo’Nique for what he perceived as gay bashing during a segment of her routine. ”People always ask me, do I think that I offend people?“ says Mo‘Nique. ”Here’s the thing. I talk about black people, white people, Chinese people, skinny people, fat people, ugly people, pretty people, rich people, poor people, but I bring it all back to Mo‘Nique. So if I can laugh at Mo’Nique, I‘ll be damned if I ain’t gonna‘ laugh at you.“