Understand that comedy is subjective. Being funny is a great gift but even the funniest, hottest, popular comic will have folks that don’t get their comedy style.  There maybe one joke out of many that one person will find offensive or insulting.  The best thing to realize as a comic is…there is nothing you can do about. Don’t spend your time worrying about people that don’t “get” you. There are other comics out there for them. You need to focus on your audience that understands you and relates to you. Everyone remembers Andrew “Dice” Clay.  Back in the day  Dice was one of the biggest comics out there. He sold out Madison Square Garden…twice. His comedy was insulting to some but to others, mostly guys, he was expressing thoughts that they had but could not say without causing trouble. Dice was the outlet for those folks and they loved him.  But pressure from groups and unkind letters and comments got the best of Dice Clay.  He had an emotional moment on the Arsenio Hall show where he cried alittle.  I think that alot of folks that looked at him as strong with a don’t care attitude, began to see him as a fake.   I may not agree with Dice Clay’s comedy but when you bow to pressure instead of your fans it will not be good.  There will always be critics but focus on your fans…that’s what’s important.

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I had a meeting with a movie executive one day.  She looked at me and said..” I know about nine female comics,  Kathy Griffin, MoNique, Whoppi, Sherri Shepherd, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Lisa Lampelli, Chelsea Handler and Joan Rivers.. and then she said, ” Now I know you so that’s ten”.  This WOMAN could not name  TEN   female standups and really Whoppi is not a stand up, she’s an actor.    I gave her some other names of women that I thought were great stand ups and suggested that  she go on youtube to seek out new talent too…See, I believe in sharing info and told her that she was missing out  on great talent!

But the reality is, those are the only main female stand ups.  Stand up comedy is an agressive and hostile occupation. It’s low pay sometime no pay at all in the beginning. I started out with alot of females in the beginning. We would have so much fun in the coffeeshops. We would go to the strip and sit in the back of the Comedy Store late into the night looking at the big time comics.  We had writing sesstions, we took roadtrips. But then life hit alot of the women.  Some fell in love  and got married. Some realized that the comedy business was too hard and dropped out. Out of the group of women I came up with, I am the last one that stayed in.

Females that want to be sucessful in stand up have to be able to balance life and their career.  It’s not impossible to do but if you want to be taken seriously in this business, you have to be serious and funny!  Learn how to balance and you will be sucessful.

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I know it’s been a while since I have blogged but I have been a super busy…sorry!!!

No matter what you are trying to do with your career, you and only you should control it. I say this because alot of entertainers depend on agents, managers, lawyers, etc to control their career.  You control your career and your team helps you.  Elvis Presley was a great performer who had a manager needed The Colonel.  He controlled everything about Elvis.  Elvis did well but  towards the end Elvis wanted to make a comeback…Barbara Streisand wanted Elvis to have the role in  ” A Star is Born”.   According to Barbs, she told Elvis and he really wanted to do it but for some reason, The Colonel would not let it happen.  Who knows what that would have done for Elvis if he was not letting someone else control his career.  When making a decision, yes, you should ask for advice but in the end you should make your own decisions.

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It is something every comic dreams of..taping a DVD hour comedy special.  Why? Well for some, it gives more exposure for the comic. For some, it is a way to make extra money on the road.   After a live show, people like to buy a dvd so it is good to have one for sale.  For me, I just wanted to express myself and show a different side of me.   Many people just see me on tv shows which do not actually show my viewpoint of comedy. This taping would allow me to produce myself and show people what I like to talk and laugh at.

First of all, taping a good DVD can be costly.  I was fortunate to have a production company to offer me a deal to tape it. We will license it to a network and sell it in stores and online.  Then I had to find a title for the DVD. I wanted a titled that defined me and how I felt about my comedy. So I choose “America’s Sister”.  I love America and I love entertaining America.  I love the term Sister because I have befriended so many people through my comedy that I feel like they are my family.

I included many surprises to my special.  I have an beautiful set, opening dance number and some skits.  The taping was very easy and the audience was great.  Many comics need to realize that a taping is very different from a live performance.  My taped performances are always different…that is why I tell people, you can look at the DVD and enjoy it, but when you see me live, it is a different show!!

 Now that I have completed my first special, I see how simple and fun it was, I am working on my next one!!

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I grew up in the projects in 80′s.  It was the height of the crack movement and most of my friends were selling crack. I would not. They were 14, 15  and 16 years old driving Mercedes Benz and  wearing the fly gear. I was walking and wearing old hand me down jeans. I was alone most of the time because I would not hang out with thugs and drug sellers.  Back then, there were no computers so I just watched TV and read books. TV was my company as my Mom worked two jobs to feed us.  Soon I started to see the kids I grew up with dying off.  They were getting shot left and right.  Most are gone today.  I was able to go to college, get my degree and have a life.   I knew about college because of TV, I knew that people lived in houses because of TV,  I learned alot because I saw it on TV.  TV was my best friend.  I want to be on TV because maybe a child will see me and know that they are not alone.  I can be a friend.

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The call came one week before the prime time Emmys would be held.  My manager tells me that E! wants me to do a short comedy bit for the Pre-Emmy Show on E!.  I was so excited. The first thing that most females think about is “what will I wear?”  but not me, I was thinking “What will I say?”  E! scheduled a phone conference with me to discuss the material but they gave me no idea what to cover so I decided to look up some info and write some jokes myself.  While I was doing that,  I started to wonder, “What will I wear?”  This is the prime time Emmys, everyone looks so great. I didn’t have an outfit for the red carpet. My manager says,” Let’s put out some calls to see if a designer will dress you”. I started thinking, “yeah right, who will want to dress me?”..Well turns out, I had several people willing to dress a plus size funny ball like me!  I was so honored. I chose Maggie Barry because I remembered that I was doing a field piece for the Chelsea Lately show for  LA fashion Week and I had interviewed Maggie.  She was very nice and had a cool spirit.  When I found out that she would design me a dress, I was thrilled!! I had 3days to have a dress made for me and Maggie never complained.  We met and talked. She looked at me on video so when  I met with her, she had an idea already in her wonderful mind.  I was wearing a blue t-shirt and she looked at me and said, ” That is the blue I was thinking about you wearing so that is my sign!”  Maggie sat down and started sketching a dress. I was blown away.  She made it seem so simple that I knew it would be okay.  I left Maggie and had to get on the conference call with E! about the bit.  After looking at the Emmy nominees and reading other things, I wrote about 5 jokes.  They wanted 3 so I figured I would give them some options.  There were a team of folks on the phone.  E! has always wanted to try the comedy bit thing  in the past, so they decided to see what would happen with me.  The producer asked if I had written anything and I said yes…I went through  my jokes and they loved them!  Now that I knew what I was going to say, I just needed to get my look together.  Sunday arrived before I knew it!!! My dress was not ready until Sunday morning at 10 am…I was suppose to at the red carpet 10 am!!!  I rushed home, the driver waited and I gather my stuff and was on my way!!   Makeup, hair and putting on the dress was all a rush to me.  The make up artist had worked with me before and brought some rhinestone eyelashes just for me.  Hey, a little bling couldn’t hurt. It was sooooo hot and I was in the skybox. My time slot was 2:10 pm.  Catt Sadler was my interviewer…we had a quick rehearsal. Catt was so nice to me.   Action, and we were on the air!  The first thing Catt said to me was, ” Show everybody your Rhinestone eyelashes!”   My bit was over at 2:15 ..my producer said I did good.  As I walked to the trailer, Ryan Seacrest was sitting waiting to be driven his spot..he shouted…”Loni good work and I loved the eyelashes!! ”  That was enough for me…

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• Hello everyone!! This is my new website so please come back often…we will be having a good time on the Love Train!!

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The Loni Love Blog is now listed and searchable in the Technorati.com Blog search engine.

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Welcome to the new LoniLove.com Blog.

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