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Listen to My Exclusive Interview with
Comedian Leighann Lord!
Leighann Lord
Here’s the thing about comedy these days: for many, it’s not comedy if it doesn’t sound offensive, racist, vile, or crass. In other words, a lot of comedians unfortunately take advantage of other people’s weaknesses and miseries as their material.
The good news is we have some who still believe in the thinking-cap philosophy. Yes, they’re funny, and yes, they are hard-hitting most of the time. But then at the end of the day, they let you sit, ponder, and understand things you don’t easily get or even care about. Such is the style of Leighann Lord.
A Happy Childhood
Leighann Lord has been called many things by her peers, fans, and critics: sexy, sophisticated, alluring, captivating, funny, and smart. In fact, she’s dubbed as one of the best black comics in the country today.
Much of who she is today can be attributed to her childhood. While other comics use their profession as a release to their pent-up emotions and suffering all throughout their lives, Leighann got hers from a happy time growing up with her parents. She believed that she obtained most of her comedy from the sheer joy of being loved and her generosity to share the same spirit with others.
The Beginning
Long before she became a professional renowned comedian, she already had a knack of making people laugh. When she was in college, she took Journalism and participated in theater productions. When she was with friends and family, she loved to entertain them. She navigated around performance and the stage. However, she took a different route first, working at Chemical Bank in its communication department. Perhaps it paid well, but she was utterly frustrated. Fortunately, the light bulb lit; and with the encouragement of her parents, she soon left the corporate job, took female comedy classes, and got her stint in Def Jam.
Cerebral, Leighann’s first material was all about politics, which the younger crowd couldn’t really dig in. It didn’t help too that she didn’t know what to do or what kind of comic she was.
The Success
Looking at other comic performances, however, she later realized who she wants to be: someone like her inspiration, George Carlin, who mixed intelligence and entertainment so effortlessly. She wanted to be as sophisticated as Rita Rudner as well.
For more than 10 years, she worked and honed her craft, and before she knew it, she was already reaping the rewards of all her efforts. She has performed in different parts of the world such as the Netherlands and London, appeared in documentaries Souled Out Comedy and Clean Mic: Laughing until It Hurts, and won recognition’s like Ladies of Laughter and 10 Hottest NY Comics. She has conquered television in The View, VH1, Girls Night Out, The World Stands Up, and Comic Quickies. She even co-hosted Star Talk Radio for a year and now appears on her own video blog called Urban Erma.
As one of the most sought-after female comedians, she can simply rest on her laurels, yet she doesn’t When she’s not on stage, she’s on tour as part of the Armed Forces Entertainment. So far, she has already traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Kuwait.
Indeed, Leighann Lord teaches us one thing: smart is sexy and funny.
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