Loni Love
Encyclopedia
Loni Love is an American comedian
and actress. After quitting her job as an electrical engineer in 2003, Love began to pursue a career in stand up comedy. She was the runner-up in Star Search
2003 and was named "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both Variety
and Comedy Central
in 2009.
, and grew up in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects. Prior to her career as a comedian she was an electrical engineer, an experience she talks about in many of her acts. After graduating from high school in 1989, she had worked for a time on the General Motors
assembly line putting doors on 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass
es, work which ignited her interest in electrical engineering. Love then received a scholarship and her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View A&M University
in Texas
. While at Prairie View, she minored in music and was also a member of the Eta Beta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta
. It was there that she discovered stand-up comedy after winning a $50 competition and then performed constantly during her college life. After finding work as an engineer at Xerox
in California, she continued to do stand-up after work in clubs and became a regular at the Laugh Factory. After eight years of working at Xerox, Love resigned to pursue comedy during a layoff to prevent someone else from losing their job.
Love started her comedic career in 2003, after appearing on Star Search, reaching the finals and losing in a close competition to the winner. Since then, she has appeared in films and numerous television shows. She has also acted in dramatic theatre plays. Love was named "Hot Comic" for 2009 in Campus Activity magazine and one of the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both Variety and Comedy Central. She was awarded the Jury Prize for best stand-up at the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival. In 2009, Love became the CNN
correspondent for D. L. Hughley Breaks the News and covered the inauguration of President Barack Obama
. She also appears regularly in comedy clubs and the college comedy circuit. In late 2009, Love recorded her first one-hour Comedy Central special, America's Sister, which aired on May 8, 2010.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actress. After quitting her job as an electrical engineer in 2003, Love began to pursue a career in stand up comedy. She was the runner-up in Star Search
Star Search
Star Search is a television show that was produced from 1983-95, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Alfred Masini. A relaunch was produced in 2003-04. The show was originally filmed at the old Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd...
2003 and was named "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in 2009.
Life and career
Love was born in Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and grew up in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects. Prior to her career as a comedian she was an electrical engineer, an experience she talks about in many of her acts. After graduating from high school in 1989, she had worked for a time on the General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
assembly line putting doors on 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Oldsmobile Cutlass
The Oldsmobile Cutlass is a line of automobiles made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Cutlass began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greatest success as a body-on-frame intermediate car....
es, work which ignited her interest in electrical engineering. Love then received a scholarship and her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University is a historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. While at Prairie View, she minored in music and was also a member of the Eta Beta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
. It was there that she discovered stand-up comedy after winning a $50 competition and then performed constantly during her college life. After finding work as an engineer at Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
in California, she continued to do stand-up after work in clubs and became a regular at the Laugh Factory. After eight years of working at Xerox, Love resigned to pursue comedy during a layoff to prevent someone else from losing their job.
Love started her comedic career in 2003, after appearing on Star Search, reaching the finals and losing in a close competition to the winner. Since then, she has appeared in films and numerous television shows. She has also acted in dramatic theatre plays. Love was named "Hot Comic" for 2009 in Campus Activity magazine and one of the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both Variety and Comedy Central. She was awarded the Jury Prize for best stand-up at the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival. In 2009, Love became the CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
correspondent for D. L. Hughley Breaks the News and covered the inauguration of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. She also appears regularly in comedy clubs and the college comedy circuit. In late 2009, Love recorded her first one-hour Comedy Central special, America's Sister, which aired on May 8, 2010.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | Soul Plane Soul Plane Soul Plane is a 2004 comedy film starring Kevin Hart, Method Man, Tom Arnold, D.L. Hughley, Mo'Nique, Loni Love, K.D. Aubert, Godfrey, and Snoop Dogg.-Plot:... |
Shaniece | Supporting |
| With or Without You With or Without You (film) With or Without You is a 2003 comedy-drama film, directed by G. Stubbs. The film stars Cynda Williams, Mushond Lee, and Wendy Raquel Robinson.-Plot:... |
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| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | Whitney Whitney (TV series) Whitney is an American sitcom that premiered on NBC on September 22, 2011, where it airs in the 9:30 pm /8:30 pm Thursday night timeslot. The show stars Whitney Cummings... |
Nurse | |
| 2011 | Kickin' It Kickin' It Kickin' It is an American martial arts inspired comedy television series, which debuted on June 13, 2011 on Disney XD. Created and executive produced by Jim O'Doherty, the series is rated TV-Y7 and follows the karate instructor at an under-performing martial arts academy, played by Jason Earles,... |
Marge | Recurring |
| 2011 | After Lately After Lately After Lately is an American reality-style sitcom that began airing on the E! network on March 6, 2011. The series goes behind-the-scenes of Chelsea Handler's late night talk show, Chelsea Lately... |
Herself | |
| 2010 | The Gossip Queens | ||
| 2009 | Wildest TV Show Moments | ||
| D. L. Hughley Breaks the News | |||
| 2008 | GSN Live GSN Live GSN Live is an American live interactive show on Game Show Network that premiered on February 25, 2008 at noon ET and officially ended its 3 year run on July 29, 2011. The last "live" edition aired May 13, 2011... |
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| 2008–present | Chelsea Lately Chelsea Lately Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions... |
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| 2008–present | The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... is a cable television series produced by Meetinghouse Productions, Inc. and is airing on truTV... |
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| 2008 | Chocolate News Chocolate News Chocolate News is a satirical news show hosted and head written by David Alan Grier with an emphasis on African American culture. The show aired on Wednesday nights at 10:30 PM on Comedy Central as a lead-in to their other news satire programs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert... |
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| Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed Comics Unleashed is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and ' providing music support. The show features a panel of four guest comedians performing their standup bits thinly disguised as a... |
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| 2006 | Thick and Thin | Viola | Series regular |
| 2005 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Herself | Featured comic |
| Weekends at the DL | Panelist | ||
| Cuts Cuts Cuts is an American sitcom that aired on the UPN network from February 14, 2005, to May 11, 2006, and is a spin-off of another UPN series, One on One... |
Pepper | Guest star (1 episode) | |
| 2004–2007 | Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, commonly called Ned's Declassified for short, is an American live-action situation comedy on Nickelodeon that debuted in the channel's Sunday night TEENick scheduling block on September 12, 2004. The series' actual pilot episode aired on September 7, 2003... |
Lunch Lady | Recurring |
| 2004 | Girlfriends Girlfriends Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008... |
Guest star (1 episode) | |
| Redlight, Greenlight | Herself | Series host | |
| Premium Blend Premium Blend Premium Blend was a television show that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005.The program features a well-known stand up comedian as an emcee who introduces four or five lesser known comedians looking for a big break on television... |
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| 2003–2004 | Hollywood Squares Hollywood Squares Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants... |
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| 2003 | Star Search Star Search Star Search is a television show that was produced from 1983-95, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Alfred Masini. A relaunch was produced in 2003-04. The show was originally filmed at the old Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd... |
Finalist | |
| I Love the '70s I Love the '70s (U.S. TV series) I Love the '70s is a decade nostalgia television mini-series produced by VH-1. The series is based on a BBC series of the same name. It examines the pop culture of the 1970s, using footage from the era, along with "Where Are They Now?" interviews with celebrities from the decade. Additionally, the... |
Series regular | ||
| I Love the '80s Strikes Back I Love the '80s Strikes Back I Love the '80s Strikes Back is a miniseries on VH1 in which various music and TV personalities reminisce about 1980s popular culture in a mostly humorous manner... |
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