Loni Love, the comedian known for her outrageously funny commentary on TV shows like VH1’s “I Love the 70s/80s/90s,” “Chelsea Lately” and truTV’s “The Smoking Gun Presents: The World’s Dumbest,” as well as acting gigs on “Girlfriends” and “Whitney,” will bring her wit to Philadelphia this month during her “Live, Love, Laugh” tour. Love has been able to parlay her notoriety from those shows into projects like her live DVD, “America’s Sister,” and a book due out next year. Love talked to PGN about her career, her travels and what it takes to be considered one of the top comedians to watch.
PGN: Among the other regular panelists on “Chelsea Lately,” do you consider yourself as one of the more popular on the show? LL: I have no idea. I do so many different shows, not only “Chelsea” but other ones. I’m just happy to be working. As long as they call me back, I’m happy.
PGN: Behind the scenes on the show, do you all plan everything out or does everybody just wing it? LL: We get topics but we don’t know what each other is going to say. We just discuss the topics. We know what we are going to talk about but sometimes we can change the topic. But the thing is with television, you have to be prepared with something. You just don’t just go up there and say we’re going to go for it. We would just be wasting time. It wouldn’t be a good show. So you have to have something prepared.
PGN: What are some of the things you will be talking about when you come to Philadelphia? LL: I’ll be talking about pop culture and politics. I have a bunch of election stuff, balanced politics and observational stuff. After the election, I’m working on new material because I have a book coming out.
PGN: What do you prefer, doing your own shows or performing on the “Chelsea”-branded package shows? LL: It doesn’t matter to me as long as there is a stage and it’s comedy. The thing about doing the tours with the other people is that is gives everybody a variety and you don’t have to do as long of a set. When I do my own shows, it’s for people who really want to get to know me and they get to see who I am. There are different shows for different types of people. They are not doing a lot of the “Chelsea” tours anymore. If you’re a fan of me, it’s best to come to a show where I’m headlining.
PGN: At what point did you realize you had a gay following? LL: I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to that. I just like people. There are certain things that I talk about in my act that may make people think that I am this strong advocate but I’m really an advocate for anyone who is discriminated against. So I talk about my love for fat people, for gay people, for black people, for females and people who are different. I know what it’s like to be different. I think that’s why people may like me a little more or become fans of mine, because that material is for those types of people and you don’t see a lot of female comics out there that are headlining shows. The stuff I talk about is not about vaginas and monthly cycles. I‘m talking about issues and observations that are happening. But I end up making it funny, or at least I try to.
PGN: Why do you think you don’t see a lot of female comics at your level? LL: It’s hard to be a road comic and have a career and have a family and have a baby. When I started out doing comedy many moons ago, there were a lot of female comics. Then they turn around and get into a relationship or have baby. If you have a baby, you’re off the road nine months, then you have to find somebody to take care of that baby. It’s hard. It’s not that women aren’t funny. It is just hard to go the route that I’m going. Even if you get a TV show, you have to have that road experience because that helps you develop yourself as a comedian. You’ve got to try your material in Des Moines and Alabama and Washington. It’s hard to do that if you’re a young female and you’re in a relationship or you have a baby. It’s a hard occupation in which to develop and have a life. The thing with me is I decided a while ago that I wasn’t going to have children. Because I decided that, it’s easy for me to go out on the road. I wanted to entertain people and that’s what I decided to do with my life. It’s amazing because there are only about maybe five female comics on my level that are doing clubs that are headlining. Go to a club website and see how many women they have that are headlining. Sometimes I’m the only one for six months. If you look at your major headliners and top comedians that are female, they’re all lesbians. There’s a reason for that. It’s a very aggressive, hostile occupation, standup comedy. It’s gratifying but I tell these women you have to make some hard decisions.
PGN: Was there a particular show or event in you career where you thought, “OK, I have made it”? LL: No. I have not made it. I know a lot of people say, “We’ve seen you on ‘Chelsea.’” But there are so many things I’m trying to work towards so that I never think I made it because I haven’t. I haven’t done a movie in a while. The only TV shows I’m doing aren’t major TV shows. But those are the type of things I’m trying to work on right now. It’s funny because comedians who are my buddies think, Oh, wow! Look at what you’re doing. I understand because they’re not on this level but there is another level that you are trying to get to when you are trying to entertain people. There are so many people who don’t know my comedy that I want to introduce them to, so I haven’t made it yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it. I’m enjoying myself. But to say I’ve made it, I couldn’t even say that.
PGN: If you were to get your own TV project, what would you like it to be? LL: Right now, I’m working on different projects that are in development. Some involve talk. Some involve sitcoms. The thing about television is you can hit such a mass amount of people in a short amount of time. That’s why you want to do it. I don’t want to be famous; I just want to entertain people. So even if I never get to the TV show, I’m fine because I’m entertaining people. I just came back from Africa entertaining people and that is something that, when I say I sacrificed having children or a family, I can say I’ve been able to go out internationally and entertain people. We’ll see what happens and what works.
PGN: How did you like performing in Africa? LL: I loved it. It was the first time they had a comedy show in Soweto. We had some of Nelson Mandela’s people come out. It was very emotional because that is where that whole “End Apartheid” movement happened. It was emotional because these people have never experienced an actual comedy show. They know about comedians but to actually have one in that area, I felt very good about it. Those are the things you look at. It’s not about, have I made it and making a bunch of money. It’s little things like that, performing someplace where people have been oppressed and now we can laugh together and they can understand me and I can understand them. That’s what I get into it for.
Loni Love performs Oct. 17-20 at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St. For more information or tickets, call 215-496-9001 or visit www.lonilove.com.