Comedian, actor and author Kim Coles is coming to Philadelphia to celebrate life and laughter when she performs as part of “Hairlicious,” an event to promote ideas about natural hair, self-love, self-acceptance and living holistically.
Coles said she was moved to join the event after making some changes in her life and her aesthetic.
“I went ‘natural’ a few years ago,” she said. “It is a huge move for women of color to accept, embrace and celebrate their natural beauty. When I went natural, I cut out all my extensions and now wear my own hair as it grows out of my head. I was accepted into this really beautiful community that is about acceptance and accepting your own beauty as opposed to feeling you have to conform to the norm of this Eurocentric beauty. I think all women are beautiful. What you decide to do with your hair is your business but I know that there’s a lot of women who are making a statement saying, ‘I don’t have to look the way the cover of the magazines tell me to look. I can make my own choices.’ There are these events that happen all over the United States and the world and it was time for me to come to Philly and do an event.”
The daytime portion of the event will feature workshops, vendors and other activities focused on natural hair, while the evening component will be a stand-up comedy show.
“I will probably borrow bits from my one-woman show because they lend themselves well to theater or comedy,” Coles said.
Coles is probably more known for her acting than her stage performances, but she began her career in entertainment as a comedian — so stand-up is where she feels the most comfortable as a performer.
“People always ask you to choose,” she said. “I consider myself a comedic actress. Comedy will always come first for me and it will always be my default position. I will always have stand-up as my fallback.”
Coles is probably most famous for playing the role of Synclaire on the sitcom “Living Single.” She also appeared on other TV shows, ranging from “In Living Color” to “Frasier” and “Six Feet Under,” but “Living Single” is definitely the show from which she measures all of her TV experiences.
“I call ‘Living Single’ the sparkling jewel of my career,” she said. “I did ‘In Living Color’ before I did ‘Living Single,’ but I was only there for a year. ‘Living Single’ gave me the full experience of being on a well-received sitcom for five years. It was a show that was created for me and Queen Latifah, which is the ultimate experience. I didn’t even have to audition for this amazing show that fell into my lap. So that’s my favorite. But I also did a couple episodes of ‘Frasier.’ You do them and you move on. So I can’t say that there’s anything else more favorite than ‘Living Single.’ What would be more favorite than that?”
Coles, who has been a part of the NOH8 campaign to promote marriage and gender equality, said she was surprised to find out that “Living Single” had a strong LGBT following.
But she said she has always been an ally to the LGBT community.
“It’s funny to me that ‘Living Single’ airs on Logo,” she said. “I didn’t even know until I saw that. The show is really loved by the LGBT community. I grew up in New York so I was exposed to creative, beautiful gay men and women. People are people to me. Working in Hollywood, you are around some amazing people who happen to be gay or straight or purple. I have family members who are gay. I lived in West Hollywood for 20 years and it’s just the culture there to be surrounded by these amazing people who are living their lives out loud and I salute them. And they embraced me, so I embraced them back.”
If you encounter Coles on the street, she is every bit as positive and upbeat as she is on stage and on screen.
She’s also not one to sequester herself backstage for the duration of a show, preferring to watch the other comics she performs with and laugh out loud along with the crowd — rare for someone with a few decades in the entertainment business. Coles said she is not one to be reserved or jaded in the way she carries herself.
“It’s a choice, man,” she said. “It’s. A. Choice. I’ve had enough experiences for me to be super-jaded. There’s nothing worse than being fired off your first national TV show. I was fired by the Wayans family, or by Keenan [Ivory Wayans]. I was fired off of ‘In Living Color,’ which at the time was the hottest show in town. I won’t go into the details because now I understand it was political, why I was let go. I didn’t get a chance to shine. Two years later, I was on a show making 10 times as much money and having 100-percent more fun. So I can’t be jaded because I’m tenacious and I’m going to bounce back. Every opportunity that is not meant for me is not meant for me. So how can I not be in that room and laugh and clap for all the other comics on stage that are living their dreams while waiting for my turn to go on? I need to be in the room supporting and giving love to whoever else is there because it comes back to me. I don’t do it because it comes back to me, but we know that it comes back. It’s an easier choice, believe it or not, than being jaded.”
Coles has channeled her experiences in the entertainment business into her one-woman show, “Oh, But Wait, There’s More,” in which she talks about how she learned to find inner peace and happiness in the midst of the seemingly chaotic ebb and flow of the entertainment business.
“I went through a really rough time right after ‘Living Single’ ended,” she said. “Having that kind of success is phenomenal until it all goes away. I went through a very dark depression because I thought I was not validated unless I was on a TV show. My career took off very quickly. I did not struggle in the beginning. I had a great entry into the business and that is rare. People struggle, struggle, struggle, and then maybe they make it. I didn’t struggle at all. So I went into a deep, dark depression and, as I was working my way out of it with therapy, the first thing I learned is you have to just be grateful for what already is. And when you are grateful for what you already have, so much more shows up. Once I felt better about myself, it dawned on me that my purpose is not to be on TV, it is to share this message that I have learned. That was the turn, to share my story with other people and what happened was the work came out of that: Speaking gigs and other opportunities came out of me just going into the world and living my purpose. My gift is love and laughter and helping others find their own gifts, or reminding others they have a gift that has to be opened. Once I discovered that, it doesn’t matter if I’m a tollbooth clerk or digging a ditch somewhere or working at McDonald’s, although I hope I don’t have to. I can still be living that purpose no matter what.”
“Hairlicious” runs 12:30-6 p.m. April 11 at Voyeur Nightclub, 1221 Saint James St., and the comedy show starts at 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.hairliciousevent.com or www.kimcoles.tv.