INTERVIEW: Luenell, still funny as ever, takes over Las Vegas
Photo: Luenell, who appeared in Borat and A Star Is Born, will be the first resident performer at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by wrb public relations with permission.
Luenell, the hilarious comedian who has been making people laugh for decades, is ready to take on a new adventure. She will be the first performer to hold a residency at the recently opened Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club at The LINQ Promenade in Las Vegas. Luenell’s eight-show engagement begins Sunday, Aug. 4 and continues Sunday evenings through Sept. 29.
“Being the age I am, I’m such an old Rat Pack, Las Vegas, Ocean’s 11 freak that just the thought of being in Vegas is something that I only dreamed of,” Luenell said in a recent phone interview. “I didn’t really know how I was going to crack this egg.”
Luenell said she is particularly proud to be associated with Kimmel, host of his own late-night talk show who actually grew up in Vegas and cut his comedy teeth on the local scene.
“He has a good reputation, and for him, in this day and age, with the … #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter and all this stuff, for him to make the first extended stay comedian, out of all the comedians that he comes across and knows, to be a black woman over 50 is really something to cheer about,” she said. “I love doing what I do. I get to see a whole demographic of people, touristy people that’s going to come in and go back to Sweden or Germany or Ireland or some place, and now they’ll know Luenell. And they will have had a great comedic experience at his club.”
Luenell plans to write new jokes for the Vegas engagement, with some particular bits about the city itself. Of course, she’ll also bring in some of the hit routines from the road.
When preparing her material for a show, Luenell likes to think about big bands that are trying to put together a set list. “Comedians are like musicians in as much as nobody wants to go to see the Beatles’ new music,” she said with a laugh. “You want to go and hear some of the hits, so there are some bits that I will continue to do that I did on the road. But, yes, definitely new material will be incorporated week after week.”
Growing up, Luenell had her fair share of “class clown moments,” and she finds that her seven siblings are extremely funny as well. That doesn’t mean she was setting up a microphone in front of a brick wall at a young age. There were rough parts of her childhood when Luenell wasn’t telling jokes and didn’t speak up.
“But later, after holding things in, when I started speaking up, I started to feel better, and that’s when I started being a little more outspoken and brash,” she said. “I definitely didn’t go to college and grow up with a plan to be a standup comedian at all. … When I’m on stage, it’s like I’m in a room full of my friends. Of course, it’s methodical what you’re going to say, how you’re going to say it, when you’re going to say it, whether you’re going to whisper it, or whether you’re going to scream it. All of that is going through your mind as well because there are mechanics to this, but the beauty of it is that it looks so easy. But actually it’s a well-orchestrated sonata that I’m doing, but I’m also at ease because I like live performance. And so I really do very much feel like I’m in a room full of friends, and we’re just kidding around.”
Even though Luenell’s Sundays are mostly booked for the next two months, her touring schedule will not slow down. She plans to fly into Las Vegas for the special engagement and then head out to comedy clubs across the country during the week. She’s essentially going to commute to the big city in the desert.
“The good thing is that I no longer have to fly from the East Coast to the West Coast to get back home,” she said. “I’ll be able to be home in an hour when I do leave Las Vegas to go to Los Angeles, but there will be no slowing down of my travels. It’ll be great to have a homebase and tell people that they can always come and see me in Vegas because everybody from everywhere loves to come to Vegas, so that part of it is very comforting and makes me very happy. But I won’t be cutting back on any road work. I’ll be doing both.”
Luenell has been called the “Original Bad Girl of Comedy” for quite some time. She said that nickname came from Rick Sullivan, the Godfather of comedy in the Bay Area.
“Rick Sullivan gave me that name many, many, many, many years ago, I believe, because of my brash, in-your-face style of comedy,” Luenell said. “Everybody, especially women, wasn’t speaking like I did back then, but I’m not doing it for the stage. It’s really just the way that I speak and interact with friends anyway. Of course, I have good common sense. I don’t do the same shows that I do at 10 o’clock at night in Las Vegas as I do at a college or some other kind of venue that doesn’t call for that.”
Over the years, Luenell has seen the comedy business change tremendously, mostly because of the prevalence of bits and routines on the internet. Audiences come to her shows having seen her in countless videos online, much like a person listens to the songs of a rock band before checking out a concert.
“These people now are much smarter than the audiences before,” Luenell said. “They know whose material this was, so they know a joke thief if they see one. They know who originated the material. They can sometimes quote your material, and with the advent of the internet, you can reach more people and make them know you so much better. Also, of course, everybody knows my stance on the fact that I believe comedy and real comedians have been watered down by some of the Instagram entertainers — I hesitate to call them comedians. But I think that only affects a certain demographic of audience member. If you’re over a certain age, you aren’t really as familiar with the Instagram people as you are to other comics like myself or Marsha Warfield or Eddie Griffin or Jamie Foxx.”
For casual fans, Luenell is probably best known for her memorable turn in Borat with Sacha Baron Cohen. In the Oscar-nominated film, she played the “hooker with the heart of gold,” and the role changed her professional life.
“People forget that Borat was nominated for the Academy Award, so that puts me in the category where I’m now in two Academy Award-nominated films because I was in A Star Is Born as well,” she said. “Borat was a different type of moviemaking for sure, and it introduced me to a lot of people who wouldn’t know me otherwise. I do believe the shock value of the movie is barnone, and I had the opportunity to work with one of the great madmen of comedy — and that’s Sacha Baron Cohen. So I do look back at the Borat experience with very fond memories because somebody usually brings it up every day, at least weekly.”
Luenell’s comedy reputation has been well earned with dedicated fans checking her out in clubs around the country, and she has landed many cinematic roles (look out for Dolemite Is My Name with Eddie Murphy on Netflix). Her success most likely has to do with her unique style and her continued dedication to two qualities.
“My trademark,” she said, “is my brash tonality and my explicit delivery.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Luenell will appear Aug. 4, 11 and 18, and Sept. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club at The LINQ Promenade in Las Vegas. Click here for more information and tickets.
