Before She Was A Queen

Recently making headlines for her award winning role in the Lee Daniels film, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Mo’Nique has come a long way from the amateur comedienne Walter Latham booked for the first time in 1995.

More than a decade ago, Latham promoted small scaled comedy shows in Greensboro, NC.  With very few females in the comedy industry, he took a chance and booked Mo’Nique for a mere $500.00, who later went on to be one of the “Queens of Comedy”.

After the highly successful Original Kings of Comedy, many female comedians felt the ladies voice was being ignored; because of this, Sommore approached Latham with the idea of creating The Queens of Comedy. Open to the suggestion, but with a few doubts, Latham believed that there were no female comedians who could carry the show or bring thousands to the theatres.

Distraught with the lack of faith, Sommore suggested herself, Adele Givens, Laura Hayes and Mo’Nique; she was certain they could prove him wrong.  During this time, most of these ladies seemed like the perfect fit because they had years worth of standup and television experience; especially Mo’Nique, who was currently starring in her own UPN series The Parkers.

After being sold on the idea and satisfied with the caliber of talent, Latham launched the official Queens of Comedy tour in 2000.  However, much like his reservations, the tour dates did horribly, audiences were not ready to see an all female cast on stage.

Nonetheless, with egos and investments at stake, Latham decided not give up on the female quartet.  Instead, he took his chances and filmed the tour, which aired on Showtime in the beginning of 2001.  Taking advantage of the mainstream success of The Kings movie and tour, Latham found it only appropriate to tour a second time; which this time around, sold out countless theatres.

After the victory of promoting two all black successful comedic tours, slowly tensions began to rise.  Mo’Nique and Latham were at odds when he decided not to purchase a gift for the Queens, something he’d done for the Kings when he bought them presidential Rolex watches.

As the years passed and the ladies continued to build their careers, Latham constantly attempted to create new projects with them.  For example, he wanted to produce Queens of Comedy: Beyond Bars, but Mo’nique chose to do her own special, I Coulda Been Your Cell Mate. Also, after her newly found fame from Precious, Latham wanted to put the ladies back together and tour; however, Mo’Nique decided to tour alone in early 2010.

While some may deem their relationship as rocky, Walter Latham only wishes the best and is appreciative of the history they’ve made together.  He states, “Overall, it was interesting to see her career develop from nightclub, Queens, to Academy Award winner”.