Omega Sports of Greensboro has partnered with the Walter Latham Foundation to raise money for the upcoming Ervin Outlaw Plum Bowl through Walter Latham Foundation Appreciation Day! On Friday, September 23, customers who mention the foundation will receive 10% off their entire purchases. Omega Sports will contribute 10% of their profits from those sales back to the foundation. “So everyone wins! Customers save money while helping the foundation. We get a contribution that will help with our event expenses and hopefully Omega Sports will have record sales that day,” says Executive Director, Yulonda Smith.

We need your help! Please visit Omega Sports at 2431 Battleground Avenue in Greensboro from noon to 8pm on September 23rd and buy, buy, buy! Be sure to tell them you want your purchase to help the Walter Latham Foundation!

*The Ervin Outlaw Plum Bowl is a community event that raises money for college scholarships.

Jasmine Young, 2011 Miss Freshman A&T volunteered to wrap and distribute gifts.

The Truliant Community Mini-Grant provides operating funds for projects or programs of community and faith-based, non-profit organizations that serve “underserved” groups and/or low-to-moderate income areas in NC, SC and VA. Yulonda Smith, Executive Director of the Walter Latham Foundation was estatic when she learned that the grant she had written for their annual Christmas Angels Program had been chosen to receive $1000 from Truliant. “This is a burden lifted for us! Each year, we have more children that need help than we have money. Thanks to this mini-grant, we will be able to provide toiletries and gifts to more children!”

To learn more about the Christmas Angels Program, please email Ms. Smith at foundation@lathamentertainment.com.

Amid awards for the top artists, actors and athletes, Steve Harvey was recognized for his humanitarian work at the BET Awards.

BET Chairman and Chief Executive Debra Lee called the 54-year-old entertainer “a true gentleman who acts like a comedian but thinks like a citizen of the world” as she presented him with the Humanitarian Award.

Harvey thanked God and his fellow philanthropists as he accepted the honor.

Courtesy of  Tennessean.com

Centric began airing Walter Latham’s Celebrity Toasts, entitled,” Shaken Not Stirred” in late April. The last of the five specials aired this past weekend. Even with NBA playoffs and a holiday weekend, true comedy fans tuned in weekly and gave their opinions on the shows. Each week fans tweeted about the show and members of the Latham Entertainment family, logged into their twitter accounts, searched “Shaken Not Stirred” and read the responses of the fans!

Here are a few tweets about the show…

@lovelyday2bme – “Shaken not Stirred is a good show loving all of the eye candy.”

@ddinyang – “I’m really liking this show, ‘Shaken Not Stirred’. I love to be in on ALL male conversations!”

@goldenhoney327 – “Shaken Not Stirred is another interesting show on Centric. Hey Ice, I want a pimp cup!”

@lafemagres – “Ice-T is keeping it REAL on Shaken Not Stirred…”

@jckhdly – “Shaken Not Stirred  w/Al Sharpton enlightening  hilarious and worth watching.”

Tell us what you thought!  Should we make more episodes? Would you watch? Post a comment today!

Making fun of celebrities, while harsh at times, can be highly entertaining when it’s done by peers of said celebrities in the name of a good time.

Such is the case with “Shaken Not Stirred”—an original take on the classic celebrity roast that is high on laughs and jabs.

The show is hosted by comedians Anthony Anderson, DL Hughley, Paul Rodriguez, and former NBA player John Salley.

Don’t know how to find the show in your area?

• On DirecTV – Channel 330
• On Dish Network – Channel 371 (HD)
• On Verizon FiOS – Channel 220
• On AT&T U-Verse – Channel 515

To find it on cable in your area, click HERE

What were you doing when you were 12 years old? You were probably riding your bike to the park or just sitting on your porch eating ice cream with your brother or sister. Well I guess that is just for “normal” kids. For a kid like comedian Black Kasper when he was 12, he was giving himself a name.

“I did my first show at a college when I was 12 years old,” said Kasper. “But I knew I wanted to be a comedian when I was 9 years old. I knew I wanted to be like Flip Wilson.” He says that comedy is his first love.  He just didn’t know that he would make a career out of it. It’s obvious that he learned that you can do anything you put your mind to.

The Atlanta, Georgia native calls himself “Black Kasper” for a number of reasons. Reason #1: “It was a childhood name because people would say whenever the cops came around, I would get ghost.” Reason #2: “My uncle gave me the name when I was born because he claims I had a very large head and that made me look like Casper the ghost, but I was black.” And reason #3: “My look. It is very different. I have a white beard and white eyebrows.” You definitely do no see that everyday.

The up and coming comedian has been the opening act for major headliner comedians such as Earthquake, D.L Hughley and Sommore and has also done shows all over the world but Kasper claims his absolute favorite place to perform is Columbia, South Carolina. “The audience just really embraces me as a comedian and just really makes me feel welcome every time I perform there,” Kasper says. Living in Hollywood, California, he also loves doing shows in Los Angeles. “I did a show at the Long Beach Laugh Factory and it sold out in minutes,” Kasper said. “it was a big night for comedy and I was happy to be a part of it.”

To become the best, you have to learn how to take constructive criticism and Kasper says that he is his own biggest critic. “I’m a perfectionist. I’m the type to iron my underwear.” He recalls an interview he saw with Ice Cube when he said: “before I cast anyone in my show or movie, I cast myself in it. That’s how you know when something is right or not.” Kasper took that advice and put it towards his career.

Another name the proud father of a 19 year old daughter calls himself is, the “Metallica of comedy.” That might sound strange being that Metallica was a heavy medal band from back in the 1980s but once he breaks down his logic, he makes perfect sense. “Metallica made it big without being signed and that’s how I am. People know exactly who I am so in my eyes, I’ve made it big.”

In the next 5 years, Black Kasper, who also has a love for animation, would like to do some work in front of the camera, write and do some producing for television and short films. When you get to the top, it makes no sense to stop. Just keep going until you can not go anymore. And that exactly what Kasper is doing.

So the next time you see a baby being born and you want to give them a nickname, think good and hard before you give it to them. You might just be giving them a name that will cause more than jokes. It could cause a legacy.

Getting injured during an important basketball game is never fun. All of your friends and family are there counting on you to win. For Sean Grant, getting hurt was the door opening to a talent that would start his career.

“I was playing in a basketball game and I broke my toe. When I fell, I farted and everyone in the gym started to laugh at me,” recalls the 24 year old. “It made me feel good that people could laugh at my pain.” Mr. Grant found a love for comedy at the early age of 8 years old when he first saw Eddie Murphy’s classic stand up, “Raw.” “It was just something about the way he made his fans laugh and had their full attention that made me believe that you had to be chosen for stand-up. Kind of like how Will Smith was chosen to be one of the Men in Black, yea that’s how I thought comedians got started.”

Grant started his comedy career 6 years ago at the Improv Comedy Club in Miami, Florida. Even though he says the crowd was giving him a hard time, he kept going and didn’t quit. Although he has already worked with comedy greats like Mike Epps, the Miami native says he loves to take advice from the “old school cats” of comedy like J. Anthony Brown. “When I first met him, he just had so much wisdom and I loved every minute of it.”

The substitute teacher (yes, he wasn’t kidding when he says he subs on the side) has already made an appearance at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem USA but was “booed” of the stage before he says he could barely get anything out. “I think I just got really nervous which just meant I wasn’t quite ready.” Even though he flopped at The Apollo, he got the last laugh. Grant has appeared on major network television shows such as “The Jimmy Kimmel show” and “Meet the Browns.” He also does shows at different colleges in his home state of Florida and has a sketch in the making called “Delicious Bathwater” with a friend that is also a comedian.

When asked what his fans really get a kick out of when he performs, Grant says that his fans love when he jokes about living with his grandmother. “I don’t know why people laugh because it’s true. I do live with my grandmother,” Grant laughs. “It just proves that I’m in the right place because people are laughing at my pain.”

Even though the artist is only 24 years old, he still has some advice for up and coming comedians that want to be in his place. “Be honest with who you are. Do not try to be what you think a comedian is. Plain and simple.” For people that want to take a different route, he has some different advice. “Write a suicide note about all your pain and struggle but make it funny. If you don’t think someone takes it seriously and will laugh, you will be good.” Honestly if you do that, you might have to re-evaluate who your friends really are.

At such a young age, Sean Grant has already accomplished a lot and it looks like he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon on the track to success. If you are having trouble, just grab a pen and paper and take Mr. Grant’s advice. And if that fails as well, eat some gassy food and take a nice tumble in front of tons of people. You will be okay.

To hear more about Sean G, check out his website!

Interview with Lil’Rel

How many kids around know exactly what they want to be when they grow up? You don’t meet too many kids that fit into that category. But when you do find a child that says they want to be something and the actually stick to it, you know you have found a kid with a serious passion and talent.

Years later, comedian Lil’Rel still remembers the day he claimed his career. “I was 12 years old when I told myself that I was going

to be a comedian,” Rel says. “I wasn’t going to let all those days I was sleepy in Sunday school because I was up late watching Saturday Night Live go to waste.”

Since Saturday Night Live was on of his greatest comedic influences, you would think that the heart of the Chicago born comic would be in performing in sketches. His heart is truly in stand-up. “My biggest influence is Eddie Murphy,” he says. “I just love his structure and the way he tells stories in his comedy and you can see that in some of my stand-ups.”

Doing comedy for 9 years now, Rel got his start in the comedy world in a little spot called The Lion’s Den in Chicago. “I saw the add in the newspaper all the time while I was growing up and I always used to tell myself that once I turned 18, I was going to perform there and as soon as I went to college, I tried out.”

The 31 year old father of two has major plans for the future. He just finished up shooting a film called “Get A Job” and will also be featured in Jamie Foxx’s “All Star Jam.” He also began working on an animation series called “The Lil’Rel Show.” “I want my kids to be able to see what their father does everyday and be proud of it,” Rel says.

So where does the up and coming comic want to be in 5 years? Lil’Rel says “I want to be the #1 urban comic in the country. I want to do dramas, movies and all that. Basically I want to be a boss!”

People tend to think that most comedians chose comedy as a career because they are lacking intelligence. Some fans, while watching different stand ups of comedians, give the response, “They are so stupid,” when laughing at a certain comedian. What they don’t know is that many comedians, like Willie Lynch Jr. are extremely intelligent. Being “stupid” is just a skill.

A graduate of Fisk University and pursuing his Ph. D in history soon, Willie Lynch Jr. studied history while in college but always knew he was the funny man to all that knew him. “My cousin was the money maker of the family and I always wanted to be like him. Go to school and make money,” Lynch says. “My cousin told me I was smart but that I belong on a stage.” You think he listened to him? Well not at first but it did rest in the back of his mind.

The East St. Louis, Missouri native has being doing comedy on and off since 200 when he was 18 years old. Even though his favorite comedian is Marcus Combs, he has been compared to comedy greats like Paul Mooney and Dick Gregory and even comedy great Bill Bellamy said Lynch reminded him of Bernie Mac.

And when he tells me some of the jokes that get the audience excited I can see why. “Ill open the show and say things like Let the church say Amen and then start cursing up a storm,” Lynch claims. “It really confuses the audience.” He says the audience really likes hen he tells the joke of how his mother resembles Al Sharpton. Even though he makes fun of his mother, she is still one of his biggest supporters and is one of the reasons why comedy was his career path to begin with. “My mother taught me how to defend myself. She wasn’t your average mother. When I would come home crying because kids teased me about how big my nose was, she would just look at me and say well your nose is big!” Thank goodness for a supportive mother.

Lynch, whose real name is Anthony Collier, says he would like to do more producing in his shows after he produced his first show a few weeks ago and got a great response from the audience. He was also recently casted for a sketch comedy group called Maxim 1322 Entertainment. A member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Lynch recently competed in the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition. The competition is the biggest urban comedy competition in the country and he will be performing in the finals at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California. You can also catch Lynch on the regular at the famous Jokes n’ Notes comedy club in Chicago, Illinois.

Check out his website