Motivation Behind The Kings of Comedy

Anyone familiar with urban comedy and has a pulse can easily recite their favorite line from Walter Latham’s, “The Original Kings of Comedy”. However, very few are aware that one of the most recognizable comedians to date motivated Latham to create his groundbreaking stand-up film.

Chris Tucker, who later went on to create international box office hits such as Rush Hour 1, 2 and 3, established early in his career a valuable relationship with Latham.   With business deals dating back as early as 1992 Tucker and Latham worked together on tours such as the Zima Clear Malt Comedy Jam.

As their relationship grew, Tucker was able to pick up the phone in the middle of the night and ask Latham to give him more tour dates. In fact, due to their friendship and Tucker’s loyalty, Latham was one of the first entertainment execs to know about the film that would change Tucker’s career, Friday, directed by and starring Ice Cube.     

Aware of his star power and true to his word, Tucker promised Latham all his tour dates after the release of Friday. As expected, Chris Tucker easily became a household name and fans were eager to see him perform live in their city.

However, along with the fame came Hollywood agents who expected Tucker to conduct business differently.  Latham was immediately contacted by Tucker’s new agent who suggested he partner the tour with Robin Tate of St. Louis’s Contemporary Productions, who later became Latham’s mentor.

While he could have easily taken this as a shot to his ego, he graciously accepted especially since he did not have to front the entire cost of the tour alone.  As anticipated, the stand – up show was beyond successful.  In fact, by 1996 they went on to collaborate on hits like the What About Me and Money Talks tours.  However in 1997, at the conclusion of four sold out shows at the Warner Theater in DC, Tucker decided to take time away from stand up.

After bringing audiences to tears from laughter, Tucker reshaped his career by focusing on film projects such as the hugely popular movie series, Rush Hour and The Fifth Element. Left with no dates to promote, Latham found himself searching for the next big project.  Throwing around ideas such as a Def Comedy Jam reunion tour and getting very little support from his colleagues he set the bar high by creating, “The Original Kings of Comedy,” initially partnering it with business partner, Robin Tate.

Although Latham could have easily let Tucker’s decision negatively influence the future of his business, he did what every great entrepreneur does, evolve.  Latham states, “In a nutshell, Chris was loyal to me, he kept his word and because of that, I met my mentor and went on to produce one of the biggest projects of my career.  And for that, I’m eternally grateful.”