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.”

After numerous years in the entertainment industry, Walter Latham has orchestrated countless high end business deals with celebrities ranging from Pamela Anderson, Chris Tucker, Robin Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg. However, none of these affairs compare to his tumultuous relationship with Hip Hop and fashion entrepreneur Sean P. Diddy Combs.

After making a name for his company and urban comedy, Latham became the hottest commodity in the live stand up comedy and film industry.  Countless studios and businesses execs relished at the idea of him sharing his expertise, including P. Diddy himself.

As a means of breaking into the comedy realm, Combs sought after Latham to partner the hugely successful P. Diddy Presents: The Bad Boys of Comedy, sponsored by Diageo, who later inked a deal for the representation of Combs for their popular alcoholic beverage, Ciroc.

The benefits of the collaboration were plentiful, airing two seasons on HBO and subsequently selling out theaters across the nation, Bad Boys of Comedy achieved the success both Latham and Combs expected.

However, the road to victory was long and plagued with disagreements between the two CEO’s.  Each businessman, both thriving in their own right, possessed an innate gift to lead and a mind to produce creative projects.

By working closely with Combs for almost two years, Latham was able to witness the price many celebrities pay for their careers and ultimately developed a new attitude, “I will produce great television and be the best entrepreneur, but you can keep the fame” states Latham.

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”.

As he walks into his office filled with family portraits, awards that reflect his many successes, and celebrity posed pictures with: Pam Anderson, Richard Pryor, Chris Tucker, and others; Walter Latham, CEO of Latham Entertainment can’t help but go down memory lane when walks through the door.

From an outsider looking in, they would surely believe that he was living “the life.”  However, Latham constantly struggles with the idea of how he paved the way for most of today’s urban comics, yet some refuse to return a phone call.  When asked how he felt about the achievements of the Kings and Queens prior to his project, he answered;

I’m very proud and happy for their current success, however, one of the biggest lessons is to lock up talent when I got into business with them.  I can not afford to make more people famous and not have a part of their future after me.

While some may view this statement as arrogance, they don’t realize privately owned promoter companies are becoming few and far between.  Mega promoters like Live Nation and AEG are beginning to monopolize the industry through purchasing venues and partnering with Ticketmaster, which makes it impossible for smaller companies to even think about competing with the large offers to artist.

While Latham could take the state of the industry as downfall, he remembers he changed the comedy industry forever with the ground breaking “Original Kings of Comedy.”  From humble beginnings where he once had an artist not show up, Latham, took all the mishaps, criticism, and challenged himself to put his company and urban comedy on the forefront.

By 1998, Latham solidified his presence by placing four headlining comedians on one bill (Steve Harvey, Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer, and DL Hughley), which by the completion of the tour sold out  847 venues and grossed more than $11 million dollars in ticket sales.  Many promoters questioned the outcome of Latham’s brainchild.  In fact, Walter describes his negative experience, “Every promoter I asked said it would not work.  They said the same 3000 people who came to see one the comedians are the same that came to see all. Why did I think 18,000 would come?”

After the success of “The Original Kings of Comedy,” Latham went on to create a comedic franchise which included: “The Queens of Comedy,” “Latin Kings of Comedy,” and “The Bad Boys of Comedy.” Although Latham capitalized on his brand, he now focuses on producing television specials and finding untapped talent. Since his string of hits in the early part of the decade, black comedy has taken a turn for the worse.  “I believe the state of urban comedy is in need of revitalization.  There is no black comedy out that means anything, and that’s where opportunity lies.” says Latham.