Where is Urban Comedy? Walter Latham Speaks Out

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.