Brown had her first breakthrough in her 26-year show-business career as a stand-up comic. She was fortunate to cross paths with the late Darcel “The Fat Doctor” Blagmon, who was known in the Washington, D.C., market and who mentored comics such as Roseanne Barr, Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison and Martin Lawrence.
“The ‘Fat Doctor’ had the knowledge, wisdom and experience to teach me the game,” Brown said. “He saw the potential in me. … I had the timing and delivery already.”
During the 2000s, when Brown was doing stand-up and living in Los Angeles, she also received her master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Phoenix, which she used to get student and substitute teaching jobs when things were slow.
When Brown was cast as a series regular as the character Jennifer in the sitcom “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse” on the TBS and OWN cable networks, she had her breakthrough as an actress.
Brown’s agent arranged for her to audition for the role, but she said Perry was already familiar with her from seeing her do stand-up in Los Angeles.
During the first half of the 2010s, Brown parlayed her fame from “For Better or Worse” and stand-up to other comedic film and television roles in the “Single Moms Club” and “Ted 2” movies and the “Soul Man” and “Mr. Box Office” sitcoms.
Brown took her career to another level with help from the late movie director John Singleton. Singleton was the co-creator and executive producer of the TV crime drama “Snowfall,” but Brown did not land a job on that show. Singleton and Brown’s paths crossed again when he was thinking about making a sequel to his 2001 movie “Baby Boy,” but that film was not made.
“I’ve been doing casinos for quite some time in Las Vegas, Seattle and Los Angeles,” said Brown, who added the one difference with a casino show is that audiences are more likely to have drinks before the show starts. “They are not much different than any other show.”
The year is not even half over, and Brown has already had an eventful year. She and her son lost their home in Georgia to a fire in February.
Perry reportedly offered Brown $400,000 after her house burned down. Basically, he paid off the money Brown owed on her old house, she said. She also had a GoFundMe that was started by her brother and an assistant that reached its $100,000 goal. She could not speak about the investigation that started after the fire, but legal action has been taken, she said.…Read more by vincent jackson, VINCENT JACKSON Staff Writer
