Java with Jamie: Comedy and life with Luenell
She's the original bad girl of comedy. Luenell is all over the airwaves, appearing in more than 20 movies and dozens of TV shows, stand-up specials, and she's even started her own YouTube channel during quarantine.
With more than a million followers now on Instagram, we wanted to catch up with the comedian, so we invited her to have Java with Jamie.
After appearing in movies like "Borat," "Coming 2 America," "The Rock" and "Think Like a Man," on top of her TV appearances, comedy shows and YouTube channel hits, we finally got her to sit down at the Flavor Table, a creole kitchen in Inglewood.
After ordering up plates bigger than our heads, Luenell explained why everything she does is larger than life.
Life hasn't always been glamourous. Luenell's father was killed before she was born. A sister was also murdered. The youngest of eight kids, the woman who helped people laugh during quarantine has never been far from the seriousness of life.
This bad girl of comedy says the secret to her success is making men laugh.
"You really have to prove yourself, you have to be what I call 'Guy Funny,'" said Luenell. "'Guy Funny' for me is like, funny to the guys, too. Funny enough to where guys will come see you without their girlfriends."
In her 30 years on the comedy circuit, Luenell has never strayed from telling it how it is.
Luenell just re-started her residency at Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club in Las Vegas after it was shut down during Covid.
Her fans are called "Luen-itics," and some thought she was crazy when she became a plus-size brand ambassador for Rihanna's lingerie line at 60 years old.
Luenell likes attention, and has never run from the struggle.
"What kind of story do you have to tell if you don't have the struggle?" she said.
And while she's found commercial success, Luenell says there's one thing left to do.
"I want the Betty White/Cicely Tyson type of career. I want them to love me till the end and I want to work until I can't work no more. That's the goal. And I want to take over late night television."
