Loni Love (born July 14, 1971) is an American comedian, television host, actress, author, and former electrical engineer. While working as an electrical

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

in the early 2000s, she switched to music engineering, until later launching a career in stand-up comedy. She was the runner-up on ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...

'' 2003 and was named among the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

in 2009. She was one of the co-hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show ''

The Real In continental philosophy, the Real refers to the remainder of reality that cannot be expressed, and which surpasses reasoning. In Lacanianism, it is an "impossible" category because of its opposition to expression and inconceivability. I ...

'', which ran from July 15, 2013 and ended on June 3, 2022.

Life and career

Love was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and grew up in the

Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects The Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects (officially named the Frederick Douglass Homes, and alternately named Frederick Douglass Projects, Frederick Douglass Apartments, Brewster-Douglass Homes, and Brewster-Douglass Projects) were the largest res ...

. Prior to her career as a comedian, she was an electrical engineer, an experience she talks about in many of her acts. After graduating from Cass Technical High School in 1985, she worked for a time on the General Motors assembly line putting doors on 1993

Oldsmobile Cutlass The Oldsmobile Cutlass was a series of automobiles produced by General Motors' Oldsmobile division between 1961 and 1999. At its introduction, the Cutlass was Oldsmobile's entry-level model; it began as a unibody compact car, but saw its greatest ...

es, work which ignited her interest in electrical engineering. Love then received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View A&M University in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. While at Prairie View, she minored in music and was also a member of the Eta Beta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. It was there that she discovered stand-up comedy after winning a $50 competition and then performed frequently during her college life. After finding work as an engineer at

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

in California, she continued to do stand-up after work in clubs and became a regular at the

Laugh Factory Laugh Factory is a chain of comedy clubs in the United States. The chain is owned by Laugh Factory Inc., and the founder and current chief executive is Jamie Masada. Endurance record The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record fo ...

. After eight years of working at Xerox, Love resigned to pursue comedy during a layoff to prevent someone else from losing their job. Love did a series on VH1 called ''I Love the 2000s'' in which she gives her view on pop culture highlights. She was also a panelist in the late-night talk show ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American late night comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced by Handler's production company, Border ...

''. Love also appeared in an episode of Supermarket Sweep on July 24, 2000. Loni Love 140 Twitter Conference 2009

Love started her comedic career in 2003, after appearing on ''Star Search'', reaching the finals and losing in a close competition to winner John Roy. Since then, she has appeared in films and numerous television shows. Love was named "Hot Comic" for 2009 in ''Campus Activity'' magazine and one of the "Top 10 Comics to Watch" in both ''Variety'' and Comedy Central. She was awarded the Jury Prize for best stand-up at the 2003

US Comedy Arts Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

. In 2008 Love became the

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

correspondent for '' D. L. Hughley Breaks the News'' and covered the inauguration of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. In late 2009, Love recorded her first one-hour Comedy Central special, ''America's Sister'', which aired on May 8, 2010. In July 2013, she released her first comedy advice book titled "Love Him Or Leave Him But Don't Get Stuck With The Tab". It was published by Simon & Schuster. From July 15, 2013 to June 3, 2022, Love served as one of the co-hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show ''

'' originally alongside

Adrienne Bailon Adrienne Eliza Bailon-Houghton (née Bailon () ; born October 24, 1983) is an American television personality, singer, and actress. She is a former member of the girl groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls. From 2013 to 2022, Bailon was a co-host of ...

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut ...

Jeannie Mai Jeannie Mai-Jenkins (born Jeannie Camtu Mai) is an American television host and stylist best known for her work on the makeover show '' How Do I Look?'' and the syndicated daytime talk show ''The Real''. As a fashion expert, she is frequently fe ...

, and

Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite h ...

. After premiering on July 15, 2013 on

Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Co ...

, ''The Real'' was picked up to series the following year. In 2015, she appeared in the comedy film '' Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2'', with

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), better known by his stage name Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. In television, James played Doug Heffernan on ''The King of Queens'' from 1998 to 2007, and receieved a Primetime Emmy ...

, and the action film ''

Bad Asses on the Bayou ''Bad Asses on the Bayou'' (also known as ''Bad Ass 3'') is a 2015 American action film starring Danny Trejo and Danny Glover, written and directed by Craig Moss Craig Moss is an American film director, writer and actor known for making ...

'', with

Danny Trejo Danny Trejo ( ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. He has appeared in films including ''Desperado'', ''Heat'', and the ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' film series. With frequent collaborator and his second cousin Robert Rodriguez, he portrayed ...

and Danny Glover. She also won the ninth season ''

Worst Cooks in America ''Worst Cooks in America'' is an American reality television series that premiered on January3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (referred to as "recruits") with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, t ...

'' in 2016, winning $50,000 for her chosen charity. In 2018, Love and her ''Real'' co-hosts won the

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host is an award annually presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 42nd ...

for their work. In 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Love hosts a show on

Instagram Live Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be ...

under the hashtag #quarantinewithloni. Love's show attracts 50,000 to 100,000 viewers. Since January 2021, Love has been a recurring guest judge on Season 13 of ''

Rupaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

.''

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Loni 1971 births 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians Actresses from Detroit African-American actresses African-American female comedians African-American television talk show hosts American electrical engineers American stand-up comedians American television actresses American television talk show hosts American women comedians Living people Prairie View A&M University alumni 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women