Sommore (; born Lori Ann Rambough; May 15, 1966) is an American comedian and actress. Known as the "Diva of Contemporary Comedy," her comedic style features biting sarcasm and frank discussions about money, sex, and equality between the sexes. She first gained fame as the first female host of the long-running Black Entertainment Television (BET) stand-up showcase '' ComicView'', as well as one of the four female comedians that headlined The Queens of Comedy tour. She appeared in the films '' Friday After Next,'' ''

Soul Plane ''Soul Plane'' is a 2004 American black comedy Parody film, parody film directed by Jessy Terrero (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut). The film stars Tom Arnold (actor), Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Method Man and Sn ...

,'' and '' Dirty Laundry'', and has received the Richard Pryor Award for Comic of the Year.

Early life and education

Sommore was raised in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

. After attending Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd and

The Pennington School The Pennington School is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students located in Pennington, Mercer County, New Jersey. The school operates for students in sixth through twelfth grades. The Head of S ...

, she graduated from McCorristin Catholic High School (now called Trenton Catholic Academy) in 1985. She graduated from

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where she studied

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. After receiving her degree, Sommore worked various jobs such as retail, employment consulting and an algebra instructor before progressing into her successful comedy career.

Career

Sommore attributes her success as a comedian to her writing skills. Influenced by her father, a writer and an English teacher, she extensively researched the business of comedy and learned about the art of comedy. She loves gospel music and her idol is Karen Clark Sheard.

Television and film appearances

Sommore has appeared on various shows including HBO's '' Def Comedy Jam'', ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987, to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harve ...

'', '' ComicView'', and ''BET Live from L.A.'' She has also done guest appearances on television sitcoms ''

The Hughleys ''The Hughleys'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on UPN from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It was co-created by comedian D.L. Hughley and Matt Wickline and starred comedi ...

'' and ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The series ran for five seasons from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004, on UPN. It stars Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow, Dorien Wi ...

'', and she has been featured on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

''. She also appeared on ''

Comedy Central Roast ''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. The network typically airs one or two roasts ...

of Flavor Flav.'' In 2008, she appeared as one of the mob members on several episodes of the game show '' 1 vs. 100''. Her film appearances include ''

'', ''A Miami Tail'', '' Friday After Next'', and '' Something New''. Sommore and fellow

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

female comedians

Mo'Nique Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress. She debuted as a member of The Queens of Comedy and earned recognition as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. In 2 ...

, Laura Hayes, and Adele Givens were the stars on '' The Queens of Comedy'' tour, which was filmed and subsequently aired on Showtime and released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. Sommore launched the worldwide premiere of "The Queen Stands Alone" on September 30, 2008. The release of her stand-up comedy special was a film version of her stand-up act and was written and produced by Sommore as well as her entertainment company One Thousand Kisses, Inc. Sommore was a winning participant on the sixth season of ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed ...

''. She lost 11 pounds during the show. Her 2015 special ''Sommore: The Reign Continues'' was aired on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2018.

Personal life

Aside from her hometown of Trenton, New Jersey, Sommore has lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. Currently, her primary residence is in Miami. Her father was the poet Doughtry "Doc" Long and her half-sister is actress

Nia Long Nia Talita Long ( ; born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the N ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Documentary

Comedy Releases

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1966 births 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from Trenton, New Jersey African-American stand-up comedians American stand-up comedians American women comedians Participants in American reality television series American film actresses Morris Brown College alumni Comedians from Trenton, New Jersey Comedians from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people