MO’NIQUE

Creator, Host, Executive Producer

Mo’Nique is an award-winning comedienne whose career began 16 years ago in her hometown of Baltimore Maryland. She took to the stage for the first time on a dare from her brother. The overwhelming response and standing ovation she received gave her the courage to pursue a comedy career professionally. From there, she gained visibility and immense popularity with performances on It’s Showtime at the Apollo, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, Apollo Comedy Hour, HBO's Snaps, BET’s Comic View, The Montreal Comedy Festival and Uptown Comedy Club.

Mo’Nique credits her big break as the day she quit her job at the phone company in Baltimore to pursue her comedy dream wholeheartedly. Another pivotal career break came in 1999 when she landed a starring role as Nikki Parker on the hit UPN television series The Parkers.  During the shows five year run, in which she starred as a single mom who attends college with her daughter, Mo'Nique earned numerous awards, including four NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005, and received nominations all five years of the show’s existence.

Her film credits include the Irish Jam, Beerfest, Shadowboxer, Phat Girlz, Domino, Soul Plane, Hair Show, Three Strikes, Baby Boy, and Two Can Play That Game which earned her a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, and the Showtime tele-film Good Fences.
 
Mo'Nique's bold and sarcastic stand-up routine also landed her a starring role in the hit stand-up comedy film, The Queens of Comedy, which was released in 2002 by Paramount Home Entertainment and aired on the Showtime Network.  The Queens of Comedy also toured the country as a live comedy concert, which was released as an album, of the same title, and went on to earn a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album.   

For three consecutive years, Mo’Nique was the host of NBC’s nationally televised program, It’s Showtime at the Apollo. She made history as the first female comedienne to serve in that coveted capacity.

Mo’Nique has become a role model for voluptuous women everywhere, proving that you don’t have to be a size 0 to be sexy and fabulous.  Her musings on life are featured in the best-selling book entitled Skinny Women are Evil published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Released in April 2003, the book quickly became a New York Times bestseller.   She recently released with co-author Sherri McGee McCovey a follow-up called Skinny Cooks Can’t Be Trusted for Amistad Press, a division of HarperCollins.

In addition to Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance: Paris, Mo’Nique is currently hosting the VH1 hit Charm School.  Recently Mo’Nique’s stand up comedy special I Coulda Been Your Cellmate aired on Showtime Television. The special was also released on DVD by Salient Media.  Mo’Nique is currently shooting the feature film The Better Man opposite Martin Lawrence.

Mo’Nique will soon add another dimension to her growing empire with the launch of an eponymous clothing line for fashionable full-figured women.