Outspoken, driven and funny are just a few of the words that I would use to describe comedian/actress Loni Love. Known for America's Sister, her one hour long Comedy Central special, Loni discovered stand up comedy after winning $50 in a comedy competition during her college years. After working at Xerox for eight years, the Detroit, MI native did what was necessary to take her career to the next level and resigned from her position.
Originally, The Real had a four week summer test run, but after support from their fans, the talk show was green-lit for a nationally syndicated launch and will premiere on September 15, 2014, with reruns airing on BET. Loni Love was kind enough to sit down with DailyVenusDiva.com to discuss her humble beginnings, how she got her big break in comedy, her new relationship book, Love Him or Leave Him, But Don't Get Stuck With The Tab and her new talk show, The Real.
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DailyVenusDiva.com: First, I didn't know that you were a Detroit girl. I'm from Detroit also. Did you grow up there or were you just born there?
Loni Love: Girl yes! I grew up in Detroit in the Brewster projects. I went to Cass Tech High School. I was born and raised in Detroit. I worked in the automobile industry for a bit and then I went off to college.
DailyVenusDiva.com: How did your upbringing prepare you for life in the entertainment industry?
Loni Love: Because I grew up in a poor environment, it taught me to really value money, to work hard and to actually value education. I knew that in order for me to get out of my circumstances I needed to educate myself. We have thicker skin in Detroit and that has really helped me, especially as a comedienne and dealing with criticism and praises as well.
DailyVenusDiva.com: Did you begin to pursue a career in comedy while living in Detroit or after you left?
Loni Love: Once I left the city. I started doing stand up while I was in college. After college, I moved to Los Angeles and then I was going to stick with being an electrical engineer but something was bugging me. I didn't like the traditional "go to work everyday" type of lifestyle. Then also, I went to a comedy show one night and I saw that there weren't a lot of women in the show and then I started getting back into stand up. I would do that [stand up] at night and do my job during the day. That's how I got started in stand up professionally.
DailyVenusDiva.com: How did those around you (especially your parents) react to such a drastic change in career paths?
Loni Love: They thought I was crazy. Being an engineer was a "good job." At the time I was in my twenties and we had a major layoff one day when I had just got hired. That showed me that companies aren't loyal to people. It was a really sad situation and it affected me. Then my very first boss where I was working died of a heart attack. Those events really helped to shape me and make me think, "What is it that I want to do with my life"? We always have this thought of work and getting married, but life is short. You need to make sure you're happy with whatever you're doing in your life.
DailyVenusDiva.com: When did you get your big break in comedy?
Loni Love: My first big break was around 2002 when I got selected as one of the 12 people for the revival of Star Search. That was when Arsenio Hall was hosting it. I had been doing stand up for a number of years, but what that allowed me to do was to get the exposure that I needed to actually showcase my comedy.
DailyVenusDiva.com: Let's talk about your new role on The Real. I absolutely love the energy of that show. How did you get involved? What is your role on the show?
Loni Love: I was working with Telepictures and trying to develop projects and then they came to me with the concept for The Real. We ended up doing some chemistry tests with different women and we said "okay, let's try to do a show." It ended up being the five of us together and when we sat down it was like we all knew each other. It was "no shade" as Tamar would say. It was like we were five girlfriends just talking about stuff.
DailyVenusDiva.com: That's how it feels. I'm a talk show watcher so when I watch you ladies together, it feels like you're just having a girl conversation. It doesn't seem scripted. It just feels like you ladies are getting together at someone's kitchen table and having girl talk.
Loni Love: Everybody wants this show to be something that it's not. I tell people that we're an entertainment show. We're here to entertain and let you escape for a couple of minutes from your hectic life of taking care of your kids, coming off your job or arguing with your husband. We want to be that show that you can sit back for a couple of minutes, maybe while you're on the treadmill or sitting down having a glass of wine and you watch us. That's really what The Real is about.
We're not trying to compare ourselves to anybody else. We're not trying to be anybody else. We're just five girls talking about stuff. That's what we're trying to give to people.
DailyVenusDiva.com: As the oldest person on the show, what is your role. I notice that you're right in the center of the table. Are you the moderator?
Loni Love: No. We're all co-hosts. That's what makes this show different. Nobody is in charge. Nobody is the favorite. Whoever wants to talk, we let them talk. Whoever wants to share their story, can share their story.
You need a person like me at the table because I've been through it all. If we were all twenty year olds, we would all have twenty year old experiences. You need to have some people that are different ages, in different stages in their lives and so that's why it's important to have different people at the table.
We also have different lifestyles too. Some are married, some are single. Some have kids, some don't. The girls say that they represent somebody. I don't represent anybody. I just represent Loni and I just try to tell the truth on some things. People also have to remember that I'm a comedian. I look at life a little differently, especially with this type of show. This is an entertainment show. It's not a news show. It's not a health show, but we do touch on certain topics.
DailyVenusDiva.com: With each of you having different life experiences, do your opinions ever clash?
Loni Love: Of course! That's why we have spirited discussions. We're living in a world right now where everyone thinks that women can't sit down and talk without throwing jabs and taking off shoes. That's not what we're about. We really can have conversations and maybe not agree, but at the end of the day, we still respect each other. That's what happens when you put different people together. If we were all the same nobody would want to watch us. That's not our thing and that's not real life. You may have friends that think differently than you and that's what makes life interesting. That's what makes this show interesting and that's why we call it The Real.
DailyVenusDiva.com: Now you're also an author. Tell me a little bit about Love Him or Leave Him, But Don't Get Stuck With The Tab.
Loni Love: My book is a comedy, advice, question and answer relationship book. It's my first book and I'm proud of it. I worked on it as I was touring the country. It's from my twenty years of love and relationships, my friends experiences also questions from my fans that have questions about love and relationships and it's there to make people laugh. I've been blessed to have good reviews, people like it and I just wanted to give something of myself to women. We all can use other people's advice on love. It's something to make you smile, think or just enjoy.
Love Him or Leave Him But Don't Get Stuck With The Tab by Loni Love
DailyVenusDiva.com: That makes sense because even though you're a comedian, part of being comedian is delivering the truth in a funny way so I can understand why people ask comedians for relationship advice. How often do you take the advice in the book? Do you practice the tips you give in the book?
Loni Love: Yes. The problem with a lot of us in relationship is that we don't want to face the truth. We hope for the best. We hope that maybe this will be the one, but there are signs there that he isn't the one. We try to hang on anyway. You have to be true to yourself and love yourself first. I know we hear that all the time, but sometimes we don't do it. We'll be side pieces and sacrifice, but in the end you're not going to happy. After twenty years of going through relationships, I've learned to actually follow my own advice.
DailyVenusDiva.com: What's next for Loni Love?
Loni Love: We have one more week of taping The Real and then I go back out on the road. People can visit my website (http://lonilove.com) to see my schedule. I'm doing a book tour and working on the other shows that I do.
You know, a lot of people don't know about me because I work more in the comedy world. I'm on Chelsea Lately, a lot of cable shows and it's like I'm coming into my own. I'm happy to do daytime [television] instead of doing so much late night stuff like the Jay Leno show, where all you saw was the comedy side of me. By being on The Real, they're actually able to see another side of me which is my caring side. I'm really blessed to have this opportunity.
The Real premieres on September 15th. Visit TheReal.com to find out more about the show.
About Editor-In-Chief, Stephanie Penn
Stephanie Penn is the Editor-In-Chief of DailyVenusDiva.com. She spends her days and night finding plus size news to share with you and interacting with the DailyVenusDiva.com readers. She loves music, writing and anything with a positive vibe to it.
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