The Mecca of Comedy

The Rise and Takeover of Comedians from Washington, D.C. Dave Chappelle. Martin Lawrence. Wanda Sykes. and Tommy Davidson!... have two major commonalities. They are four of the highest grossing comedians with an amassed wealth of over $200 Million Dollars.... And oh, yeah, in case you have not heard, these behemoths in entertainment also hail from our nation's capital... Washington, D.C. By the late 1980s, America was in the midst of an unprecedented boom in Stand-Up comedy. Over 300 clubs opened between 1978-1988 as thousands of young comics from Eddie Murphy to Rosie O'Donnell got behind the mic for the first time. This wealth of comedians continued to emerge across the U.S. in the early '90s, and D.C. was no exception. Washington DC and the DMV area as a whole has born and bred many of the most famous comedians in the world. Is this a coincidence or a comedic contagion in the DC air? For a while, humorous and historical accounts of DC's talent was overlooked, yet this was an extraordinarily fertile breeding ground for producing the nation's top comedic talent - and why few actually realize it. Without a doubt, the DMV is the mecca for comedy. Comedians that blossom from the DMV area, unlike larger cities like New York City or Los Angeles, many of whom are transplants... continue to conquer stages, film, radio, television, nationally and internationally. THE MECCA OF COMEDY is a 60 - 90-minute documentary that explores the rise of Black comedy and comedians from the mid 1980's to the present within the DMV area. We'll take a trip around the DMV to learn where some of the earlier comedy clubs and rooms were located that allowed Black comedians to perform and examine the challenges many of them faced. As time progressed, more and more of these hometown comedic legends who were rooted within the DMV, transcended to glorious heights of fame... many of them are still soaring. But let's face it, these paths traveled did not occur over night. There is no testimony without a test. Thus, this documentary probes into the lives of these comedians, understanding how their upbringing and environment impacted their comedy, delving into their highs and lows within their career and life, learning about their current activities, and future aspirations. THE MECCA OF COMEDY will utilize interviews, pictures, file and archival video, and other content to implement in the documentary. The underling purpose of this documentary is to hear about the advancement and growth of these comedians, follow their journey, witness their joys and pains, peaks and valleys, salient breakthroughs, and navigating the comedy space while continuing to mature and transcend as husbands/wives, parents, realtors, activists, politicians, authors, actors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, radio and podcast hosts plus so much more. All these spaces were launched by a joke which propelled these talented entertainers from our nation's capital to ascend.