Mo'Nique: Spread the Love Tour

Academy Award winning actress and...comediAnne?! Not comedienne or comedian?

5.13.10 - MJ, Mary and I went to see Mo'Nique at the State Theatre in Mini-an-apolis (M'N said Minneapolis like that all night long and it was really funny). I was excited to go and I had a good time, it was an memorable experience, and by that I mean, it was the first time I've seen people full-out patted down at at the State Theatre; I've been to tons of shows there ranging from the Nutcracker to David Copperfield and I've never seen such security. I thought it was very typical of unfortunate (MN) racial politics interesting that most of the Black guys got frisked while pretty much everyone else just walked on in - including my friends and I.

Before the show, the last time I saw Mo'Nique was when she won an Oscar for best-supporting actress in Precious (a must see!) so I was glad when I got the opportunity to go see her and take some good friends along. I guess I don't really think of M'N as a comedian, but this tour was definitely showcasing her style. She had two male warm-up acts which basically  made jokes about the same thing - women. I was kind of surprised because I thought it would be a more balanced in terms of making fun of men and women, but the night proved me wrong.

The accommodating and nice ushers I know from previous events, were that night, strict security guards who gruffly greeted and demanded that no photography of any kind was allowed - there was a sign stating thus that I really wanted to take a picture of, but alas, I never got around to it. Anyway, NO ONE all night long listened to the security guard ushers and took all of the videos, flash/non-flash photography (like me!) they wanted. It hilarious. As soon as she walked on stage, all kinds of flash started going off and after a few minutes I realized that I could take pictures and probably get away with it because I wasn't using flash, and therefore wasn't standing out every time a guard scanned the crowd.

She was funny, but I kind of wish she was there to do more of a motivational or inspirational talk rather than joke about weight loss or the differences between White and Black women and the men that they date. I appreciated the humor, but I guess I would have liked to hear her speak on some more serious topics. I will say that it was a good crowd and people really seemed like they enjoyed themselves; it was nice to see so many different people having a good time together, laughing in agreement and slapping their knees without inhibition.

After the show, we went to...where else? Palomino for drinks and apps. I ordered a white peach sangria (I think) and it was very refreshing. 

I'm glad I went, it was fun and I did laugh a lot. I don't think I'd go to see her in a comedy tour like this one again, but if she decided to tour with an all-female comedian troupe next year, maybe I'd actually go see that because I think the topics would be different and a little bit more balanced. If Mo'Nique were on a bill to speak at a conference about pretty much anything else I'd definitely go because I really like some of things she's said about more serious topics in the past, and I really respect her as an actress...and I get that you can't always be serious, so I guess in the end, I'll respect her as a comedian too.