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What's Next: The Royal Comedy Tour
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Comedian D.L. Hughley - photo by CNN


Comedy fans, take note. A king and a queen will soon be passing our way.

A show booked for March 12 in the Johnny Mercer Theatre features a quartet of seriously funny people. Chief among these are D.L. Hughley, from the hugely successful Original Kings of Comedy Tour, and Sommore, a founder of the Queens of Comedy.

It’s called — what else? — the Royal Comedy Tour. George Wilborn and TuRae, familiar faces from BET’s myriad comedy programs, round out the bill.

For now, though, let’s concentrate on the royals.

Hughley (pictured) has a mile–wide resume. He was, of course, one of the four comics in Spike Lee’s onstage documentary The Original Kings of Comedy (the others were Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey).

He wrote, produced and starred in the sitcom The Hughleys, had a role in Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, worked extensively on Comedy Central and most recently had his own current affairs comedy program on CNN, D.L. Hughley Breaks The News.

In a 2008 interview, I asked Hughley which he liked better, acting or standup comedy:

“There’s no question, standup,” he told me. “I don’t have to take orders from anybody. I’m the director, producer, writer and creator. And also, it’s a creative outlet that most people just don’t have access to.

“How many people get to discuss how they feel about a situation and get to make money at it? I act so more people will come see me do standup.”

With Mo’Nique, Adele Givens and Laura Hayes, Sommore was part of the Queens of Comedy Tour, which arrived in the wake of Lee’s movie, and was filmed for a Showtime special and a successful DVD.

She’s known for Showtime at the Apollo, Def Comedy Jam and — guess what — guest appearances on The Hughleys.

Sommore (her real name is Lori Ann Rambough) lost 11 pounds during the sixth season of Celebrity Fit Club.

Her solo DVD is called The Queen Stands Alone.

Tickets for the March 12 performance are $38 and $45; see www.savannahcivic.com.

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