Watching The View

You all know Sherri Shepherd as the frequent guest host on The View (she has been on at least 10 times!), but do you know about how she got her start? Read below for part one in a four part series, exclusive to Watching The View.

You lived in Chicago and then moved to Hoffman Estates at age eleven. What was that change like and how did it impact your life and/or your future in comedy?

My dad & my mom moved my sisters and I to Hoffman Estates during the middle of the epic “Roots”… I think we finished unpacking right when they cut Kunta Kinte’s foot off… needless to say, everyone in my 6th grade class wanted to know if I had someone named “Toby” in my family. There were probably 3 black people in my entire elementary school. It was very racist. My sisters and I heard the N word daily. I think this is where I really developed my ability to make people laugh. My sisters fought all the time. Me - instead of fighting, I used my humor to hide the pain of being called a N___ga. Even know when I go through difficulties or painful stuff, I get onstage and make people laugh.

What do you think was the turning point in your career when you knew you could make a living with comedy?

Even though I started out in 1990 or 1991, I actually never made a living doing standup comedy. Living in California with hundreds of up & coming comics, one needed to go on the road to make a living. I chose to stay in town to pursue acting. I knew that I could make a living being an actress when I booked my first sitcom on the WB Network. It was called “Cleghorne” (starring Saturday Night Live alum, Ellen Cleghorne). I was terrified to quit my nice, steady job as a legal secretary to pursue the acting and standup comedy, but someone said to me “if it was all about stability, then you wouldn’t need faith”. So I stepped out on faith and gave notice at the law firm where I’d worked for 5 years. My last day at work was March 1, 1995 and I booked “Cleghorne” March 12, 1995!!!! Even when that show was canceled after 13 episodes and I had to go back to being a legal secretary, I knew that I had what it took to make it as an actress.

What is your most stand-up experience and what makes it memorable?

When I opened for Richard Pryor. After I got off the stage, Mr. Pryor told me that I was going to be a star. I also did standup and didn’t know that Martin Lawrence was in the audience. He came up to me afterwards and told me that I was going to be a star. When I was riding the bus trying to figure out where the next $20 is going to come, those words carried me through some really difficult times.

Part two of the interview is now available here.

Sherri Shepherd, Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, The View, Ellen Cleghorne, comedy, stand-up