By: Valerie Milano and Lorraine Chambers – Long Beach, CA (Hollywood Today) 3-18-12

Carlease, Sherri, herhusband, Val and guests

Sherri Shepherd is a very busy mom/actress/wife who is a co-host of
The View and this week on March 19th debuts on Dancing With The Stars
with dancer Val Chmerkovskiy. Yet this energetic down to earth dynamic
diva is a comic at heart and she stays connected with her longtime
comedian/actress girlfriend Carlease Burke who hosts the monthly
Laugh-A-Latte comedy show at Hot Java Cafe in Long Beach. So where
does Sherri decide to go on St. Patrick’s night with her husband plus
dance partner Val and his bodyguard just two days before showtime??
Yes to Long Beach on a cold wet rainy night. Now that is a true
girlfriend. It was a packed house and a special night not just for the
audience but for the four recent graduates from Carlease Burke’s Laugh
Academy course in Long Beach and our HollywoodToday.net writer
Lorraine Chambers was one of them. A special unique monthly onstage
guest for the whole show is deaf translator Tom “Hot Fingers’ O’Malley
who brings the most ethnic on the money funny aspect to each comic’s
performance while wowing and mesmerizing both the hearing guests and
the non hearing guests in the front two rows. Host Carlease is a sign
language expert as well.

Carlease has been hosting the 3rd Saturday of the month comedy show
with the owners of Hot Java Cafe on Broadway in Long Beach for five
wonderful years. The diverse local community embrace the variety of
comics that Carlease invites. There was a lot of energy and
anxiousness with Carlease’s setup friends and crew
plus the staff of Hot Java for this special night with the well known
Comic Guest Headliner because as Carlease aptly put it, “it’s not real
till the headliner shows up” so when Sherri arrived, Carlease
exclaimed to friends nearby ‘It’s Real!”  Carlease warms up the
audience with Tom ‘Hot Fingers’ O’Malley and she shares with the
audience that Sherri and her met in 1990 at a comedy class. Imagine
that, the ladies are friends for 22 years!

The set list starts with the four class graduates and Carlease brings
up our Hollywood Today writer, Lorraine who is a newbie comic with
just one other official comic performance at Sharon Brannigan’s
monthly comedy show at Lorraine’s local, The Harp Inn in Costa Mesa by
Newport Beach. Lorraine covers various aspects of having Irish parents
and growing up in Southern California plus the benefits of attending
funerals with a singalong with the audience. Not bad for a first time
at bat!  Next up was Laughlin resident/actor/biker Scott Blair with
his take on old timers at the casinos as well as his experience with
an 18 years old wife when he was in his 40′s. A man’s view is very
revealing!  Following Scott is Roz Esposito who is a returning student
of the Laugh Academy and she gives the audience her definition of the
popular statement ‘The Riot Act!’ finishing up the comic graduation is
a grocery store manager, Geoff Babb who changes everyone’s opinion
about professional tight pants wearing corporate bicyclists!

Following the newbies was a short video by Norma Hubbard regarding her
special awareness campaign. The audience knew that Sherri was in the
house yet there were two more comics before her time. Next up was comic
and author Rolyn Lewis. In fact, Carlease gave the Laugh Academy
graduates copies of his book, ‘Awesome Aspects of Amazing Comedy’
which is a handy 44 page guide of seven chapters covering necessary
comic knowledge.

Next up was Bone Hampton who reveals his reason for changing his name,
benefits of wearing glasses and other aspects of his comedy. The
comedy got turned on him when he realized that the front two rows of
guests are deaf as he couldn’t understand how they could sit so close
to the loudspeakers. Though it was cold outside, this sober caffeine
fueled audience were a loving receptive crowd loving the comedy. A
different tale then the long lines outside most bars filled with
alcohol laden patrons wanting to be Irish for a day!

Also in the audience were several of the comic panelists which
reviewed the Laugh Academy students on their final rehearsal night,
they were comics Keith Michael Ashton and Lynda Montgomery. (The other
comic panelists unavailable due to other committments were Lydia
Nicole, Andrea Meyerson and Vargas Mason.  As Carlease said “the five
panelists should go on the road or make a video or sumpin’! ” As it
was an inspiring hour and a half interview of the comics about their
comic journeys! ♥)

Finally it was time for the author of ‘Permission Slips’ Every Woman’s
Guide to Giving Herself a Break! – Sherri Shepherd who looked stunning
in her white cotton loose but fitted top of round silver sequins with
the sexy studded cut  away shoulder holes and form fitting booty
hugging tight black leggings! Did I say ‘Hot’! Watch out Gladys Knight
during the Dancing With The Stars competition, Ms Shepherd means
Business with a Capital B for Beautiful! Sherri is sporting a new
hairdo with long luscious extensions that must be driving her husband
nuts as she shakes her head while dance partner Val swings and shakes
her across the dance floor!  Sherri confided to the crowd that she
couldn’t take a chance wearing one of her wigs and having it ‘fall off
during a foxtrot!’  Sherri’s supportive husband, Lamar Sally was there
at the media table with her book and Team Sherri tshirts for sale.

The audience wasn’t able to film during her hilarious performance and
I don’t want to reveal too much either yet I do want to commend her
for her perspective about cheating husbands! Preaching to the choir!
So tune into channel 7 ABC to catch all the excitement of the latest
Dancing With the Stars. Sherri also stars in her new Lifetime series,
Sherri – for which she also serves as co-executive producer and which
is loosely based on her life and stand-up comedy.

Sherri is well known for several projects. Sherri is the current host
of the Newlywed Game and she has a recurring role as Angie Jordan on
the NBC series 30 Rock.
Shepherd co-hosted the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2008 and she was
nominated for her first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show
Host.In 2009, Sherri won her first Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host
that year. In 2009 and 2011, Sherri won a NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Talk Series.

Check out Sherri on twitter at @SherriEShepherd and her website at

http://www.sherrishepherd.com

Also, you can catch Carlease this season as ‘Bob’ on the HBO series
Shameless as well as her many other current performances including
‘Switched At Birth’ on ABC by visiting her website at
www.carleaseburke.com and follow her on twitter @CarleaseBurke

It was a memorable night!  Laugh-A-Latte comedy night  + headliner
Sherri Shepherd = PRICELESS! HollywoodToday.net writer Lorraine texted
Carlease, ‘As you put your head down on your pillow to rest and sleep,
know that so many people are going to sleep very happy because of all
the wonderful things you do. It was a wonderful night because you
created the platform for it to happen! Many blessings. I think it was
my favourite St. Patrick’s day experience which is pretty big!’

The comic sets are taped and edited by actor/comedian/videographer
Michael Merton.

(Laugh-A-Latte photo features Dancing with the Stars -Sherri Shepherd,
her dance  partner Val Chmerkovskiy, comedian Carlease Burke with
guests, Ashlea Hayes, Amber Grace plus Lamar Sally -Sherri’s husband.)