New York Comedy Festival: Mike Epps

Mike Epps has generated an extraordinary amount of buzz among his peers and within the entertainment industry for being one of the funniest comic actors to emerge into the Hollywood scene as of late.

Last Spring Epps will starred in the dark comedy, “Next Day Air.” Later this year, Epps will star in “Janky Promoters,” a comedy about two shady concert promoters who get into hot water when their chance to book a superstar rapper goes awry. Epps was also seen on the summer blockbuster “The Hangover.”

Epps recently released a new comedy DVD, “Funny Bidness” and followed it up with his debut comedy rap album called “Funny Bidness: Da Album.” The album features Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Kid Rock to name a few.

2008 proved to be an impressive year for Epps. In February, he appeared in the Universal Studios ensemble comedy “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins." In April 2008, he appeared in the indie-film “The Grand." He can also be seen in the following 2008 releases: “Soul Men”, “Hancock” and “Open Season 2” in which he lends his voice.

When Epps isn’t filming, he is touring the country and performing his comedy act to sold-out theatres and arenas. In 2007 his one hour comedy special, “Inappropriate Behavior” aired on HBO and was one of the network’s top-rated one-hour specials of the year, followed by its subsequent DVD release that same month. Later that fall, he transitioned from his HBO comedy special to hosting duties as the new host of HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, which aired on September 10, 2006.

In 2007, Epps reprised his role as ‘LJ’ in Sony’s futuristic action franchise, “Resident Evil: Extinction,” which placed number one at the box office for two consecutive weeks in September ‘07. Epps also had a small but dramatic role alongside Don Cheadle in “Talk to Me” for Focus Features in August 2007.

Since 2000, Epps’ comedic film roles have exploded; in March 2002 Epps was seen starring opposite Ice Cube in New Line Cinema’s “All About the Benjamins.” Epps also reprised his role as Day-Day in “Friday After Next,” the third installment of the “Friday” series. In 2003, Epps appeared in the Paramount comedy, “The Fighting Temptations” alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles, and in 2004 he was in Sony Pictures’ blockbuster sequel “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” starring Milla Jovovich.

In September of ’05, Epps played the comedic relief as a loud mouthed garbage man in Fox Searchlight’s “Roll Bounce,” a film set in the late 1970s about the roller skating lifestyle which also starred Bow Wow, Chi McBride, and Nick Cannon. Epps then went on to play a pivotal role in the Focus Features romantic comedy, “Something New,” starring Sanaa Lathan as a black career woman who unexpectedly finds love with a white working-class man, played by Simon Baker. Earlier that same year, Epps starred in two classic remakes -- first Epps was seen in Columbia Pictures’ well received, “Guess Who”, starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac which was released in March of ’05. He then starred in Paramount Picture’s remake of “The Honeymooners,” in which he played comedic legend Ed Norton, alongside Cedric the Entertainer as Ralph Kramden.

An Indiana native who has steadily climbed his way up the stand-up comedy ranks for the last seven years, Epps’ comedic talent was recognized by a national audience in 1995 when he appeared on the Def Comedy Jam tour and appeared on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam broadcasts. Epps moved to Los Angeles and during a performance at LA’s Comedy Store, Epps caught the attention of Ice Cube. This led to him being cast in the co-starring role of Day-Day in his feature film debut, 2000’s hit comedy “Next Friday.” Epps has also appeared in “Bait," “How High” and was the voice of Sonny in “Dr. Dolittle 2.”