All Jokes Journal - Sept. 10

I did a phone interview this evening with comedian Mike Bonner for the book I'm co-authoring with Raymond Lambert about All Jokes Aside, the groundbreaking comedy club Raymond operated in the '90s.

All Jokes Aside originally opened in Chicago in '91, but Mike was the emcee of the Detroit location that opened a few years later. Being from rough and tumble Motor City, I wasn't sure if Mike would open up to me. But he was incredibly easy to talk to and the conversation flowed.

One of the coolest things Mike shared with me was that comedians who got their start at All Jokes Aside could pull crowds even before they were big names. For example, audiences would flock to see the relatively unknown Mike Epps, who went on to gain fame in the Friday movies with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker as well as the Resident Evil sci-fi/action movies.

There's a lot of history in the All Jokes Aside story, and I look forward to discovering even more.