Comedienne Sommore found inspiration from Joan Rivers (2001 hits)
By Blake Hannon
Before Sommore found the time to talk to us, comedy lost one of its most groundbreaking performers when Joan Rivers died last week at age 81.
Even though they are from different generations and may have attracted different audiences, you could almost see Rivers and Sommore as kindred spirits.
"She was definitely my inspiration when it came to doing stand-up. She was the one. That was it for me." Sommore said. "She was definitely a girly girl but she was able to hang with the boys."
That last statement encapsulates Sommore and her comedy. You could argue that while Rivers was an inspiration to female comics, Sommore, with her successful career as a stand-up comic, entertainer and businesswoman, has had a similar impact on black comediennes that followed in her footsteps.
The New Jersey native wasn't always a comedienne. She earned her bachelor's degree in business administration and mathematics from Morehouse College in Atlanta. She taught and later owned and operated a few businesses. In the early '90s she made the jump to stand-up.
"I wanted to be an adult comedienne, I wanted to say the things women were thinking about but not saying and I was going to go for it," Sommore recalls.
