BET is bringing back “Comic View” after a five year break with a return Tuesday, May 6 at 10 p.m. featuring stand-up comic Sommore.
The 24 episodes were taped last summer at Turner Studios in Midtown before a live audience on a blue-tinged futuristic set featuring a variety of up-and-coming comics. “I’m seeing comedians I’ve never seen before, seeing different styles, different approaches. I’m a fan of the art. I was impressed,” said Sommore, a veteran comic known as the “Queen of Comedy” who attended Morris Brown College but now lives in Miami and Los Angeles.
“I was excited when I found out they were doing it in Atlanta,” said Sommore, who regularly shows up at the Atlanta Civic Center for shows. “They didn’t have to twist my arm to come here.”
She enjoyed the audiences in Atlanta, with ages ranging from 20 to grandmothers.
Being the host, she said, was more pressure than just appearing on the show, which she did many times back in the day. “You set the pace,” she said. “It’s like being the drum major. It’s my house. I set the rules.”
Sommore also had to get used to reading teleprompters. “That was the hardest part,” she said. “Normally, as a stand-up, I go without a script.”
The last time “Comic View” aired was in 2008 with Kevin Hart as host. “Comic View” shot a couple of seasons in Atlanta before, the most recently with Rickey Smiley in 2000.
“Comic View,” 10 p.m. Tuesdays, BET
By Rodney Ho
