Tisha Campbell is taking over a new type of stage. The actress and singer, now 56, is stepping into the spotlight to do standup, and according to the talented comics cheering her on, including friends Damon Wayans, Sherri Shepherd, Kim Whitley, Chris Spencer and even Dave Chappelle, she’s actually pretty darn funny.
“I have always wanted to do standup comedy. I worked with the best standups, but I was always so afraid. I was scared to death,” she tells ESSENCE. It wasn’t until DJ D-Nice put on a three-night residency at the Kennedy Center in New York City and his MC for the comedy night fell through that she was finally given the chance to get over her fears. She was asked to help introduce the famous comedians taking the stage for that night of the residency, and was given 15 minutes to open the show. After getting some tips from comedian Chris Spencer, who encouraged her to tell a good story, she impressed herself, and everybody else. By the end of the night, she was so good, she’d gained a stand-up agent. Soon after, she was encouraged to go on the road with comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Finesse Mitchell.
“He is a fantastic mentor. He is amazing,” she says. “He gives me notes. He’s hard on me but he wants me to get better.”
The two are currently on the “Dayum Gina! Comedy Tour,” which will run through May and include shows in California, Canada, Florida, and Nevada. Campbell is loving it.
“There’s no screen between us, there’s no camera between us,” she says of getting up close with her audience for once. “I’m a people person, and now I actually get to see the effects of just making somebody laugh or forget their problems. It’s going so well. I’m very excited!”
Her jokes include sharing her life, from being single again, to being a mother. “It’s the scariest sh-t I’ve ever done in my life but it is also so incredibly fulfilling,” says Campbell. And after spending more than 50 years in entertainment, working to help her North New Jersey family live a better life and prioritizing her kids once she started her own family, the star says it feels good to be trying new things, from writing to stand-up comedy.
“Now is my time to make choices for me. I always made choices based on making sure that everybody else was ok. But this is the first time I’m making choices for Tisha,” she says. “Even with my kids they’re older now. I didn’t take jobs outside of California because my kids are based here. For a long time, I didn’t take jobs, and it probably hurt my career. I wouldn’t go to another state, I wouldn’t go to another country, because raising them was more important than anything else. Making sure my presence was known was more important than anything else. Now that they’re older? [laughs] Peeeeace.”
She can do that, because she’s now the parent of a 23-year-old college student in Xen, whose journey with autism Campbell has always been forthcoming about, and a teenager in her youngest son Ezekiel. “Xen is studying to be a professor of animal studies,” she shares. “He’s going to get his doctorate. That’s his goal.”
As for Ezekiel, he’s a stellar student after some growing pains. “He used to be a D, F-student. Something happened and it clicked. And now he’s a straight A-student,” she says, proudly. “He got one B.”
“I’m so proud of the human beings that I’ve been raising. They’re really great people,” she adds. “And to watch both of their accomplishments, even with Xen, and the struggles he’s been through with the autism, it’s really nice to see them thrive and be kind. They’re really cool kids.”
Once the tour ends, Campbell plans to continue writing, including putting out a nonfiction book about her and Xen’s journey with autism. “I feel like we can help a lot of people.” As for looking for love again, she’s good on that—for now.
“I’m not on no damn app,” she says. “I used to look at my grandmother and say, ‘How can you be by yourself for so long? I get it! I freakin’ get it! Oh, this freedom feels good!”
Her focus right now, is on her.
“I’m super excited about this half of my life and doing what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s never too late because I’m 56 years old and loving the newness and the exploration and being my greatest me, and choosing joy,” says Campbell. “That’s the thing. I have chosen joy. Joy is a verb, so says my therapist. And I’m so proud of myself and where I am.”
See more of my conversation with Tisha Campbell in the Mamas at Work video above. Check out the dates for the Dayum Gina! Comedy Tour, and buy tickets, at Finessemitchell.tv.