Laughing Matters...More

Vickie Shaw

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Rene Hicks

Take a woman born and raised in SF, California under the strict, watchful eye of her dad, a Pentecostal preacher, who insists she goes to college to make something of herself. She earns a business degree and after graduation she passes the CPA exam and goes to work at one of the largest accounting firms in the world and settles into life as a Certified Public Accountant. Then one night, with some friends, she goes to a local comedy club and on a dare-sweetened by $100, she gets onstage to do an unrehearsed routine. Let the audience laugh uproariously and then less than a year later, let that spontaneous woman take a leave from number crunching and hit the road that leads to comedy success. This sounds like an idea for a new television sitcom, but this is the real life story of René Hicks. Such a drastic career switch didn't go over well at home. Her devout mother feared that church members, hearing that René was working in nightclubs, would think that she was a stripper! However, René was smitten by the world of comedy; she had to give it a go.

Now a comedy veteran, René has performed her intelligent and universally appealing humor in countless clubs across the US and internationally, resulting in her having been the first African-American woman ever nominated for an American Comedy Award for "Best Female Stand-Up". She has appeared on numerous television shows, including her own half hour special - "Comedy Central Presents...René Hicks". She has also appeared on Comedy Central's "The World Comedy Tour" and "Premium Blend", ABC's "Politically Incorrect", Showtime's "Full Frontal Comedy" and NBC's "Comedy Showcase" with Louie Anderson. She has also guest starred on ABC's "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and appeared in "Low Down Dirty Shame" with Keenan Ivory Wayans. René is also enormously popular on the college campus circuit, having performed or lectured at over 600 colleges and universities throughout the US. She is a two-time recipient of the coveted National College Comedian of the Year Award.

Making the move from accounting to comedy was obviously a sound business decision for René, as being funny is her greatest asset. Her deep level of passion and commitment isn't limited to making people laugh. René has always taken time to give something back to the community, by volunteering with Special Olympics, Caring For Babies With Aids, Project Angel Food and various cancer organizations. "I know that God has blessed me with so much, that it's my duty to in turn give to others", she explains. God's blessings were never more evident than when René recently overcame a major health crisis--lung cancer. "I've never smoked, so I knew God was attempting to strengthen me for some greater purpose. So, I used my God given gift for creating laughter to help me heal." "I immediately realized that it couldn't just be a coincidence that 'humor' rhymed with 'tumor' and in comedy, comics look for words that sound funny and 'tumor' is a funny word." "Two tumors go walking into a bar...see you don't even need a punchline, it just sounds funny." Now it is my mission to be an example for others to enlist humor in aiding them in overcoming obstacles and upheavals in their own lives, whether they be of a life threatening nature or just life impeding.

Rene´ Hicks has successfully interwoven her comedy and her convictions into establishing herself as an internationally known comedian and lecturer, who is determined to use her talents to make a difference. She has often been categorized as "a comic with a social conscious". Most comics have comedy "acts", Rene´ has comedy "activism". Her goal is to always provide a quality entertainment that is not only hilarious, but helps lead to the break down of barriers that can contribute to cultural/social isolation and intolerance, with the end result being human solidarity - all people united in the recognition and strengthening of our common bonds. "There's so much 'politically correct' rhetoric about diversity and multiculturalism, with very little result of actually bringing people together on a lasting basis--I use my humor to try to accomplish that objective."

Wherever René's exploding career takes her, she will always feel at home on a stage, with a mic in hand. "I think stand-up is the only art form where you're really intimate with the audience; you get directly into someone's psyche. You know nothing about them, may have nothing in common with them, but still viscerally touch them. That's why I truly love doing comedy, because laughter brings people together." Whether she is making you laugh about the experiences we have in common or making you laugh about the differences, the message is the same--"We need a lot more laughter in this world and a lot less of the dumb crap that divides us."

Sabrina Matthews

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