{"id":409,"date":"2015-01-13T19:23:50","date_gmt":"2015-01-13T19:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ampsmagazine.com\/?p=409"},"modified":"2021-01-16T08:39:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T08:39:44","slug":"d-ellis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ampsmagazine.com\/?p=409","title":{"rendered":"D. ELLIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Being exceptional in one job or field is not enough in 2014. D. Elli$ was able to branch out from his corporate past to a current life on stage as a comedian, thanks to an urge from his family and friends. From there, the Bernie Mac inspired working man became an actor and musician. With comedy specials, national campaigns, independent movies, and more on his resume, Mr. Entertainment also managed time to record an online television and radio show titled, \u201cD. Elli$ Talk Radio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amps: Where were you born and raised?\"D<\/a>
D. Elli$: Texarkana, Arkansas.<\/p>\n

Amps: Can you tell our readers at what age did you decide that you wanted to take a career path as a comedian?
D. Elli$: Pretty much when I got grown and kept losing jobs (laughing). It all started about fifteen years ago, but I\u2019ve been doing it full time now for a few years, which is a blessing.<\/p>\n

Amps: What are a few of the comedy clubs that you\u2019ve performed at?
D. Elli$: Awww man I\u2019ve been all over the world. I\u2019ve performed at the Improv, which is one of the main clubs that I\u2019ve performed. I\u2019m the head comedian for the Tom Joyner cruise this year, which is a blessing, and I also did it last year. I\u2019ve got a room at Harrah\u2019s Casino and I will be doing that every Saturday until we get a bigger room and I\u2019ll be in Shreveport, Louisiana doing some other things. I\u2019ve just been blessed doing shows with some big name people, so I\u2019m getting ready.<\/p>\n

Amps: Who inspired you to become a comedian?
D. Elli$- Bernie Mac is my number one dude there. The likes of Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Robin Harris, DL Hughley, Steve Harvey, and Cedric the Entertainer, which is one of my frat brothers. Our name is almost alike. His name is Cedric the Entertainer and my name is D. Elli$ Mr. Entertainment.<\/p>\n

Amps: Did you ever get to work Bernie Mac before he passed away?
D. Elli$: No, but I got to meet him on the set of his show. I gave him some cigars and we took a picture. Our birthdays are two days apart. His birthday is October 5th and mine is October 3rd. We were both raised by our grandmothers. Our stories are real similar. He was a real sweet guy and I was blessed to meet him before he died.<\/p>\n

Amps: Who are some of the other successful comedians that you\u2019re worked with?
D. Elli$: Monique, Steve Harvey, Bill Bellamy, Earthquake, Don ‘D.C.’ Curry, Ricky Smiley, etc.<\/p>\n

Amps: I see you are an actor also. So what are some of the movies that you\u2019ve acted in?
D. Elli$: I\u2019m real proud of that. I have a movie out called Lawn Boy and its real big overseas right now. I just wrapped up a movie with Irma P. Hall (Big Momma from Soul Food) called \u201cLady Luck\u201d and it will be out later this year. I play a different roll in that movie. I play a serious roll that\u2019s going to shock a lot of people. I still have my comedian humor in it and we\u2019re about to start working on part two. Fred Hammond and I are about to star in another movie. He\u2019s like a big brother to me and I\u2019m looking forward to that. I have like three or four other scripts that I\u2019m in, a couple of them I can\u2019t say who\u2019s acting in them right now, but there are a couple of big actors and actresses in the next scripts that I\u2019ve received. Once we get started I\u2019ll be able to put everything out there. I\u2019m looking forward to a huge year. I\u2019m looking forward to retiring my parents so that they don\u2019t have to work anymore.
Amps: Is there any advice you would like to give any up coming comedian?
D. Elli$: Awww man the best thing that I can tell you is, love what you do, but first and foremost you have to keep God first. You have got to stay humble. You can\u2019t get big headed in this business. You have to wait your turn. It\u2019s so many opportunities out here, just remain creative. You have to keep writing, just write, write, write. A lot of folks say I want to be a comedian, but once they get out here they realize how hard it is and think, \u201cOh wait a minute, this is not as easy as I thought it was.\u201d You have to be dedicated to it. Me, once I started, I was straight dedicated from day one. I found out you can\u2019t just want to make money off of it, you have to love what you do. Once you love what you do, the money\u2019s going to come, but you have to absolutely love what you do and treat your fans real good. Love what you do, because I love making people laugh. It\u2019s a joy and a good laugh is good for your soul and you have to stay humble and learn never get too big to learn. I learn something new everyday. You can study the great, you don\u2019t have to copy them just study them. I do music as well as acting. I also book other artist and comics, so I\u2019m getting bigger and bigger off into that. We had a Valentine\u2019s show in my home town featuring Link and RL from Next. The turn out was grand, as expected! I have begun to branch out more so that\u2019s why they call me D. Elli$ Mr. Entertainment. You have to branch out and be able to do a multitude of things, that way if one thing slows down you\u2019re able to pick up something else.<\/p>\n

Amps: How can your fans follow you and what you are doing?
D. Elli$: Google me! D. Elli$ Mr. Entertainment (with a dollar sign) and all of my information will pop up – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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