Comedian T. Murph

Last week, local comedian T-Murph made his national-television debut on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy show Key and Peele, where he briefly appeared as a barber working alongside the legendary Billy Dee Williams. The goatee is unmistakable.

T-Murph, a Kankakee native who came to Carbondale about ten years ago, when he attended SIU from 2003 to 2005, got the Key and Peele gig after he opened for the duo at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The two watched him perform, and afterward they hit it off. T-Murph asked about a writing gig, but their writing staff was full. When they discovered he had an improv background, however, they offered him a role on the show.

And what a role they chose.

“I actually am a barber,” T-Murph tells Nightlife. “They didn’t know that. It freaked them out. I felt at home.”

Getting to appear with Billy Dee Williams, whose career spanned soap operas and Star Wars, blaxploitation movies and Oscar-nominated films, was a special treat. “I shook his hand and just thought, ‘I remember him on In Living Color in, like, 1993, and twenty years later, I’m in the same sketch with someone I admired,’” T-Murph says.

His friends already are joking about cashing in on the status he’s achieved.

“I got a text from my best friend that said, ‘We famous!’” T-Murph laughs. “I said, ‘What’s this we?’ He said he’s starting to get weekends off, and from now on we need to get to shows early.”

And enjoy some of that status, à la Entourage.

As he’s slowly transitioning from full-time barber, part-time comedian to part-time barber, full-time comedian, T-Murph is hoping to move to Los Angeles in August, and is talking to Key and Peele about appearing on the show’s third season.

Meanwhile, when he’s not on the road doing standup, local fans can catch T-Murph Mondays at the Hangar 9’s open-mic night, hosting Tuesday open mics at the Premiere Lounge, and Wednesdays at the Station 13’s Carbondale Comedians showcase.

Find out more at <http://www.ComedianTMurph.com>... - Joke A Lot

Students gathered in Peltier Auditorium on Feb 2 for some laughs courtesy of the Student Programming Association’s annual Comedy Night, which featured well-known comedians T-Murph and Cocoa Brown.
Comedian T-Murph from Kankakee, Ill. opened up the show with a comedy routine that focused on the activities and issues college students experience throughout their undergraduate years.

T-Murph’s comedic journey began three years ago when he was working at a barbershop. People constantly told him how funny he was and that he should give comedy a try. Now he is quickly making a name for himself in the industry as one of comedy’s rising stars. T-Murph has been featured on Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele” and on the Turner Broadcasting Network’s “Just for Laughs Breakout Comics.”

Even though T-Murph has been featured on nationally accredited television networks, the most memorable moment of his career was not witnessed by many.

“I performed in a little hole-in-the-wall club in front of Cedric the Entertainer, and he laughed at my jokes,” T-Murph said. ”For me to make one of the ‘Kings of Comedy’ laugh after I’ve been laughing at him for so many years., that was the highlight of my career. I haven’t been doing comedy that long, but it is going to take something [big] to top that for me.”

T-Murph hopes that in five years he will be a series regular on a major television network sitcom.

Cocoa Brown, comedian from Newport News, Va., began her comedic career after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. While in college, she hosted many events for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. A friend of hers approached her to emcee an event at a comedy club in Maryland. After the show she was approached by The Fat Doctor, mentor of famous comedians such as Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle, who encouraged her to pursue her career in comedy.

Sixteen years into her career, Brown has made a name for herself not only in the comedic world but also in Hollywood. Brown has been featured on Black Entertainment Television’s “Comic View,” “Def Comedy Jam,” “Kennedy Center Honors Richard Pryor” and Martin Lawrence’s comedy series “1st Amendment.” Brown has been featured in films such as “Lakeview Terrace,” “American Carol,” “Hittin’ the Bricks” and “Mahogany Blues.”

Brown will be making her starring debut in the film “Single Moms Club,” written and directed by Tyler Perry. The movie’s release is scheduled for May 2014.

Currently Brown is a series regular on Perry’s television sitcom, “For Better or Worse,” which airs on TBS and stars Michael Jai White and Tasha Smith. Brown plays the role of Jennifer, best friend of Smith’s character Angela, who helps her run her beauty salon. Brown describes her character to have a great dynamic for the show because she is not wealthy like the rest of the characters and represents the average woman working a nine-to-five job.

“She might be college educated or she might be a high school drop out,” Brown explained. ”You never know what you’re getting. She is real, and that is one thing you always get from her. What you see is what you get from Jennifer.”

Brown describes working with Perry to be the best thing to happen in her career so far.

“That man is an incredible human being personally and professionally and to be able to watch him and learn from him [is great],” Brown said. ”He is my Ms. Jenkins, no one better say anything bad about Tyler Perry. He single-handedly, by the grace of God, changed my life.”

Brown said she plans to pursue more writing and producing ventures possibly with her own sitcom. Along with being a comedian who delivers laughs to her audience, Brown also is a well-educated woman with a master’s degree in education who puts her knowledge to use during her routines.

“I am trying to educate a little bit,” Brown explained. ”God gave a sister a little bit of wisdom so I’m trying to pass it on to my sisters.”

Brown wants all women to have a sense of who they are and to make sure that they have loyal friends around to help them along the way.

“Know who your friends are,” she explained. “Test your friends. Tell them something that is made up and crazy to see if it gets back to you. Tell all of your friends something different and if it comes back to you then you know who betrayed you. Know who your Judas’s are.” - Nicholls State University

A Day in The Life of T. Murph - Akisha Lockhart

Last week, local comedian T-Murph made his national-television debut on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy show Key and Peele, where he briefly appeared as a barber working alongside the legendary Billy Dee Williams. The goatee is unmistakable.

T-Murph, a Kankakee native who came to Carbondale about ten years ago, when he attended SIU from 2003 to 2005, got the Key and Peele gig after he opened for the duo at Roosevelt University in Chicago. The two watched him perform, and afterward they hit it off. T-Murph asked about a writing gig, but their writing staff was full. When they discovered he had an improv background, however, they offered him a role on the show.

And what a role they chose.

“I actually am a barber,” T-Murph tells Nightlife. “They didn’t know that. It freaked them out. I felt at home.”

Getting to appear with Billy Dee Williams, whose career spanned soap operas and Star Wars, blaxploitation movies and Oscar-nominated films, was a special treat. “I shook his hand and just thought, ‘I remember him on In Living Color in, like, 1993, and twenty years later, I’m in the same sketch with someone I admired,’” T-Murph says.

His friends already are joking about cashing in on the status he’s achieved.

“I got a text from my best friend that said, ‘We famous!’” T-Murph laughs. “I said, ‘What’s this we?’ He said he’s starting to get weekends off, and from now on we need to get to shows early.”

And enjoy some of that status, à la Entourage.

As he’s slowly transitioning from full-time barber, part-time comedian to part-time barber, full-time comedian, T-Murph is hoping to move to Los Angeles in August, and is talking to Key and Peele about appearing on the show’s third season.

Meanwhile, when he’s not on the road doing standup, local fans can catch T-Murph Mondays at the Hangar 9’s open-mic night, hosting Tuesday open mics at the Premiere Lounge, and Wednesdays at the Station 13’s Carbondale Comedians showcase.

Find out more at <http://www.ComedianTMurph.com>... - The Nightlife Entertainment Guide

So after 6 years of being in college, I finally decided to quit making excuses and I traveled down to Bloomington, IN to experience unarguably the sole event that once entitled IU the dubbing of the #1 party school in the nation. Being that I was only in Bloomington for 8 hours, I didn’t experience much but I did enjoy myself. As soon as I touched down there, my first stop was at the birthplace of the world-renowned DOPE Couture (@DOPEIndiana) where I got to meet the genius behind it all Matte Fields while I went on a baby-balling-extremely-budgeted 3 item shopping spree. The boutique has an extremely modest and intimate set up with music/cultural tribute paintings, trend-setting clothing, and even books. I’m not exactly sure if this was said in confidence and I hope it wasn’t, if so “My bad Matte, don’t hold this against me” … but I was told DOPE COUTURE WILL BE SETTING UP SHOP IN BROAD RIPPLE THIS MAY! This is something Indianapolis and the rest of Indiana can definitely be proud of. But, I definitely enjoyed my short visit to DOPE COUTURE and will be standing front line & center to bring you pictures of the new store opening in Broad Ripple this May.

After my dose of fashion I needed my dose of music and frat life, because it just wouldn’t be #CollegeLife without it. So I linked with DJ B_Rad (@DJ_BEE_RAD) and B-Skrizz (@MRi465) “pre-gamed” a bit before hitting the step show where the Phirst Pham (the ice cold men of Alpha Phi Alpha and the pretty & gorgeous women of Alpha Kappa Alpha) dominated the show with precision and finesse. Runners-up at the step show were the men of Phi Beta Sigma and the women of Delta Sigma Theta. The step show was hosted by comedian T Murph (@IAmTMurph) who was pretty freakin’ hilarious and kept the crowd entertained, well everyone except dude with the picnic fabric button down and chambray overlay. Aside from the step show being on point, black Greek women are my weakness; between sitting among the baddest AKAs and having a front row seat as the Devastating Divas of DST came strolling through, I was sitting on Cloud 9. The step show took a serious turn when a call for action was demanded from minority students by minority students to participate in a rally this week taking place on the IU campus to hold the IU administration responsible for the promises they made a couple years ago about doubling the presence of minorities (I’m assuming more particularly Black students) on the IU-Bloomington campus.



After the step show, I hit up the Iota Phi Theta probate. Until Saturday, I’d never been to a probate at IU. I’d imagine Kappa Alpha Psi usually has the largest probates there but I think whoever holds “Lil’ 5 Weekend” holds the gold, gilded gold that is. I don’t have much to say about the probate but someone definitely had some loudpack on deck. Lol. Naw, but my old age (23) was kicking in, the probate probably didn’t start until around 11 (I could be over exaggerating.) It was freezing. Plus the little 90s babies were tryna reel me in with the bait. To keep it 100, I actually stayed ’til a few moments before the unmasking of the newest members of the fraternity. Had it not been for the cold weather, the over-zealous Sigma (#7 of the 6 M.A.D.E. MEN) standing right in front of my damn camera, and the fact that I am 2 years removed from knowing anyone still enrolled in college, I probably would’ve stuck around a little while longer.

All in all I enjoyed myself; hopefully I get to experience the whole week of Little 500 next year.
- Chuck Mason Indiana Grind

Drive pass 46th Street and King Drive on a Wednesday night and you will hear the echoes of laughter. Numerous aspiring comedians perform during open mic night at the south side Bronzeville comedy club, Jokes and Notes. Club owner Mary Ella Lindsey says laughter is good for the soul and the body, and her comedy club is delivering tons of it.



“Everybody needs to laugh,” Jokes and Notes comedian Baldhead said, “You got a lot of people that are ill, a lot of people that are depressed. Laughter is medicine.”

Recent studies have shown, that laughter is good for your health. According to Helpguide.com, laughter has physical health benefits, mental health benefits and social benefits. It can boost the immune system, relieve stress and help defuse conflict.

Owner Mary Lindsey was a former co-owner of All Jokes Aside Comedy Club in the early 90’s. Once that closed in 2002, she opened Jokes and Notes in 2005 because comedians kept asking her to open a club where they had a platform to perform. She also wanted to give them a place that offered them opportunities to grow and develop their craft.

Comedian T-Murph says Jokes and Notes is the place where he got his start.

“Jokes and Notes, first of all is blacked owned,” T-Murph said, “It’s one of the only female, blacked own clubs in the nation. You can go a lot of places, but this is like home.”

“It’s just a way for you to get on stage and express stuff you’ve been through,” comedian Jari said, “But in a comedic way; and help people laugh.”

Lindsey believes her audience enjoys coming to the club because it’s a great show, and it’s a safe and fun environment. Some comics believe the audience enjoys coming for the same reasons they like performing; to get a good laugh and remove themselves from the everyday stresses of life.

“Anytime you can remove yourself from your everyday stressful encounters or just simply clearing your head with laughter and fun, it can’t get any better than that,” Lindsey said, “The economy and society we live in is very challenging, we need laughter to forget, even if only for an hour or two.”
- My Chicago News

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Comedy Show - Whats your M.O.

Breakout Performers
See the newest wave of up-and-coming Chicago stand-ups including Jesnaira Baez, Brandon “Hot Sauce” Glover, Cody Wilkins, Corey Calvert, Davey Boy, T. Murph and Rion Evans, plus musical comedian Ben Hamilton and popular host Marlon Mitchell.
Go: 8:30 p.m. at Jokes and Notes, 4641 S. King Drive - Red Eye

With just two years of stand up under his belt, T. Murph is one of the brightest young rising stars in the comedy world. He's new, but this young man knows how entertain his crowd, with quick wit and cleaver humor he commands a room with ease. Born in Kankakee, IL to Joseph and Elaine Jackson, Murph credits his mother and grandmother Eleanor (Peaches) Riley for his sense of humor along with an array of other unique family members. Utilizing the stage to live out his dream, Murph says he has one goal and one goal only and that's to make his children proud of him. - TBS Just For Laughs Comedy Festival

Roosevelt University students flooded the Congress Lounge last Thursday to check out the stars of Comedy Central’s breakout sketch comedy show Key & Peele.
Back in town for the inaugural Chicago Improv Festival Productions Gala in Lakeview, Second City alumni Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele came through Roosevelt to headline a free two-hour show organized on by SPEED.
Tom Cicero, a freshman journalism student, came with his friend to have a few laughs.
“We’re really excited to see the show,” Cicero said.
But before the stars took the stage, Kankakee-born stand-up T. Murph had students in stitches as he found humor in serious issues such as racism and homophobia.
“We need to really come together,” said T. Murph, reflecting on the racism and prejudice he’s faced in his own life. “At the end of the day we all bleed the same color. Who are you to judge”?
Inspired by comedic icons like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, T. Murph started doing his own comedy just over a year ago. Since then, T. Murph has performed in Illinois, as well as in Missouri, Wisconsin and Atlanta. He’s performed at Southern Illinois University, Lewis University and the University of Illinois Springfield.
But Thursday night, it was Roosevelt students who got a taste of T. Murph’s comedy.
“It makes me feel good to see other people laugh,” he said.
T. Murph did just that at the show and gained some new fans in the process.
Key and Peele began by individually introducing themselves, pointing out the fact that many fans they’ve encountered since Comedy Central-stardom are oblivious to their actual names and simply refer to both or either of them as “Key and Peele.”
Key and Peele noted how they are both bi-racial and proceeded with comedic skits, focused on race. They say their goal with racial humor, though, isn’t to offend. Key and Peele aim to create enjoyable experiences for everyone, but attempt to use laughter as a gateway to discussions about touchy subjects.
“We just value conversation,” Peele said. “Say we hit a topic or make a joke that crosses lines for certain people...the discussion that opens up from that pushes us all forward.”
“One of the best things about doing something that’s edgy but also comedic is that old phrase, ‘A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down,’” Key adds. “You have the opportunity to…have an objective dialogue.”
“I think everyone enjoyed the performance,” said Nicole Lambert, a second-year music education student and member of SPEED.
During a time when racial tensions across the country seem to be running unusually high, one hilarious stand-up and two incredible improv stars made Roosevelt students laugh at themselves and each other. For a couple of hours, Key and Peele eased some of those tensions.
“It’s almost crucial to have a laugh every day,” Key says. “Laughter is a cathartic release.”
“We need it,” his friend and partner Peele said. “Laughter is good for the soul.”
Laugh with @iamtmurph and @keyandpeele on Twitter. - Roosevelt Torch