When Raymond Lambert’s friends were complaining a few years ago that they couldn’t find work, his natural response was to try to help them out. Lambert, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, had came to Chicago in 1989 to work in banking. Through a friend he became involved in a volunteer program speaking to schoolchildren about his career, where he met people of all different callings–including comedians.
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His fellow volunteers introduced him to other stand-ups, and friendships developed. But Lambert’s new acquaintances told him the clubs in town didn’t regularly book the kinds of acts they were doing. “I honestly think that a lot of minority comedians are just totally overlooked,” Lambert says. He recognized their talent–one of them, Steve Harvey, now has his own prime-time series, Me and the Boys, premiering this fall on ABC–and became convinced there was an untapped market in Chicago for black-centered humor.
And Lambert’s circle of friends keeps widening. While the popularity of stand-up seems to be cooling down–a lot of clubs have closed or cut back hours–All Jokes Aside has retained its heat. Lambert and his partners have often been lauded for their community-minded efforts, with special attention paid to kids: the club has put on several interactive shows for kids and held a Christmas party for homeless children and their families in 1992.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Randy Tunnell.
