He has scored big in film and on television.
As his name implies, Cedric the Entertainer does not stop there, though.
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He also is adept at stand-up comedy, which he will unleash at his 8 p.m. Sept. 16 show in The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.
Cedric was part of the wildly successful quartet known as the “Kings of Comedy,” which formed in 1997 and drew rock star-like turnouts on tour.
Cedric’s style takes stock of the world around him.
“It’s definitely observational,” he said in a phone interview this month. “I stay fairly topical. I’m not like a what’s-happening-on-Instagram-today kind of dude.
“It’s a fun show, man. I do some music. I got dance stuff in there.”
Opening the show will be comedian Malik S, who also is known as Malik Sanon. Comic Daphnique Springs is likewise scheduled to serve as a support act.
Away from the stage, Cedric’s “The Soul Man” closed up shop on TV Land this summer.
He starred as Rev. Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine on the TV comedy. “We got five seasons from it,” the actor said of the sitcom he co-created. “It was a great run.”
A native of the St. Louis area, Cedric first learned the ins and outs of the TV business on “The Steve Harvey Show,” a hit WB sitcom that debuted in 1996.
“That was a great entry level into the world of television for me,” Cedric said. “It was a unique experience. We went to work every day and had fun and laughed. Steve and I are still very good friends.”
Aside from the highly-rated show they were working on, Harvey and Cedric likewise kept busy during that heady time with a comedy tour.
“Steve and I went off and did the ‘Kings of Comedy,'” Cedric recalled. “We’d do the ‘Kings’ on the weekend and then come back to work and do the show during the week.”
Also featuring Bernie Mac and D.L. Hughley, the ‘Kings of Comedy” proved in the late 1990s that it could give a lucrative rock show like OzzFest a run for its money, as far as gross-revenue totals were concerned.
On a more subdued level, Cedric switched gears by making his Broadway debut in David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” in 2008.
“It was probably the largest growing experience I had as an actor,” Cedric said. “David Mamet is such a prolific writer.”
Cedric said Mamet’s written words needed to be “taken seriously,” without embellishing, or playing loose, with them.
“You don’t have that leisure to kind of like, as a great comedian, find something unique in the moment and then improv to it.”
The role in New York City required a certain amount of performance discipline on the comedian’s part.
“So it was like the most work I had to do as an actor, and I feel like I grew a lot as an actor,” Cedric said.
He has a fan in Ben Clement, executive director of the Gary Office of Film and Television.
“I was fortunate enough to catch Cedric’s stand-up routine in Chicago a few years ago, and just reminiscing about his rapid-fire delivery, rapier wit and infectious manner brings a smile to my face and a laugh to my belly,” Clement, a Gary resident, said. “To call him a comedic genius would definitely be a gross understatement.”
Clement notes that aside from Cedric’s appearance in Spike Lee’s “The Original Kings of Comedy” (2000), the comic has other impressive big-screen work to his credit.
“Cedric also shows acting range in ‘Larry Crowne,’ with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts; ‘Cadillac Records,’ opposite Adrien Brody and Beyonce; and ‘Talk to Me,’ with Don Cheadle,” Clement said.
Born Cedric Kyles in Jefferson City, Mo., Cedric the Entertainer now calls Los Angeles home.
At 52, he can thank “Barbershop” for fueling his fame in the world of cinema.
Cedric was originally targeted for a role that was different from the elderly Eddie character that he ended up playing.
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“I was, like, ‘I can be this old man; this is somebody I know,'” Cedric related. “I recognized right away that that was a character I can go get, and knew that it would pop on the screen.”
Keeping busy in the show business world, Cedric is rolling out a Netflix comedy special titled “Cedric the Entertainer: Live From the Ville.” Displaying his stand-up prowess in Nashville, the special premieres Sept. 16 on the streaming network.
When Cedric stands in front of an audience, he makes sure the ticket buyers are not the only ones having a good time.
“I just have a lot of fun,” he assured.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer.
Cedric the Entertainer
Where: The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 16
Tickets: $42.50, $57.50, $77.50; 21 and older only
Information: 219-473-7000; www.horseshoehammond.com