HE HUSTLES

and appearances contribute to more than a laugh and smile from those in need Lester has a great capacity to appeal to audiences of every demographic, and he very much enjoys utilizing his celebrity platform for inspirational speaking engagements as well.

When did you realize you had a passion for making people feel good through comedy?

I think it started as a kid My mother, she was a maid for Elvis, and she would come home, joke, do impersonations and stuff, so all of us would sit around and listen Instead of a fireplace, we had a heater We would get in front of it talk and joke It was a old school heater that you could put wood in Growing up in the sixties and seventies it was like that, But it was around that time I realized that humor was a way to connect with people and make them feel good and forget about all the issues

Can you remember the first time you told your first joke, is there someone from your childhood who you could credit as your influence?

Yes, It was me and my brother Tony We were sitting around and he would tell the worst joke ever and nobody would laugh I would follow up with an even worst joke and no one would laugh

It was all apart of it, those were humble days We were kids, and we knew what we wanted to do early on in life Now he is a minister, and I am still telling jokes

When I first started out young, I used to watch Tv all the time We were watching people like Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby (Huge Influence), George Carlin, Eddie Murphy and Tommy Davison, you name it

They were all people that I used to look up to as a youngster

But, we can go back farther than that There was people like Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Abbot Costello and it was just alot of people doing cool things back then

I was fortunate enough to be able to catch and absorb some of that stuff The Little Rascals, shows like that were you didn't have many black shows back in the day but we made it work for us

Who or what do you channel to prepare for your set? What is the creative process like?

Well, I have to only channel me because I can only be me Honestly, I just meditate, go into my corner, I call it I pick what is important to me, and thats my son and loved ones. I concentrate on that and get my mind off of the pressure behind going on stage. I get totally relaxed. I picture them waiting to greet me, etcetera, etcetera Then I leave and go on to do the show And when I'm finished, that's when I hit what I did But I never think about it much before I go on

Being discovered by Steve Harvey has to be an impactful thing for you, can you share how he has been influential in your career?

Uh, being discovered by Steve, Steve discovered me when I was 17 I want to set the record straight It's not like he went this is Lester and we will make him a star No, I was a youngster We were both up and coming comedians and struggling somewhat. I lived with a guy named AJ Jamal for a while and I met him through Steve and we would go from city to city, and I would drive I had a car that had no breaks, I would mash down on the brakes and we wouldn't stop We went to McDonald's one time, the lady was like, can we take your order? I was like, I'll be right back So we came from very humble beginnings Has it been impactful? Well, you know, he hasn't done anything career wise for me.

The fact that he started me, I will always be grateful for that Let's get that right Nobody has to do anything for you You go fishing and catch the fish yourself, so it's not expected I don't want to lie and say, yeah, he's a big influence People who has opened doors for me in this business has been people like Bob Sumner, Tina Graham, Tobin Costa, and the people who actually gave me a chance to be on TV shows and movies Tobin casted me for the movie, the Reverand Do Wrong I was the one of the few comics to debut as a lead in a movie I'm forever grateful for Steve and the stuff that he has done.

I'm very proud of him making his permanent mark as he should have As far as my comedy career goes, acting or what have you,I stood on my own ten I am grateful for the year I spent driving when I was seventeen years old Being