Alycia Cooper is a Comedian, Producer, Writer, and Actress who puts the ‘L’ in laughter and is ready to take it to the next level. You may recognize her from movies like Spider-Man (2018), Guest House (2020), and Fat Stripper (2021). But it’s her stand-up comedy performances that she is best known for. She will have you in stitches. I had the pleasure of speaking with her about her career and the upcoming Tubi comedy event.

Peebles: Alycia How did you get started in comedy? Was it something you always wanted to do?
Alycia: What happened was that my cousin Karen, who was nine years older than me, got kicked out of her house for being sassy. My mother took her in because I was an only child. My cousin Karen was 17 and I was 8. I started watching everything she was watching, which we were sneaking a peek at. Watching shows like Red Fox, LaWanda Page, Richard Pryor, and Millie Jackson, we would have the TV really low and laugh while everyone else was asleep. Then we would watch the comedians on the networks. I really enjoyed their humor because it was the first time I had heard it. Then I watched HBO Def Comedy Jam, where I saw people my age and race being able to say what they wanted to say because HBO had no standards or practices, and it was so hilarious to me that’s when I said, I can do that. 

Peebles: I was reading the biography of your new book, ‘I Never Heard of You Either. That title is too funny. What made you come up with that?
Alycia: I’m writing the first book about my life. I love listening to audiobooks, and my favorite audiobooks to listen to are those by comedians. So, I decided to do my own because that’s the beauty of your book—nobody has your life, so it will automatically be interesting to someone else because it’s different from how they grew up. That’s what inspired me.

Peebles: What were some of your difficult moments in the comedy business?
Alycia: When I first started, what I didn’t know was that they had been writing material and performing this act for years on the road before we saw it. I thought they were jumping on stage, improvising, and being naturally funny, which I had been told all my life. I found out that it’s not the same thing at all. So, I got on stage three times, twice in Maryland and once in Washington, DC, and I crashed and burned all three times as I should have because I didn’t have anything prepared. I said, I guess I’m not as funny as I’ve been told I was, so I stopped doing it. It wasn’t until I moved to LA in 2000 that someone forced me to get back on stage, and I did, and I stuck with it.

Peebles: How does it feel when you’re on stage performing in front of a large audience?
Alycia: It feels great when you’re doing well; there’s no better feeling than when you have thousands of people laughing at something you have written. It’s a rush. It’s a high I don’t understand why comets would need to do drugs because it’s a high that you get from being on stage, and to me, that should be enough. But when you’re not having a good set, it’s the complete opposite. If you bomb on stage, when you get off, the other comets don’t talk to you. That act of bombing is contagious; they start looking at their feet to keep from looking at you, so you don’t want to bomb.

Peebles: Alycia So, tell me about your book ‘Never Heard of You Either, and when is the upcoming comedy event?
Alycia: It’s a book talking about my entire life from birth until now, the good and bad trials, tribulations, and challenges. It’s basically giving people an entrée into my life. The first draft is being completed right now; that’s what I’m currently working on. I also did my comedy on iTunes on Friday, the 23rd, called Alycia Cooper for President. And the special will be on Tubi on June 30th for free. Tune in and get your laugh on.

Photography Credit: Denise Vasquez Photography