{"id":5835,"date":"2015-02-04T10:53:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T15:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=5835"},"modified":"2015-02-04T10:53:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T15:53:34","slug":"aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html","title":{"rendered":"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of &#8220;Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next&#8221; tonight + Basketball as a way of life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Season 2 of Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next premieres tonight 2\/4 @ 10:00 PM (ET) on ASPiRE.<\/strong> <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_13216\">Billed at an original weekly \u201cclean stand-up\u201d comedy\/reality series, <em>Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next<\/em> features two hot young African-American comedians being interviewed by executive producer Bob Sumner (<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15711\" lang=\"AR-SA\"><\/span><em>Def Comedy Jam<\/em>) before being seen on stage plying their craft for live audiences at the\u00a0El Portal Theater in North Hollywood. The new season will consist of featuring 16 comics over the course of eight 30-minute episodes. The show is produced by Laff Mobb and New Wave Entertainment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Comedian Amberia Allen speaks on being &quot;out daugthered&quot; on Laff Mobb&#039;s We Got Next on ASPiRE\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s5inqaD2PXk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_13216\"><\/span><strong>Review:<\/strong> Tonight&#8217;s edition features <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15772\">Amberia Allen (featured in the video above), a California native currently living in LA, riffing on everything from African-American spaghetti recipes to family relationships to allegedly spoiled homeless people. I have to say Amberia is a real comic talent with a great delivery and some very funny observational material &#8212; particularly when it comes to family. While the stuff about homeless people who aren&#8217;t satisfied with what you&#8217;re prepared to give them did make me a little uneasy (I&#8217;m more in favor of speaking truth to the powerful rather than the relatively powerless), it&#8217;s just a small portion of an overall performance that&#8217;s top notch.\u00a0 Somebody might want to consider developing a sitcom with her.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Comedian Robert Powell speaks on the polls &quot;Dusty Machines&quot; on We Got Next on ASPiRE\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Idsks9xbYNI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15772\">Next up,\u00a0 <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15773\">Louisiana native<\/span> <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15773\">Robert Powell (video above) goes on about like dishonest politicians, dating, divorce and Tiger Woods&#8217; sexual exploits. While his stuff about corruption in the political process\u00a0 could be considered speaking truth to power, I was, overall, less impressed with his performance which I felt had a slight nasty tinge (such as when mocking a supposedly ugly woman who tried to pick him up in a bar). And, quite frankly his stuff about Tiger Woods and advice for spouses whose spouses cheat on them (&#8220;Cheat on them back!&#8221;), while hardly vapors producing, does seem a bit of place on a show being promoted as a home of clean comedy.\u00a0 On top of that, the material really wasn&#8217;t all that funny.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But, that&#8217;s what you get with these kinds of shows. It&#8217;s hit or miss depending on the performer being showcased. That said, I&#8217;m all for these showcases since they do give newcomers an opportunity to get noticed. You never know when lightning will strike.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15741\" class=\"yiv1256254441MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15750\"><\/span><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15780\"><\/span><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15786\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15785\">About ASPiRE<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv1256254441MsoNoSpacing\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1422999311823_15730\">ASPiRE is a television network that celebrates the groundbreaking achievements of African-Americans. ASPiRE offers a diverse programming mix of movies, series and specials featuring music, comedy, drama, faith\/inspiration, theater\/performing arts, lifestyle and news\/information. The network was launched June 27, 2012 by Magic Johnson Enterprises, which acts as a catalyst for driving unparalleled business results for its partners and fosters community\/economic empowerment by making available high-quality entertainment, products and services that answer the demands of ethnically diverse urban communities. ASPiRE is available in about 21 million homes in 21 of the top 25 African-American markets including New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, D.C. <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7094\" class=\"yiv6388853774MsoPlainText\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7099\"><strong>Speaking of ASPiRE&#8230;.the network has announced that it will debut the critically-acclaimed award-winning documentary <a href=\"http:\/\/doinitinthepark.com\/film\"><i>Doin\u2019 It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC <\/i><\/a>o<\/strong><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7093\"><strong>n Thursday, February 19 at 9:00 PM (ET) with an encore at 11:00 PM (ET).<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7093\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7077\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7091\">Directed by Bobbito Garc\u00eda and Kevin Couliau, the film e<\/span><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7078\" lang=\"AR-SA\">xplores the history, culture, and social impact of\u00a0 summer basketball in New York City\u00a0 where, with over 700 outdoor courts and an estimated 500,000 players, the game is something more than just a game. It&#8217;s a way of life.\u00a0<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7093\">Considering Magic Johnson&#8217;s role at ASPiRE, the network seems a natural showcase for the movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7107\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7078\" lang=\"AR-SA\">Garc\u00eda and Couliau visited 180 courts throughout NYC\u2019s five boroughs to create their documentary. They traveled to a majority of the locations by bicycle, carrying camera equipment and a ball in their backpacks. The film\u2019s title refers as much to the subject matter as it does to the method of filmmaking, providing an unprecedented perspective on urban America\u2019s most popular, and accessible, free recreation.<\/span> <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7106\"><\/span>The soundtrack features music by The Blackbyrds, Quantic, 20SYL, The Roots and Jurassic 5.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7108\">The film has won a number of awards, including <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7109\">Audience Award: Best Feature, Urbanworld Film Fest 2012; Winner: Best Documentary, New Jersey Film Fest 2012; Winner: Best Documentary, San Francisco Black Film Festival, 2012; and Winner: Best Documentary, Mount Vernon Film Festival 2014.\u00a0 In addition, in 2012 it was an official selection at Toronto\u2019s Regent Park Film Festival, Puerto Rico\u2019s Fine Arts Film Festival and Philadelphia\u2019s The Awesome Fest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"DOIN&#039; IT IN THE PARK Official Theatrical Trailer 2013\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dy6vq0Pt8cc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423059012650_7111\"><\/span><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><strong>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Season 2 of Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next premieres tonight 2\/4 @ 10:00 PM (ET) on ASPiRE. Billed at an original weekly \u201cclean stand-up\u201d comedy\/reality series, Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next features two hot young African-American comedians being interviewed by executive producer Bob Sumner&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7533,20,24,31,1],"tags":[7889,7878,7887,6068,7888,7874,7873,7880,7875,7872,7884,7882,7871,7870,7886,7877,176,7883,7876,7879,7885,7881],"class_list":["post-5835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-matters","category-homlessness","category-journalism","category-movies","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-laff-mobbs-we-got-next","tag-20syl","tag-amberia-allen","tag-aspire","tag-bob-sumner-def-comedy-jam","tag-bobbito-garcia","tag-doin-it-in-the-park-pick-up-basketball","tag-jurassic-5","tag-kevin-couliau","tag-magic-johnson-enterprises","tag-mount-vernon-film-festival-2014","tag-new-jersey-film-fest-2012","tag-new-wave-entertainment","tag-philadelphias-the-awesome-fest","tag-puerto-ricos-fine-arts-film-festival-el-portal-theater","tag-quantic","tag-robert-powell","tag-san-francisco-black-film-festival","tag-the-blackbyrds","tag-the-roots","tag-torontos-regent-park-film-festival","tag-urbanworld-film-fest-2012"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of &quot;Laff Mobb&#039;s We Got Next&quot; tonight + Basketball as a way of life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of &quot;Laff Mobb&#039;s We Got Next&quot; tonight + Basketball as a way of life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Season 2 of Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next premieres tonight 2\/4 @ 10:00 PM (ET) on ASPiRE. Billed at an original weekly \u201cclean stand-up\u201d comedy\/reality series, Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next features two hot young African-American comedians being interviewed by executive producer Bob Sumner&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-04T15:53:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of \"Laff Mobb's We Got Next\" tonight + Basketball as a way of life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of \"Laff Mobb's We Got Next\" tonight + Basketball as a way of life","og_description":"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Season 2 of Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next premieres tonight 2\/4 @ 10:00 PM (ET) on ASPiRE. Billed at an original weekly \u201cclean stand-up\u201d comedy\/reality series, Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next features two hot young African-American comedians being interviewed by executive producer Bob Sumner&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2015-02-04T15:53:34+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html","name":"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of \"Laff Mobb's We Got Next\" tonight + Basketball as a way of life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-04T15:53:34+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-04T15:53:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/aspire-premieres-season-2-of-laff-mobbs-we-got-next-tonight-basketball-as-a-way-of-life.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ASPiRE premieres Season 2 of &#8220;Laff Mobb&#8217;s We Got Next&#8221; tonight + Basketball as a way of life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5835"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5841,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}