Def Comedy Jam

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title: "Def Comedy Jam" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hbo-original-programming", "1992-american-television-series-debuts", "1997-american-television-series-endings", "1990s-american-stand-up-comedy-television-series", "2000s-american-stand-up-comedy-television-series", "2006-american-television-series-debuts", "2008-american-television-series-endings", "american-television-series-revived-after-cancellation", "american-english-language-television-shows", "def-jam-recordings"] description: "Television series" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Def_Comedy_Jam" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Television series ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox television"]

Field	Value
genre	Stand-up comedy
creator	{{Plainlist
director	Stan Lathan
presenter	Martin Lawrence
country	United States
language	English
num_seasons	8
camera	Single camera
runtime	30 minutes
company	{{plainlist
channel	HBO
first_aired
last_aired
related	{{Plainlist
::

| image = | genre = Stand-up comedy | creator = {{Plainlist|

• Russell Simmons
• Bob Sumner | director = Stan Lathan | presenter = Martin Lawrence | narrated = | theme_music_composer = | opentheme = | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 8 | num_episodes = | list_episodes = | location = | camera = Single camera | runtime = 30 minutes | company = {{plainlist|
• Brillstein-Grey Communications
• Russell Simmons Television
• HBO | channel = HBO | first_aired = | last_aired = | related = {{Plainlist|
• All Def Comedy

Def Comedy Jam is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons, Stan Lathan, and Bob Sumner. The series was hosted by Martin Lawrence and Joe Torry in its first six seasons, Steve Harvey in its seventh season, and D. L. Hughley in its eighth season.

Simmons and long-time collaborator Lathan were inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and The Comedy Act Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They teamed up with Def Jam Records label executive and veteran comedy scout Sumner to launch the show. The series had its original run from 1992 to 1997, and in 2006 it returned in the HBO fall lineup. The show helped to launch the careers of several African-American stand-up comedians.

On 10 September 2017, a Netflix special, Def Comedy Jam 25, was filmed at the Beverly Hilton. It was shown on 26 September 2017 and featured many of the comedy stars listed below.

Notable performers

• Kid Capri
• Katt Williams
• Dave Chappelle
• Mike Epps
• Jamie Foxx
• Adele Givens
• Eddie Griffin
• D. L. Hughley
• Martin Lawrence
• Bernie Mac
• Monique Hicks
• Leslie Segar
• Sommore
• Chris Tucker
• Chris Rock
• Sheryl Underwood
• John Witherspoon

Spin-offs

The show produced a spinoff called Loco Slam.

Home media

The show was released on DVD boxsets in the US and the UK.

References

References

1. Williams, Frank B.. (1997-03-13). "STAGE; Totally 'Def'; Spinoff of HBO's hit comedy showcase comes to CSUN". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. "Has Black Comedy Been Beaten Blue? : 'Def Comedy Jam' is a hit--but with some African American comics turning to cable shows that limit the raunchiness, clean and subtle could be the wave of the future". [[Los Angeles Times]].
3. O'Connor, John J.. (1993-07-08). "Review/Television; Onstage at the Outer Limits of the Outrageous". [[The New York Times]].
4. Allah, Sha Be. (2017-09-11). "Def Comedy Jam 25 Launches Sept. 26 On Netflix - The Source".
5. Braxton, Greg. (1994-02-20). "Loco Hopes to Hit Grand Slam for Latinos". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. "Def Comedy Jam Classics, Vols. 1 and 2". [[DVD Talk]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::