The Essence After Dark: Herlarious Presented by Kym Whitley was held at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans on July 6, 2019. As part of a new series of official events being held after hours (10:00 – 2:00 am) during the 25th Essence Festival, I was pleasantly entertained from beginning to end.
Herlarious represented all things for black women and featured some prominent women in comedy to send us on a train of laughter the entire night. Host Kym Whitley, Sherri Shepherd, Kim Coles, Jess Hilarious, and Melanie Carmocho brought the New Orleans heat inside of the Orpheum Theater for an electric performance. Powerhouse entertainment media group, Netflix, sponsored this event as part of their Netflix Is A Joke comedy sector.
A lovely reception was held in the basement of the Orpheum Theater and it was a first class experience. VIP guests and media were treated with a delectable selection of finger foods, drinks and a fantastic banana split bar.
One magnificent discovery at this event that had me in my proud to be a Black Woman feelings, was the bathroom surprise Netflix created. If you are unaware, when a major company sponsors an event they will produce a theme decor at the venue to provide a great overall experience.
My mother always says, “You can tell a lot about a business by the way they keep their bathroom.” As I grow older in life, I now realize that finding a clean restroom when you’re out in public is considered a luxury. When I walked into the Orpheum Theater reception bathroom, I was blown away.
As black women our bathroom is considered a sanctuary. A galore of beauty products reside on our countertops to help aid in the preservation of our melanin skin and hair. The bathroom shown above had a plethora of “Black Girl Magic” products. The Shea Butter jar took me out?. Bravo for this amazing concept.
Upon exiting the reception we all transitioned upstairs to locate our seats and found another surprise! Based on the popular black culture meme that is floating around, single women are encouraged to live their best lives while enjoying the company of “Somebody’s Son” this summer.
Low and behold, a group of good looking black men wearing “Somebody’s Son” T-shirts were present to greet all of the ladies as they passed out mini compact mirrors.
DJ KISS offered a mix of hip-hop and R&B music to get the crowd hype before the start of the show. At 11:02 p.m. the show started and Kym Whitley came out with a bang! She was sitting on a throne as the “Somebody’s Son” team carried her out to the stage. Kym looked absolutely fabulous in her shimmering black lace jumpsuit that was custom designed by a New Orleans business. “Essence is where black women can be black women” Kym exclaimed as she expressed the magnitude of this powerful movement.
One-by-one each comedian gave us their life story and entertained the audience. Kym Coles appeared next and reminded us to keep our cool and “Don’t get ignorant get indignant” the next time we go shopping at Target.
Sherri Shepherd looked too cute in her camouflage pants and stiletto boots to match as she described her troubled marriage. Jess Hilarious proved that you can be yourself and wear a track suit flawlessly.
Another fabulous surprise, and I love how they kept showing up at this event, occurred when Marlon Wayans’ fine self walked on stage to present the trailer for his new film, “Sextuplets” premiering August 16 on Netflix. There was a unified consensus amongst us women that Shawn Wayans isn’t the only brother bringing sexual chocolate into the room?.
To close out the night Melanie Carmocho had us all in stitches from the laughter we felt deep down in our bellies. This woman is a comedic legend and is most known for her Notorious B.I.G. joke after hearing a line from his “One More Chance” song. The fact that Melanie Carmocho can stand and talk nonchalantly in a monotone voice, but deliver comedy in a profound way is priceless.
Overall, Bravo to Essence and Netflix for producing a stellar event. We definitely want to see this show again in the lineup next year.
