Born: March 6, 1963
BlueMeter: Risqué
17 

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Next Tour Date

Friday | March 22
7:00PM

See all tour dates for D.L. Hughley

Works

Records

2014 Clear
2012 D.L. Hughley: Reset
2004 Notes From The G.E.D. Section
2000 Original Kings of Comedy

Specials (and other video)

2018 D.L. Hughley: Contrarian
2017 Def Comedy Jam 25
2015 This Is Not Happening: Wonder Years

Storytelling show. Features multiple comedians.

2014 D.L. Hughley: Clear
2012 DL Hughley: The Endangered List

Combines stand-up with interviews as Hughley attempts to get the black man on the endangered species list.

2012 D.L. Hughley: Reset
2009 Shaquille O'Neal Presents All Star Comedy Jam — Live from South Beach

Features multiple comedians

2008 Living Legends of Comedy: Real Talk

Documentary features multiple comedians

2008 Live at Gotham (Episode 307)

Features multiple comedians

2008 Def Comedy Jam

Season 8

2007 D.L. Hughley: Unapologetic
2006 Comic Relief 2006

Benefit show that features multiple comics.

2006 Def Comedy Jam

Season 7

2005 D.L. Hughley: Shocked & Appalled
2004 Comedy Central's Bar Mitzvah Bash!

This special features multiple performers

2004 Laffapalooza! 3
2003 Premium Blend (Season 7)

Features multiple comedians

2003 Latham Entertainment Presents

Features multiple comedians

2003 D.L. Hughley: Live
2000 The Original Kings of Comedy
1999 D.L. Hughley: Going Home
1992 One Night Stand: D.L. Hughley
1991 Def Comedy Jam
1988 MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour

Books (by and about)

2012 I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up: How the Audacity of Dopes Is Ruining America

with Michael Malice

Biography

Darryl Lynn (or "D.L.") Hughley grew up in South Central Los Angeles and had a difficult upbringing, getting kicked out of high school and becoming a member of the Bloods gang. After his cousin was shot, Hughley turned his life around, got a GED and a job and, after prompting by his wife, LaDonna, tried his hand at stand-up comedy. He claims from the first time he picked up a mic, he knew he should be a comedian. His comedy was a huge success and in 1992 he was picked to be the first host of BET's Comicview. He also appeared in the 3rd season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as an old friend of Will Smith trying out for an audition as a comedian.

By 1997, Hughley went on a nationwide stand-up comedy tour with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac as the Kings of Comedy. The comedy act was later put into a film by Spike Lee called The Original Kings of Comedy.

In 1998, Hughley was given his own TV sitcom, The Hughleys, on ABC. It received high ratings in its first season, thanks in part to a lead-in by the popular Home Improvement. However, by the following season, the show was moved to the low-rating TGIF segment on Friday nights and the ratings tanked. In 2000, ABC cancelled the show, but it was granted a reprieve by UPN, which ran it for an additional two seasons before cancelling it again.

During this time Hughley began working on an acting career, providing the voice of the Gadgetmobile in the 1999 film Inspector Gadget and performing in Scary Movie 3. He also stuck with his stand-up comedy roots, becoming host of Comedy Central's Premium Blend in 2003. In 2005, his late-night talk show Weekends at the D.L. premiered on Comedy Central. He once appeared as a guest on Comedy Central's Daily Show.

He is number 54 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

Hughley is one of the stars on Aaron Sorkin's behind the scenes sketch comedy show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as one of the show-within-a-show's more popular cast members. In Episode 5, "The Wrap Party," Hughley's character Simon Stiles explains his life story, one that bears a strong resemblance to Hughley's own.

Hughley provided interview footage on the Richard Pryor tribute special, I Ain't Dead Yet, #%$#@!!, alongside the aforementioned Bernie Mac and Cedric The Entertainer.

Hughley made a recent appearance at Providence Performing Arts Center, where he performed a special show for Johnson and Wales Students, free of charge for the students. At the show's ending, he brought a freshman majoring in Baking backstage and offered to give the student his books free of charge as a condolence to being used as target practice, which is common in Hughley's comedy act.

Hughley has been married to LaDonna since 1986. They share three children, daughters Ryan Nicole (born 1987, attends Smith College) and Tyler Whitney (born 1991), and son Kyle Aaris (born 1988).