28
The comedian was nailing her stand-up routine, but still hadnt landed her star-making role onThe Parkers.
In 1995,MoNiqueknew shed nailed her stand-up set when she got something special from the audience: hugs.
If they would squeeze me really tight oh, baby, she tells Bustle.
We knew it was one of those nights where we all needed that.
Because I dont do good in rehearsal.
I do good [in the moment].
So in rehearsal, the producers were running around, like, Who invited her ass to do this?
She didnt let their criticism shake her.
Take me back to 1995, when you turned 28.
I was believing that I was going to be famous.
This was the year you went onSnaps,the insult comedy battle.
What did you take away from that experience?
Ive always been able to follow my instincts.
And Ive always been a huge ad-libber.
I learned from a guy named Rickey Shackleford in Baltimore when I first started doing comedy.
He said, Use your face.
You have to say nothing.
So a lot of [the time] I wasnt saying anything.
But I was using all of my body.
What did your favorite outfit look like?
The man Im married to now, at the time he was my roommate.
And I had this super short, orange skirt.
Do you hear what Im saying?
I was wearing it like that when I was over 250!
That was a sexy time for me.
And when he was my roommate, he would say, Are you trying to show your ass?
And I would say yes.
Was it totally platonic back then?
Or were there some feelings on both sides?
We were like brother and sister.
He knew my boyfriends.
We were truly best friends from the 10thgrade until we became a couple.
Well now, hes my best kept-secret that everybody knows about.
And he knows me better than I know myself.
Because of my fears, and being a fat girl.
There were so many things that I didnt pay attention to because I didnt want to see it.
Well, he was paying attention when I wasnt.
So its been the most challenging, but the most rewarding.
Was there anything specific he helped you learn about yourself at the time, when you were still friends?
At 28, I was probably too closed to hear it.
I was a boss at 28.
I was Magna Cum Laude at 28.
I was Im Every Woman.
Do you feel like your comedic style has changed since you were 28?
[Starting out] doing comedy, youre just worried about being funny.
So I told jokes.
Now, at 55, Ive already proven [that Im] funny and I say that humbly.
Now I have something to say.
Naturally, the gift thats been given to us, youre gonna laugh because thats our nature.
So thats the difference.
Now, Im not worried about being funny.
Im worried about being heard.
In the new special, you open up about your sexuality.
Was that a question you were dealing with in your late 20s?
They say the brain doesnt stop [developing] until 25.
And when you use that word sexuality this society puts so much on it.
It makes people afraid.
It makes people hide.
It makes people die.
At 28, I was trying to figure out who MoNique was!
I may have been with several fellows.
Twenty-eight, baby, were just trying to figure it out.
What would you tell 28-year-old MoNique today?
All of it was necessary.
I would tell her, Dont skip not one turn.
Because it got me to the 55-year-old MoNique.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
