LESLIE F*CKING JONES

A Saturday Night Live alum reflects on her rocky road to fame.

An award-winning Black female comedian with a clothing collection worthy of Diana Ross, Jones never expected to live in the limelight. The daughter of an alcoholic military veteran and a spirited mother who “made shit work” despite poor health, the author dealt with traumas beyond those in her immediate family, including racist harassment and sexual abuse. Her energy, aggressiveness, and height made her a star basketball player in high school and earned her a college scholarship and the possibility of a career in athletics. But when Jones took to the stage of a campus comedy competition, she knew that telling jokes was what she would be doing for “the rest of my life.” College and her basketball scholarship fell by the wayside, and she went to Los Angeles to begin working with limited success as a Black female comic in the white male world of stand-up comedy. When Jamie Foxx told her she hadn’t “lived long enough” to know how to tell jokes, Jones quit comedy and took a government job where she was passed around from manager to manager “like a joint.” Six years later, Jones finally took to the stage again while also learning to heal from pain through a newfound faith. A visit to New York opened her eyes to the possibilities—and respect—available to women comics while preparing her for what was to come almost 15 years later: a six-year stint with SNL, which taught her the meaning of telling her truth as a comedian of her own—rather than someone else’s—making. This refreshingly uncensored book will appeal to Jones’ many fans and to anyone who appreciates the struggles Black female comics face on the road to success.

Refreshingly candid, gritty, and real.