Def Comedy Jam

{{Short description|Television series}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| 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 = {{Start date|1992|3|6}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1997|5|2}}

| related = {{Plainlist|

• All Def Comedy

}}

}}

Def Comedy Jam is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons, Stan Lathan, and Bob Sumner.{{cite news|title= STAGE; Totally 'Def'; Spinoff of HBO's hit comedy showcase comes to CSUN|work= Los Angeles Times|date=1997-03-13|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-13-ca-40744-story.html|access-date=2011-01-03|first=Frank B.|last=Williams}}{{cite news|title= 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|work= Los Angeles Times|url= http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/russell-simmons-def-comedy-jam|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121104154835/http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/russell-simmons-def-comedy-jam|url-status= dead|archive-date= November 4, 2012|access-date=2011-01-03}}{{cite news|title= Review/Television; Onstage at the Outer Limits of the Outrageous|work= The New York Times|date=1993-07-08|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/08/arts/review-television-onstage-at-the-outer-limits-of-the-outrageous.html?src=pm|access-date=2011-01-03|first=John J.|last=O'Connor}} The series was hosted by Martin Lawrence and Joe Torry in its first six seasons, Mike Epps 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.{{Cite web |last=Allah |first=Sha Be |date=2017-09-11 |title=Def Comedy Jam 25 Launches Sept. 26 On Netflix - The Source |url=https://thesource.com/2017/09/11/def-comedy-jam-25-launches-sept-26-netflix/,%20https://thesource.com/2017/09/11/def-comedy-jam-25-launches-sept-26-netflix/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |language=en-US}}