Mike Epps is an American comedian, writer and musician. He is best known for his comedy performances and his estimated net worth is around 6$ million.
Early life
Michael Elliot Epps was born on November 18, 1970 in Indiana. His parents were the first ones to notice Mike’s comedic talent, and encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a stand-up-comedian. Mike began performing when he was still a teenager and continued to perform after high school.
He first moved to Atlanta but soon after he decided to move to Brooklyn and joined Def Comedy Jam. He became a part of their tour and performed regularly with the rest of the crew.
Stand-up comedy and movie career
Like I mentioned earlier, Mike’s comedy career started when he moved to Brooklyn and joined the Def Comedy Jam. He performed with other comedians and even got a role in the HBO’s Def Jam Comedy show.
This job was his first serious stand-up comedy job that gave him a chance to introduce himself to the audience around the country. The audience loved his performances and his innovative comedy talent.
His first appearance on the big screen was in 1997’s movie, Strays that was directed by Vin Diesel. Two years later he appeared on the Next Friday where he took Chris Rock’s place in the role of Day-Day Jones. Getting this role was extremely important to him, because he was able to show his talent to a broader audience and appear next to some pretty big names at that time.
Mike brought something new to the scene and used everything he learned from Def Comedy Jam. The audience accepted his jokes and soon he was starring next to all the great comedy names of that time.
Some of the actors he worked with are Jamie Foxx, Redman, Ice Cube, Eddie Murphy and many more. He borrowed his voice in the movie Dr. Dolittle 2 and joined Ice Cube once again in the Friday After Next. He offered his voice once again in the animated movie Open Season 2.
Part of his income comes from his comedy special he released in 2010 which was a great success among the audience. Although he is known for his comedy work, in 2012 he tried to use his acting talent in a more serious way. He appeared in the movie Sparkle where he played the leading role.
His appearance was accepted both by audience and critics and Epps showed he had enough talent to pull of even the hardest roles.
His latest project is the role of Richard Pryor, where he will star next to Oprah Winfrey. Even though there have been some negative comments about the fact that Mike has been given this challenging role, he is currently working and we have yet to see his performance.
His humor has often been described as stoner-comedy, referring to his comedy characters who often smoke marijuana. This type of humor is not only performed by Mike Epps, but also by many other African-American stand-up comedians who fall in the same genre as him.
Music career
Mike has recently tried out his musical talent by rapping one part of the song A Bay Bay. He even wrote his own song Trying to be Gangsta and joined other artist several times by doing parts of their songs.
He co-operated with G-Unit, Bow Wow, Dom Kennedy and many others. Mike did intro for the Dom Kennedy’s mixtape. He often rapped during his stand-up comedy performances and his work hasn’t been criticized but also it hasn’t been taken too seriously.
Private life
Mike Epps’s private life is not controversial. He got married in 2006 with Mechelle McCain. The couple has four children and they are currently living in Beverly Hills. Mike met his wife on the set of the movie The Fighting Temptations. The interesting fact is that Mechelle portrayed his character’s girlfriend.
They seemed to be getting along off the set as well, and they have been together since then.
Quick summary:
Full Name: Michael Elliot Epps
Date of Birth: November 18, 1970
Birth Place: Indiana, USA
Age: 46 years
Profession: Stand-up comedian, actor, musician, writer
Height: 1.85 m
Weight: 80 kg
Net worth: 6$ million
