‘Real Housewife’ takes the comedy stage

Leakes said that during her shows, nothing about her personal or professional life is off-limits.

“I talk about everything,” she said. “My husband, my kids, losing weight, my marriage breaking up and getting back together again. My husband says I talk too much, but at my age, I feel I don’t have anything to hide.”

Although it’s a well-known fact that much of the “reality” of reality shows is manufactured, Leakes said her TV persona is accurate.

“Other girls have fake storylines, but my life is just the way you see it,” she said. “That’s my house. Those are my wigs. I’ve gone through everything. One thing they don’t show a lot of is that I have a good heart. I’m a girly-girl and my girlfriends mean a lot to me.”

When Leakes first announced over a year ago that she was embarking on a one-woman tour, she said she took some criticism from comedians, presumably on the grounds that doing live comedy is not something you just decide to do one day. Since she has been on Broadway, co-starred on respectable TV sitcoms and dramas, written a book, and opened a restaurant, Leakes implied she isn’t bound by anything.

“Steve Harvey started as a comic and now he’s doing everything,” she said. “Nobody said he couldn’t do 10 other things. I had a platform that allowed me to launch onto many different avenues. Those who can’t do that and criticize me are true haters. I’ve been to places in the entertainment industry in a short time that most people never get to in their entire careers. Just because you can’t do it is not my problem. I would be stupid not to take as many opportunities as I can get. I’ll tell you one thing, the comedy club owners don’t have a problem with it. They’re calling me every day.”

Yet Leakes took a cautious approach to her live act, initially. She wanted her first shows to be in smaller cities with smaller crowds to test her material. When her first show in Charlotte, North Carolina, sold out, prompting the booking of a second and third show, Leakes said she was terrified.

“I couldn’t sleep, I was a wreck,” she said. “I had several drinks beforehand. I knew I had fans who would come out just to see what I looked like, but that didn’t mean I’d be funny. I was afraid I was going to look stupid up there.”

Leakes said she loosened up after the first few minutes and had a fine show, but said as the tour continued, she had good shows and bad shows.

“The audience pulls me through, you need them to laugh and clap,” she said. “But there have been cities where they looked at me like I had four heads. That hurts.”

As for the “Real Housewives,” Leakes has said she will always be involved with the show in some capacity. When talking about recent, sudden feuds with fellow cast members, Phaedra Parks and Porsha Williams, Leakes slips easily into “Housewife mode.”

“You never win when you fight dirty,” Leakes said. “Phaedra needs to figure out why she needs to take everyone else down, because now she’s down. She’s not coming back (to the show). And Porsha will get what’s coming to her, as well.”

How to go

What: NeNe Leakes “So Nasty, So Rude” Tour

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27

Where: Liberty Funny Bone, 7518 Bales St., A-120, Liberty Twp.

Cost: $27-$37

More info: 513-779-5233 or www.liberty.funnybone.com