Life & Work with Sonny Smith of Temecula

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonny Smith.

Sonny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
First let me say Thank you so much for this opportunity as well as your patience in response to this interview. I know it’s been almost three months since you requested this interview which also coincided with my first annual comedy festival that took place this past April and I am excited to finally be able to share a little of my story.

Born & raised on the Southside of Chicago – the oldest of my mom’s two kids & the youngest of my dad’s two kids – I would eventually become the “Rainbow sheep of the family” just a young little tomboy from knee high, playing with the boys and super athletic. I was always a very inquisitive & busy child, in kindergarten I would hardly ever sleep during nap time which would lead me to being sent to the adjacent gymnasium and be given a red kick ball to play with. I would eventually turn that ball in for what would become one of my first loves – playing basketball.

Very early on I was interested in a ton of artistic things as well. I became the family entertainer around 8 & 9 years old- doing one man shows, always cracking jokes and being silly. My classmates knew me to be definitely one of the class clowns from elementary all the way well into college.

My interest was vast even as a young person, from being a busy body discovering Sears & Roebuck house plans which would evolve to a love of art & design and my first awareness of Architecture – and obsessing over Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie homes & designs before the age of 10. I loved watching law & detective shows with my mom -from Murder She Wrote – TJ Hooker, Spencer For Hire, Matlock and years of episodic reruns of Law & Order and Perry Mason. My maternal grandfather was a well known and highly respected bail bondsman who also would practice law in the 1950’s & 60’s and had a prominent practice on the Southside of Chicago within the historic area of Bronzeville, an area that was a thriving African American community during that time. It’s amazing how we can inherit and embody distinctive traits from our ancestors. Later in life I found it ironic that I was so drawn to so many aspects of my grandfather although he died well before I was born and I didn’t get to know him personally. Watching legal tv shows was a big past time in my household growing up to a point I thought I would become a lawyer right after finishing college and completing my undergraduate degree. Instead it would take almost 15+ years before I would come back to the topic of consideration and instead create a legal web series called “Steele Grey” a role in which I played a defense attorney/legal vigilante who gets disbarred for taking a stance against corruption.
At the same time as a young person my love of comedy would also develop. I would tuned into the Carol Burnett Show, I Love Lucy, Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, In Living Color and Martin. I enjoyed watching Eddie Murphy tie his shoes on SNL as Mister Robinson, sneaking to watch age inappropriate standup like Red Foxx & Eddie Murphy’s Raw and tv shows like Benny Hill at 12am in the morning.

My mom raised my younger sister and I in church, especially with my mom being a musician from childhood playing the piano, & directing our choir. She had us both in the youth choir and we had to play some kind of instrument. So I would eventually find interest in the drums and became our church drummer for over 10 years until I went off to college and my little sister took up the drums and played after I left Chicago for school. I would play high school basketball, rank in the city as one of the top 100 players my senior year and get a scholarship to play and continue my education in Florida. I would eventually transfer to an art college ironically – the prestigious Savannah College of Art & Design “SCAD” and major in Video & Film Production while playing basketball for the college. I would complete my Bachelors in Fine Arts and start a Masters Program at SCAD in Media & Performing Arts. A few months into my program at SCAD I would be invited to dine with a round table full of talent – it would become one of my fondest memories in college and the pivotal moment of pursuit of becoming a professional basketball player.
I was at a crossroads in my educational journey as I had just started grad school and my basketball lifetime goal to play professionally presented itself around the same time. So I am at dinner with the President & Provost of the college, the Late esteemed actor & director and former pro football player – Bernie Casey who at the time was the Chairman of the Board of Directors at SCAD and was such a huge impact to many of us in the Film department- Actors Wren Brown, musician Kevin Eubanks (former band leader From the Tonight Show) & Actors Mykeil T. Williamson, Angela Bassett & Courtney Vance and a few others. I was in absolute heaven! I shared with the table my challenge of staying in school – building my resume in acting & production or taking the steps in pursuing pro ball. I would eventually withdraw from school and focus on playing professionally in Sweden & France and early stints with the now defunct- ABL (American Basketball League) & the WNBA women’s basketball leagues as a free agent.

During my college days, I would also begin to dive into performing open mics, lip-syncing performing in clubs and parties and my early stage performance moniker “Sonny Spoon” the comedic entertainer /MC/ was born especially for events, house & private parties and the love of music as a hobbiest DeeJay. By time I was 24 I was a college grad, pro international ball player lived in two different countries traveling the world.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
After my time of basketball I returned to the states to Florida and begin to dive into other interest – real estate, sales & entrepreneurship. I started various small businesses – digital photography, real estate investing, advertising & marketing services and so many aspects and work experiences would shape my vision into entrepreneurship.

I moved again and settled in the Atlanta, Georgia area. I went back to school and got two more degrees – a Masters in Project Management & and a MBA in Marketing & International Business to give me more developmental tools for entrepreneurship. My brand LouddMouth would develop over the years of these various interest. I found my footing and wanted to get back to one of my other loves – comedy & entertainment. I started performing again, hosting shows and I open my comedy club in the Metro Atlanta area in 2011. The LouddMouth Screening Room, a comedy & dinner theater to showcase up & coming comedians, veteran and seasoned comics. At the time unbeknownst to me I would become the 1st African American Female to open and operate a comedy club in the state of Georgia, which also at the time made me one of only 4 black owned comedy clubs in operation nationwide.
I went from marketing small businesses on my online directory – LouddMouth.com (which is still operating today) to owning & operating a full pledge 6000 sq. ft multi level comedy club & dinner theatre.
Talking about challenges and stress!!!! Whew Chile!!! I hired some friends at least I thought they were (#1 mistake)
Some was really working and wanting the best for me while some other characters was just straight taking advantage – from stealing food and dishonest handling of money.
The building was a beautiful historic bank which also meant that shit needed some work!!! My utilities was stupid high – overhead got super crazy and it was a wonderful experience and a complete life altering challenge to say the least! I held own for a little under two years and I successfully open and close that joint!
I found it being a young female club owner to be a huge obstacle course many days but I can say I was grateful to have taken the leap. It cemented so much for me and stretched me into a much wider dimension as a person and entrepreneur.
I continued to develop LouddMouth Comedy as a comedy producer, hosting events and getting booked as a comedic MC for various gigs over the years.
I closed the club and a few years later got married and life really changed and not necessarily for the best at times. That relationship would take me through some hella life changes and it really redirected so much of my life’s path, but like any other life’s lessons you take lemons and make lemonade. After experiencing some huge losses in life I relocated to California and began the hard task of rebuilding my life. I got divorced and took that decade of strive and redirected that experience in my comedy. I took a few years to do some creative healing by writing, producing and acting in my own slice of life experience creating a comedy series “Dating Like A Dyke” which was filmed and released in June of 2024. I wanted to share my experience of dealing with a narcissistic and toxic relationship and educate while entertaining others of my own hard learned lessons. I casted three other comedians based out of LA and in my area of the Inland Empire. We filmed in both Los Angeles and Temecula areas and I would later submit into film festivals to gain greater exposure of the project. Matter of fact it has been a year this month since I released the short series that is on my YouTube channel @LouddMouthTV. It would eventually go on to place and rank & win 8 film festivals in 2024.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I celebrated 13 years of existence of LouddMouth Comedy in November 2024 in Temecula, Ca with an incredible lineup of comedians, who came out and killed the stage and filling the room with laughter. Currently we multiple comedy showcases and open mics at a few venues Ebullition Brew a brew pub near Pechanga Casino as well as Shooters in Old Town Temecula and various booked private shows in the Inland Empire areas. Overall I enjoy performing as a standup comedian as well as an producing, writing and improvisational comedic acting. I have a radio network that has been going since Jan 2013 and currently streams on 100’s of podcast platforms called the LouddMouth Radio Network, which I am the producer/host. My company -Sonny’s LouddMouth Comedy Presents just continued to work at making its stamp in the Temecula Valley area and beyond. We just finished the LouddMouth Comedy 6 day festival which ran from April 1-6, 2025 in the heart of Temecula. Our festival theme “For the Love of Comedy” in Wine Country was superb! It was also important to align a community initiative with the focus of creating impact by using our voices & talent to “StandUp For Autism” which also allowed us to celebrate our love of comedy while raising awareness & funds for Autism with our non-profit partner – Anthonie’s Voice a 501c3 based out of Temecula. Being able to bring light to such an important cause allowed Autism Awareness to resonate throughout the festival while entertaining our festival attendees. I also got to recognize & honor some comedic trailblazers, bring over 25 comics to various venues & stages creating additional exposure and opportunities in front of various audiences over 6 days of absolutely amazing shows all while gaining our footing as an a new annual comedy festival in the region.
My small team and I was proud but also super exhausted after it was said and done, but we look forward to next years festival which will be April 1-5, 2026. Currently we’re equally excited about our upcoming shows as well as we have availability for booking within additional venues for corporate, public & private events throughout the LA, Riverside and San Diego County areas from now to end of the year and well into 2026.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is a disguise gift that comes in the element of grace and most times when we least expect it. I find it important to always keep an eye out for opportunities which many times produces these intersections of moments we call “LUCK”. If we can become more in alignment with God’s purpose – I think Luck shows up a lot more often than we realize.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Louddmouthcomedy.com
• Instagram: @Louddmouth
• Facebook: @LouddMouthnetwork
• Twitter: @LouddMouth
• Youtube: @LouddMouthtv
• Soundcloud: TikTok.com/LouddmouthSonny
• Other: https://LouddMouthComedyFestival.com

Image Credits
Photos courtesy of Sonny of LouddMouth Comedy