Sinbad

Sinbad Speaker Biography

It began in 1983, when Sinbad embarked on his Poverty Tour, going from city to city on the Greyhound, from comedy club to comedy club, working for meals, changing out of hotel restrooms. I prayed, Please Lord, this is hard work. So if I'm not funny let me know right away.

The break was Star Search in the mid-eighties. Sinbad was never a winner, but good enough to get on the show seven times and become a finalist. That led to a TV movie and a role as Redd Foxx's son on The New Redd Foxx Show (If you don't do this right, Redd told Sinbad, we'll get a white boy to play the part.). The next break came from Bill Cosby.

Cosby became a fan. He cast Sinbad in A Different World which along with Sinbad's stint as host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, allowed him to eventually do the 1991 Share the Dream Tour of historically black colleges - a tour backed by Coca-Cola, United Airlines, and BET (Black Entertainment Television). That year, Sinbad's first one-hour HBO comedy special, Brain Damaged, became the second highest Comedy Hour ever. As executive producer and head writer Sinbad developed an outrageously funny variety show -- Sinbad & Friends All the Way Live...Almost. Sinbad continued to score with Necessary Roughness, his first feature film.

Sinbad never tells jokes - I don't know any, he admits - but rather stalks the stage, telling real-life stories. He doesn't deliver payoff lines he slam-dunks them. His comedy is large, physical, impetuous. Psychologically, he jams us, poking holes in our lifestyles. His stories mirror our foibles. Sinbad is the explosive energy of the neighborhood, his phrasing is manic, musical and right on time. He doesn't write his material he relives it as he remembers it. Sinbad never curses - I want people to bring the whole family to my show.

Sinbad finds time for humanitarian and community services. Especially, issues that affect children. He is the 1994 Spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Research Foundation. Working with The Children's Defense Fund and Omega Boys Club has helped Sinbad to continue to be more aware of the needs of children. Sinbad is a recipient of the 1994 Candle Award from Morehouse College honoring his excellence in Arts and Entertainment. His commitment to AIDS awareness inspired his participation in the Time Out video produced by Arsenio Hall Communications with the proceeds benefiting the Magic Johnson Foundation. Sinbad performed a concert for Morehouse College in which all proceeds benefit the Endowed Scholarship Fund in the names of Sinbad's parents, the Reverend Dr. Donald and Louise Adkins.

Sinbad is in the business of working with family - his brothers' Mark (personal manager), Michael (financial consultant). Donald (sound technician/photographer) and sisters' Dorothea (director of development/road manager) and Donna (publicist). Moreover, it is his family ties that encourage his clean, animated and hilariously funny comedy that is well received by audiences everywhere.