“You spend your money and I’ll give you the funny,” said St. Louis’ own LaVell Crawford. “I’ll go up there with Keith Sweat and do an R&B jam duet if I have to.”
He was already bringing the funny as he talked about the Ultimate Mother’s Day Concert that features him and fellow natives Gary “G Thang” Johnson and Angela Winbush, alongside Johnny Gill, Don “DC” Curry and Keith Sweat next Sunday at the Scottrade Center.
“Bring your mama, your step-mama, your foster mama, your baby mama or somebody else’s mama because if she misses it, you’re gonna have hell to pay,” Crawford said.
“If you let your mama miss a show starring Johnny Gill, G Thang, Keith Sweat, Crawford and Angela Winbush, she might pray to God to send you to hell automatically.”
It’s his biggest stage to date, even though he broke attendance records the last time he came home to headline the Lumiere back in November.
“I just thank God it’s getting bigger and bigger,” Crawford said. “And it’s good to have the hometown boys and Angela Winbush bringing it back.”
Johnson agrees. He’s been living in Los Angeles on his comedy/comedic actor grind for more than a decade, but has made regular stops in St. Louis along the way – including opening for Mike Epps last month.
“It’s a different type of excitement when you can come to your hometown and do it,” Johnson said. “People that went to school with you, that worked at McDonald’s with you, that you used to date.”
The fact that natives are holding down half of the line-up is no coincidence.
“It says a lot about how far the people on the lineup have come to be able to sell those types of tickets and to have such a large audience base,” Johnson said. “The talent in the city is growing every day. And everybody in the world loves to come to St. Louis, because St. Louis is one of the realist audiences you can get. When I come back, I ain’t playing around when I hit that stage. ”
“I love St. Louis, that’s my home town,” Crawford said. “Goody Goody, C&K Barbeque, London and Sons, the Chong Wah off of Page and Hanley… Notice I’m naming all of the restaurants.”
Johnson is gearing up to film his first one hour comedy special for the Showtime Network and recently taped several episodes of the BET hit show “Real Husbands of Hollywood.” Crawford just finished taping an episode of the hit F/X network comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
“I was praying that I could be one of the Jackson five. Then I was hoping I could be Ozone from Breakin’, but I wasn’t light-skinned enough,” Crawford said laughing. “But seriously, never limit yourself. It’s only a dream if you want it to be a dream and sometimes you can make it so you’re living in the dream.”
The show has special significance for them both, because their mothers will be in the audience. Johnson credits putting a smile on his mother’s face as the motivation for his grind in Hollywood.
“It’s actually on Mother’s Day and if you love your mother, bring her to the show,” Johnson said. “And if you love the Lou come out and see it because it’s the people that you went to high school with that are coming back home to represent.”
The Love and Laughter Ultimate Mother’s Day Concert starring Lavell Crawford, Don “DC” Curry, Johnny Gill, Gary “G Thang” Johnson, Keith Sweat and Angela Winbush will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 12. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling 800-745-3000 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
