COMEDIANS BRING YEARS OF LAUGHTER TO PALMDALE; TWO NIGHTS OF MIRTH IN STORE.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

Two nights of stand-up comedy will come to separate venues this week and next in Palmdale.

D. Militant, Zooman and Gilbert Esquivel, all comedians featured on cable network BET's ``Comic View,'' will perform at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Palmdale Cultural Center, 704 E. Palmdale Blvd., in a show hosted by Natalie G Productions and The Street Academy.

Stand-up comics Thea Vidale and Rodney Johnson put on shows at 8:30 and 10:15 p.m. Thursday at Louisiana Hots, 2728 E. Palmdale Blvd., marking the fifth anniversary of Comedy Night at the Hots, started by Johnson, a Palmdale resident.

Advance tickets for the Cultural Center show are $15 for general admission and $18 for V.I.P. admission, and are available at Mommy & Me, 2023 W. Ave. J in Lancaster. For more information, call [phone] or [phone].

Tickets for the Louisiana Hots shows are $5 for all seats and can be purchased in advance after 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at the club. For more information, call [phone] or [phone] after 6 p.m.

The Hots' Comedy Night was started by Johnson after he moved to Palmdale in 1993.

Johnson says he has loved performing comedy since his days as a class clown in high school but he has turned that routine into a successful career, with appearances in clubs all over the country and on VH-1's ``Stand Up Spotlight,'' A&E's ``An Evening at the Improv'' and the Oprah Winfrey show.

Vidale, a former waitress from Texas, took to stand-up more than a decade ago. She has performed at major comedy shows and clubs around the United States and also starred in her own television show, ``Thea.''

The show, about a widowed mother of four who worked in a supermarket by day and ran a single-chair beauty parlor on her porch by night, now airs on BET.

Saturday's show at the Cultural Center will benefit The Street Academy, a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles dedicated to keeping kids off the streets and out of gangs by providing alternative ways to spend their time.

This is Natalie G Production's second comedy night in Palmdale.

``This lineup is stronger than the last lineup by far,'' said George Hicks, organizer and co-owner of Natalie G Productions. ``It's much more of an all-star lineup.''

D. Militant, otherwise known as Darryl Littleton, has appeared on WB's ``The Parenthood,'' Fox's ``Townsend Television,'' HBO's ``Def Comedy Jam,'' Comedy Central's ``Make Me Laugh,'' NBC's ``Showtime at the Apollo,'' BET's ``Comic View,'' ``Uptown Comedy Club'' and ``Nothin' But a Woman,'' and the syndicated ``Apollo Comedy Hour,'' and was the grand prize winner of ABC's ``America's Funniest People.''

Zooman, also known as Cory Miller, has been a headliner on ``Def Comedy Jam'' and appeared on Fox's ``Getting Personal,'' WB's ``Parenthood,'' Comedy Central's ``Winter Stand-Up Series,'' QDE's ``Vibe-TV,'' NBC's ``Later'' and ``Friday Night,'' and BET's ``Comic View.''

Esquivel has appeared on BET's ``Comic View,'' WB's ``BZZZ,'' WGN's ``Apollo Comedy Hour,'' ABC's ``Laughing Out Loud,'' Fox's ``Culture Clash,'' ``Comedy Club,'' and the Shonuf Broke Production of ``Cheapest Movie Ever Made.''

The Cultural Center show also will feature music by D.J. Flexx.

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5 Photos

Photo: (1) ESQUIVEL

(2) JOHNSON

(3) MILITANT

(4) VIDALE

(5) ZOOMAN