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SNL's Starkeisha Background: Stand-up comic Finesse Mitchell is widely remembered for his original character of “Starkeisha,” the stereotypically ghetto woman with a bad attitude, he played on NBC’s long-running comedy staple, “Saturday Night Live.” He joined the show as a featured player in 2003 and was picked as a full-fledged cast member in 2005 before eventually left the iconic show in 2006. Afterwards, Mitchell headlined comedy concert films such as the 2006 “Finesse Mitchell: Snap Famous -- Live” and snagged roles in films such as “Who's Your Caddy?” (2007; starring Big Boi), "The Comebacks" (2007; with David Koechner, Carl Weathers, and Matthew Lawrence), and "Mad Money" (2008; alongside Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes). Meanwhile, he has appeared on NBC’s “Late Friday,” Showtime at the Apollo, Comedy Central Presents, CBS's "The Late Show with Craig Kilborn," and has made regular appearances on BET’s “Comic View,” as well as appears frequently on "Weekend Update." He performs in college campuses across the country and in America’s hottest comedy clubs including the Miami Improv, The Punchline and Chris Tucker’s Comedy Café in Atlanta as well as Los Angeles’ Hollywood Improv, The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory. Mitchell, who has a relationship/dating advice column geared towards women in Essence Magazine, recently released his first book, "Your Girlfriends Only Know So Much: A Brother's Take on Dating and Mating for Sistas."
Hurricane Alumna
Childhood and Family: On June 12, 1972, Finesse Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoyed athletics while studying at Douglass High School (Georgia), particularly playing football. Upon graduation, he parlayed his talent into a position at the University of Miami, Florida, playing two years with other Hurricane Alumni like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Warren Sapp. A distinguished member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Mitchell also discovered an interest in and talent for comedy. Mitchell now lives in Los Angeles and New York.
Saturday Night Live
Career: A high school and university's football star, Finesse Mitchell also developed an interest in and talent for comedy. After sharpening his craft, the aspiring comedian began doing stand-up routines, taking the first prize in a comedy contest in 1995. Mitchell made his first television appearance on B.E.T.’s Comic View in 1999 where he instantly became a favorite among the show’s loyal followers. Two years later, in 2001, he was spotted by scouts and made appearances on NBC's “Late Friday.” In 2003, he landed every comic’s dream job when he was selected by producer Lorne Michaels to join his iconic show on NBC, "Saturday Night Live" (SNL), as a featured player. At the beginning of the 2005 season, he was picked as a full-fledged cast member. “It’s like an entertainment school. You have all these talented people from all over the country. Some people are focused on doing characters and some people are focused on the politics of it – trying to get your skits on. At the time, I didn’t really know the politics of it. The veterans know that the funniest sketch may not make it on the show. Unless you have something that’s just drop-dead hilarious that can’t be denied, there are a bunch of different things you have to take into consideration: who helped you write it, how long was it, what was the subject matter, all that type of stuff. The best thing about that show is that when you hit a home run, you’re walking on cloud nine. Everybody’s just all up under you. But then two days later it starts all over and you have to come up with another home run. It’s tough because then you can disappear from the show for the next three episodes because you can’t come up with another home run.” Finesse Mitchell (on doing "Saturday Night Live" week after week). During his "Saturday Night Live" stint, Mitchell was best remembered for his character as Starkeisha, the stereotypically ghetto woman with a bad attitude, and his spoofing perspective on "Weekend Update," where he would mock bizarre African-American first names, including his own. He also has performed hilarious impressions of basketball star Kobe Bryant and the former football star O.J. Simpson, as well as did a memorable vocal and visual impression of Outkast’s Andre 3000. Meanwhile, Mitchell was often mistaken for fellow African-American cast member Kenan Thompson, who joined the show and were promoted at the same time as him. When asked about his favorite guest host to work with, Mitchell admitted, “By far, everybody got a kick out of Justin Timberlake and Ashton Kutcher. They both have good comedic timing and anything you want them to do as far as acting they can do it. My personal favorite guests were Paul Giamatti and Janet Jackson. Janet, just because she’s Janet. She had one of the best shows during my three-year career. She started off as Condoleeza Rice and then we did "Good Times" and I was J.J. She hosted and she was the musical guest. That was great to see somebody who can do everything. Some people out there are just talented. Justin Timberlake is like that.” While on "Saturday Night Live," Mitchell had a hallowed spot on Comedy Central’s stand-up show, “Premium Blend,” in 2004. He was also seen in "60 Minutes," the miniseries "My Coolest Years," "MTVU Woodie Awards 2005," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and "Comics Unleashed." “What’s new with me since my days at SNL? Hmmm…well I just finished my third movie called MAD MONEY starring Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton due out in 2008. Yep…I blessed the three Divas with a small cameo in their film since I had a tiny break in the schedule. And, they actually begged me to do more than what I did but it just wasn’t in the budget… or the script. Ha Ha! AND I have two more gut bustin’ comedies coming to the silver screen: Who’s Your Caddy - July 07, starring Big Boi (from Outkast, Wad-up ATL!) and The Comebacks, hitting theaters November 07! God is good.” Finesse Mitchell. Mitchell eventually left "Saturday Night Live" in 2006 due to budgetary cuts. Afterwards, he began receiving film roles, beginning with "Who's Your Caddy?" (2007), a golf comedy directed by Don Michael Paul and stars Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, Lil Wayne, Andy Milonakis, Faizon Love, Terry Crews, Tony Cox, and Jeffrey Jones. He followed it up with that same year's film, "The Comebacks" (2007), a parody of the clichés and plots of the sports film genre starring David Koechner, Carl Weathers, and Matthew Lawrence, in which he played Titans coach. Most recently, in 2008, moviegoers could catch him alongside Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes in the comedy-crime film "Mad Money," directed by Callie Khouri. He also continued working on television, appearing in "1st Amendment Stand Up," "BET's Top 25 Countdown," and "The Chelsea Handler Show." Meanwhile, Mitchell has started his own company, Comedy Novas, which produced stand-up comedy acts. He continued to perform on college campuses and in comedy clubs across the nation as well as has a relationship/dating advice column geared towards women in Essence Magazine. When asked how he gained the expertise to write a dating advice column, Mitchell explained, “[Essence] came to me at the start and I was like 'Oh sure, I’ll tell women some stuff they need to know.' They found it very entertaining and they asked me to do it again. It got such a great response they offered me my own column in the magazine. Before I knew it I was their 'Relationship Expert.' But I’m no different from anybody else.” He recently took his dating wisdom and turned it into a book, "Your Girlfriends Only Know So Much: A Brother’s Take On Dating And Mating For Sistas." To promote his first book, Mitchell will be performing at the Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse on Friday, Jan. 18 (2008) and will be doing a reading at the Arlington Central Library on Sunday, Jan. 20 (2008). About topics covered in his book, Mitchell revealed, “Everything. The first chapter just talks about women doing what they want by knowing who they are. Then it goes into more real stuff like knowing what type of man you want and knowing where to find that man, and knowing how not to drive that man away using sex or the lack of sex. Sex is like my favorite chapter in the book. Then it goes into personality things. Sometimes when we realize we like somebody, there are things that we don’t even realize we’re doing. You start to tell them where they can go and when they can come home when, in the beginning, you never really cared that much. You just wanted the person to like you. The last chapter is just talking about men who have proposed and why they’ve proposed and when they knew they were going to propose.”
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