 Martin Lawrence is the first to admit that he'll do anything for a laugh. But what's amazing audiences across the country is that he's doing everything for a laugh. Not only is he the star and executive producer of the Fox hit television show that bears his name, but he was recently seen on the big screen in the box office smash Bad Boys, which led to an estimated $20 million film deal with Columbia Pictures. Lawrence's debut comedy album, "Talkin' Shit," reached #10 on the Billboard charts and charted for a total of 33 weeks. His highly anticipated concert film, You So Crazy took $10 million at the box office. Additionally, Lawrence has a film development deal with Twentieth Century Fox and You So Crazy, the book, is now available from Hyperion Books. Lawrence is certainly on the right track to stardom. His recent feature film Bad Boys, from top producing team Simpson/Bruckheimer and Columbia Pictures, was #1 at the box office for two consecutive weeks and went on to become the big hit film of spring. The film paired Lawrence with Will Smith as an odd couple of Miami cops on an undercover operation to recover $100 million in stolen heroin. The sequel will begin production in the spring of 1996. In addition to starring in and serving as executive producer on his next film, Lawrence will also direct A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, a script which he co-wrote, for Savoy Pictures. The film is due for release in January. The follow-up album to "Talkin' Shit," titled "Funk It," will be available in stores this fall on Elektra Records. Martin, the winner of the 1993 NAACP Image Award for Best New Television Series and the winner of the 1994 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, has single-handedly reinvented "black television" in its fourth season on the air. Lawrence himself is the recipient of the 1994 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. Lawrence explains that his show works because he talks about what he knows and what moves him with unwavering honesty. He says, "I'm portraying me, my personal experience. Young black men struggling to be the head of their households. Not always doing it right." Martin's live shows routinely sell out venues across the country. His three SRO nights at Radio City Music Hall broke attendance records set by Eddie Murphy.
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