Sherri Shepard

Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break
$24.99
Sherri Shepherd's book Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, is a light, easy read full of entertainment and insightfulness into the life and pressures of women. Sherri's permission slips are like her notes to herself that it is ok to mess up, make mistakes, and give yourself a pass on things that happen in life. She wants women to learn to stop being so hard on themselves.

I personally loved this book. When I read it, it was like Sherri was saying it right to me. I could almost hear her voice and feel her presence coming from the page. She has a great gift that allows her to see the humor in some not so humorous experiences in her life. She talks about her childhood, growing up a Jehovah's Witness, her parents divorce, her career pursuits, her marriage and divorce, her premature son, and "the sugar"(diabetes). The book is uplifting and made me take a deep breath, look back at my life and my mistakes, and forgive myself my imperfections.

Some reviewers mentioned the strong religious undertones of this book. I wasn't at all put off by her discussion of her childhood growing up as a Witness or later finding God. She talks about how God talked to her how she didn't listen, and when she didn't want to listen he would talk a little louder or put people in her life to teach her what He wanted her to learn. If you think about it as just listening to your inner voice and being true to yourself then the God part doesn't matter. The message is to take care of yourself, so don't let the religion scare you away. Take what you like and leave the rest, as they say.

Overall I would highly recommend this book. It is a fast read and can be easily put down and picked back up later. It is uplifting and funny and made me feel good.

Laffapalooza! 4
$14.99
This DVD is not one of my favorites of the series. It's actually the worst of the four in the series. Sherri Shepherd needs more material. Half of her routine consisted of her imitating her drunk family members at a get together. It got real lame real quick and has been done many times Darrel Heath was surprisingly lame as well. He suffers from the same dilema as Shepherd in staying with the same long joke about his old school pimp uncle even though it's not working with the crowd. You mat remember Heath in Don't Be A Menance To Society While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood. He played the guy who couldn't adjust to being out of prison. Now that's comedy!! Juan Villareal is the standout in this DVD. He also appeared in Cedric The Entertainers, Starting Line Up. What I liked about his performance is that it's fresh. He's not doing the same jokes from previous perfomances. You shows that he's keeping up with his craft and really attempting to be big in Stand Up Comedy and in films. Watch out for this guy. He's gonna be great!