Depending on the time of day, you may find one Detroit entertainer preparing lunch for you on her own food truck.
For Detroit comedienne, Tiffany ‘T-Barb’ Barber known on stage and to her fans as T-Barb, she is a multi-talented entertainer, chef, proud mother, business entrepreneur and aspiring author with a self help book almost completed.
When I spoke with Barber, I felt a little like I was a part of the popular skit “Hey Mon” on In Living Color. I was waiting for Damon Wayans, who played the patriarch of the hardest working West Indian family to yell at me, ‘Mark, how many job, do you have son?’
She gained a reputation at a previous job for being able to keep people on their toes and make co-workers laugh at her jokes.
“I have always been known for smiling and making everyone else laugh,” Barber said. “I use comedy to deflect maybe some more serious situations going on in my home life.”
After an invitation from a work colleague to join her on stage, at an open-mic night, she fell in love with performing in front of an audience.
“My first time performing was just like magic to me. I felt like it was my destiny when I was up on stage,” Barber said. “I followed all of the advice I was given. My set lasted for three minutes and was quite memorable.”
Last year, Barber competed in the Hollywood Improv. After one of her sets, she was approached by a manager that handled mainly hip hop groups, that was interested in managing her. They joined forces for around six months and he helped her with an independent 15 city American tour.
“I really enjoyed the tour, The first half of the tour was intense on the travel side, as I did seven cities in only eight days,” Barber said.
Besides comedy the multi-talented Barber is being recognized for her cooking too.
“My love for cooking is right under my love for comedy,” Barber said. “I inherited a passion for cooking from my mother. One of the ways, my mother expressed her love and appreciation to us, was to cook something special that she knew we would enjoy.”
Recently, Barber has come up with a concept called ‘Hood-Rat Kitchen” where she teaches the importance of eating healthy, but making it taste well at the same time. From there, it has branched out to “Chef Wars” where she battles another comedian with both one liners and their very own cooking recipes.
Barber will make a creative vegan dish and the competing comedian will put together one of their go to meals. There are judges, along with an audience that get to take part in the festivities.
Also, Barber is aiming to have her very own book completed for this September.
To catch up with Barber during the week in downtown Detroit find her on the Delicious Dogs food truck serving up gourmet hot dogs and this weekend she is co-headlining with Jake Ford at Haddon’s Comedy Club in Windsor, Ontario.
Come in for some laughs, with two shows tonight at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Purchase your tickets ahead of time for $15 at the door or through the link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/haddons-comedy-club-presents-t-barb-and-jake-ford-tickets-65047357397
