A Young Career Already Making History
By Doreen Sims
When you think of groundbreaking comedians, musicians and actors, automatically you think of Sydney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong or Harry Belafonte. So how does Nick Cannon edge his way into the title Man of Firsts? Just like any other break through artists, Cannon’s tireless dedication to the craft. And, well... talent.
Last year, Nick was the first African-American to receive the prestigious “Break Through Artist of the Year” award at Cannes Festival for Cannon’s performance in critically acclaimed “Bobby”.
To Cannon being on stage was second nature. His grandfather gave him his first instruments, at the age of eight, and the entertainment bug bit him.
By the age of fifteen Cannon’s comedic act was gaining popularity on stage and by sixteen Cannon was landing gigs at world-renowned comedy venues including The Improv, The Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store. Cannon began opening acts for high profiled comedians such as Chris Tucker, Damon Wayans and Chris Rock.
But it was his time at Nickelodeon that Nick Cannon began making history. Cannon’s first appearance at Nickelodeon was innocuous at first. Nick landed his first television gig as the warm-up act for Nickelodeon's long-running hit series “All That.”
Nick’s ease and energy in front of the cameras caught the eyes of Nickelodeon producers. After bringing him on as a regular on All That, Nick also began co-hosting Nickelodeon's All That Music Festival a 47-city tour, featuring artists such as B*Witched, Blaque, A-Teens, LFO and more.
Soon Nick graduated from All That and Nickelodeon again pushed Cannon into the lime light as a co-host of Nickelodeon's Snick House and as host of the music-based TEENick and eventually leading the way to the first historic career move. By xxx after x years working as a co-host on other Nickelodeon hit shows, Cannon became the youngest executive producer in Nickelodeon¹s history by creating “The Nick Cannon Show.”
2008 seems to be a big year for Cannon. He’s scheduled to return to the big screen working with Will Smith and has two movies ready to be released.
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