NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal Presents the 3rd Annual 'Shaq's All-Star Weekend'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal is bringing the  entertainment to NBA All-Star Weekend again with the help of friends Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart in a series of comedy and music shows aptly titled, Shaq's All-Star Weekend, February 17-19 at LA Live. Thursday night features Jamie Foxx at Club Nokia performing songs from his new album along with surprise special guests.  Kevin Hart will perform Friday and Saturday at the Nokia Theatre.  Kevin's "Laugh at My Pain" special will be filmed live and released theatrically by Codeblack Entertainment.

"It takes a comedian with a lot of guts to make jokes about me while I'm in the room," said Shaq. "Kevin Hart has done it and was actually funny. I can appreciate a good joke, even if it's about me."  

Headlining actor/comedian Kevin Hart is all too ready to oblige, with a hilarious, no-holds-barred stand-up routine set to unleash on his growing legion of fans.  Hart, whose recent appearance on TNT's "Lopez Tonight" hit a huge homerun with both host and audience, warns attendees to be prepared for riotous humor… and EMT support if necessary.

"I'm pulling out all the stops for All-Star Weekend," said Hart. "There's not a subject that will be off limits – relationships, sex, family secrets! Ya'll better get ready…anybody with respiratory or heart problems in the house might want to make sure they have medication on hand. My goal is to make you laugh until you forget to breathe. Paramedics will be standing by!"

Shaq's All-Star weekend has become the most attended entertainment event outside of the official All-Star schedule. The audience response has once again been tremendous, with Friday and Saturday's shows already sold out.  Codeblack Entertainment event producer and promoter Jeff Clanagan credits the power of Shaq's brand and the targeted use of social media for selling out the shows – even prior to executing a radio campaign to promote ticket sales.

"We worked with a strong network of celebrities who helped spread the word through their Twitter and Facebook accounts," said Clanagan, whose Codeblack has become a sought-after social media partner for a growing roster of famous clients.  "Shaq along with Comedian Kevin Hart announced they were giving away 5 sets of free tickets to Shaq's All-Star Weekend if their followers put a Shaq All-Star Weekend tag at the end of their tweets.  Their celebrity friends retweeted the message and the contest became so popular that the tag remained the #1 global trend throughout the day, and it began taking over the sponsored trends on the website.  The successful campaign resulted in a 75 percent jump in ticket sales. To date, 12,000 tickets have already been sold, grossing $1 million for the two shows."

Triple-threat comic/singer/actor Jamie Foxx will kick-off the weekend's line-up with the "Foxxhole All Star Jam" on Thursday, February 17 at Club Nokia. Hosted by POWER 106's Big Boy, the show will feature Foxx as headliner and also present some of today's hottest upcoming comedians and music artists. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., with tickets still available through Ticketmaster.

Next Up, Kevin Hart will keep the laughs coming with his hysterical stand-up routine "Laugh At My Pain" Friday and Saturday, at Nokia Theatre. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Both sold out shows have attracted an amazing star-studded list of attendees that includes Dr. Dre, Chris Rock, Taraji P. Henson, LL Cool J and Boris Kodjoe to name a few.  After years on the stand-up scene, Hart is emerging as a bona fide comedic superstar, with his recent DVD, "Kevin Hart: Seriously Funny" hitting #1 on iTunes, and lucrative endorsement deals with Ford, eBay and Nike's Brand Jordan campaign, "Dominate Another Day."  

During the weekend's festivities, Shaq will host "Shaq's All-Star Weekend Celebrity Retreat," bringing together athletes and celebrities to lend their support to various charitable causes. Produced by Backstage Creations, specialists in custom Celebrity Retreats, this special V.I.P. gathering takes place backstage before and after Kevin Hart's comedy show.  Brands in the Celebrity Retreat include Apollo Jets, CROTON TIMEPIECES, Simone I. Smith Jewelry, Tom James Custom Lifestyle, Crumpler, Gendarme, Natura Water, Rocawear, Kinky-Curly, Wrapture, Dentyne Pure Gum, BiGR Audio and SlamDiabetes.

For more information on Shaq's All-Star Weekend event series, please visit www.shaqallstarweekend.com

ABOUT SHAQ'S ALL-STAR WEEKEND

Shaq's All-Star Weekend 2011 marks the third installment of Shaq's popular series of All-Star comedy shows which he oversees as executive producer. In 2010, Shaq's All-Star Comedy Jam show in Dallas, Texas aired on Showtime's Laugh Out Loud comedy installment and featured comedian host and Oscar ® winner Monique.

ABOUT CODEBLACK ENTERPRISES, LLC

Codeblack Enterprises, LLC is the first African American-owned new media & entertainment company. Codeblack Enterprises' reach is all-encompassing, from production and national distribution of feature films to its innovative e-commerce arm. The company's portfolio consists of Codeblack Entertainment and Codeblack Interactive. Codeblack Interactive focuses on distributing content across digitally interactive platforms, including global distribution to mobile and digital carriers such as CodeblackTV, a broadband on-demand channel, by which viewers can download, stream and deliver Codeblack properties over the internet.  The company's home on the Web is http://www.codeblack.com/.

SOURCE Codeblack Enterprises, LLC