Iva La'Shawn, is an Actress/Comedian. She is a lead in Kadeem Hardison's directorial debut feature "The Dark Party", which was selected in the American Black Film Festival. She also gets to thrill fans as a lead in her first feature horror film, "Marco Polo". Iva keen sense of "on your feet" timing and incredible comedic ability credits her stand-up comedy career to her friend and highly respected comedian, "Cedric the Entertainer". Iva always wanted to be known as an actress first so it was no easy task getting her to do stand-up. However, persistently prompted by Cedric, as he witnessed firsthand her uncanny knack of recanting humorous and animated stories; she finally did it and has never looked back. Iva feels extremely honored to be encouraged by two of her inspirations, comedy greats, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. In between filming projects, you can catch up with Iva on the road, she's toured with various comedians such as Damon Wayans, Gary Owens, Guy Torry, Joe Torry, Arnez J, and Shang just to name a few. Correspondingly, Iva has been featured on several sitcoms, some feature films under her belt and a thriving stand-up career. Never one to sit still, Iva tested for the highly proclaimed "SNL" and starred as well in Showtime's "Damon Wayans: The Underground" a sketch show Produced and Directed by Damon Wayans. Iva also took on multiple hats when she wrote, starred in, produced and co-directed her first short, the hysterical "I'm Every Woman", where she displayed her talents with multiple characters. Iva's list of credits also include the smash stage play "The Maintenance Man" in which she toured and co-starred in the role of Tina alongside Billy Dee Williams (Lady Sings The Blues & Mahogany) and Darius McCrary (Family Matters).
