• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 5, 2007

Showtime is launching a new comedy platform, "Laugh Out Loud," with monthly comedy specials from a variety of big-name comedians and comediennes including Mo'Nique, Sarah Silverman, Alex Reymundo, and Joe Rogan.

In keeping with Showtime's reputation for airing bawdy, uncensored standup, the shows promise "uncut, unedited" comedy. The lineup, which kicks off Saturday, includes a number of performances by comedians that bank on ethnic identity for laughs.

Among the shows featured in "Laugh Out Loud" will be the world premieres of Mo'Nique's "I Coulda Been Your Cellmate," delivered this Saturday to a live audience of female felons at the Ohio Reformatory For Women. In addition to the standup performance, Mo'Nique mixes and mingles with the inmates.

Also premiering in March is Alex Reymundo's "Hick-Spanic: Live in Albuquerque."

Reymundo's comedy deals with the joys and travails of growing up in a Mexican immigrant family. Similarly, Jewish comic Sarah Silverman delivers "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic" next month.

Known for her abrasive, confrontational style, she takes on a variety of controversial topics, like 9/11 and the Holocaust. Pushing the audience to the edge of its comfort zone, Silverman works in the provocative tradition of Lenny Bruce.