00:00We're gathered here today to lay 2021 to rest.
00:04Yes, yep, yep.
00:05And I'll be honest, guys.
00:06I started off this year feeling very hopeful.
00:08I had a whole vision board party.
00:11I had on there that Drake would finally answer my DMs.
00:152021, you literally had one job.
00:20Don't beat 2020.
00:21Amen.
00:26Hello, Brandi Victoria with Essence Magazine.
00:29How are you?
00:30You are gorgeous.
00:32How are you?
00:35I appreciate that.
00:36How are you?
00:37I am well.
00:38I am well.
00:39I'm just looking at these eyebrows.
00:40They're thriving.
00:41Yes.
00:42Yes.
00:43I had to get right.
00:45I love you.
00:47You love me.
00:51Well, this is right in line with what I wanted to ask first.
00:54I know this is a comedy special, but we got to start with this jumpsuit you are wearing.
00:58It is fabulous.
01:00Tell me about that wardrobe choice.
01:02Oh, my gosh.
01:04So, okay.
01:05So, Poojay, I was like, you know, I got to be just, it's got to be fire.
01:12I, you know, I looked at the outfits from last season.
01:14I was like, Ooh, I was like, you know, we can have a big hat moment, you know, your morning.
01:17And I was like, but I was like, you know, I love a big shoulder.
01:20So he's like, we can't do a hat and a shoulder.
01:22I was like, okay, I'm going to choose a shoulder.
01:23I'm going to choose a shoulder.
01:24Okay.
01:24And, uh, and, uh, there is a suit, uh, company that we work with grayscale and he was like,
01:33well, you know, his wife is also, um, a designer.
01:36And I was like, okay.
01:38So the shot, like he, he just talked to her by Friday.
01:44I got like a sketch and I was like, cool.
01:46By Monday I was fitting.
01:47I was like, she's done.
01:48Cause I was like, she created the train.
01:50So like the train comes off and I said, well, I don't, I said, can you like get a backup?
01:56Cause I don't trust it.
01:57I don't know.
01:58And he was like, friend, I trust me.
02:00I said, okay.
02:01I tell you that thing feel like a glove.
02:04And it was just, I sent it to the producers of years of the party and they gasped and then
02:10they changed things around, but like the dress had its own moment.
02:12They were like, okay, great.
02:13So now we need a dress reveal.
02:15I said, the dress is going to have its own moment.
02:17Like, yes, you need to, we need to create space for it.
02:21And I said, oh, yesterday's price is not today's price.
02:27Cause she's about to walk up.
02:28Okay.
02:29Yes.
02:29Cause I'm like, we got that in plus.
02:31Cause I, and it was so comfortable because the material stretched with you, but it still
02:38looked very elegant and fancy.
02:42More chic, but looking like, you know, sophisticated.
02:47But shout out to her.
02:50She's a black female designer.
02:51She was amazing.
02:52So getting into this special, I mean, it's, it's no secret that it's still difficult for
02:56women to find space, you know, as comedians in this industry, how special and even unique
03:02was it for you to be a part of a special like this?
03:04It's what I love, what attracted me the most.
03:07Cause I saw this last year and I was like, oh, that's such a cool concept.
03:11And then being a part of it this year, it's like, yo, there are amazing female comedic
03:16actors.
03:17Cause everyone's not a comedian, but like comedic performers, improv folks, standups, and then
03:23writing staff, diverse writing.
03:26Men, then a female director, then women as producers.
03:30I was like, oh, this is all women, everything.
03:33I signed me up and coming from a show like Insecure where it's like all black, everything,
03:38you know, to be, and that was such a very specific and also beautiful experience.
03:42I was like, well, will I ever get the opportunity for this to be recreated in some way, shape
03:46or form?
03:47And when I tell you getting in the part, I was like, this is it.
03:52This is the way to keep recreating special moments.
03:55It won't be like the last thing, but it'll be special nonetheless.
03:59Yeah.
03:59Oh, I love that.
04:00And I've talked to a couple comedians at the top of the year who talked about like, they
04:05were anxious to do standup again, but they were nervous because they hadn't done it in
04:08like a year.
04:09How did it feel for you?
04:10You know, not only hosting, but you did your own routine too.
04:14Yes.
04:14You know, I had a wonderful writer, like writers that I worked with, Akilah Green worked specifically
04:22with me for my blog and, you know, we, I've known her so we have a shorthand and I told
04:30her, you know, we talked and I was like, you know, here's some of the things that I like,
04:32I'm really tired of just in general.
04:34And I'm like, we going to lay that to rest this year and forevermore.
04:39And then we were really able to just like finesse.
04:41A lot of the material came from what I would naturally feel.
04:45So it wasn't like I was saying anybody else's words.
04:47It came from like where I was really at for me.
04:51And so that was actually a beautiful experience.
04:53So it wasn't like my standup where like I'm writing the material and I know the jokes and
04:58it's trying to hit a punchline.
04:59It was really like a long monologue of where I really was and am by the end of this year.
05:06OK, and I wanted to ask about that because I love when you said 2021 was like a 2020
05:11variant because if we listen real and it made me think of JT of City Girls had tweeted
05:18one day, she was like 2021 didn't give what it was supposed to give.
05:23And I was like, that's true.
05:25So I'm curious, you know, how you have felt this year, you know, saying goodbye to an era
05:29kind of with Insecure, stepping into new things.
05:31You know, what has this year felt like for you personally and professionally?
05:34Well, it's kind of been a mixed bag because, I mean, I've been in my bag, you know, in
05:392021 and the blessing of Abraham, it's like, yo, I've been working and, you know, things
05:43are coming and I'm sure you've watched the special, you know, one thing that I gave up
05:48was hustle and grind and I picked up ease and flow.
05:51But it's taken me, we're about to be in December.
05:54It's taken me like 11 months to really get into the stride of ease and flow.
05:59So when you're, when you're changing, you're becoming new, you're, it's a lot of missteps.
06:04It's a lot of uncertainty.
06:06It don't feel sexy.
06:07It feels real uncomfortable.
06:09But then you lean into it and you're like, oh, okay, I see the blessings.
06:13You're right.
06:13You're right.
06:14Um, but in the process, it's kind of like the shaking, uh, and the breaking is not sexy,
06:22but I, like I said, I've been fortunate to work.
06:24I've been fortunate to travel.
06:25Cause I said, I, what I'm not doing is getting stuck in this big old house again, because
06:29everybody was mad.
06:31They didn't, they didn't take that vacation.
06:33They was looking to, but I'm not one thing that, you know, I think the last two years
06:38has taught me is just like, do the thing, do the thing, do the thing, like read the
06:44book, go to the play, just start saying yes.
06:47Uh, to like, like making memories, you know, I'd be like, I'm busy now.
06:52I'm like, yeah, I'll go to that.
06:52I don't even like whatever that is, but I'll go, I'll figure it out.
06:57Maybe I'll find something that I enjoy unexpectedly.
07:00Say yes.
07:01You never know.
07:01Cause I think we're so, I don't like that.
07:04I don't want to do that.
07:04And it's just like, you miss out on life because when everything shut down, you're
07:08like, I would love it.
07:09If it was given the opportunity, I would love it.
07:11Just somebody, please get me out of this house.
07:16And I wanted to ask specifically about that.
07:18Um, when you say goodbye to hustle and grind, you know, what does that look like for you
07:22practically?
07:23And I feel like as an entertainer, I'm sure opportunity is always thrown at you.
07:27How do you kind of get over fear of missing out and choosing you?
07:32Girl.
07:32Girl, I know, I know I got a short time, but I was like, you want to, you want to start
07:38now?
07:41No, I think it really is a mindset shift.
07:44It's a perspective change.
07:45It's a reprogramming, right?
07:46Because the thing that gets you success, you're like, okay, well, this is the thing that I
07:50will always use then because it's my toolbox.
07:52And it's like, no, no, no, no, no.
07:53It got you to this level of success.
07:55Now to get to that level of success, it's like, you've got to do different things.
07:59And it seems counterintuitive that sometimes the thing you have to do is like rest or
08:04chill out a little bit more or, you know what I mean?
08:06Now this isn't for the people who procrastinate already and like ain't met a hustle or a grind
08:12ever.
08:12And some of us are like, well, Yvonne said we should just ease and flow.
08:16No, no, no, no, no.
08:18You got to balance it out with the other end, fam.
08:20All you've known is ease and flow.
08:23Go into the hustle and grind, okay?
08:25Um, so I think, you know, again, it's perspective is where you are.
08:29So getting where you are actually fitting in and it is hard to fight with new weapons when
08:35the old ones got you to victory.
08:37Yeah.
08:38And it doesn't mean that you'll never use the old ones again.
08:41It just means that you have to have a different relationship with them.
08:43Yeah.
08:44Oh, that's real.
08:44Yeah.
08:45Yeah.
08:46Now, what else is coming up for you in the new year that you can share?
08:50Oh, well, it was just announced that I am getting my second HBO special.
08:54So I'm very excited.
08:56Um, thank you.
08:58Uh, I'm excited because I get to put other people on.
09:00I'm like, you know, I used to get me an opportunity.
09:03So it would only be right to pay it forward, um, and reach back each one, reach one and
09:09like bring up the next generation of really dope comedic performances, especially from the
09:13continent of Africa.
09:14So I'm, I'm looking for it.
09:16Awesome.
09:17Great.
09:18Last question is drink your real celeb crush.
09:24That was, that, that was one of those things.
09:26I was like, you know, get a few more than you want.
09:28Get a few more than you want.
09:29Get a few more than you want.
09:29Got you.
09:31Well, thank you so much.
09:32It was such a pleasure chatting with you.
09:34I appreciate your time.
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