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00:00Well hello, I'm Brandi, Victorian Entertainment Director here at Essence Magazine.
00:08So excited to see you all, to be back here in person in New Orleans this year.
00:13And I'm here with some of the most talented women in comedy.
00:19And actually I should say the most talented people in comedy period.
00:22And they're going to talk about their experiences as black women in this industry,
00:26life lessons they've learned, and their advice for anyone in this room who wants to follow in their footsteps.
00:32So please give a warm welcome to our panelists today.
00:36We have Bresha Webb, Zaynav Johnson, Coco Brown, and Sam Jay.
00:56We're going to have a couple people joining us a little bit later.
00:58But hello ladies, how you doing?
00:59I'm good, how you doing?
01:00Good, thank you so much for being here with us.
01:03I want to start with one question open to everybody to kind of set the tone for this conversation.
01:08And why we're having it.
01:10So I want to ask each of you, if there was one word to describe what it's like being a black woman in comedy right now,
01:16what would that be and why?
01:18That's a loaded question.
01:21I know.
01:23One word is never enough to describe anything except like no at some point.
01:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:33Ooh, man.
01:35Resilient.
01:36Okay.
01:37Because you have to be in this business because they're constantly changing the finishing line on us.
01:43They keep changing the rules on us of what they like.
01:47Women, you know, they want us clean, then they want us dirty, then they want us skinny, then they want us fat, then they want us this, then they want us that.
01:54So you've got to be resilient.
01:55You've got to kind of be able to flow with the flow.
01:57Understood.
01:58I'd say liberating.
01:59Okay.
02:00Yeah, I think that I hear a lot of people, a lot of feedback that I get is like, thank you for saying that.
02:08And thank you for bringing levity to this topic or thank you for expressing this thing that I've also been feeling and thinking in this funny way.
02:19I feel seen.
02:20And so I feel like that's pretty liberating.
02:22Absolutely.
02:23Yeah.
02:24I would say fun.
02:25Okay.
02:26Yeah.
02:27I'm having a lot of fun right now.
02:29Okay.
02:30I feel like it's not really defined.
02:32So there's so much creativity and creative lane to kind of do whatever.
02:37Yeah.
02:38And that's really exciting.
02:39Okay.
02:40I would love also, I'm going to do another kind of blanket question because I think everyone has a different kind of entry point into the industry, obviously.
02:46And I think a different moment where you're like, okay, I'm kind of funny too.
02:50No, I could make a career, you know, making people laugh or being in this industry.
02:54What was that moment for each of you that you decided I'm going to pursue this?
03:03I mean, for me, it was just kind of like at a crossroads of life and just kind of felt like I wasn't living to my full potential.
03:13And just was trying to figure out like how I was going to kind of break out of the rut.
03:20Okay.
03:21And I always wanted to do it, but I was kind of afraid of it.
03:25And I was kind of in this place of like, you got to face your fears head on.
03:29And probably the thing you're afraid of is the thing you need to walk towards.
03:32And I just kind of made that decision to kind of back the fear down and see where it would take me.
03:39Okay.
03:40I had no idea.
03:43I mean, no idea.
03:45Like I wish, I wish that I had like the story, like, yo, I saw Eddie Murphy when I was six and I just had to do it.
03:50Like, no, I literally, I wish that I knew because I would not have gone to, I maybe would have saved time in my life.
03:57Like I maybe wouldn't have gone and got a degree and maybe I wouldn't have, you know what I'm saying?
04:01Like, so, but, but the moment that I did it, I personally believe that I can be good at most things.
04:09Okay.
04:10Cause I can learn a lot.
04:11Yeah.
04:12But, and, and so I was good at a lot of stuff, you know, but the first time I did stand up, it felt different.
04:18Yeah.
04:19If it was like, oh, oh, this is, this, this is the thing.
04:24Okay.
04:25You know?
04:26And so I kept going.
04:27Okay.
04:28Um, I would have to give, uh, all props to Suzanne McDermick.
04:31She was my supervisor at Ringling Brothers when I worked in corporate and she fired me and that made me decide to pursue comedy.
04:40That's real.
04:43That'll do it.
04:44That'll do it.
04:45That'll do it.
04:47I didn't know Ringling Brothers had a corporate.
04:50Girl, a corporate office.
04:51Yes.
04:52In Vienna, Virginia.
04:53That was my job.
04:54Fresh out of college.
04:55Went and got that degree.
04:56And, uh, you know, and, uh, was working in corporate in a little three by five cubicle doing advertising.
05:03All those big billboards y'all used to see in your city saying the circus was coming.
05:06That was me.
05:07But, uh, I was slipping and them billboards weren't getting put up.
05:12So I got set home.
05:15And here we are.
05:16Here we are.
05:17Right.
05:18Here we are.
05:19How did that prep you though for this world at all?
05:21Because, you know, I came into this business looking at it as a business.
05:25Yeah.
05:26You know, I have friends that saw me dubbing 15 minutes of material because that's all I had at one point on a six hour VHS tape.
05:34Okay.
05:35And labeling it and putting my head shot in a resume and sending it to clubs all across the country trying to get in.
05:40Okay.
05:41You know, that's the era I came from, you know, where you had to get your butt in the comedy clubs and you had to get someone to co-sign for you and going on the road with other comics to open for them.
05:51So I came in treating it like a business.
05:54I've always treated it like a business.
05:55Okay.
05:56Got you.
05:57Well, welcome.
05:58We got another guest here.
05:59Ms. Kim Fields.
06:00Welcome.
06:01Ms. Kim Fields.
06:03Okay.
06:04Did you even get your mug?
06:05Yeah, get your mug.
06:05Ms. Kim Fields.
06:08Ms. Kim Fields.
06:09Well, I'm gonna shoot T. You next .
06:10Ms. Kim Fields.
06:12Because you are someone who has done it all, you know, acting and producing and directing, you know, for you and your longevity in this business and where we are now.
06:20Where's the area within comedy that you see the most progress for black women and where do you see the most opportunity for black women?
06:27Ms. Well, hey everybody.
06:30it's it's amazing to be here thank you so much for having me and to my fellow
06:35panelists who are just extraordinary I think that comedy for women especially
06:43women of color has actually come quite a long way we by no means are resting on
06:49our laurels and our our progress but the fact that we have brilliant comics in
06:58their own lanes like a Sam Jay like a Wanda Sykes like a Kathleen Madigan who
07:03even though she's not a woman of color there's still some progress for women I
07:07feel like in the scripted space you know the fact that we have one of the most
07:12prolific and relevant movies that took place during this you know incredible
07:18festival of course girls trip and so so we have had wonderful milestones wonderful
07:27opportunities the plaque the fact that I play Regina Upshaw on the Upshaws thank
07:34you and that well Wanda Sykes and and Regina Hicks you know we're on we're on all
07:41sides of the camera and that's another thing that I think is so important and
07:45where we've and where we've where we've had our comeuppance you know and even more
07:51so since even with Yvette Lee Bowser creating Living Single and so I feel like we are
07:58telling more stories certainly so diverse in our storytelling the fact that we have
08:04black lady sketch comedy right so so I feel like we've definitely come an
08:09incredible way and only going to keep building on every moment that we've had
08:14so far yeah I know why it's because I'm assume people probably DM you all all the
08:20time it's like how do I get an opportunity how do I get on how do I get
08:23my first stand-up how do I do this you know what is kind of your tips for like
08:28an entry point you talked about looking at as a business and I imagine there's a
08:32lot of kind of grind you know start from the bottom in those opportunities like
08:35what are those first steps if you're thinking I want to do stand-up you know
08:39what do you do first and you know how do you kind of be okay with you know you
08:44start at the bottom or do you have to I'm gonna be honest with you don't have
08:47to anymore okay I mean what the advice I would have given a young comic ten years
08:51ago no longer applies okay I would tell any comic right now yes get on stage yes
08:56learn the craft yes learn your voice but in the meantime build your social media
09:00presence because they don't care how funny you are unless you got the right amount of
09:04commas after that number and that's real talk build your social media presence because I've
09:09seen people that just popped up yesterday skip over people been in this
09:12game for 25 years and get a whole show you know so at this point focus there and
09:19then it would be funny but it really ain't necessary
09:24I hate to break it to you it's just not necessary I have been on some shows where I'm like
09:29I would say just it depends on what you want out of it I do think you social media presence is
09:50important I I'm gonna be honest that's not how I did it and I'm a pretty new comedian it just wasn't my
09:56lane and I didn't want to force myself into something that didn't feel right and
10:01comfortable for me so I kind of went like the festival route I went the more alt
10:06comedy route for a lack of a better word and you know that allowed me to kind of
10:11come in and on another side of it um because I was interested in creating and
10:15developing you know like I wanted to do my own show which I basically deal with
10:19pause and I just wanted to kind of you know do that kind of stuff and so I kind of
10:23went that way I do think a lot of these places though especially when you're black
10:27and I need to say this they do put a lot of pressure on your social media numbers
10:32and they act like that is like the end-all be-all but they're not doing that to
10:37these white boys they're not doing that to these white girls they're not they're
10:41not allowing it in the same way and they're making laying a space for you to
10:45develop yourself as an artist and develop your craft and sometimes you just have to be
10:51demanding in that way and not allow them to bend you to that formula okay
10:57shout out to Sam for her HPS special thank you
11:03thank you absolutely yes um well on that note I want to ask because you know male
11:10allyship has become a huge topic obviously with you know the unfortunate overturning of
11:16Roe v Wade but I think you know even part of the reason I'm having this
11:19commerce conversation is because comedy has been so male-dominated so white no
11:23dominated I'm curious for you all navigating that space had there been
11:27you know black male comics along the way who have kind of you know taken a hand in
11:31your success or made opportunities you know for you to kind of you know push you
11:37along have you felt that ally ship you know for each of you well I star on a show
11:42as Mike Epps wife yeah I gotta say I've gotta say Mike Epps in that regard you
11:48know that he has been holding it down pushing and grinding and his you know
11:52phenomenal career for a very very long time and staying true to himself and
11:59especially with the Upshaws staying true as best as he can you know what you're
12:04still creating a whole show yeah and so so it's it's again it's it's a little bit
12:10different in the scripted world but at the end of the day because he's not
12:14playing Mike Epps you know and he's playing the specific character and not
12:18even a character based on his stand-up the way that a Roseanne or Ray Romano did
12:25and so creating a whole world and an environment and and so Mike Epps is
12:32definitely you know when I got the call it was hey can you come and do a
12:37chemistry meeting with my gifts so so hands down I would have to start there
12:44of course you know along the way doing some really milestone guest appearances
12:49as I was transitioning from a child star into my adulthood and then in the craft
12:54of course doing Martin Fresh Prince and so those guys you know certainly very very
13:00talented in their spaces as well so I do feel that sense of being an ally but not
13:08of course being beholden because you know we we bring and we about it and we
13:12actually show up and show out when you know and I won't even say when given that
13:17opportunity because I do think that there's been an awakening of you know
13:23everybody needs everybody yeah everybody we all have to have allies going on both
13:28sides yeah anyone else to that point well I've always said I was raised by wolves in
13:35this business no seriously when I came in the game you know it was the male
13:40comics the black male comics you know talent Rob Stapleton Freddie Ricks will
13:45servants Mike Epps you know these cats took me under their wing and they didn't let me
13:51just be a female comic as they like to call it they made me step up and go
13:57toe-to-toe with any of them they made me fearless that I could follow anybody you
14:02know and not be worried about who's going on before me so I always say you know I
14:05give it up for my brothers because they gave me a strength and a fortitude for
14:10this business that a lot of things don't bother me that would bother the
14:13average person
14:16and interestingly enough last week I was in LA at a Netflix event with Kim Fields
14:22you were there and you spoke but at the end you know you left the crowd with a
14:27word where you really just said stay the course you know so many of you have had
14:31to create your own opportunities and it's been difficult you know stay the
14:35course has there been a moment along any of your journeys where you were like I'm
14:39getting off this course like I'm gonna do something else and what kept you in this
14:43space okay well strangely enough I've been doing this since I was seven and I've
14:58never had that moment even when I felt totally betrayed heartbroken
15:03disappointed by my industry I never felt that I wanted to quit it or you know like
15:10when you're going together and you know I'm a quit you I didn't I've never felt
15:14like that even when I've had to pause and and kind of take a deep breath and
15:20maybe we strategize redirect water somebody else's garden while I'm waiting
15:27on my thing to pop off yeah you know so I've never really felt like forget this
15:34I'm gonna go and be a marine biologist the way I always wanted but my mama did
15:42say what's your backup plan always have a backup plan have something to fall back
15:46on and so that's why I started directing writing producing there's all sorts of
15:51other tentacles to our business yeah and then at the end of the day so that I
15:55wouldn't sitting around and let my mind become the devil's playground because it
15:59was idle I made sure that I did something completely different so I'm
16:04an entrepreneur yeah you know I have my own line of coffee and tea so that
16:08there's something that's going on but even with that I'm still very creative as
16:12the creative director for that brand but but definitely there are those moments
16:17and I'm always curious about how do you go through when you're going through
16:21yeah because you have to have those ways where you keep your sanity everything
16:29but I admire because I mean for me it's daily you know I have a master's in
16:35education and every time I have a moment of just wanting to quit I look at that
16:40degree going you know what somebody gonna need a Miss Crabtree
16:44so I admire that you never you never falter because I'm gonna tell you until I walk
16:49past that degree I'm still paying for I'll be like you know what I admire that I do
16:56well I want to thank you all so much for sharing your insights for being with us
17:00here at Essence and just for doing the work that you do we appreciate it
17:03thank you
17:14you
17:44you
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