WhenHBO dropped the trailerforA Black Lady Sketch Showthere was already a lot of buzz.
And mainstream web connection shows likeMADtvandSaturday Night Liveare also lacking.
Black women were similarly underrepresented onMADtv.
Courtesy of HBO
And neither show has had a black woman serve as director.
And it’s all thanks to multi-hyphenate comedian and writer Robin Thede.
Named after comedy icon Robin Williams, Thede has been building up to this moment all her life.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
“The right time” may be a bit of an understatement.
A nigh perfect series of events seemed to occur to have the new sketch show premiere this soon.
“And she was like, ‘Bring it.
Courtesy of HBO
Do it with me, let’s bring it to HBO.’
And less than a year later we are on TV, which is crazy.”
“We named itA Black Lady Sketch Showbecause it’s not ‘THE Black Lady Sketch Show.’
Courtesy of HBO
Which makesher assembly of castmatesall the more special.
“Everybody knows Quinta from social media, but Quinta studied improv at Second City and Improv Olympic.
Gabrielle Dennis was a standup comedian and on Damon Wayans' sketch show on Showtime.
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And she’s a pitch-perfect mimic of any singer.
Quinta can play so many different characters.
Ashley Nicole Black literally has a Ph.D. in sketch comedy.
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She’s unbelievable as a writer-performer on the show.”
And for people to see all this amazing stuff that they can do.”
Thede, Brunson, Dennis, and Black portray over 100 original characters during the show’s six-episode run.
Gary Gershoff/WireImage
One common thread in many of these characters is, well, they’re pretty damnweird.
“I was a fan ofTim and Eric, andHuman Giantand sketch shows like that.
And we got to go to those weird places on this show.”
It’s not every single sketch, but we have some in there that really make my heart sing.
I love weird s and when we get to be weird.
It’s usually reserved for white men.
So, I’m really happy to be weird with these women."
“In fact, I’m hopingABLSSinspires funny women to be themselves and embrace their femininity through comedy.”
But Thede assures that Black’s role in the show will be far from that of a trope.
Thede notes that Black wrote most of her own sketches.
From her own point of view," Thede tells EW of Black’s involvement.
To be able to do whatever.
She’s just like any of the rest of us," Thede says.
“Plus-sized women also do everything everyone else does.
I don’t know why we ‘other’ plus-sized people so much.
It doesn’t make any sense.
But, you know, I hope that brings more normalcy for that group of black women.
But also just for black women in general”.
Attempting to represent black women in general and in comedy is no small feat.
But Thede and company are ready to make a valiant attempt all while getting weird.
A Black Lady Sketch Showpremieres Friday at 8 p.m.
