Ashley Nicole Black – A Black Lady Sketch Show

By starrymag | September 6, 2019

By: Kemberlie Spivey

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

 

A) Right now, I am writing on ABC sitcom called “Bless This Mess.” So, that is what I’m working on right now.

 

Q) “A Black Lady Sketch Show” is different than your average comedy show. Tell us what drew you to join this show and what is it like working with Robin Thede? 

 

A) The two things were, for me, Robin is a really good friend of mine and who has just a really singular vision and drive. I was really excited to work with her and, also, I love sketch comedy. I started my career at Second City. I started as a sketch and improv performer, so to get to do that on an HBO level is such a dream.

 

Q) Why do you think “A Black Lady Sketch Show” is different from other comedy shows like “‪Saturday Night Live?” 

 

A) We are not talking about politics. “Saturday Night Live” is like live sketch show. They can talk about the news of the week and that is something that we are not doing. I think people may appreciate a break from politics and I think also we are showing some aspects of black life, of female life, that maybe hasn’t been explored on television before or in the medium of sketch comedy. I know one of my friends who is a white guy was like, “Oh, I never knew I would learn some much about black women’s hair this week. I think the topics and things that we talked about at home that hasn’t made its way to television are on this show.

 

Q) Talk about the process for writing these sketches. 

 

A) It’s really cool because we have on this show some of the truly best comedy writers in the world and we are all black women. It was a really cool experience because you would pitch your idea and everyone would chime in to help make your ideas better. Then, you would write the first draft of it, but eventually it would become everyone working on your sketch and that is when the magic really happens. You would make it as good as you can possibly make it. I would exhaust all of the ideas I had making one really good sketch. But then when every other person is adding their genius to it, it’s just gets funnier and more layered. It just feels good as a writer to see something that you tried to make a ten and it get taken to an eleven. It is just like a really fun collaborative process.

 

Q) What has been your favorite scene to film while working on “A Black Lady Sketch Show?”

 

A) It’s like very episode I find a new favorite. I’m like, “Oh yeah! I remember that. Like, we did it so bad.” It was like every day is my favorite day. I think the first episode we played, which is like this male duo group getting to learn a dance. When I finally got it it was super fun and I was really proud of myself. There is a sketch where I play the most annoying woman in the world and it is very fun, like really get down and dirty and be that annoying. The episode that aired that Patti LaBelle was in… I got to work with Patti LaBelle. That was obviously like a lifetime highlight.

 

Q) The sketch “Basic Ball” went viral. What did you think of the fan response?

 

A) It made me so happy. I wrote that sketch and it really was important to me – one to celebrate the LGBTQ community and two to celebrate basic people. Two communities that I love very dearly who aren’t always celebrated on television. So, I was so excited to see so many people saying, “Oh My God! That’s me! I feel seen! I’m awkward in the body! Oh my gosh, my dad is really like that when he barbecues!” It just makes me feel so good that people felt the love.

 

Q) What is a sketch that maybe was pitched that hasn’t made it that you would you love to see on the show or one you’d love to see in the future?

 

A) Hundreds. We literally wrote hundreds of sketches when we were writing so there is a lot. I feel like sketch ages quickly, so if we got to go back for a second season, I probably would forget all of those and have new ideas about whatever is going at that time.

 

Q) What guest star was your favorite to work on with and who would you love to see come on the show?

 

A) It’s hard to pick a favorite. It was very cool to watch Deon Cole perform. I think he is in the upcoming episode or the next one, but he is such a phenomenal actor and to get to watch him perform live was really amazing. Also, true of everyone, it was just like every day another hero, another legend, another masterclass on acting showed up. And your like, “I have to remember lines while I’m watching this.” I think for another season…Truly, like, there are so many great dramatic black actresses who we never see do comedy and we do get some of them on this season. It would be great to see everybody do one funny sketch. I think everyone is funny or has the capacity for funny, but you get kind of pigeonholed into doing drama. It was exciting to see people be funny who we haven’t seen be funny before. Actually, my best friend is Aja Naomi King. We grew up together from elementary school through high school and I think she is on “How to Get Away with Murder” and is more known for drama. It was cool to have her come in. We haven’t acted together since high school, so it was so cool to have her come in and see firsthand how great she is on set and how amazing of an actor she is. Also, to see her turn that dramatic mind to comedy was very cool.

 

Q) What does it mean to you to be a part of such a groundbreaking show? 

 

A) I also want to do something other than just make people laugh. Making people laugh is obviously the particle, but beyond that I always want to make people think or make people feel key and make people see something in a new way. So, what’s really cool about this show is that many people are falling in love with sketch comedy for the first time because of talking about ideas that are actually relevant to them and I think that sketch is really my favorite art form. I think it’s amazing and great for any audience, but a lot of the sketch that we have seen has been sort of gear towards a white audience and so I think it’s very cool for like new audiences to see like this show and “Alternatino.” The other sketch shows that are out there that are saying like, “Oh, Ashley, these sketches are for everybody. It can address any audience.”

 

Q) You were originally apart of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” How was that experience different from working on “A Black Lady Sketch Show?”

 

A) With “Full Frontal” it’s a news-based show so you have to read the news, watch the news and then trying to find the funny way to tell people what the news is. With “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” it is not a sum of news or politics or anything like that at all. It really becomes about expressing what’s going on in your life or in your family or relationship and telling people about those things. Not being tied to the news is a little bit more freedom, but there is also a little more challenging to come up with those ideas.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive to episodes?

 

A) Yeah! My favorite is like everyone calling out their favorite lines. People are talking directly to us. One of the things I really like the way people talk to each other like, “Oh, you’re just like this.” With The Basic Ball people were tagging their friends and calling them basic. There was one line in one of the sketches where my character was like, “What I always wanted was to find a black lady therapist in network.” And so many people responded with, “Oh my God! The struggle is real! Me too! Me too! Me too!” Black lady therapists started commenting on it like, “I’m a black lady therapist in D.C.” and “I’m a therapist in LA.” So, seeing that kind of stuff is really cool.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

 

A) I’m so happy that people are watching the show, that they are tweeting about it. I’m a person who always dreamed of doing something like this. I didn’t know it was possible and Robin Thede made it possible. I hope the show makes you feel like your thing isn’t impossible, whatever that thing is, whether it is people who want to be comedians or someone who wants to open a business whatever it is that you want to do. I hope it makes you feel like you should grab a group of girlfriends and try it because that is basically what we did.