Ashley Nicole Black – A Black Lady Sketch Show

By starrymag | April 30, 2021

By: Kemberlie Spivey

 

 

Q) With the success of the first season of “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” what do you think has made this show resonate with some people? 

 

A) I think in Season One what I heard from people a lot that they resonated with the characters. You know, I play Trinity the Invisible Spy and so many people all of demographics reached to me saying, “OMG, that’s me. I feel invisible sometimes too,” and then the weird thing that happened is COVID happened. We had a whole storyline about quarantining with your girlfriends, so I think it even reached a different reliability when people were sitting at home watching it quarantined. Watching The Basic Ball when they were also sitting at home in their sweatpants. So, that feeling only grew.

 

Q) You have played different characters on this show. How much have your characters developed since Season One? Is there a character you played that relates to you in own life? 

 

A) Oh, good question. I can’t talk about the specific sketches that haven’t aired yet, but we do see some characters come back. Like you saw in the trailer, Trinity is back and she has moved forward in her story and continues to go forward. Something that is really cool about Season Two is that we were able to revisit some characters and found out where they are now. We also have some new characters that are upcoming that I can’t wait for people to see because I know that some of the new characters that are coming up are going to be people’s favorites, but I can’t talk about them yet.

 

Q) What was the collaboration process like that you have gone through to bring these characters and sketches to life in such a unique way?

 

A) Well, it definitely starts with the writing and we have such an amazing writer’s room that I was lucky enough to be in. You sorta come in with an idea and sometimes you have a really full fleshed out idea, sometimes it’s just a germ of an idea. But you tell it to this amazing room of women. Once everyone starts throwing their ideas in, it just gets so rich, so layered and so funny. All of the scripts are just complete that when you get to them as an actor, you kind of feel like you know everything about the character even though the sketches are only five minutes long. Then it becomes about finding what you know in the script, finding out what does that character sound like, what do they like, where are they from, do they have an accent, do they move in a certain way. You know, in this series that you are going to play different characters that you can make really fun and really bold choices because they is going to be such a cool range of characters by the end of the season.

 

Q) When writing these characters, how much of your own personal experiences reflect into your writing for the show? 

 

A) It always does because I really try to base my writing in either something that’s going on in my life or in a friend’s life or family member’s life just something that’s real really happening. I think that’s part of the reason why you are able to relate to the show and respond to it the way they do because even though it’s a very silly sketch and goes off to a crazy place, it always starts with something real. Like one of the sketches that was in the first episode, you know it’s women robbing a bank because they want to be heard. They want the customer service reps to listen to them and, of course, most of us don’t have the experience of being a bank robber, but we all have the experience of waiting on the phone for customer service – annoyed because someone won’t listen to you. And so I think the sketches are really powerful that starts with something real and goes off into the comedy stratosphere.

 

Q) This season we have some new faces, Skye Townsend and Laci Mosley. What was it like working with them and getting to write these new characters?

 

A) It was so great to work with them. I met both of them working on the show, so it was like a bonus of course to make this really fun show and I got to make two new friends. It was such a great experience and they both bring such a different type of energy to the show. One of the things that I like about this show as a viewer and someone who works on it is that every girl has a completely different way of making comedy. A completely different lens in which we view the world. And so getting to add two more completely different styles to the group is like just one, so much fun and then two as artists after just looking around ceiling from ceiling from there because they are all so talented.

 

Q) With so many talented guests in your sketches, do you have a person in mind that you want to see play a certain character when writing for the show or reading the script? 

 

A) Very rarely. We tend to write sketches just based on what we expire to write as writers and the writer’s room is over, they go out and cast the guest stars. There’s only been a couple of characters that were written specific for a guest actor. Obviously, the sketch with Patti Labelle that has to be Patti Labelle. We can’t do that sketch without her but that’s really very rare.

 

Q) What have been some of your memorable moments or episodes from working on “A Black Lady Sketch Show?” 

 

A) The whole experience is so much fun and it is also memorable. What I love is that we get to laugh on set, especially because we were shooting this show really at the height of the pandemic and I was not leaving the house before we went to shoot the show. I went from alone in my house to all of sudden onset with all of my friends cracking up laughing every day. I enjoyed every minute of it and it’s just silly stuff. In Courtroom Kiki, the first time you shoot something everyone is kind of just figuring it out and walking through it. The first time we shot that, Gabrielle [Dennis] did a backflip and you are like, “Oh my God! Did this bitch just do a backflip?!” That’s how crazy that set is. Like someone can flip at any moment, so it is always a really good time.

 

Q) As black women we face difficult struggles, how are you able to transform our experiences we face into humor? 

 

A) I think, for me, that’s kind of my natural reaction. When I was younger, before I started doing comedy, like sometimes when something would upset me, or my parents put me on punishment and the way I would express myself about it would make people laugh. It took me a while to figure out that it was a business that I should just go into it. But I think as black people, we do smile through the pain a lot. We do create a lot of creativity and art through our pain. And that’s like a cultural thing for us and I think that’s part of the reason why people also relate to this show so much because this is kind of storytelling that’s cultural.

 

Q) You’re very active on social media when tweeting about the show. What is it like interacting with your fans as the show airs?

 

A) I love it because I started out doing live comedy. What I am used to is when you tell a joke or have an idea you get a feedback from the audience immediately if they like it or not. Then, you are building on that relationship together live in the room. Obviously, with television, we shot this months before it aired, so I don’t get to get that audience feedback until it’s on the air and we are tweeting and talking to the audience. I love hearing about what people like. A lot of times people will tell you stories about their experiences that are similar, or they have a friend who is just like that. It’s really interesting to me. I love hearing about people’s lives and what they like, what they think is funny in that way.

 

Q) Are you working on any projects that fans should be excited about? 

 

A) Right now, I am writing on “The Amber Ruffin Show,” which is on Peacock on Friday nights. That’s more of a news-based comedy show so it’s actually like a nice companion to “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” You can go to Amber’s show like hear the news in a very fun, funny and positive way. Then, you can flip over to “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” ignore the news and just have a good time.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of her and the work she does?

 

A) I am so grateful because you start out doing…Oh my gosh, I am going to be emotional saying this because I am so grateful. You start out doing improv in a bar in exchange for a gift ticket and sometimes there are more people on stage than in the audience. And you are like, “Does anyone care what I am trying to say or what I am trying to do here?” And so, to get a point in my life where there are people who do…Someone tweeted me the other day saying, “I was so sad that you left ‘Full Frontal,’ but I love ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show.’ I am so happy for you.” The fact that you paid enough attention to my life to notice that I made a shift; I took a risk leaving a very successful show to come on to a new show. Like the risk has totally paid off. This show has been very successful as well, but for someone to notice that and see me in that way is such a gift. I am so grateful for it and the only thing I have to give back is jokes, so I hope the jokes are good enough to exchange for all the amazing love and support that people give to this show.