Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 231: Sasheer Zamata (Actor/Comedian, SNL)
Episode Date: August 8, 2023Andy gets a troubling call from a geographically concerned show promoter before opening the show SOLO BOLO style (yeah we're making Comedy Bang! Bang! references out here). But most importantly, our s...how receives the boon of a comedy GODDESS on the Interview Hour as we welcome actor, stand-up comic, and former SNL cast member Sasheer Zamata! Sasheer is hilarious and generally amazing, so if you don't know her: fix that today. Discussions on her origin story, Artificial Intelligence, the WGA & SAG-AFTRA Strike (SUPPPORT!), and more... Discover all the good stuff Sasheer is up to at sasheer.com Watch this episode streaming now!! Psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us how you really feel: (720) 996-2403 Check out our new single, You Do You streaming on Spotify and Apple Music now! And while you're at it, give a big middle finger to the bigots in your life Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Marina Ahri Findling
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hi Andy, this is Marla from Shomrei Torah Jewish Hospital. I wanted to call and thank you so much
for agreeing to come to sing songs for the kids after your festival show. We know you're incredibly
busy and we're just super excited to have you there in September after the festival.
excited to have you there in September after the festival. The kids are going to absolutely love it. I just know it. We know you're busy, but for you to take time for cancer patients
or children, their kids, it's something really, really special. We're incredibly grateful. You're
the best. Thank you so much. Bye. Hey, Andy, this is Bill Dun dumbard down here the promoter of get out festival i want to
tell you i found out you were doing a little charity event for kids down here and i want to
tell you uh we're gonna have to go ahead and cancel that we have something in the south called
radius clause and any positive press you generate will have to go through our official name 30 days
before and after the festival also do our radius clause you will not be having sex 30 days before and after the festival. Also, due to our radius clause, you will not be having sex 30 days before or after our
festival.
Basically, we don't want you having sex in our town.
We're not going to tell you why, but I think you can figure out why, okay?
It has a little bit to do with your background.
And three, no more kissing your bandmates.
You know what?
Actually, that's okay.
We're coming around a little bit on that in the South.
You can go ahead and you can kiss all you want.
Do you have any more questions?
Just send your manager our way.
We know that he will bend to our will
so he doesn't lose any of our connections
for his other artists
that are more likable here in the South.
All right, and we're live.
Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast.
I'm Andy Frasco.
How's our heads?
How's our minds?
Are we staying out of trouble?
Are we feeling good about ourselves?
I think that's the most important thing.
We got to feel good about ourselves, I think that's the most important thing. We got to feel good about ourselves. You know, we could always do everything to distract us from our heads or do everything
to distract us from how we actually feel. And we could give all this love to everyone else,
but you have to take a step back and realize, how are we feeling? So why don't we take a step
and realize, take a deep breath right now and ask yourself how you're feeling.
I'm out here in like butt fuck Utah right now, almost done with this tour, this little mountain run, watching the fucking lightning go.
You know, something about lightning is very therapeutic.
I could just like zone out.
And I was thinking
about this so i started recording like how am i feeling you know i'm a little tired i had to do i
fucking got food poisoning last week i had a gig like fucking two or three shows while i'm just
puking and fucking it's coming out of everywhere i know it's gross to think about, but I had to rock. I had to rock.
Rock and roll does not take a day off. So I was thinking like, damn, you know, is all this worth
it? And you're like, oh no, Fresco's about to quit right now. No, I'm not about to quit.
I'm just saying, you got to know how you're feeling about things because life is going to
push you, push you, push you, push you, push you. And if you're doing something
and you don't want to do it and when life
brings you down like this,
then it's going to be a lot easier to quit.
And I'm
thankful I do something I love.
I'm thankful that I do something that I
really care about.
That all these hard things
are just testing me and
testing me to see how badly I want this.
Well, I fucking want it, people.
Let's go.
We got this.
We're in this.
No stomach flu.
No.
No all-night bender is going to stop me from getting out there and rocking the next town.
Because you got to find what you love.
You know?
I think that's the most important thing.
You got to find what you love.
And if you don't know what you love, that's okay, too. You got to keep what you love. You know, I think that's the most important thing. You got to find what you love. And if you don't know what you love, that's okay too.
You got to keep searching for it.
I mean, what's the point?
What's the point of living if you can't really do what you want to do?
I know that's selfish to say a lot of people are like maybe stuck in a relationship or stuck at a shitty job.
That's okay.
I mean, you're doing it for different reasons.
Probably doing it for love. Maybe you want to stay in the same town. That's okay. I mean, you're doing it for different reasons. Probably doing it
for love. Maybe you want to stay in the same town. Maybe your parents, you know, where there's a lot
of reasons why, you know, we get stuck and it's okay. Just make sure when, um, when it comes down
to it, you're doing things because it makes you happy. However way you want to make, however way
it makes you happy. You know, maybe you want, what makes you happy is making other you happy. However way you want to make, however way it makes you happy.
You know, maybe what makes you happy is making other people happy.
Maybe what makes you happy is supporting your family.
Or maybe what makes you happy is staying in that same town because your parents don't want you to leave.
All that stuff's fine, you know, as long as you feel good about it.
But the minute you don't feel good about it, that's when we got to start making moves. That's when we start got to say, you know what as long as you feel good about it. But the minute you don't feel good about it,
that's when we got to start making moves. That's when we start going to say, you know what? Not
today, devil. We're going to get out there and we're going to find what we're looking for. Even
if it takes us fucking till we're fucking 80 years old, 90 years old. You know, I see these,
I love when I see old ass people just fucking, just still fucking hiking or playing fucking pickleball or like,
you know, working. Like my grandpa worked until he was 90 years old. I remember he had,
he had like a lung cancer or something. And he was like, he was on his deathbed and he was still
talking to me about business investments. He's like, I got this property, Andy.
I think we could go in on it.
And I'm like, Grandpa, you're dying.
That's what kind of man he was.
That's what kept him alive.
Find stuff that will keep you alive.
Because the minute we stop learning about ourselves,
the minute we stop using our brain,
I think that's when we start dying,
when we start being compliant.
I was feeling that a little bit.
I was having a rough patch with my manager.
I'm having this existential crisis right now because I like to work.
I like to be in there.
I like to manage and stuff.
But sometimes how I work is not healthy when I'm having a business partner.
And it gets me frustrated.
It's like I was born to work.
I was born to change this industry up.
I'm not just here to settle just because the idea of the music industry is having these suits run it.
I mean, I want to find out a new music industry
or new entertainment industry
where the artists have the power as well.
And we're afraid.
A lot of people don't want to learn the business,
which is crazy to me.
You're in a music industry,
you're in the music business
or you're in the entertainment business
and some of these artists don't want to learn the business.
They just want to do the art. And's great i just i don't know it's crazy i want to teach artists that we are in control and we are in we have we have the front seat as well
you know so i don't know how i got onto that rant i was thinking about how a lot of these musicians
and these artists got fucked.
I'm talking with Sashir Zamata.
She's on the show.
Sashir Zamata.
SNL. She was on SNL
for four years.
She's an amazing artist.
We talk a little bit about
the actor's strike. We talk a little bit
about what's going on.
I'm glad that actors are fighting for this thing. know the royalties for netflix and the streaming is fucked and especially they
were telling me about the ai stuff which is crazy like musicians don't have to deal with this kind
of stuff yet not but i mean i see i see all these fucking videos where like two you know all these
ai's like tupac singing frank sinatra i'm like oh
fuck we're done for here we go here we go pessimistic frasco i'm like we're fucked guys
we're fucked but um so sheer was talking like we gotta you gotta take the power back and i'm glad
they're striking musicians don't strike um as because we don't have a union at least like the
actors and the writers guilds have a union.
So shout out to all the actors out there fighting for those screenwriters.
Shout out for the screenwriters.
Fight, damn, this lightning is fucking wild out here.
I think the earth is fucked right now, dude.
It's like 120 some places
and there's lightning and flood
and I'm like, what the fuck?
Aliens are coming, let's go.
It's about to be wild these next five years.
I have a feeling. Enjoy the ride, people. That's what I'm like, what the fuck? Aliens are coming. Let's go. It's about to be wild these next five years. I have a feeling.
Enjoy the ride, people.
That's what I'm saying.
There's no point of waiting to be happy.
What if the fucking world ends?
If it ends, whatever.
I mean, it's a scary thing to think about.
But if it ends, don't be at that last moment of life thinking,
I could have just stopped overthinking in my head. I could have fucking
made that gig. I could have done that piece of art. I could have fell for that girl. I should
have chased that girl or I should have fucking said I loved my parents. Don't be that person
when the end is coming. I'm not trying to say the world's going to end, but even like in your life,
if you're 90, if we make it, God forbid, we made it to 90, like hallelujah, if we make it
to 90, 100,
just make sure
that when you get to that ending point,
the final countdown,
that you're not regretting anything.
So you got to get out there while you have energy,
get out there and fuck shit up.
That's all we got, right?
To fuck shit up. Let's go get it.
You know? So, there's my rant. To fuck shit up. Let's go get it. You know? So there's my rant.
All right.
Sorry, guys.
Let's go.
Let's go.
So sheer got me all pumped up.
People fighting for artists and shit.
But, you know, someone's got to fight for us.
Or we're just going to get stepped on.
You know?
A lot of people, there's not enough money going around in entertainment anymore because, you
know, that if we don't take a step and don't, you know, take the power back, we're just
going to get stepped on. So learn your industry, learn how royalties work, learn how to book
a tour, learn how to manage a band. I know this is like, it'll frighten your managers a hair, but whatever.
Learn all this stuff so when they send you contracts,
you just don't say, oh, yeah, yeah, that sounds good,
and then they send it to a lawyer.
Like, read all that shit.
Don't be fucking lazy about that
because there's a lot of musicians who's gotten fucked
because they didn't read the contracts.
Our man George Porter lost all his royalties when he was a kid lot of musicians who's gotten fucked because they didn't read the contracts our man george porter
lost all his royalties when he was a kid because he was so excited to be a rock star and uh the
record labels and the publishing companies fucked him you know we have all this knowledge now if you
don't want to read it have ai read it for you let's take advantage of ai say hey ai ask ai
show them the conjures am i getting fucked right
now maybe i'll be like well actually this part of the contract does not save for art blah blah
have your way you're gonna learn learn read all you need to know about the music industry by
donald passman i read that when i was in eighth grade and it changed my life it and i read gorilla
marketing when i was in eighth grade i loved the music industry industry so much. I wanted to know everything about it.
I still don't understand publishing.
It's kind of weird to me, but I'm learning.
I'm asking Floyd is like the master at publishing.
He's like, he scores all these TV shows and stuff.
So I always pick his brain a little bit, what's going on.
But know all this stuff.
So when you're managers, if you have a manager
or if like a company comes to you, you're prepared
and you're not just going to say yes to everything and then you're going to get fucked. So that's anything in life. Prepare
for the worst, prepare for the best, but most importantly, prepare for happiness because
we always settle. And what's the point of settling anymore? You know, I'm done just settling. That's
why we get so heated up sometimes. I'm like, I'm fucking done settling. I want to fucking live. I want to have
passion. I'm done being bored. You know, I'm going through this little boredom in my life right now.
It's like, it's like, ah, I've done this shit. I've been to every town, you know, and I, and it's
all my brain. It's not everyone else's. I mean, life is mundane.
We got to find the beauty in the little things
or find a new way to look at things.
If you feel like your mind state is getting bored,
find a new way to look at it.
Maybe when you're looking at a flower,
oh, you're looking at the petals first.
Now maybe look at the twig or whatever the fuck that's called.
Or maybe look at the thorn.
Look how pretty that thing is that could hurt you.
You know?
Find details in life.
I think that's how we're going to not be bored.
Because I was going through this.
I'm like, damn, I'm fucking bored.
I've been doing the same gigs.
I've been in the same towns.
And I didn't know if there was going to be an end.
I'm just going to keep doing this circle.
And I'm a guy who likes to fucking...
What's up, Sean?
Smoking weed?
Everyone's in here.
Yeah.
I'm a guy who likes to always have some new shit going on.
I like to keep my brain healthy. I likes to, um, you know, always have some new shit going on. You know, my, I like
to keep my brain healthy. I like to keep my brain moving. I feel the minute I get stale is the
minute I start thinking about these deep, dark, depressing things. That's why I always work so
much. I think because at the minute I just keep my brain still, it goes dark because I'm bored
and I don't want to be bored. I love what I do.
I love my work. I have to, I have to change my mind. Like I say, my month, I said last Monday
about perspective. I'm saying all these Monday motivations for myself as well. People,
it's not like I know all the fucking answers. I'm just as confused as everyone else.
I'm just asking myself these questions So I can You know
Try to stay happy forever
You know
Or I mean
That's not existing
You're never going to be happy forever
But at least I can know how to control my sadness
And try to get back to happiness
And that's just asking those questions
And that goes back to the beginning of this
Little sermon or whatever
You got to ask what you want.
You got to know what you like.
And you're not going to know what you like if you don't ask yourself these questions.
What makes you happy?
Why am I doing this stuff?
What do I need to do to improve on the stuff that makes me happy so I don't get bored about it?
You know?
I love writing songs.
I love being on stage i just gotta you know like
anything in life when you do something for so long you start overthinking it like oh my god
there's way more like i never had a girlfriend well i no that's wrong jill was my girlfriend
but like i've had one girlfriend i'm 35 years old i was i've distracted myself with all the music
and then i hit this point when I turned 35.
I'm like, oh, fuck.
I've been doing one thing forever.
And then I got a little freaked out.
I think that's why I got bored.
I woke up from that little nightmare in a sense.
And said, all right, maybe I should find some more love in my life.
Maybe I should get better at the piano.
All this stuff that keeps us inspired. We got to stay inspired. life. Maybe I should, you know, get better at the piano, you know, all these stuff, you know, that
keeps us inspired. We got to stay inspired. We got to keep going in life. The minute we feel stale,
try to find something else that gets you where you need to be. Because I don't want people to end
sooner than they should. That's all. So keep going, keep fighting, keep doing things for you. And, um, you know,
everything will fall into place. I swear. All right. We got a great show for you. Uh, so she
is a Mata. She is a bad-ass. Um, I love that she wanted to be on this show. I'm a big, uh,
I'm inspired by her heavy. Um, she's an SNL. She's a standup comedian. She's a writer. She's
on that show Woke. I mean, she's the shit. And I think you're going to really love this
conversation. We talk about anxiety. We talk about the writer's strike. We just talk about
life as an actor. I mean, she grew up a Navy kid. She traveled around and she didn't really
have a home. She kind of reminds me of Sean. Sean didn't have a home too. She traveled around, and she didn't really have a home.
She kind of reminds me of Sean.
Sean didn't have a home, too.
He got moved around every three years.
So you're going to really love this interview.
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So go out there and go try them out and let me know what you think of them.
Also, if you really want to get down and dirty, go to volume.com, guys.
Watch.
Want to see the lightning hit while I'm staring at the lightning?
Want to watch the sheer spiller heart out about the industry?
Head to volume.com and watch this interview on video.
And they're all stockpiled, so maybe you want to re-watch,
re-listen to the podcast, but you missed a couple things.
Put it on while you're cleaning.
Put it on.
Get out there.
And if you're a content creator, why don't you
sign up for volume.com? I mean, there's no, it doesn't hurt to get more content out there.
Live streams are extremely important. Nowadays, getting your stuff online is important. So you
might as well, you know, YouTube, there's billions of videos on YouTubes. But if you go to all these different sites like Volume
and put your stuff out on there,
it's only going to help because every site has a fan base too,
just like YouTube.
Might as well get your stuff on volume.com.
Or if you're not a content creator,
go and just watch all the live streams.
I mean, there's so many good shows on there.
There's so many live shows.
You got Daniel Donato shows. You got George Porter shows. You got all these great shows that are stockpiled
on their website. So go check out volume.com and go watch the greatness that is in our music scene.
And like I said, all our podcasts are stockpiled in there as well. I got a couple more shows
in the next couple of weeks. I got to promote this one.
Yubo, Wisconsin. People Fest. People of Wisconsin. I'm coming back. It's like two hours from Madison.
I'm playing there August 11th. A lot of great bands, a lot of bluegrass bands, all my friends,
Leftover Salmon, yada, yada. Infamous String Dusters, I think. They're all playing this
festival with us. Wisconsin, show up.
Let's go eat some fucking cheese.
Let's vibe.
You know what I'm saying?
Let's go out there.
I'll be there on the 11th. I get there on the 10th.
I'll be partying in Madison the night before.
If you guys are in Madison, hit a brother up.
And then 8.13, I am at Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Yes.
Power set.
I'm playing for like 40 minutes.
And we're the second of four bands. So get there early.
I think it's almost sold out, but I think there's still like
800 tickets left, but it's going to be 10,000 people.
I'm bringing my A game. I'm going to show the reggae scene.
What the fuck is Gucci? You know what I'm saying? Come on. I'm bringing my A game.
I'm like, Frasco, I want to talk about this right now.
Frasco, it doesn't matter if you have an hour and a half set.
It doesn't matter if you're an opener.
You will bring that fucking headline energy to that fucking venue.
The rocks is mine.
I'm taking no prisoners.
I'm going out there.
I'm kissing babies.
I'm crowd surfing.
I'm doing the whole fucking nine In 40 minutes
Jesus
That's crazy
A lot of those bands
I feel bad about
For pop punk bands
There's like six fucking bands
On each one of these shows
They're all playing like 20 minutes
Like how do you get seen
But
You know
That's why I was thankful
To be in the jam scene
I get a little spread
I get a little
People like want longer sets
But in the reggae scene
And the fucking pop-up scene
They're like, nah, you get 20 minutes
I'm like, alright, whatever bro, cool
Then
We are heading to the Dinosaur Festival
Legends Valley, Ohio
Secret Dreams
That's gonna be dope
Next week is an episode for Secret Dreams
We have Matty O'Neil on the show
We talk about Secret Dreams
It's gonna be a Secret Dreams sponsored episode
So we'll talk a little bit more about it
If you don't know what it is, it's in Legends Valley
If you don't know where Legends Valley is in Ohio
It's a fucking awesome venue
The Stones have played there
I think the Dead have played there
A lot of great fests
This is more of an EDM festival, Secret Dreams
And they're putting us on late night
Throw some curveballs
Shout out to those guys for letting me play it. Let's fucking
go. We love to see it.
We love to see variety at festivals.
Not the same fucking shit like normal.
So head to Secret
Dreams on 817 while playing the late
night. And then Chicago, I'm coming back.
Cultivate Fest.
It's a new festival hosted
by Riot Fest. We're
opening for GZA. Wu-Tang, baby. Come on. Let's go. Frasco and Wu-Tang. Let's fucking go. hosted by Riot Fest. We're opening for GZA.
Wu-Tang, baby.
Come on.
Let's go.
Frasco and Wu-Tang.
Let's fucking go.
That's fucking exciting.
And in Chicago.
I fucking love Chicago.
That's August 25th, people.
Come on out.
All right.
I've been on for 20 minutes.
Guys, I love you.
Stay safe.
Stay sane.
Don't let the demons in your head get you down They're demons for a reason
You can always shoo them away
With kindness
Just gotta be kind to yourself
Sometimes we don't get kind to ourselves
That's fine
But just be a little kind to yourself
That's all I'm asking
Because this life is too hard already
For you to be not kind to yourself
Everyone's gonna be throwing shit at you
Marinating it.
You're going to have shitty times with your
jobs, shitty times with your relationships.
But
at the end of the day, you're the one
who has to put yourself to bed. Anyway,
stay safe. Stay sane.
I love you. Enjoy
us as Shears of Mata. This is going to be a
great interview. A little different than the musicians,
but it's a star-studded show. We're getting
bigger and bigger. We got
fucking stand-up comedians from SNL. Let's fucking
go. Let's go. All right, guys.
Enjoy it.
Have a great day, and
I'll see you next week with
Matty O'Neal.
What's up, Sasheer? How you doing?
I'm good. How are you?
I'm doing well. How's it going out there in Mexico? You just taking a vacation?
I am. Everyone's on strike. I'm sure you heard.
Yeah, yeah.
Taking advantage of this obligatory break.
Right. Do these strikes stress you out or do you feel like there's going to be a resolution?
Do these strikes stress you out,
or do you feel like there's going to be a resolution?
I really hope the fact that the actors and SAG have gotten involved that that puts pressure on the studios,
but also I have no idea.
I've never been through one of these.
I've witnessed them.
There was a writer's strike years and years ago,
but I wasn't in the guild yet, so I have
no idea. Aren't unions crazy?
Like, it's like,
it's like, yeah, it's like, it's
great to have this, this like,
companionship, but it
must be scary that someone's like
leading this thing, and hopefully they're
leading it into the right direction, you know?
Yeah, and our leader
is the nanny, you know? Yeah. And our leader is the nanny, you know?
So we're like, I hope.
Yeah, I hear that.
I hope.
Yeah.
What is the nanny then?
I mean, she's done a lot.
She's doing great.
But it is like, we're just waiting for the nanny to get things done.
Yeah, it's like, you're like looking at the emails in the morning, like, well, when is this going
to happen?
Is this going to, they're saying it might last all year.
I don't think, I don't know.
What do you think?
I don't know.
Cause nothing, I mean, there is a lot of content out there, but I feel like eventually no new
stuff will be created.
So I, I don't, I would hope that also the people that the the patrons who are watching this stuff
also put pressure on the production companies and they realize how valuable these artists are right
you i i have hope but i also have i'm also like i don't know i have no idea do you want to explain
kind of the what's going on in in the industry i hear so at least my listeners who don't know. I have no idea. Do you want to explain kind of what's going on in the industry?
I hear so at least my listeners who don't know what's going on with the strike is at least on board.
Yes.
A couple of months ago, the Writers Guild of America, they went on strike.
And there's a list of negotiations that they wanted that weren't met by the producers and the studio heads.
And some of those things were like, you know, regulations on the use of AI to create things because there are already ways that AI can like write screenplays.
And then that puts writers out of jobs,
which is crazy.
I saw a tweet recently that was like,
can some of this AI like clean the plastic out of the ocean?
Or do they all want to be screenwriters?
What is happening?
Exactly.
Like,
yo,
why can we use these AIs or something like not,
you know, that could at least like help us live for another thousand years?
Truly.
They all want to be artists?
What's happening?
Use them for something good.
So yeah, things like that.
Residuals.
TV has changed a lot over the years.
And it keeps changing.
We still only have three channels. Then there was cable,
then there was, uh, you know, streaming.
So like each time something changes, new rules need to happen.
But we like came upon this streaming boom and things didn't get updated.
So there's like, you can write it on a show,
but then you don't get residuals for that show.
And you used to be able to sustain your livelihood by being a writer on one show because you got residuals for every time that was played on cable TV.
But on streaming, they don't count numbers like that.
They don't count numbers for like Netflix and shit?
I mean, I think they have numbers, but they haven't like broke it down in a way that makes sense of like how much residuals to give their writers or their actors or anything like that.
Or even like if you had a show that was on network TV that is now on a streaming site, you may not get residuals transferred now that it's on a different platform.
That's so, that's some robbery shit.
That doesn't taste well.
Yeah.
And so the actors are doing essentially the same
thing. We have the same
request, which also
includes scanning
ourselves. There's
different production companies who want to
scan the likeliness
of background actors
or actors and use their image
in perpetuity.
And I used to be an be extra i started as an
extra so like say for example i did a i did a job on like uh csi or something and then they scanned
my whole body and my face and then my career went the way it went and now i'm an actress
they still have my image so they can still like plug me into whatever episode or movie or whatever because I signed off on it because they have my image
or my voice. And that's what you paid for that.
Yeah. You make your money. Yeah. Harrison Ford looks young as fuck in all these things
now. That man is like 100 years old. He's looking like he's 50 again. I'm like, this
is some Terminator shit.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Which is like, if you sign off on that, that's okay.
But we don't...
There's like some tricky stuff happening where people aren't aware of how much their likeness is going to be used.
Right.
And it goes back to like that.
I know.
And it goes back to like, you know, it's kind of like the gold rush.
No one knew what was going on or like the internet boom.
No one really knew what was going on.
So they're signing.
They're like, oh, yeah, this is just a likeness thing kind of like this.
And then they realize, oh, shit, I'm in a database that's going to use my likeness forever.
I'm not going to get paid.
Truly.
And also actors are like the easiest to take advantage of.
We're hungry.
Yeah.
We're desperate for jobs.
Yeah.
And I think for people on the outside of this, you know, to some people, I think they're like, oh, these greedy actors, you know, they're making millions of dollars.
But we're not talking about like Brad Pitt.
Yeah, Tom Cruise.
Millions of dollars.
We're talking about the working actor who needs this to pay rent.
Right.
Who's doing five different shows in a week where they have five lines for each thing.
Right.
And they're just trying to make ends meet.
There's so many people who just need to be able to make their livelihood
and they can't because they're not getting paid accurately.
And the producer's like, screw it.
We're just going to have computers be the background.
That's so fucked up.
That's so fucked up.
Some of them are like that.
Yeah.
I saw some greedy.
I saw like, I saw like some quotes,
one of the producers or one of the networks were like, yeah,
we're just going to let them starve.
I'm like, what?
I know.
I know.
It's so cruel.
I mean, I think there's like a disconnect
because they're not like really thinking about the humans
that are involved.
They're thinking about the numbers and the,
like, they can plug anybody in or anything, any AI in.
So they don't care.
To be honest, too,
when have they ever...
When have they ever cared?
Yeah, when have they ever cared about fucking humans?
They're just caring about dollars.
That's what's sad about this country.
We're so worried about the profit line
and people are starving
and the street's over.
And art was supposed to be to heal people.
And the artists that were making the art
was supposed to be
to show people that there's a different way of thinking
and the people fucking them
is just like, it's such bullshit.
Yeah, but I think
the pendulum will swing in the other direction.
I think
the power of the
crowd, of the
consumer is really powerful.
The fact that
The Flash didn't make any
money in theaters because people were like,
no, we really meant it when we said we don't want
to see this movie.
And that
affects the
studio.
That affects them.
So like I think,
I feel like I'm seeing more people
in the general public say things like,
I don't actually want AI to create my art.
Like whenever I see like a post that's like,
Gucci used AI to make an ad.
Like all the comments are like, why?
So you didn't want to pay like a photographer,
models, makeup artists, a location.
Like, cool.
We're just seeing how cheap you are.
And that's the general population.
So it does give me hope that people are like, I don't want to watch a TV show written by AI.
I want to feel a human experience because I'm human. And I want to connect to that.
Exactly.
I'm going to clap to you. Let's fucking go.
That's what I'm talking about. Let's go.
That's what I like to hear.
Art is about the human experience
and you can do whatever
you want to talk, how to
go sideways or
take the long road to it, but
at the end of the day, that's why art is so
beautiful because it is the human experience.
Yeah. I agree.
And you're also a podcast host.
Aren't people... I heard you can't even do podcasts.
You can't be guests on podcasts.
You have a podcast with Nicole.
I do, yeah.
So are you still doing it?
We are still doing it.
We are not allowed to talk about
like specific...
We can't talk about SAG
stuff, SAG produced stuff
so we can't be like here's a recap
of the show we watched we can't like do that
because that would be outside
of the strike guidelines but if we're just
talking to each other which is what our show is
our show is best friends we talk about
our friendship other people's friendship
that's fine that's like outside the
guidelines so we're still good to do the show That's like outside the guidelines. So we're still
good to do the show. We just have to be careful.
Like if we're like, oh yeah, I saw a movie
and we're like, nope, I did it.
I did it. Oh my god.
I wonder how, yeah,
I mean, you can't even promote movies
right now. Like what are they really
thinking? Like what are these people
thinking? Like your actors
aren't getting involved.
Yeah. I mean, the Emmys are coming up soon and the nominations were just
announced, but no one can promote their
show and no one can promote
their nomination. So I'm
hoping that really
shows how powerful
our
presence, our faces,
our voice is
Because people are aware of the show
But they also need to be promoted too
Right
We're taking the power back
Let's fucking go
I love it
Enough serious talk
I don't want you to get
I don't want your union to point a finger at you
Like don't be talking about this stuff But I'm like no one's you to get a, you know, I don't want your union to point a finger at you like, don't be talking about this stuff.
So, but I'm like, you know, no one's going to give a shit.
I do want to talk about like your younger life.
I do want to talk about, I got a lot of things I want to talk to you about.
I'm a huge fan of you.
I think you're super talented and everything you do is just amazing.
And I want to first talk about, you grew up in Japan.
Were you like a Navy brat or what?
Air Force.
Air Force.
I was in the Air Force.
Yeah.
He was a colonel?
I was born in Japan.
He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Yeah.
Was he strict?
So.
How strict was he?
He actually wasn't.
Really?
He actually wasn't.
No, he was the lax parent.
My mom was the strict one.
Because she was with you all the time.
Yes.
I think, yeah, because there would be times where he would have to bounce back and forth
between whatever base he had to go to and home.
So I think he was like, I hope you're still doing good.
As long as you're like, okay, I'm good.
So yeah.
Did you move around a lot?
Yeah. Yeah, I was born in Japan.. Did you move around a lot? Yeah.
Yeah, I was born in Japan.
Then we moved to Lexington, Kentucky.
And then San Antonio, Texas.
And then Hampton, Virginia.
And then Riverside, California.
And then my parents split.
And me and my mom and my brother
moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.
And that's where I stayed
for like middle school and high school.
And my mom's still there. And then
I moved to Virginia
for school. College.
UVA. College, yeah.
And then moved to New York
and then LA. Nice.
Moving around
at such a young age,
was it hard to find friends?
Was it hard to communicate?
Or were you someone who was very outgoing and you could find friends wherever you were?
I do think I developed a skill where I could make friends. I never liked being the new
kid, so I would quickly latch on to somebody. But I was generally shy and then I think knowing that I had to leave soon uh like made these
relationships superficial because I'm leaving so like why would I why would I deepen these
relationships or like try to like actually like have best friends if I'm gonna go in like a year
so was it hard something I had to work on in therapy. Yeah, I bet. I mean, my guitar player, he was a Navy brat,
and it's hard for him to build relationships
because he was always moving.
It was like resentment towards his parents and like,
but you made me move all the fucking time and blah, blah, blah.
I really think that it's very hard as a child to,
because you're still building how to have a relationship
with everybody.
So,
have you ever latched on
to a friend
when you moved into some town
and realized,
oh,
this is a psychopath.
I picked the wrong person
to latch on to.
I did.
I latched on to a girl
in Virginia
and we were best friends.
But it was like second grade.
So like,
I don't even know
what our qualifications were for best friendship at that time. But we were just like, But it was like second grade. So like, I don't even know what our qualifications were for best friendship at that time.
But we were just like, we just were like, ah, that's such a strong bond.
And then we stayed pen pals for years.
Like I kept moving around.
We kept writing each other.
And then I was visiting Virginia, visiting some family.
And we agreed to meet up.
And I think we were like in middle school
at this point and, um, or maybe fifth grade or something. And we were so different. Like she was
very like, I don't know, into boys and a cheerleader and like, which is nothing wrong with
that. But I was like, so not that I was very shy shy and not even thinking about boys.
I was like, how many more books do I read before I get to college?
What books were you reading?
What books was I reading?
I was reading Fear Street.
I was reading a lot of goosebumps.
Hell yeah.
Yeah, we're the same age.
So yeah, that was R.L. Stine.
So continue with that was R.L. Stine was...
Yeah.
So continue with this Virginia story.
She was...
It just wasn't working.
Yeah, we hung out.
We tried to hang out.
It was very sweet.
But I think we both realized like,
oh, we have grown apart.
We are not the same people we were in second grade.
So it's okay if we drift apart.
It's fine. I think that's the only one I tried to stay in second grade. So it's okay if we drift apart. It's fine.
Yeah.
I think that's the only one I tried to stay in contact with.
And then I was like, never again.
Why am I doing that?
Is it hard to communicate?
Yes and no.
I think it depends on the scenario.
Like, I have social anxiety.
So it depends on the day, my mood, how many people are around me that I know, how many people that are around me that I don't.
But I've had panic attacks in parties where I know everyone, but I just really can't predict it.
But I also feel so comfortable in front of strangers.
I do stand-ups.
But I also feel so comfortable in front of strangers.
I do stand-ups.
Sometimes I feel more comfortable being on stage,
speaking to hundreds or thousands of people and being fine.
But if I'm at a bar and someone I kind of peripherally know talks to me,
I'm like, oh my God, I'm sweating.
Do you think psilocybin helped with your social anxiety?
What's that?
Do you think psilocybin helped you?
I read an article about how you like shrooms.
I take psilocybin because I had social anxiety as well.
And that helped me actually not fear The stranger next to me sometimes But it's so weird
Because I have that same complex
Where I can go play for thousands of people
And entertain
But if I'm at a bar by myself
I'm like heart palpitating
I don't want to talk to this fucking guy
Do you think it helped a little bit?
I've honestly never thought about it like that
I feel like I've gotten many benefits from mushrooms.
I'm not sure if I can tie it to social anxiety.
Maybe.
I feel like my anxiety journey is something I'm still working through and discovering on how to manage.
Like I had these palpitations for years and didn't know what they were.
And then they like increased during the pandemic.
And I was like, I got to check this out.
Like I thought I had a heart problem, which thankfully I did not.
Like I went to the doctor, had to wear a heart monitor and did all these tests.
And they were like, no, there's
nothing physically wrong with you. It's your brain. I was like, oh, good.
Like everyone else.
Good, good, good.
What do you think the pandemic, what happened in the pandemic that made you start overanalyzing,
having a little more anxiety, a little more depression? What was going on?
I think I was just doing a lot of like self-analyzation in general.
I was doing more meditation and therapy and group therapy.
And I think I was just like in my head a lot.
And then also like in my house a lot.
Like everyone was in their house.
And I love being home.
Like I was like thriving during the pandemic.
I was like, oh my God, I don't have to go anywhere.
I don't have to lie when I'm getting invited to places.
I could just be home.
This is amazing.
And then I guess like people coming over
or me going outside or that like was creating
a new level of anxiety that I didn't anticipate.
So I think it was like a mixture of a lot of things.
Were you in New York during the pandemic?
No, I was in LA.
Okay, cool.
A little more spread out.
Yeah.
I had like outside space to go to, which was really nice.
And parks.
I guess there's parks in New York, but I did have more space.
But yeah, I think once I actually went to the doctor and they're like, I think this is like linked to anxiety.
Just putting a name on it did help ease it a bit.
Because when I did get palpitations, I'd be like, okay, so you're feeling anxious about something.
And you would kind of die down.
And yeah, I think just like understanding it a little more and labeling it was super
helpful.
Do you remember your first like major episode?
You're like, I need to go to the doctor.
Hmm.
I mean, my first panic, like big panic attack was at Disney World.
Pandemic Disney World too?
It looked like apocalypse out there probably.
What happened?
I worked at Disney World during college.
And I was a character performer.
I was friends with, that's what you're supposed to say.
I was friends with Pluto, Eeyore, Mrs. Incredible.
And then I was tasked to wear the Buzz Lightyear costume,
but I was like a little too small, but they didn't care
because no one liked the Buzz Lightyear costume.
It was like too big.
The chest pack was overbearing.
It was bad.
And so I was arguing with my manager about it,
and she was like, you're lying.
Everybody's trying to get out of this costume,
which I was like, then that's a sign that the costume is bad.
She didn't care.
And I went out to these kids.
I'm like sobbing underneath this costume.
You're looking yourself in the mirror.
You're looking yourself in the mirror
just with a Buzz Lightyear outfit on just crying.
I'm not the best Buzz I could be.
So you were looking yourself and you're like, what am I doing?
Did it just freak you out?
I still had to work.
I had to go in front of these kids and stamp my autograph on their books.
And I was miserable.
And the character attendant, who's like our eyes and ears, was like, hey, Buzz, are you okay?
Like thumbs up or thumbs down.
And I gave a big thumbs down.
was like, hey, Buzz, are you okay?
Thumbs up or thumbs down? And I gave a big thumbs down. And then
he tried to usher me off the stage,
but then Woody was blocking
the door and hamming it up with the kid.
And I guess panic
ensued and my
lungs stopped working. And then I started
hyperventilating. And you could hear it outside my
costume. And they just picked me
up and rushed me backstage and took all the
gear off of me. And they're like, we think you had a panic attack, which I had never had before. So I was like picked me up and rushed me backstage and took all the gear off of
me. And they're like, we think you had a panic attack, which I had never had before. So I was
like, I guess I'll take your word for it. And then some old worker at Disney drove me to the medic
and was like, what happened to you? And I was like, I think I had a panic attack. And I was told
there were a lot of retired military vets who worked at Disney
because I just wanted to like be around happy people all the time and I don't know if this
was the guy who was driving me but I was like yeah I think I had a panic attack and he goes
you don't know panic I was like I guess I don't I guess I don't I have no idea what you've seen. We are strong out here in Disneyland.
We are powerful, fearless mascots, friends of Buzz Lightyear.
Oh my God.
I just see the scene, like the backstage of wherever everyone's taking their break
or everyone's like taking off their masks and just like smoking a cigarette
with like half their Pluto outfit on or half their Buzz outfit on.
Like, man, fuck
this job.
Dude. Especially
the Buzz Lightyear one where you're wearing a big ass
mask. I mean like, I would hypervent
if I'm like already having a panic attack and I'm wearing this
big ass fucking outfit.
Nah, hell no.
So what do they do? They just like pat
you on the back and say, get back out there?
Well, after the panic attack, all these managers came and analyzed me in the costume, which was like hanging off of me.
And they're like, we realize that you probably shouldn't wear this.
So I got discharged from the costume.
But I was like, I can't believe I had to like break down.
I can't believe I had to like have a panic attack for you to realize this probably wasn't a good fit for me.
Right.
Did you tell your dad?
Your dad's probably, like, you know, Air Force.
Like, I got discharged too, Dad.
I got buzzed, like, you're out.
He's like, that's my girl.
Wouldn't you?
I tried to do my best at service, but they had to let me go.
Where in Disney?
I mean, you said college?
It was a college gig?
This was college.
This was 2007.
And this was Disney World in Orlando.
Orlando.
Because you were in Virginia.
I mean, that's a tough school to get into.
So you stayed in Virginia? Yeah.
Or what?
And you just worked in Orlando
Yeah it was like the Disney
College program
So it was kind of like an internship
For a semester and a summer
And I got back to
I was studying theater at the time
And so when I got back they were like
Good job but you still have a lot of credits
To make up
We don't know what these Disney credits are.
Oh, shit.
But I did it.
What did you learn?
I learned a lot.
It wasn't... Honestly, it was more social skills
because I felt like starting college over again.
I was with all these other students
from other places and international students.
So it just felt like kind of a whole new world.
Oh, here we go. Let's go. I'll clap to that. That was a good one. There we go. Full circle, queen.
No, I hear that. So I'm very fascinated. When did you start getting into wanting to be an actress,
a comedian? Who was the first one that inspired you that you really loved that just
made you, maybe it was an aunt, maybe it was your
mom. Who was it?
Ooh.
My family is very funny, but not
on purpose. I don't think I looked at anybody
and was like, wow.
I'm going to be that. I'm going to tell those jokes.
I'm going to be that. Quite the opposite, honestly.
Yeah? No.
I was a big fan of I Love Lucy.
I love Lucille Ball.
She's very funny and obviously.
And like quite the entrepreneur of her era.
I did watch The Nanny a lot.
I was a fan of Fran Drescher.
I love Matt TV, SNL.
Deborah Wilson is someone... Deborah Wilson probably is like the first
like ooh I could do that because she was a
black woman doing sketch comedy and I
hadn't seen that before
and she's
so hilarious
her impressions were
impeccable and yeah
I think that was the first person I saw who I was like
that's someone like me I'm like saw who i was like that's someone that
like me like i'm like seeing myself on tv and that's something i would want to do i had no
idea how to do it i was like a fan of comedy but had no idea how anyone got into it um and then i
started doing improv in college at uva and then a touring company of the Upright Citizen Brigade Theater from New York came to
perform and teach classes and stuff like that. And I remember someone asked a question like,
how do you get a career in comedy? And Bobby Moynihan, who later got on SNL, was like,
you move to New York, you go to UCB and you work really, really hard. And then months later, got cast on SNL, and I was like, he knows what he's talking about.
So I did exactly that.
I moved to New York, started classes at UCB, and then, yeah, things kind of just fell into place.
People saw me on stage.
My agent saw me on stage.
My manager saw me on stage, and then started booking commercials.
And then eventually you realize, oh, this is the path
that a lot of the people I looked up to
took.
The UCB in New York
feels like you have a better chance of making
it on an SNL versus the one in Chicago
because all the talent agents
are there.
Talent agents definitely go to Chicago, too.
There's a ton of Chicago
comics who are all over the place.
Yeah, I think the Chicago comedy scene is really bred for that.
They take a very theatrical view of comedy,
where New York is absolutely very serious about the comedy scene.
But I don't know. It feels more experimental or something
I'm not quite sure how to compare them
Because I also never
I didn't come up in the Chicago scene
But
Yeah
I think people will
People who know comedy
Or like
Casting comedians
I think they do know to go
To New York
And Chicago
And LA
To find
The crop
Yeah
The crop of the,
of the scene.
Cause wasn't SNL like dealing with like a,
they needed more diversity in what,
when the years in auditioning.
So were you getting like when you got the gig,
was there like,
like racism involved in it?
As I'm trying to say,
like, was there like, Oh, I wouldn wouldn't say racism i would say maybe like blind spots yeah um i i got cast in 2014 but i think the first time i auditioned
for the show was maybe 2011 or 12 or something. They had already known me
and other black women too.
But I guess there was like
a sudden surge of
public outcry for
a black woman on the show.
So, you know,
they had this rushed audition,
which was funny
because as I was putting my tape together, I was like,
this is my last run. I'm going to try one more time. And if I don't get it, I'm moving to LA
and trying other stuff. And I remember I put my character reel together and sent to my manager
for notes. And they're like, funny story. They need this right now. And I was like, what?
Oh, okay. I didn't know they were
doing it was like september or something or october i didn't know i was like i didn't know
they were doing auditions because usually that happens like earlier in the year um but they were
they wanted to hire someone that season to i guess rectify the lack of of a black woman and so my
tape in they liked it
we did a in person
testing
where you're like in front of the camera
in front of Lorne and
producers and other people
and I
feel like I blacked out like I don't
really
like a raccoon in lights.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
That's so scary, dude.
I definitely left the stage feeling like that was the best thing I've ever done.
Like I was like so confident that I couldn't have done better.
I was like, if they don't want me, that is not my problem.
Like I did it.
I put it all out there.
And then there were like interviews after that. not my problem. I did it. I put it all out there. And
then there were interviews after
that. And then I think in January.
So all that happened in December.
And then in January, I got the call that I
got cast. And then
that was in there.
Oh my God. I'm clapping for you because that's badass.
Let's go. Perseverance.
What did you...
For the first three years,
you know, looking back,
did you feel like you were ready
those first three years of auditioning
until you got it there?
Did you feel like year four of your audition,
like, I fucking nailed this thing now?
Yeah.
I feel like I got cast
when I was ready to be on the show.
I think if I got cast the year before,
the year before that,
I don't...
I think... I think I the year before, the year before that, I think
I was too new, too green.
And honestly,
I still hadn't been
working that much when I got cast
on SNL, but they also like hiring
newbies. So
I felt like I was in a sweet spot
where I was ready to
adapt and learn and grow
and try to thrive in this environment.
And I feel like I left that place a better writer,
a better performer, a better communicator of my ideas.
I grew so much because it's like a boot camp for everything.
I really left that place feeling like I can do anything.
And it's like a really
good place to be how cutthroat were the writing rooms I mean it's like a numbers game because
there are maybe like I don't know 18 writers 17 cast members everyone's writing at least two
sketches right and then they can only read like 40 sketches during
table read we can only rehearse like 12 or something and then maybe eight go on air or
something like that i'm sure the numbers are wrong i haven't been on the show for a long time
but uh yeah i mean i guess it's cut throat also it's like, there's no way to know how things are getting picked.
Like sometimes sketches get chosen because there's something super topical that week that we have to talk about.
Or this makes the host look really, really good.
So we're going to use this kind of sketch because they're good at this character.
Or like, Lauren thinks it's funny.
So we're going to do that sketch.
But it doesn't necessarily mean like these are bad
sketches that we're not doing. This is like
this week went this way
and the next week will go a different way.
But I also think it was good for
me learning how to
kill my darlings and
not be so attached. Because it's like,
alright, this has nothing to do with me.
I can't predict this.
It doesn't mean I'm not good at my job.
It just means this is how it's going.
So I can't get too like attached to this.
Any sketches that you're like, damn, that was my,
I love that piece and it just didn't get on air?
I'm sure many. I'm sure many.
I'm sure many.
I do remember I had a fun Maxine Waters update.
I can't remember what the game was at all,
but I remember getting all the prosthetics on to make me look older in a costume,
and it was fun to do,
and then it just got cut.
And that's also a possibility.
That's how that goes.
I do remember one like huge win for me.
I pitched this Stranger Things sketch.
And the idea was like,
I guess I was thinking about Stranger Things
and like how they were like running around looking for monsters
and stuff like that and I was like
where are the black
kids parents like where's
Caleb's parents because my
parents would be like what are you
doing like where are you going
why are you always riding your bike at night
with these white kids like where are you going
and so I basically
pitched that and and was
like it's stranger things but like the parents are like what are you doing and people laughed
really hard and then i wrote the sketch and and it was like the only sketch that i've written where
it stayed the same until air like sometimes things get changed like during rehearsal, during the day of, during
dress rehearsal, but it truly stayed the same until it aired and it did so well. The audience
loved it. Lauren loved it. Yeah. I just felt like so proud of that. I was like, ah, finally a win.
Well, who were your mentors during those years? Did you have a mentor that was kind of helping you through everything
and kind of inspiring you to be
great or anyone?
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Kenan is
wonderful. He's like,
he's so, he's such
a wonderful human and so
knowledgeable about TV because he's been
doing it since he was like, what? It's crazy how long
he's been fucking doing it. 14 or something?
It's crazy. He's been doing it forever. was like what crazy how long he's been 14 or something like it's crazy he's been doing it forever so he's like and he has a very chill vibe about himself too which makes
which was putting me at ease like oh okay he's not like taking in all this stress and feeling
like it's a rat race and whatnot he's kind of just like it's his job you come to work you do
what you do a good job and you go home and i was was like, I can do that. Yeah. And yeah, I feel like I got a lot from him.
Bobby Moynihan was a huge support system for me.
It was like awesome that like Bobby's the one
who planted the idea of me like moving to New York
and doing UCB and I got to work with him
and we got to be on the show together at the same time.
Like that was really amazing.
So rad.
Full circle moment.
Everyone's great. Yeah, everyone was really amazing. So rad. Full circle moment. Everyone's great.
Everyone was absolutely rooting
for each other. It was just like a
interesting environment
where only
some things got floated to the
top each week and some things didn't.
But I think the people
wanted everyone to win.
How was your anxiety level during this time?
All over the place.
I don't remember having any panic attacks while I was there,
but also I do remember at some point reading about panic attacks
because I hadn't had a big one in a long time.
But I read something that was like,
you can also have little ones where your tongue is tingling
and your fingers go numb. And I was like, oh can also have little ones where like your tongue is tingling and your fingers go numb.
And I was like, oh, that happens to me all the time.
And I was like, oh, shit.
I've been having little panic attacks for who knows how long.
I have no idea.
Isn't it crazy?
Like we've been dealing with this part of our whole life.
My first panic attack was like 30.
But I was probably having them when I was 10, 15, you know, like it's like all of a sudden someone tells you.
Yeah, we just have the language for it.
Yeah.
It's like anything in life, right?
Mm-hmm.
Like, I feel like you get better at writing.
It's like you finally become a writer in your brain.
Like, you've always been writing, probably.
You've always been making sketches up in your head.
But someone says, now, you're a writer.
That's a good point.
Or you're a comedian.
Now you're like, oh, fuck yeah, I'm a writer.
I'm a comedian, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You get to put a name on it and it feels
more official, I guess.
How was your stand-up chops during this time?
Did you have time to work on your chops?
Were you doing spots and stuff?
I was, yeah.
I feel really thankful that I
did stand-up before I got on SNL
and I just kept doing it throughout
because that felt
so satisfying.
It was like instant gratification.
If I had a bad week or even a good week at the show,
I could go to a stage and perform
and get immediate feedback from the audience that I'm funny.
And I'd be like, okay, okay.
It's like, we're back, we're back, we're back.
We're back, we're back, we're back. We're back, we're okay, we're okay.
Yeah, and I do feel like I developed more of my voice during that time. And yeah, just kept doing stand-up.
I'm very thankful.
Because I think if I had just worked at the show and the show was my life, it would have been a lot.
But thankfully, I was able to hit the stage whenever I needed to,
to get out some other energy. Totally. And so after 2017,
those three-year period before the pandemic, what were you mostly focused on? What was your
brain wanting you to do? Writing, acting, comedy? I would say kind of all of it i i released my first special pizza mind yeah 2017 um and i was touring
and i yeah i was really like in the zone as far as stand-up goes and i also wanted to be in a
different show so i was like auditioning for all these pilots and i i think the reason i moved to
la because at first i was like i'm in in New York. I'm a New York baby.
If someone needs to find me, I will be here. But then all these jobs kept pulling me to LA and I was like, okay, the money's in LA. I will be in LA now. Yeah, it's crazy. I grew up in LA. I grew
up in Calabasas, West Hills. And it's just so funny, the rat race in LA it's so different than New York right?
It does feel different yeah I'm very lucky that a lot
of my friends already moved from New York to LA
so I kind of just like
absorbed myself into their
ecosystem already but
yeah it's different
Any shows
or movies you auditioned for
that you regret not taking during those time?
Or maybe, or regret, like, damn, you wish you got that part.
Hmm.
I mean, yeah.
But also, like, I feel like everything happens the way it's supposed to happen.
Like, there's things I wanted for sure,
but then that thing comes out and it's like,
oh, it actually wasn't that good or it wasn't that well done.
Or if I had gotten that job,
then I wouldn't have had time to do this other job
that I actually loved or whatever.
So yeah, I think there's always things
that I really, really want to do,
but then it doesn't happen for whatever reason.
But then it's also like, it opens the door for other things that actually need to be
happening in my life and in my career.
And when did you meet Nicole through all this?
I met her pretty soon after I moved to New York, like in 2009.
And we were both doing UCB stuff she was
like one of few black girls
that were there and
we kind of had
a friend crush on each other we were just like
oh my gosh she's so cool and she's so
cute and she's very funny
and
we asked each other to perform
and we performed a couple times
and then there was another black woman Ke Keisha Zoller, who is hilarious and killing it.
And the three of us became a trio called Doppelganger.
We called ourselves Doppelganger because people confused us for each other, which is ridiculous because none of us look alike.
I know, what the fuck?
We just are black women.
So wild.
It's wild.
Isn't that shit wild?
Does that offend you when shit like that happens?
It used to,
but I have absolutely made that mistake with white people.
So I'm like, okay.
I'm clapping for that.
Let's go.
There we go.
That's what I'm clapping for that. Let's go. There we go. That's what I'm talking about.
I've definitely been like,
wait, that's not Jessica Chastain.
Like, I'm so, what?
So when did the relationship get so close
where you wanted to like work with her all the time?
Pretty immediate.
Yeah.
She's so amazing. She's so amazing she's so amazing
i love her so much person who i could see her all day and still want to talk to her at night like
there was a time in new york where we'd go to the same commercial auditions we get lunch together
we go to ucb and take classes we'd go see a show or go do a show or go have rehearsal.
We'd go have dinner.
And then we'd go home and call each other on the phone to talk about our day.
And I don't have that kind of relationship with anybody else.
She's someone I can truly talk to forever, which is why we have a podcast.
Because we can talk to each other uninterrupted for hours and hours and like still
have fun yeah it's amazing i mean you you do have a wonderful voice and like i i found out this um
i found out this you're you're one of the voices in call of duty as well do you like doing that
voice work that's so crazy i was such a random thought do you was very fun. Do you like... It is random. It was very fun.
I don't remember...
Because I guess they were casting comedy people.
I remember the show that I did, or the game that I did,
had Jay Pharoah, Seth Green, who else?
Ike Barinholtz was in it.
So, yeah, they were looking for funny people.
And it was like a
I really don't know how to describe it
It's like a side game within Call of Duty
Yeah, like a side quest
Yeah
And it was more like cartoony and light
It wasn't so, you know, kill, kill, kill
You did kill zombies,
but it wasn't like,
I tried to actually,
I had never played Call of Duty
and I had a friend who had it.
So I was like,
oh, I want to see what it's like.
And however it started,
like your person, your player,
like jumped off a cliff or something
or like into a hole
and then got a knife
and like stabbed someone
in the eye and you watched the life drain out of their face and i was like this is what this game
is this is america that was like before the the actual game started i don't even think
you were controlling it at that point that's just like a pre-setup to whatever mission you were about to start. And I was like,
oh my god. Okay.
Well, my part's not like that.
My favorite thing, woke,
was amazing.
Were you proud of that?
It was fun to do.
I was very proud of it. Yeah. I feel like we were
finding a really good
groove and it was
a show that
was talking about like touchy issues
and we weren't shying away from stuff um yeah and i just had a lot of fun like the cast was
genuinely so funny um like lamorne and i had a really great like on-screen uh like chemistry slash like hate.
Yeah.
That was fun to play into.
Yeah, it was super, super fun.
But, you know.
Did you help write it?
Come and go.
Did you help write it?
I didn't, no.
No, they at least, they did.
They were very open to improv, which I love.
And everyone on the show is good at improv.
So we did like improvise a lot of stuff.
But no, technically I was not a writer.
Why do you think it stopped?
I don't know.
Yeah.
It's, I can never predict.
Like sometimes like people who work at the networks change over
and those people don't want to keep the shows
that they didn't have anything to do with,
or it's a numbers thing where it's like,
Oh,
we didn't get as like high of a,
of a watching when this came out or I don't know.
I never got a why.
I just,
I wish we did get a third season.
It would have been nice to like round it out.
We would have been able to like finish a story,
but that,
that happens sometimes. Yeah. It's so crazy. Yeah. Cause you don't, for the writer too, it's like, round it out. Yeah. I feel like we would have been able to, like, finish a story. But that happens sometimes.
Yeah.
It's so crazy.
Yeah.
Because you don't, for the writer, too, it's like, all right, you're done.
You couldn't even have closure on it.
So now you have, like, this open-ended book of a show.
Yeah.
Which was such a beautiful show.
It feels weird.
It does feel a little weird.
At least, like, give the option to finish it up.
What are you working on now? What are you working on now?
What are you working on now?
Are you writing some stuff?
Are you acting?
Give me the deets for what's going on now.
Well, you can't right now.
My special.
Yeah, your special.
Yeah, I'm not writing or acting, but my special is done.
And it's coming out August 15th.
And I'm super proud of it.
My last one came out in 2017.
And I feel like
I've grown so much
as a comedian, as a performer,
as a person, and I think
that's really reflected in this
special and I'm just
really excited for people to see something new.
Yeah, and how long did it take you to make it?
How long were you working
on the material for before you said,
I think I'm ready?
That's a good question.
I guess since 2017.
But some of the stories are old stories that I didn't know what to do with.
I talk about this car accident that happened to me when I was at UVA in college.
But I didn't know what was funny about it yet and I didn't know what I wanted to
say about it so yeah sometimes I have stories just like sitting in this bank on my phone and then
eventually I'm like oh this connects to this idea or like oh this thing that just happened to me
reminds me of this thing that happened to me in the past or whatever so like I just like
find new ways to like thread it with the other material I'm writing.
Yeah. So it's like, I guess I've been
working on it for four or five years,
but also some of the stuff is very old,
some of the stuff is very new, as of
days before I actually got on stage to record
the album. Oh, really?
Yeah, there's a punchline in there
that I had never done.
But I was like, I believe
so strongly that this is right.
And it worked.
Did it kill?
It did kill.
Let's fucking go.
See sometimes like.
Why are we afraid to.
Are you a person who is afraid to trust their gut?
Or like when you feel something in you.
Do you go out there and go attack it?
Yeah.
I trust my gut immensely.
Because I feel like it's been.
Like what's helped me in my career and my life thus far.
Yeah, I can trust my gut more than I can trust anybody else.
Do you feel like you have to work harder being a woman in this industry?
Hmm.
I guess yes and no.
Sometimes people are looking for a woman. So it's nice because I'm like, here I am. playing to a room full of people who are not like me and maybe don't understand my viewpoint.
And that can not get me a job or not get me whatever because they're like, I don't get it.
Which is fine.
They don't have to get it.
But yeah, it's just like sometimes people get things
because whoever's paying the thing or hiring for the thing, they're like, oh, I want to hire someone who reminds me of myself.
And then we get in this cycle of people who look the same getting the same kind of jobs.
But if you think it's changing, it's just like bias.
That's just how it is.
Yeah.
Like people don't know they're doing that or they
do and they don't care but uh i think most of the time people are like oh i just saw like a scrappy
young man who reminded me of me but not thinking i should probably make an effort to find people
who aren't like me because they have valuable voices too yeah but i do think it's getting
better and um i'm absolutely seeing more diversity
in comedy and in the entertainment
industry and I just hope it
keeps trending upward.
I feel like this whole
idea of creature of habit
is ruining
evolution in a sense.
Because if we just keep on doing
the same circle and we're not growing
ideas and trying to find different
Opinions and different feelings
How are we going to grow as a society?
This is
I 100% agree
Yeah, we need
We need diverse voices because the world is diverse
And we need to be reflected
In the art that's being created
Right, this has been so wonderful
Thank you so much for being on the show
I really appreciate it
I got one last question
And I'll let you go get out there
Get some sun in Mexico
Go have fun
Fuck the writer's strike
Don't even worry about it
Go out there and be beautiful
Even though it's stressful
I couldn't even
Musicians don't get a union
They're like
Oh, you don't want a gig?
You really need one
I know
We're stuck, dog We gotta go play in like D'Kipsy, Kansas If there's a union. They're like, oh, you don't want a gig? You really need one. I know.
We're stuck, dog.
We got to go play in like D'Cipsy, Kansas if there's a union, you know, or like it's some bullshit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
From what I've heard, the music industry is not great either.
Yeah, it's horrible.
So my last question for you is when it's all said and done, what do you want to be remembered
by?
Wow.
I want to be remembered for doing things that feel authentic to me.
I hope people see the work that I do and they're like, oh, that feels like Sashir.
That feels like Sashir would make that thing.
It feels like Sashir would do that thing.
It aligns with her personhood and her values.
And yeah.
And I relate to it.
I hope people can relate to what I'm doing too.
Authenticity.
I love it.
Thanks for being on the show, Sasheer.
And have a great day.
And keep fighting the good fight, queen.
We got you, dog.
We got you.
Hell yeah.
Have a good one.
Thanks for being on the show.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.
Have a good one.
Thanks for being on the show.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.
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