Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Amber Ruffin

Episode Date: November 14, 2024

Comedian, performer, and host Amber Ruffin knew she was funny at a young age, so it's no surprise she is making viewers laugh out loud on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and CNN's "Have I Got News For You." Amber joins Sophia to talk about her road to comedy, making history as the first black woman ever to write for a late-night talk show in America, her decision to share her own experiences with police brutality on late night, writing a best-selling book with her sister, her decision to come out as queer earlier this year, and why humor is such an important force for good. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. Friends and digital listener community, today we are joined by someone who defines being whipsmart herself. Today's guest is none of. other than Emmy and Tony nominated writer, comedian, host, and performer, Amber Ruffin. She has become one of the most prominent and celebrated voices in late-night television

and happens to be one of my favorite people ever to be interviewed by, to interview, and to hang out with. Ruffin is not only a cool, brilliant lady. She's also a history maker. She made history as the first black woman to write for a late-night network talk show in the United States, joining the writing staff of NBC's iconic late night with Seth Myers in 2024. Her quick wit, boundless energy, and incisive social commentary quickly made her a breakout star, leading to regular on-air appearances for her, and then the creation of her own segment. Amber says what?

Most recently Amber penned the revised book for Broadway's current revival of the Whiz. This is actually her second recent foray into Broadway, having received a Tony nomination just last year for co-writing the book of the musical Some Like It Hot, based on the classic film, and as the host of her own eponymous late-night program on Peacock, the Amber Ruffin Show, she has carved out a truly unique space for herself as a sharp-witted satirist and dynamic on-camera personality. That might be because Ruffin got her start in the world of improv. She has performed with acclaimed troops in Chicago and Amsterdam before transitioning to writing and on-camera work.

She has this incredible ability to find humor in the every day and to challenge societal norms. I love her biting incisive style, and so do the rest of you because it's earned her widespread acclaim, including the aforementioned Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.

She is also currently the hosts alongside her sister Lacey Lamar of the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber Shell, a weekly podcast produced by our friends right here at IHeartMedia, and Will Ferrer, Big Money Players Network. This show is so entertaining. It pits the sisters against each

other as they discuss life and pop culture and more while inviting exciting guests and games into their sibling rivalry. The sisters have also written two books together and happen to be New York Times best sellers. I could go on and on with more accolades for Amber, but I'm sure you'd rather be hearing from her than me in this intro, so let's dive in and chat with Amber Ruffin. So the thing I love to do the most with people, because when I sit down with someone like you, they know you from TV. They know you from being nominated for awards. They've seen you on late night. All of these things. I want to know if from this vantage point, if you got to hang out with Amber, the eight-year-old, would you see the current version of you and her?

Like, is there a through line? Or do you wind up here completely unexpectedly? I feel like I was a big baby. I'm still kind of a big baby. What do you mean? Like, scared of everything? Ew, a bug. But now I'm like a little murderer.

It's hard for me to feel embarrassed. Like, I'm kind of too loud and I'm up your nose and stuff. But then when I look back at when I was eight, I feel like I was feeling a little scared, but I was still eating bugs, bunch of people climbing trees. I was very wild, and I don't give myself enough credit for how bad I was when I was young. It was pretty wild. Okay, can we give little you some credit right now? Yeah. Okay. Amber, you're really bitey, and I enjoy that about you.

I love it. I love it. So were you, were you into television, talk shows, you know, the local hot goss, which I consider to be politics when you're young, like, were you into all that as a kid? What inspired you to become, you know, an observational comedian, writer? Like, where did it come from? Well, I feel like I never was into the goss, like, celebrity goss, politics, and who's who, what? What happened was is I realized that I was funny and that you could, like, make a living from it, which I didn't think was possible, but I was sure going to try. So I gave it a shot, and it worked out. That's kind of how it came about. But I didn't really care about politics, even though my mom, you know, was run around yelling about Ronald Reagan. That's my age. But she would, and she would be cussing this man out all the time.

And I would go, she wouldn't be cussing. She'd be so mad if I said she was cussing. I've never heard this woman say a cuss word. But, you know, she'd be so mad about him and what he was doing. And it never really occurred to me to be like, I wonder what her deal is. What's wrong with this guy? It didn't occur to me until late night came along. And then I kind of had to know what was up.

And, you know, the more you find out, the worse you feel. Hey. Yeah. It's like people will ask me how I got to be such a policy nerd and connect the dots between all these issues. And I'm like, well, once you start pulling on the thread, you kind of can't stop. Yeah. Because the more you learn, the more you realize there's so much more to learn. And it just continues. How did the jump happen then from realizing you were funny, realizing there was a world. a career in humor to getting to late night. Like, what's, what's in that gap there? I moved to Chicago to do improv. The gap is improv. And then I was there for a long time. Where were you?

Were you at Second City? Were you at I.O.? I was at I.O. Yeah. Then I went to Boom Chicago, which is a comedy theater in Amsterdam, which is basically the Second City, but it's in Amsterdam. Yeah. And I did the second city in Denver. Then I did the second city in Chicago. Then I went back to Amsterdam for boom Chicago. And then I moved to L.A. to make it. And then I got late night, Seth. And then it was off to the races. And then you had to move to New York, right? Then I had to move to New York. And here we are. And is it like crazy or an uncomfortable accolade or like totally exciting? or maybe it's a blend of all of them to know that you made history.

Like, we're not that old. And you made history as the first black woman to write for a late-night network talk show when you joined Seth. And, like, that was only 10 years ago. So, I don't know. What is that like in your brain? It kind of breaks my brain to think about for you as I look at you. I didn't think about it. I didn't know that that was happening.

Oh, wow. People were like, did you know that you're the first caca cuckoo cag. I was like, oh, okay. That's, you know, a little sad. But it also makes a lot of sense. Think about the shows you watched and their jokes and what they were doing. Yeah. I bet there wasn't a black lady in that room.

I'm pretty sure. But it just is nice because when I got hired, Then I think Robin Thidi got her late night show, the rundown, and then, you know, Sam B. I think had hired black women. And then just a little bit into my working at late night was Robin Theddy's birthday. And we were like, you know what she likes is black women in late night? And so we were like, betcha we can get everyone to go to a dinner. And we called everyone. There was only 10 of us in late night.

There was one of us that lived in L.A., but I feel like there was just 10 people at a table. And we were like, this is the entirety of black women in late night. We were like, this is sad, but also quite cool. Wow. It's very cool. I can text every black woman in late night. That was very neat. Right. It's like a little both and. Like, hmm, and also awesome. Yeah. Hmm. You've said, you've talked a bunch about how you'll never leave the show, but you've also, you're doing all your own shows and you and your sister are writing books. I'm like, you have a lot going on. So what does that look like? How do you remain part of the Seth Myers family and do all the other things you do? And why have you wanted to stay there for a whole?

decade. A. I want to stay here for a whole decade for exactly that reason because they let us do whatever. I mean. I love that. We turn in sketches, we, you know, I don't really turn in jokes a lot. I sometimes turn in jokes. It is a really cool, happy job where they want you to succeed.

Like, I've, with Seth, with Seth's production company, I've had five, five pilots and we shot two, we shot three. Yeah, so it's like, they want you to succeed. Yeah. Yeah. So it's very cool. I mean, I, you know, not to say I'm like the most experienced at late night person by any means, but, you know, I've been doing like TV shows for 20 years. so I've done a lot of late-night press. And I will never forget, I got to go on as a guest the first week of Seth.

And I had the best time, and everyone was so cool, and he is so lovely. And I don't even know how in like a commercial break we were talking, and he found out I'm a furniture nerd. And he was like, oh, my God, you got to know my wife's families, the interior people. And we, like, started following all these people on Instagram. And then they would, like, invite me to things. I was like, this is just such a nice person.

And then I was reading Amy Poller's book, and I will admit that I was day drinking with a friend of mine. It was a Sunday. We were by a pool. We had some rosé, and I read Cess chapter, and I was like, this is just so sweet. Like, men in our industry are toxic, and he's such a nice one. And I sent him, like, a not short, like, drunk text about what a good guy and an ally he is.

And I think he was like, okay, chicky. And his wife was like, oh, he doesn't know how to handle feelings, but he loves to laugh. But I thought it was sweet and we were cackling. I was like, you two are just for like people who run a whole amazing industry, which clearly they're also changing, hence this conversation. I was like, y'all are so normal and funny. I don't know. Just as a guest, I never want to leave there.

So I would imagine that as a writer, you're like, I'm going to stay. I'm just going to stay forever. out of my cold dead hands you can have this word i love it i love it do you do you think about because it's 10 years right and late night happens fast you're processing politics pop culture history insurrections you know all sorts of things are there are there like standout moments in that writer's room that you can share with us I mean, a little, like, our spin-out moments are stupid. I love stupid. Like, are my, when I think of the room, I think of like a few moments where like, oh my gosh, who's this guy?

Who's this guy? Beer, I love beer. Oh, God, I'm on trial for this and that. Who the fuck is that guy? what's that guy's name? Who is it? It's, um... Oh, Brett Kavanaugh!

Brett Kavanaugh. Took me a second. You know what? We were better for not knowing his name. You're right. I try to think of him as rarely as possible, though it is hard with a whole lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court thing. Girl, yikes.

When he was on trial, in the room, we were just like, oh, my God. And then when she had to testify against him, I just just, thought we were all going to explode. It was horrifying, and it made me want to jump through the TV screen and choke that guy. So that, and then we were all just, like, feeling it as a team. But everybody on late night is such a sweet little baby. We were all feeling the same anger. And a time that stands out is the day after Trump won.

And we come into work, and everybody, everybody's like, I knew it was racist I didn't know it was this racist and I was just like I've been telling you you're like welcome welcome buddies and I remember

like I put the bit I was doing in the room on late night that night which I was like yeah it sucks these people are crazy they could be your dad or your brother join the fun

And it was just like, of course, I've joined the fun. But my favorite memory from the late-night writer's room is when John Lutz went on to shoot, because he had a show that he had to shoot. So he was gone for a week. And every day of the week we made, he said, do whatever you want. Just don't eat at my desk. So every day we brought in a crock pot. One day we served queso on his desk.

Italian beef. Oh, my God. And it was just like a long line out of the writer's room. It was the whole office and everyone was just like scooping their food. It's always going to send a lead video. I love it. There's a lot of that. I love it.

It's family energy. Yeah. We'll be back in just a minute after a few words from our favorite sponsors. humor can save you right when things are hard like having community and and finding the joy in the middle of it is so important and i i would imagine that there's a there's like a respite and a safety in that because listen i think america look i'm going to back up to to circle back to where we are. It's not lost on me that I have had the immense privilege of a really beautifully diverse community. Not everybody gets the privilege of exposure, like plenty of people have

white privilege, but if you have it in like the, in a homogeneous sort of space, you're not going to know about the rest of the world. Like I am only as smart as I am because of the community and the company that I keep, and so much of what I understand about the world comes from women like you, women who I was fortunate enough to grow up with, who are like, I told you exactly what you said about, like, it's your dad, it's your cousin, I told you. And so it's not lost on me that like a safety is required, especially as a black woman in America, to be open. And after the murder of George Floyd and the sort of social justice cry explosion summer in 2020,

you recounted your own traumatic run-ins with the police on late night. And I was blown away by it as a viewer and a fan. And I guess I'm curious as like a friend and now interviewer in this moment. Like, how did that happen? Did you say, like, look, this is really important for me to do? Or was it four years of these horrible Donald Trump conversations that had put so much of it out on the table that it was ready to go already? Like, how did you decide to lead that charge in your writer's room? So the week George Floyd was murdered, I wrote something up.

And then I brought it in and as the, it was a sketch, it was a regular sketch. And then as the day went on, I was like, oh, no, you can't do a sketch about it because it, for whatever reason, this murder just activated America. So I was like, oh, okay, it has to be a rant. It has to just be me saying my real feelings to camera. then by showtime it was clear that that would have become in poor taste to do so i was like oh my gosh this has never happened where i wrote something and it timed out in mere hours it was too far so i said you know what we should do i can peep because my main chorus during the murder of george floyd was people were saying

well this is not typical and I my whole thing was this is extremely typical this could be any one of us and so then I was like this is what I want to do I want to tell this exact story and just be like at this point late night has been going on for years and years and you know me and this happened to me when I was only smaller and cuter it happened to me So they were like, great. And I said it, you know, this was in COVID. So then I recorded it in my little apartment and then sent it in. And then the next day that was it, we were still so, the country was so like stinging.

It stung his murder. It really took a long time. to heal. And so then I at the end of the first time I told a story about my actual recount with the police when I thought they were going to murder me. I was like, and I have a million more stories like this. Yeah. So then the next day they were like, will you tell another one? So they opened the show with it instead of the theme song, instead of the band, instead of anything. It was just Seth going, here's Amber to tell a story. Because we are saddened by the death of George Floyd.

So, yeah, it was really into, and I did four shows worth of stories. And at the end of the fourth story, I was like, these are not all of the times when I thought a cop was going to kill me. They're not. Right. So I was like, and I don't know any black person without this many stories. Exactly. Yeah. I just really wanted to make that clear because I.

I've heard everyone I know go, well, the police said that blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I'm like, wow, but what? Yeah. Yeah. So that, I feel like of all of the horrible things that happen in the world, of all the things we have to learn about, my big horrible thing that I had to learn about was that people thought we were lying. this whole time?

Like, I was just like, what? So everybody lies. Right. That's bananas. But then you see how ingrained it is. It's just in there. It's in bones, this white supremacy. It's hard to get out from under.

It is. And I think it also, when I've thought about this a lot, in terms of like the structures that we rely on, to make us feel safe, even if that safety is an illusion. The idea of a hero is really powerful, right? And if the heroes can also be the bad guys, how do we calm down? And so when that whole summer happened, and I guess I'm just curious what you think of this,

because as I thought about it, and to your point, it stung so deeply and it was different. like everybody's been screaming from the rooftops that this is happening we've we've said the names of sandra bland and philando castile and all i mean all of these people you know what hit differently and i think the length of that tape and the very clear you know cries of a person everybody went wait we've always been told oh well you don't understand what happened in the moment and it was a split second and they thought he had a gun and it turned out to be a phone and there was always kind of like this excuse where you could say oh well you know they were just do people would say not you or i but

people would say well they were doing their jobs and their jobs are so hard and then you watch this and you go it's not hard to get up off somebody's body it's actually not hard it's not hard to listen to the people on the streets begging you to stop hurting someone like it isn't hard and it pierced the veil of this idea of goodness, I believe. And when I try to talk to people about it, because I really don't think it's the job of, you know, you as a black woman, certainly, to have this conversation. I think, like, women who look like me need to have this conversation with their communities, first and foremost, I talk a lot about what we experience as gender violence with people, because I'm like, well, listen, if one in four women gets

sexually assaulted by the time she's 22, and they actually think the numbers are more like one and two, but a lot of women are scared to report. Like, we have a problem with men, right? Like, it's not our problem. It's actually their problem. If one in three people who die, who is murdered in America is murdered by a police officer, which is the statistic, like, we have a problem. We have a fucking problem. The statistic is one in three? I believe so. I believe one in three people who is murdered in America. It might be a gun death, but I do believe that that I will double check it. Like, we have a problem. And that's not even getting into the incidences and statistics of domestic violence in that population. And like, if 73% of the women murdered in America are murdered

by a current or former intimate partner, like, we have a problem. And these problems are connected. And one of the things that as, you know, a fan-turned friend that I have admired is I know I can get a little stuck on the data and people are like, God, it's so serious. It's a really heavy conversation, Sophia. And you managed to take your life experiences, this really intense pain that is personal and societal. and you showed up and you told these stories on late night and then by the fall of 2020 you started the Amber Ruffin show which to our friends listening I was lucky enough to go on in COVID and we had a time and I wore I wore a little bow tie shirt because you love a tie and and you managed to give us a show that was so fucking funny and also so incredibly politically politically

timely and topical and you you wove these huge ideas of like American justice and racial justice and gender justice and all these things and you made it funny and like yo a I bow down B how like how do you do that because I get accused of being too serious all the time. So, like, how did you take this really, like, heavy historical weight that's past and present? And, like, how do you put your really genius comedic spin on it? Because comedy, I think, is the medicine that gets the truth in. So maybe what I'm asking is for you to give us a little class. Your lecture. So nice. Those are such kind words. It's true. We had such a blast on that show, but I don't know that there is a special way to do it. It's just how we are

in my family. I bet it's how most black people are, because if not, you'd go crazy. But we would be, you know, I would come in and I would be like, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but my, you know, boss told me, why don't I just straighten my hair? Like, the rest of the rest of of you people and that really happened and family and I laughed ourselves sick because it's the most bananas thing I've ever heard of my life to see this lady you want to tell me how I'm supposed to look a girl also like the notion of being like you have to change the texture of your hair Why doesn't it change all the time? The texture of your hair ain't never changed, but I'm crazy-looking.

So, like, we just laughed and laughed and laughed. And the next day I was fired. Yeah. And that's just life. I feel like it's hopefully the younger you are, the fewer of those stories you have, but I'm from Omaha, Nebraska. So I got plenty. I got my stories and a couple other people's stories for sure.

Yeah. Well, and it's the way, I so admire the way you tell stories and the way you and your sister tell stories together because, like, you know, reading y'all's first book felt like a real peek in to, you know, your life, where your sense of humor comes from, and, and yeah, how, how you can process everything from, like, you know, the, benign daily whatever we all have to do to the not okay to like the most beautiful moments in a family you two process particularly together in ways that really just i mean clearly make me giggle but make everybody giggle because your book's a bestseller like how how did the two of you decide to

start telling stories together lacey i have always noticed that lacy has so many work racism stories. Lacey has 8 billion and they happen to her constantly and each story is funnier than the last. They really are. They just make me laugh. Her just telling it flat with no stank on it just her saying the facts of what happened has me doubled over laughing. So then let us get our mouths around it and really be talking about it and it is so funny. So I just thought the amount of these stories. The volume could fill a book. And it did. Well, yes, it did. But my agents were like, meet with the book agent. And I was like, I don't want to meet with a book agent. I don't want to write a book. No, thank you. And they were like, just do it. So I did it. And then we were

talking. And I go, you know what could fill a book is my sister's racist stories? Oh, my God. And he was, I told him how she tried to, she paid for something with a check and she had Black History Month checks and the Black History Month check had a picture of a historical figure on it. No, no. The cashier said, I didn't know you could get your own picture on your checks. No. It's a picture of Harriet Tubman.

So like, I told that story. I was like, that's one of 700. hundred stories that i can think of and he was like we'll call it you'll never believe what happened to lacey i was like absolutely and then we've done yeah yeah it was a very fun book and it's just real life stories that just all of her racist stories that are funny like that's still so many because you got to laugh or you'll cry yeah they're she has some pretty good ones. What is it like, because I imagine you, obviously, you're going to get a whole lot of

feedback when you write a book. Do you, have there been people who've been willing to be like, oh, that really, that was what made me get it. Like reading your book was what made me go, I see, I'm going to look at the world around me a little bit differently. Or do you think people are too scared to say that? No. When I did all of late night, I never got any fan mail. All of Roughen Show, I never got any fan mail. I got fan mail after the book. Wow. And people were like, I just didn't get it. I didn't know. I didn't know. Yeah, I didn't understand what was happening. I didn't think people were, I thought maybe everyone was exaggerating, blah, blah, blah.

They just didn't get it. So now I hope a lot of people do see, like, that it seems like it's being exaggerated, but it's not. It's just what is happening every stinking day. We'll be back in just a minute, but here's a word from our sponsors. To come back to the writing, you know, we talked about your book with your sister. We've talked about late night. I think about all these things you've accomplished, you know, writing for that show and being a bestseller

and hosting your own show and getting a Tony nomination and co-founding your own production company, you know, making these pilots like you've talked about. Like, with all this stuff under your belt, what has been the most fun and what are you the most excited for that's coming down the line? The most fun has been, was probably the Ember Ruffin show That was very fun.

But it's also very fun, too. One of the things I'm doing now is writing A, like I co-wrote some Like It Hot, which was a Broadway. And then I wrote The Whiz for Broadway. And now I'm writing my own musical about Bigfoot, called Bigfoot. But it's so fun to like write a song. but I'm me, regular me, and then you give it to like Super Broadway lady and then she sings it like crazy and it's the coolest. That's the coolest thing. To watch this lady be like, hmm, hmm, hmm, I can do it, freak. And then she just sings it bananas.

Yeah, I feel like that's my new freaking jam. How do you know how to write music? Like, where does that come from? At Boom, Chicago, the comedy theater in Amsterdam, we did short-form comedy, like whose line is it anyway. And a large part of that was improvising songs, which is hard until it's not. And then it's very easy if you're just, once you can do it on your feet, if you have time and you sit down and you can type it out. It's as easy as it gets To have the luxury of not having 300 people looking at you And being like the suggestion was lemon

You better make it back You know It's so nice It's really sweet Oh my goodness That's so cool When I was living in Chicago Working on a show

I had this dream of like doing comedy class at IO I was like I'm going to do it I love the improv Shakespeare It's going to be so fun And then, you know, production schedules or production schedules. And for like three weeks I missed the class I signed up for. I was like, who, what did I, how did I think this was ever going to work? So, oh man, I like, I dream of it someday.

But it also sounds so scary. Like I would die if somebody just made me make up a song in front of a room full of people. You could do it. I'm sweating, like thinking about it. You'll only die like four times. My hands are clamming. Then you'll be fine. Oh.

Yeah. How Because comedy, that sort of improv, to your point, I think you have to learn to get over your own fear, right? Like you have to learn to be a little fearless to fail in real time, you know, do all these things kind of out loud and see what happens. Do you think your improv training has helped you deal with the kinds of criticism that comes along with, you know, being women in the public eye, who are smart about politics? Did improv help me do with it? Yeah, like, do you think that the sort of backbone you build

has helped you kind of slough off some of the critiques that no doubt come with being, you know, you're a woman in the public eye, a black woman in the public eye, a queer black woman in the public eye, a queer black political woman in the public eye, like all the things that piss off anybody who doesn't like opinionated women,

so like how do you do you think comedy helped you be resilient to that or have you had to do more of like a mental health care practice no two things have helped me one being booed by hundreds of people at the same time like once that happens once you have just like a comically bad show then you feel bulletproof you know what i mean like you can be you can write whatever little review. You want, you're not going to hurt my feelings worse than 200 people being like, no. That's the worst. But then when I got late night Seth, Seth was like, do not talk to people online. If someone says something sideways to you, leave them alone. Do not engage under any circumstances. Don't ever do it. Oh, it's so hard. So that. And because of that, I feel really, really free and really, really good. And because it's almost like, well, my boss told me to be chill, then when people say crazy things online, I can just go, well, nothing I can do.

It's this out of my hands. So it feels really good to just not even, so I don't even look at the bad stuff. It doesn't really, because it ain't nothing I can do no way. Oh, it's hard, though. Yeah. Even this many years into this, I think I'm pretty good at it. And then every once in a while, something just smacks me in the back of the skull. And I like, it's rare that I break.

But when I break, I'm like, I deserved to say it because I'm pissed. And also I wish I hadn't done it. There's just no good way to do it. Yeah. there is no way to do it and leave feeling great or yeah you know what I mean at some point I'm like if now if I was out here changing hearts and minds battling people then that's another thing and I'll do it right knowing how rare that is and knowing how precious my joy is to me you got to protect it I like that how when you think about how precious your joy is and then what does come with the sort of there's one of you and millions of people out there who want to tell you what they think it's a it's a really uneven seesaw how how did you decide this year to be like oh and hey p.s i'm a queer lady is it because you fell in love with someone and knew like you were going to be out and about is it did it just

kind of feel like time, duh, because you said, like, in an announcement that we'll shock, absolutely no one was essentially the quote, which made me giggle. I was like, hey, girl. Like, how do you make that determination? I came out because, well, I had just found out. I didn't think, I mean, I certainly probably thought I was a little something. But I was unaware to the degree. Also, thank God your phone number wasn't in my phone then. Why? Dude, what am I doing?

No, oh my God, I would have picked up the phone in a heartbeat. Also, if you had texted me, I would have been like, we're getting on a FaceTime. That's how I like to do everything. So do I. Great. Sophia, we're old. People don't do that anymore. But I'm like, if I can talk to you, I want to see your...

I'd rather see your face. But it is like remember movies where black people are black, but then they're passing and then they enjoy the privileges of it. That's kind of what it felt like to not say out loud, you know? Because I'm like, eventually, I'm a... be holding hands with someone and i don't want people to be pressing me you know and also i don't want my partner to have to endure you what but wait you said that good goodbye you know and but most of all i just want to give everybody you know fair warning about the whoopin they can catch you

I was like, no. But also, it's nothing. It, I risked nothing. It does nothing to me because, like, the Amber Ruffin Show rode so hard for every marginalized community that my circle doesn't have any homophobes in it. I would have to go, like, four people out to even encounter anything like that. So it really cost me nothing. like I know my 82 year old parents they're fine yeah it's truly nothing there's it took um no skin off my back

but it was also like let's lay the the groundwork and let's just look at everything from this point of view and it's so funny it's like the little things where it's like yeah well one day one lucky guy I'm like, no, no. No. Tried that. Have been that. Yeah. But yeah.

So then it was just the smart thing to do. Yeah. Well, I love it. I love this for us. I love it for you. I love it for me. I know. And now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible.

How does it all kind of feel now, you know, because there's so much going on and so much you're working on. And that's from, you know, the career stuff to the personal life that you're, like, embracing and growing into. And you've got your latest project. Have I got news for you on CNN? Which we love. Like, how does the landscape of life feel right now? It feels weird. Like the new, have I got news for you? Yeah. And then feels bonkers because it's like I work here at late night at 30 Rock.

And then you just walk a couple of blocks east. And then there's also a little office for you that is at have I got news for you. Oh, my God, I love it. But I love Have I Got News for you because not a word I say is written. I didn't have to tell anything. Sometimes I go to work. I leave my computer at home when I show up for Have I Got News. You just waltz right in there and do the thing.

I just fart on in. I tut around. No one expects anything for me. It's so nice. I think people expect, because you have a show, they certainly expect something. Can you tell the listeners at home about it? Like, how is it different from the other things they've seen you do? Give them a little lay of the land here.

So have I got news for you is the first, maybe, CNN show that is funny. So what it is, it's Roy Wood Jr., Michael Ian Black and myself are all on a show that is a topical news quiz show. That's the caveat when really it's just us showing up and goofing off. Roy Wood Jr. hosts it. Michael Ian Black is one team captain. Amber Ruffin is another team captain. Every week, Michael and I have on guests that complete our team, and we battle head to head on a news quiz show.

And it's just us talking about news stories and doing delicious bits. It's very, very fun and very good for you. It's just like a happier way to ingest the news of the week. And that's on sad. Saturdays on CNN. And then maybe the next day on HBO Max, I want to say. We love it. It's kind of my dream way to do news.

Like, I either want to read an article or enjoy the thing I'm watching on TV. I can't do the cage match commentator people screaming at each other on the, it's stressful. Y'all have made staying up to date enjoyable. Yes. So thank you. Thank you, Amber, on behalf of the American people. people. Yay.

I just can't stand to have watched a half an hour of television, a half an hour of news, and I'm still uninformed as to what's going on. Yes. If you talk about one thing for half an hour, you think I got time like that? Yes. I don't have a last time to do that. So, yeah, that's why I like have I got news for you. Because it's even the sadder, not sadder, but even the more serious stuff, but also the

Florida man stuff. Like, and everything in between, which makes it so nice. Have you ever done that? Have you Googled your birthday and Florida man and seen what comes up? Is that something people are doing? A hundred percent. All you do is put in day and month and Florida man, and you see what comes up. And I say this as someone who is in love with the woman from Florida.

What do you get? Florida man says syringes found in rectum are not, and I'm not going to click on the record of it. And don't do it. The latest one that comes up for me is July 8th, Florida man dressed as the Grim Reaper, scaring beachgoers. That's great. Yeah. I hope he's like yelling at them about sunscreen.

I hope so too. It's a really fun party game to play. I am so excited for you. I'm so excited for the show. I want to know with all the things, you know, that you've done and are currently doing, you have in you know my observation and estimation you you seem to have been that person who has remained so yourself and so authentic in these spaces that can kind of swallow you up and be hard to handle and my question is twofold i want to know what keeps you grounded and from this place of of groundedness and success what advice you would give to somebody who would like to follow in your footsteps um you are so nice what it keeps me grounded is i think it is hilarious when i am messing up i just think it's so funny like the other day on have i got news for you

i made such a a joke that i had so much confidence in and it went over horribly and i You know, laughed myself sick. I was like, oh, man, I really thought I was doing something. I was not. I was bringing the show down. But I do think, like, I think it's funny to fail. And I think I've had so many, like, fat, juicy, like good failures, where it's like, oh, man, you never going to believe what happened in me, you know. Yeah.

at the show in Germany, you know? And that's like, I think it's fun and I think it's good for you. And I think it's the only way to learn. Like you can't learn if you do a bunch of good stuff. You can only learn if you have some bad times. Yeah. But I think the way I stay grounded is comedy just works better if you're grounded. when you're being honest and you are having actual feelings and looking them in the face, that's when it's funny.

It's less funny if you're doing the thing you think you should be doing or if you're presenting as something you're not, that's way less funny than if you're like, you know, oops, I forgot to put on deodorant today, which I have. I really did, Sophia, I have to keep deodorant in the office. Keep it in your desk. I have to keep it in my desk. Look at this desk. You just need like a little go bag of the things you need that stays at the office. That's right. Like.

Exactly. Yeah. Toothpaste, toothbrush, I would say deodorant. Probably like a change of socks, some band-aids, some listerine strips. A little bit of makeup. up and then you're good to go. You're prepared for anything. Yeah, I could show up anywhere in any state. I'm a little bit of a raggedy baby. And I think that's fine. I am too. Yeah. Yeah. It's good for me. I know. It's like, who has, like you said earlier, who has the time?

Yeah, no. I don't always have the time. Yeah. This, I mean, if you see me one time, one time, one time, I was out with my sister. My sister, Lacey, will burn me. She'll roast me alive. And she had been really ragged on me because I did look quite raggedy. I mean, more than normal. And she saw these two people come up. And one girl was like, that's her.

That's her. I know that's her. And the other woman took a look at me and made a grossed out face and was like, that's not her. And the other girl took a second look and was like, you're right. Lacey saw the whole thing and roasted me for a very long time. I was like, yeah, that'll keep you grounded. Get you a Lacey. Yeah.

I was just going to say that goes back up to the last question. I'm like, how do you stay grounded? You're like, my sister is a tormentor. Yeah, it's pretty good. Your best friend and your tormentor. Mm-hmm. I know it's really important to like figure out how to use all the tools in your tool belt, right? Like your observational skills, your love for your community, humor, all these things go into your work.

But work aside, like just for you in this moment, when you look at the kind of landscape of your life, what feels like your work in progress right now? I would say self-care might be my work in progress, because I'm really slack and to me, like, what makes me feel good is feeling like I have done a lot of work. you know and that's not probably but I love to just be on this mug type tippity tap type in all day and sit down at 6 p.m.

and be like wow look at all this stuff I did but you know then did I do my exercises was I eating right did I cook myself actual food today take care of myself in any way You know, and a lot of times the answer to that is no. So I think I'm, I, my work in progress is taking a minute and sitting down.

Another thing I also don't do is I don't congratulate myself, which if you knew me for two minutes, you would be like, yes, you do. But I don't, I really don't think that I do like in any real way. like really looking myself in the face and being like you did x y z good job little baby you did a good job um you deserve a manny paddy or a massage or something yeah me saying it out letter i'm like ha ha ha oh goodness i really have no i got to get on it i got to get on it i feel that yeah i appreciate that too it's like there really is something i think especially as women in this industry like it goes around the clock and then it's always there's just less enough and i mean even even more so i would imagine for you and how you feel as a black woman

in this industry and it's like i don't know it can get so easy to always be showing up and always be doing the thing and always be working and always be on the zoom always be on the call and always be available and like weeks go by and you're like have I gone outside have I like moved my body have I eaten anything that didn't come out of a plastic bag like oh which is an especially weird thing if you do some version of this for a living because all we have is like our body like if we get sick it's over and so it is it's kind of wild the way you can make yourself the lowest priority when in fact you should be, you should be up there. Maybe not the highest, but like up there near the top.

Yeah. I feel like I'm eating so poorly that I am becoming dumber. I honestly think that that's true. I think you can eat yourself dumb and I think that's what I'm doing. Literally just slammed my head into the picture behind me laughing. Someone the other day was like, don't you remember? yesterday when you were like blah blah blue and we went here and we did this and I was like what are you talking about and then that made me be like you know I don't know that I can have

chips for every meal yeah I should probably get after some vegetables a little bit yeah a little bit more it's all self-care yeah okay I gotta get after it well if you need an accountability buddy oh my here that's a lot of work Did I eat sour cream and onion ruffles for breakfast? Yes, I did. Okay. All right. Okay. We could use each other. But I've admitted it. And I've told you the truth. And I've told everyone listening the truth. So I'm not going to do it again tomorrow. Sophia.

Amber. Are you being truthful? I think so. I'm going to try my best. I'm going to text you a picture of whatever I have for breakfast tomorrow. We're going to talk about it. If it's chips, you're going to get it. You're going to be in trouble. You're going to be in trouble. Friends at home, if you have self-care tips, this might be the moment to DM them to the podcast

so we can do a follow-up in six months and talk about this. Friggin't help me, shoot. Give us your tips and tricks. I bet you, I bet you there's some smarties listening to this show who are like, oh, girl, I have breakfast on lock, and I would like to have it on lock. So please tell us what you know. Send a message, save a life. Exactly.

And we'll all get smarter watching Amber's quiz show. Yay. Thank you for today, my dear. Yay. This was really fun. podcast.