The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Amanda Seales & Periel Aschenbrand

Episode Date: January 24, 2020

Amanda Seales & Periel Aschenbrand

Hi everyone, welcome to the comics table at the Olive Tree at the Comedy Cellar. I am standing in or sitting down for Noam Dwarman, the owner of the Comedy Cellar, and comic Dan Natterman. I am Perrielle Ashenbrand. You guys probably usually know me as the producer and sometimes host who horns my way in. Noam and Dan couldn't make it today, but I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to have our guest. I'd actually been trying to get you for a very long time, but this was the only time you could make it. And they were like, we can't. And I was like, you guys are out. And it's probably going to be better like this. I'm so thrilled to introduce Amanda Seals. Thank you.

Who is a comic, an actor, a writer, a producer, and much, much more. I'm tired just hearing that. I think one of the most important, interesting voices we've got going on today. I am not going to go through all of your accomplishments because I feel like since it's just the two of us, we can talk about them actually point by point. Okay. Will you guys take pictures? Because I usually do that. You have. Well, first of all,

you're hosting NBC's new comedy competition series called Bring the Funny. Yes. Do you want to start off talking about that a little bit? Yeah, what do you want to know? Well, what is it? And when is it starting? So Bring the Funny is going to premiere July 9th on NBC

and it's basically a comedy competition show but in a different style than previous. Like we have all seen Last Comic Standing and that was like the brand that NBC was really behind in terms of comedy competition and they decided they wanted to like diversify. So they wanted, and I don't just mean diversify in terms of like culture but divers behind in terms of comedy competition. Then they decided they wanted to like diversify. So they want, and I don't just mean diversify in terms of like culture,

but diversify in terms of comedy. And so, uh, bring the funny is not just standup. It's variety. It's sketch. It's like a bunch of stuff in between. Um,

and I think it's really just a different kind of format. Similar. It's like the comedy version of, so you have like world of dance or so you think you can dance like it's not just you know what i mean it's not like just um what's the what's the what's the dance show that everybody watches dancing with the stars like dancing with the stars is just ballroom right like i didn't know that i've never seen that i mean it's like it's all just like styles of ballroom dance whereas like so you think you can dance is just like all styles of all dance. And it's just a matter of like, who's the best out of that.

And so that's essentially what Bring the Funny is. It's me hosting. And then the judges are Kenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy, and Chrissy Teigen. Oh my God. Jeff is the best. And I just never thought I'd be like besties with Jeff Foxworthy. That's amazing and it's also just

it was dope because like we never met all of us had never met before like me and Keenan have known each other kind of like from a distance just like we were on Nickelodeon

when we were both the same age and like we both have like a bunch of like friends in common you know through SNL and just through the business and then here we are and it was like, oh, I've known you

forever. So they put everything together. Yeah, they just put us together and all of us from day one, it was just like, oh, okay, we love each other. Great. And did you start recording already? Yeah, we shot the show. Oh, you shot the entire show. It's coming out. It's coming out July 9th, yeah.

So we shot the whole show and then there's like a a live finale episode later in the year but yeah we shot the whole show we had a blast was like an actual fun job it's so funny christy was like wow i actually got to have like fun at work and i'm like i know right because i think people just naturally think like if you're doing television it's always fun it's a lot of work it's a lot of work and honestly it's not always fun with your you know who you're doing the shows with like if you're doing television it's always fun. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work and honestly it's not always fun with your you know who you're doing the shows with. Sometimes you're on shows with people and you're just like or you don't like everybody or

you know it's not always a walk in the park and I know that that sounds like kind of bratty because it's like you're doing television. Like come on. But with every job whether you are you know saving donkeys in India or you're a trash person in Allentown, Pennsylvania, or you are a TV host in L.A., like your coworkers can very much determine how fun or not or how bearable your job is. Well, a lot of people, comics, complain about being a comedian and that there's like a lot of stuff that the audience doesn't necessarily see behind the scenes.

Well, we don't like people in general. Like comics are misdrops. You know, so it's like when you find people like. That's true. Before I was a comic, I just thought I was like this mean person. And then once I like found my way into standup and like the family of comedy, I was like, Oh yeah,

I'm not mean. I'm a comedian. Yeah. Got it. Okay. Well, it's interesting cause I feel like it's, um,

it's work that in part you do so publicly, but it's also so much of it, I find anyway, it's work that really does take place in a very isolating way. Well, yeah, your brain is just so in, it's so cerebral. Yeah. And it requires you to exist in a certain way. Like to be a comic, you have to exist a certain way. Like you just have to think all the time. You just have to be so aware.

Well, somebody was saying, I heard Chris Rock talking to somebody about how they couldn't believe that Robin Williams killed himself. And Chris Rock was like, what are you talking about? That's the easiest thing in the world to understand.

Yeah. So, how and where did you start out before you realized that you were a comic? Like, what were you doing? I was always, like, comedy adjacent. Because I've always just been a funny person. And, like, my family is funny and my friends are funny. And did you grow up in Grenada? No so like did you grow up in grenada no i did not grow up in grenada i i mean i spent my summers there and i've gone to grenada like every year of my life pretty much but i spent even though i didn't grow up

physically in grenada i grew up surrounded by west indians so i grew up in a very Caribbean household. And I grew up in Orlando and L.A. So I was born in L.A. I lived there until I was eight. Then I moved to Orlando. And I lived there until I was 18. Then I went to school in New York. And I was here in New York until September 2015. And so I went to purchase for undergrad in Columbia for grad.

I know. You have a master's degree from Columbia, right? Yep. And African-American studies. And so I was doing a lot of, like, I was on radio. I know you have a master's degree from Columbia, right? Yep. And African American studies. And so I was doing a lot of like, I was on radio. I was on Sirius Satellite Radio as a host. And then I was a VJ on MTV. And then I started doing music.

So I was touring and rapping and singing. And I've had like a very kind of just motley path in terms of the different spaces I've been in. And then I used to like sell hand painted bags on my space to try and like make ends meet. And then I would like, you know, wake up and think of like, okay, how am I going to like make money this week?

You know? And then I, I, um, what were you thinking when you were getting a, what year were you getting a master's at Columbia and African American studies? Oh, three to oh five. Okay. So that was when I still had like a lot of hope and innocence. What were you thinking when you were getting a, what year were you getting a master's at Columbia in African American Studies? 03 to 05.

Okay. So that was when I still had like a lot of hope and innocence. And then that kind of, that's like beat out of you. That's gone. And, and then you just have to figure out like, okay, well, what am I really about? Like I could hustle. I was always a hustler. I could always figure out how to keep my head above water.

But I was like, damn, I want to swim. Like I don't want to just keep treading water. And so I was like damn I want to swim like I don't want to just keep treading water and so I was djing I mean I've done like yeah all these different things to just try to figure it out and it's not like they weren't my passions they just weren't the passion and um well I I find a lot of your work very intellectual even the stand-up and so it came as no surprise at all when I was like oh yeah she has a master's degree from Columbia like that makes perfect sense

thank you but I feel like part of the reason I've been able to move so swiftly through like the steps of stand up is because like by the time I got here I was like 34 and I had established my voice I

already knew who I was I already knew my angle on like life and so that to me and I wasn't afraid of the stage and the mic because I'd been hosting and I'd been performing so by the time I got to stand up I had already kind of gotten through the the rough patches that a lot of folks go through in their early years. And I was coming like just as a packaged person. And so it was the hardest part of like finding my way through stand-up was just like getting used to just like being in an unfamiliar world of people and learning the ropes. And, you know, you can't skip steps. You can only speed them up and just having to navigate the space. What would be funny is people would be like,

Oh, you know, standup is such a sexist, you know, a realm. I mean, how are you going to handle that? I'm like,

I come from hip hop. Standup is like the women's day parade compared to hip hop. And there's no guns. So I can manage. Do you, do you, do you think that's true? Do you think it's, you don't find it to be largely white and male?

It is, but like I'm a black woman. The world has always been largely white and male for me. Right. So it's nothing new. It doesn't matter where you are. Yeah, it's just nothing new. I mean, it's literally just like, here's largely white and male, but I already know how to deal with that. Because I've been practicing. I mean, I've had just like, he's largely white and male, but I already know how to deal with that. Because I've been practicing.

I mean, I've had just an immense amount of practice with Brad, you know, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you know. So I'm like, yeah, whatever. And I think that more so it's just navigating. You know what? Honestly, for me, it was just, I was actually lucky because I came into that space without giving a fuck about that because I had already had to deal with so much other bullshit in the other spaces

I'd been in that by the time I got to stand up it was like I don't care about that I'm coming here to tell jokes well one of the things that I loved about your HBO special I be known for everybody who's listening is that I feel like when we talk, and we do talk on the show a lot about white privilege. Really? Yeah, I don't get to talk as

much as I like to. But I think one of the things that's so interesting and great to me about your work but especially about your special was that you break it down in a way that is so clear but it's also so funny and I think that for me anyway to be educated in that way. Um, but you've is, is really, um, profound and important. I mean, and that's the thing that's always drawn me to stand up and to comedy.

I'm, I mean, I am a writer sort of first, or I was a writer first. And that's sort of how it comes to life. Right. But you also say, I've heard you say,

I'm not here to try and educate people. I'm not in here. No, that's not it. It's not that. It's just that, because I am here as an educator, but I'm not here to just sit down with every individual white person

and explain shit that they can Google. If I'm in my work and I choose to, it's my prerogative. But it is not my it's not my obligation. It's not your job. It's not your responsibility. It's not. If I decide, if I

so choose to, it is. It is my purpose to make people laugh while learning. But it's about what I decide to teach. And on your time in your space. Yes. And I feel like a lot of times there's this kind of unspoken and sometimes very spoken expectation for black people or even for women to just have to explain like things that are

just readily available. Like it's just available. That's right. I think that's absolutely true. Like I can't, I'm not trying to spend my day popping white bubbles. That's for white people to do for other, that's for people who happen to be white to do to other white people. Just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

You know, like my publicist, she's like, I have become like a swashbuckler. I just have to, I'm just popping bubbles all day because I popped her white bubble and she's like able to see things. I'll never forget when my publicist like texted me and was like, band-aids. And I was like, I don't know what this, what does this mean? And she was like, there's no Band-Aids for black people. That's right. She's like, Band-Aids are all for white people. Yeah, but they're called flesh color.

But who's flesh? And she was like, oh my God. And she was on a trip with me once where she saw three separate acts of racism happen to me in one trip. And she was just like, I've never recovered. It's probably a low number. Three. I mean, it was just like, yeah. But she was like, how are you just like, I've never recovered. It's probably a low number. I mean, it was just like, yeah. But she was like, how are you just like, I'm like, because this is par for the course. Like, but she had witnessed it like firsthand and was like, wait, what?

And she was like, I've never recovered. That like drove her. I think that a lot of, I think that white people are a lot in denial because they just don't have to deal with it. Of course. And so they're like... If I don't acknowledge it, then I won't be expected to fix it. Because then that means I don't even know it's there. Yeah.

And then it's not me. That's the other thing is that they get so... I mean, we get so defensive. Like, oh's the other thing is that like they get so, I mean, we get so defensive, right? Like, oh, but I'm not like that. It's like, well, but your uncle, maybe you are, maybe you're not. Right. But it's still there like every day. It's still your task.

Yes. That's really what it is. Like the same way that it's not my task. Like it is your task. Right. Exactly. Exactly. I didn't build this shit. Yeah. It's not for me to unbuild. It's not for me to break this is your task. Right, exactly. Exactly. I didn't build this shit.

Yeah. It's not for me to unbuild. It's not for me to break this shit down. It's for y'all. And like, I mean, black women have carried

the largest load since the beginning of time. Literally like loads of laundry. Like actually literally. Literally like loads of cotton. Like actually literally. Literally like loads of cotton, like your children. Like, you know, so there's just when I do stand up and I speak, like all of that is in it. You know, even if it's not verbalized like directly. Sure.

It's at the crux of it you know it's it's a i feel like my tone is similar to kind of to paul mooney in in terms of like where we come from in our comedy like i would never say that like i am you know like i would never compare myself to paul mooney i would never venture to do something so silly but i would say that like i come from the same place in the cotton as Paul. I love that. And I was fortunate enough to open for him early on. Early on? I mean, who gets to say early on?

I've only been doing stand-up since 2013. Really? Mm-hmm. Wow. Yeah, I've only been doing stand-up since 2013. I'm telling you, that's a lifetime in stand-up world. I mean, it depends on who's sitting at this table. Right, I've only been doing stand-up since 2013. I'm telling you, that's a lifetime in stand-up world. I mean, it depends on who's sitting at this table. Right, exactly.

Because some people at this table are like, you don't get to talk about stand-up. You've only been doing stand-up since 2013. I don't know. I mean, I have to say that for as prickly as comics are, one thing that I've noticed is somebody who just started less than two years ago to do stand-up is that it's a warm community. It depends. You definitely get specifically white men who will sit at a table and try and make you feel like because you have not been doing stand-up for 35 years, and because you weren't on the road in Iowa

and sleeping in a Motel 6 just so you can tell jokes that you don't deserve the right to sit at the table. I've never even performed at the Cellar. I've never performed here at the Comedy Cellar. Neither have I. You know, I have a lot of friends who have passed here, but I left and went to LA. Yeah, you're not here.

It was really hard. Like, I've been talking to whoever, I don't need to LA. Yeah, you're not here. It was really hard. Like I've been talking to whoever, I don't need to say their name, but for a while had reached out to them to see if you could do the show. And you're just, I mean, you're not here, right? I don't live here. You don't live here.

Yeah, I live in LA. How's LA? LA is awesome because again, I got to LA by the time, the same way that I got to stand up by the time I was fully developed, I got to LA by the time I was fully developed the time, the same way that I got to stand up by the time I was fully developed, I got to L.A. by the time I was fully developed. So, like, the same things that kind of eat people up when they get to L.A. prematurely, like, I didn't have to go through that.

Like, I got to L.A. I did all that in New York. I went through all of my scrapes and bruises and being lied to and, you know, taking out loans you can't pay and all that crazy shit. Like, I did all of that in New York. So by the time I got to LA, I was already who I needed to be to get to where I wanted to go. I always say New York makes artists, LA makes stars. So I always tell people, I feel like start out in New York because there's just a different

grind here. And the grind here is based on being talented. And I feel like the grind in LA is based on being connected. I think that's definitely true. And I want to be connected based on my talent. And it's very tempting to find other routes, you know? And like you just kind of go, you don't get to develop in the same way in LA.

I personally feel that you do here. I was just talking to Gina Yashere's manager, Jodi. Do you know her? No. They've been working together for like, I don't know. Shout out to Gina. She's amazing. Because of Gina, I do not touch remote controls in hotels. I have

to get a bag and put a bag over the van. Control condom. Yes. She does the best hotel reviews. I've lost time in my life by just going through her hotel over the hotel over the van Control Condom yes she does the best hotel reviews she's brilliant I've lost time like in my life by just going through her hotel reviews

and like watching them more than once she's brilliant I mean she really is just an absolute brilliant human being

but anyway I was talking to Jodi and she was like talent and who's been in the industry for like 25 years she was like talent. And who's, you know, been in the industry for like 25 years. She was like,

um, talent rises in New York. It does. And that like almost makes you feel like it's all like, it's worth it. It's a meritocracy. But that's what I loved about comedy coming from music and hosting and whatnot. Like you just appreciate being a standup because at the end of the day,

like if you're not funny, you will not advance. Yeah. You can't, you can't fake it you can't you cannot and there's only one compliment that's funny it's not like oh i liked your tone or oh you know like in music they can come up with a million different ways to not say right right you can't sing you know like it's stand-up like you're either like it's either that was funny or like yeah I see you working. And that lets you know like

okay. But it's just like it doesn't matter who goes up. Right? Like you could it's like you're either laughing like the room's either laughing or they're not.

Yeah. That's it. And I mean I'm spoiled at this point because I have my own audience. So then you go back to doing a festival. Yeah. You know you. And I mean, I'm spoiled at this point because I have my own audience. So then you go back to doing a festival. Yeah. You know, you go different.

I don't think that's spoiled, though. I think that's something that you earn. No, it's true. But then you go back and you go into a space that's like, well, when you start getting your material back up and you're doing your regular showcases at the store or at Laugh Factory, et cetera, and you're not in front of your own audience anymore, you have to remember it. You're like, oh, right. Who are you guys?

Okay. So, oh, so you like Trump. Got it. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's actually interesting. I mean, I was just having this conversation.

I feel like funny is funny though, right? Like whether even, I mean, within reason. Funny is funny, but not everybody has a sense of humor in this day and age, especially, like, for you to, like, like Donald Trump, you have to be telling yourself so many lies. And you have to be going to such lengths that I can't imagine that sense of humor would be spared. Like, everything gets skewed. Or you're saying that you can't imagine that somebody with such different politics would be able to

make somebody who likes Trump laugh? My thing is, for you to like Trump, you literally have had to tell yourself so many lies. You come from such a place of a skewed view of things that when I say something that is genuinely funny about this person you're so off center in order to ride with this person

that you can't even you can't even get to where I'm at because you've had to commit so wholeheartedly to the fuck shit that my humor about it won't get through because you've had to like stronghold yourself to like, you can't say anything negative about him. You can't say anything, because that's the only way that you can allow yourself to even go along with this charade. Charade.

I can't stand Trump. I think he's the worst person ever. But there are people on this show who can't stand certain things about him, but are not as, you know, horrified. Are they white men? Some of them are. I mean, it's just like, I don't,

Tim, I don't know how you cannot be horrified unless you just are illiterate. Or deaf. I mean, you're preaching to the choir for me. But I'm just like, I don't know. And I mean, you're preaching to the choir for me, but I'm just like, I don't know. And I mean, I, at this point,

like I had to kick two white people out of my show the other day. Ooh, tell me about that. It wasn't even that I kicked them out. They kicked themselves out. Like basically I was in Tempe, Arizona, which is already,

Arizona is already on some other shit. And I am a very strong believer that it is incredibly important that like when we are faced with like people being arrogant about their willful ignorance that you can't let that ride. Like, and I mean that on the internet. I mean that at work.

Like you just can't stand by and be like, oh, it's none of my business or oh, I don't like confrontation. Like nah, you got to like at least say nah. Like just say nah. Like that's my new movement. Like just say nah like that's my new movement like just say nah like even if you are on the internet it's like a riff on the like drug yes exactly

dare to keep kids off fuckery like the fact that there are people on the internet it will just say wow shit and what we'll do is you'll look at it and be like that's crazy and keep scrolling yeah no you have to say something to that person doesn't mean you have to go into a whole diatribe with them but you can just be like you that's this is incorrect and because no one's checking people we don't check anybody anymore so like i'm in the show and i tell the uh the joke that i is it a joke it's just basically me creating a nomenclature between white people and people who happen to be white and i do that in my special right and i did i clearly define like the differences and so i was telling that on stage in arizona and i don't even do material for my special but the crowd was so

white and we were in arizona and so i was like you know what let me just pull this one out the box right so i tell the difference and when i explain the difference everyone applauds right because because it's true basically except these two white couples that are like very near the front so they're in the front and they're looking at me daring me to say something because they're just like adamantly not clapping there's like an uproar happening and they're just looking at me hands clasped. And I looked down at them. I was like, oh, y'all not going to clap?

I was like, if you're a white person in this audience, you're not clapping. I'm going to escort you out. And they were like, and then they started to stand up. And I was like, oh, y'all leaving. Well, hit the road, Jack. And of course, you know, the audience is so excited to sing Hit the Road, Jack. So come to find out, after the show show someone came up to me and was like you know those people were sitting across from us and earlier in the show i had had a bad day i had a bad day and so when i got on stage i spent like the first 15 minutes just rambling about like my day and i had like an argument with my boyfriend i was just kind of like more in that space.

And then I was like, Oh, wait a minute. Just so y'all know, like this is not going to be the whole show. Like I'm absolutely going to get in the asses of white people. Like just so we're clear, like this isn't,

this isn't what the show is. I was like, because the reality is, and then I kind of just started going into my more social commentary material. And the woman said to me that when I did that, she saw this person across from her lean over to her husband and say, we're leaving in 15 minutes. Oh my God.

Not surprised at all. Right. So they were already. And then when they left the venue, my opener said he was standing there and they were like, we saw you on stage, but we just got kicked out because we were getting kicked out for being ignorant white people.

And he was just like, I mean, yeah, that sounds like Amanda. It's right on, right on cue, but I ignorant white people. And he was just like, I mean, yeah, that sounds like Amanda. It's right on cue. But I just don't. And so a friend of mine was like, well, I just don't understand why you even have to do that.

It just seems like they paid their tickets. Why can't they stay? And I was like, well, they didn't pay their tickets to make me uncomfortable on stage. And they didn't pay for their tickets to make the other people in the space feel okay with their ignorance. At the end of the day, they can go get a refund. But I am not interested. You also said security over there to kick them out.

They've gone up. And as a performer, we get tricked into this thought process that we're beholden to perform for all and anyone. And I'm sorry, but I'm curating. I'm curating my fucking audience. I'm curating my fucking audience. I'm curating my fucking audience. Like I'm not wasting my intellect and energy on people who are going to sit here and, you know, stonewall me. And when I'm on stage, I don't want to be scanning the crowd and then hit, you know, keep hitting the obstacle of these fuckers. So I was like, no. is because I really truly believe that the actual sane folks and actual people with ethics

and actual people who genuinely would like to just have a peaceful life, I do feel like we outnumber. I really do feel like we outnumber the jackasses or the jackholes. I mean, I hope you're right. I do. I think that there's something about privilege or money, buying tickets, whatever it is, like, that doesn't give you a right

to A, not feel uncomfortable ever, right? Yes, right. Because people love to say, like, I paid my tickets not to get joked on. And I'm like, you came to a fucking comedy show. Actually, that's exactly what you paid for. You know, then people love to say, like, I paid my tickets so I can heckle.

No. No, you fucking didn't. And while we're at it get off your fucking phone yeah don't sit in the front of my audience no that's well i mean now well i'm not having it i'm not having it they put them in bags now yes can't even and there's about to be an announcement set at the beginning of my shows it's like if you have your phone out she will come for you like we will send somebody for you they you get kicked out downstairs if you take if you even take your phone don't take your phone out don't take me i saw someone put up like a minute

of my material the other day i'm like what are we doing right now you have a whole minute that's like the first law like going to a fucking comedy show that's what happened to louie though too that whole crazy thing with the Parkland shooting joke. Did you hear about that? I didn't, but I'm not interested in talking about that. Fair enough. We can move on. Yeah, I mean, that's insane.

It's just, and also it's just like a courtesy. It's like a courtesy thing. Well, I mean, I don't. But people don't have that either. No, I don't think so at all. I think it's more like, here's a bag, put your phone in it, and if you take it out, you're going to be asked to leave. But what's irritating is that, like, that's a cost to me.

It's a cost to me to have to then, like, get the badge system. You have the venue, jack up the tickets, $2, and... We may have to start doing that, because it's getting annoying. And to be perfectly honest, it's not even as i'm i'm not even as disturbed at the taking at the filming of the stuff as i am with just the distraction that it causes like you don't take out your phone at a movie don't take your phone out my fucking show at least at a movie it's not actual human beings on the no it's a real it's like a real thing they literally yeah it does i see it outside here all the time you're sitting here texting while i'm on the stage no it's it it is

it's um it's it's terrible drives me crazy and it's like and it drives me crazy like that i don't like that when my man does it i don't like that when my state like audience does it like the phone is a real issue in general i think in the culture we live in. You wrote, as you say, a whole ass book. I can't even deal. I can't. I can't even deal. I can't.

I wrote a book. I wrote a whole ass fucking book. That's a basic congratulations. I want to accept your congratulations but I can't even believe it. So I'm like... It's like having a baby. Writing a book is like having a baby it

took longer it's longer than having a goddamn baby it took a year it comes out in October I got the book called it's called small doses it's the literary component to my podcast small doses which is um potent truths for everyday use and it it's just, I'm scared. I'm like scared. What are you scared of? Because it's so permanent. Yeah. You know what the good news is though?

Most people don't read. That's not good for sales. It's so permanent. I mean, you'll be fine, but. It's just very like. It's not any more permanent than a podcast or like a taping of something. It's just more permanent in that it doesn't. It's the written word.

I know. The written word is just. It's amazing. It's very sacred to me. So my uncle who's a judge in Grenada was like, you know, a book is a deposition. I was like, damn! He was like, so make sure you edit it once and edit it twice. And it's true because when I went back and edited it the second time with that mindset,

I was like, oh, we got to change that. Nope, got to change that. I mean, I've written two books they make me vet them with like the in house council like I mean especially like the shit that I was writing about what were you writing about I mean I just write humor

non-fiction memoir but you know I'm telling real stories about real people as I'm sure you are as well and I'm sure they vetted the shit out of that book. If they did. I mean, I don't say a lot of names.

I only say like a change names. Like I don't like, well, so my book is essays, stories, blurbs. There's some doodles in there and it covers the span of a bunch of different topics.

So like if you listen to my podcast, it's the span of a bunch of different topics so like if you listen to my podcast it's side effects of every episode is side effects of a topic so side effects of insecurity side effects of type a personality side effects of the curve like side effects of um what's another one of race in the workplace like this so it rearranged and so there's six sections in the book there's a section on being a woman there's a section on people are weird section on racism section on career section on self-growth and empowerment and then a section on relationships did i say relationships no okay so that's six sections and then within each section there are four chapters and each of those chapters

have an essay blurbs and a story associated with that oh wow that's great so it's i mean it's a 320 page fucking book wow yeah i don't know who i think i am and then my book is like what's next i'm like yeah and then because i'm an idiot i have in my head that i need to write a novel why why? Why would you find something harder to write, Amanda? But now I can't shake it. Really? I don't think I could write a novel. The problem is I know I can write a novel, and so

now I have to write the goddamn novel. Then I think it won't be that hard. Because if you have it inside you, then it just... I mean... I just need the time. So Smart, Funny, and Black is really the next book that I really should be writing. Like a fake... Not a fake, but like a textbook-style book for Smart, Funny, I mean. I just need the time. And so Smart, Funny, and Black is really the next book that I really should be writing. Like a fake, not a fake,

but like a textbook style book for Smart, Funny, and Black. And Smart, Funny, and Black, like we're going on tour in July. We're on the road for the whole month and it's my black pop culture comedy game show. And it really is my baby. Like Smart, Funny, and Black is my legacy.

There's things that I want to do with Smart, Funny, and Black that I can't even verbalize because I don't want people to even try to do it before I do it. And we're expanding the brand and we're doing all these things. And I feel like that's really like where I should go. But then I have a story in my head. I have a story in my head that has to get told.

It needs to get told on television. But I feel like there's a book component with it. And I'm just like so irritated with myself. I'm so, you don't understand. You're going to have to go like lock yourself in a closet somewhere. I am. I'm going to have to go to like Grenada and just shut it down. Even better, I really honestly need to go to just like my mom's house.

Or I need to go somewhere where there's like a chef. And really just have somebody just make sure that I'm fed. As long as I'm fed, I can. You can. Man, listen. How long did it take you to write? One year. Yeah.

You know why? Because I learned that I have no discipline. Do you feel like that's a long time? It was just longer than I considered. Like, I just really thought I was going to just, I just thought I was just like. I think a year is pretty good. It's, oh my God. I think it's fine.

I feel like the novel takes longer. I think so. Longer. I think so. I need to feel like the novel takes longer. I think so. Longer. I think so. I need to just be cognizant. This is what I would really like to do. I'd really like to just sit down and plan out my next 18 months, right? You sound very organized, I have to tell you.

I'm trying to get there. I want to plan out my next 18 months, and I want to, in that 18 months, literally make two-week spaces over the course of that 18 months where I'm writing I think the thing about writing a book that people who don't do this don't really get is it's like you need huge chunks of time to be able to continue that's the thought process that's what I didn't write it's not like you can write for a day and then go do something else for a week and then come back. No. Try it's not like you can write for a few

hours and then just be like, and that's what I was trying to do. I'll get up and I'll write for like three hours and then I'll come back to this. No, bitch. You go to Arizona to your aunt's house and sit down for a week and just hammer the shit out. For my second book, I moved to Tel Aviv

for three months. I mean, it was a few years ago. Mazel tov. Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, I mean, there was no way I was getting that shit done here. What made you be able to get it done there? I mean.

Did you like not know a lot of people? Yeah, I mean, I just wasn't that as distracted as I am here. It's like when you're working and phone and jobs and this and that. Yeah, I mean, it's just less distracting. And that was my job there, to go sit down every day. That's the key.

You made it your job. Yeah, you have to make it, you sit down for eight hours every day for three months. I always feel like the writing isn't the part that's, that's the easy part. It's the editing

and then the second draft. It's the editing and then the second draft. The editing? Exactly. Like I didn't know about any of this. Like you know it but you don't know it and then when it was like we gotta write this whole shit that I just wrote. I gotta read the fucking thing for the 37th time. I don't wanna do this.

I don't wanna do this. Can we talk about abortion? Yeah. Okay. Cause we talk about abortion on the show a lot also, but what winds up happening is that it usually veers off into some conversation about late-term abortion, which I always feel like really deflects from what the conversation should actually be. And so when I knew that we were going to talk,

I was like, this is going to be a great opportunity to actually talk about what's going on in this country with abortion in a way that I would like the listeners to hear. It's very cut and dry. I mean, it's just very cut and dry. I mean, we've got a bunch of people who are deciding what women's bodies should do that are not women uh and then we have a bunch of women who are assisting them in deciding on what women's bodies should do who are turncoats

um so that's what the guys always say they're like yeah well women the number of women who are against abortion is the same as the number I don't know if that's an accurate I think it's relative anyway but I'm like it doesn't matter it doesn't change the facts

I mean the reality of the facts is that no one should be saying that a woman has to have a baby if she gets knocked up. It's just not. And the reality also is that there's just way too much nuance to create these generalized rules. That's the thing. There's too much nuance. And at six weeks, nobody even knows they're pregnant for the most part.

Right? So it's like these laws are... And also that, as usual, I think disenfranchised women of color are by and large the people who suffer the most from these... Yes. I mean, I think racist laws. But you know who's having the most dip in having children is white women.

White women have had the biggest dip in giving birth. And so apparently there is a genuine thought process that says that what this really is for is to create more opportunities for white women to reproduce

and keep the white baby population popping. Sinister. It is very sinister. And if you've watched Handmaid's Tale, you're just like, this is very, Handmaid's Tale is a horror movie because, a horror show, because it's so easy that it could happen.

Like the horror, the thriller of it all is the fact that it's just not that far fetched. Well, I heard somebody say, I don't remember who it was. I wish I did be like, can you believe that? Oh oh I think it was a

lingon do you know the comic of course yes what brilliant shit did a lingon mitra say he said um can you believe they outlawed abortion in Alabama and he was like yeah yeah of course I can. It's fucking Alabama. Alabama is the worst. Like, it's literally never been a hotbed for progressiveness. For intellectual. Or intellectual growth. It's like, it's just not what it is. So, yeah.

Now, if you had said to me, like, can you believe they outlawed abortion in California? Then I'd be like, really? believe they outlawed abortion in California? Then I'd be like, really? Did they outlaw surfing? Like, you know, so. But I just feel like the conversation always gets skewed because it ends up always being attempted to be backed into a corner of generalizations. And the reality is that every woman is an individual and they are making laws that are being carried out as if women are a blanket population of people.

And the reality, I need to stop saying the reality, but we keep having to say it because it's, if you're dealing with any type of laws, whether it's drug laws or money laundering, et cetera, like you deal with the individual case. But when it comes to abortion, they're just trying to make it to where there is no individuality in the cases. It's it's just not it's not it's and the reality and the truth of the fact of the matter is that there shouldn't even be a case. Well, that's what really it comes down to, is how come women are the only people who are responsible? So, like, why are men not a part of these? Yeah, like, so then you have to pay child support.

I mean, the second... So, if a woman terminates a pregnancy, so the man who got her pregnant has no, there's literally no repercussions. And there's no responsibility. You know that there was just a case about someone who raped a woman who then fought her for custody of the child. I will burn this place down. And got it. Where was that?

Alabama? I mean, it was some fucking place. That will burn this place down. And got it. Where was that? Alabama? I mean, it was some fucking place. That sounds like some fucking place. Some fucking place. It was some fucking place. That sounds like West Virginia. The thing is, is that like that's happening.

Like that's not the only time that's ever happened. Let me tell you, somebody got to die. That's some shit right there. Somebody got to die. It's crazy. How are we, like,

I hear stories like that and I'm just like, who is getting up the next morning like, yeah, I did the right thing for that. I did the right thing. Well,

I mean, I don't know how corrupt are these fucking judges. Like, who is the, let's guess, who is the judge in that case? Who is the judge

that wakes up the next morning and is like, I did the right thing and like, somebody's probably sucking his dick. Kavanaugh. That too. It was Kavanaugh? No, it wasn't. I was going to say.

I'm always just like, there's always a complicity. It was Brett. Maybe his last name wasn't Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh, Lynch, whatever. That's my thoughts on abortion. At the end of the day, it should be a woman's right I think that there is a certain level of regulation

that should be put in place in terms of terms but when it comes down to it you're not having the baby you're not even creating systems to support that child when it's born at the same time that you're forcing women to have children that they're not necessarily able to have you also are continuing to

create wage gaps that are insurmountable. You're creating inflation. You're not allowing people to have a livable wage on minimum wage. You are depleting government assistance. You are making it more and more difficult to get strong schooling and supporting teachers. You're doing all the things that make it hard to raise an actual responsible adult.

You're also putting like children in cages and letting them die. So there's that too. You're saving a baby, but you're not raising an adult or a child. But I'm saying, I don't even think about it as raising a child. Like you're a child is going to become an adult. The whole goal,

right? The whole thing is to get them to adulthood. The whole thing is to get them to adulthood. The whole goal is to get them to be someone in society that can advance society. And you do need to be able to have a good childhood, a solid, structured childhood, ideally, in order to be able to become that person. Yeah, of course you do. You do. And so it's essential. But I think people don't think about that.

People think about a baby. They don't think about where this child is going to grow up into. Then you have people who only think about a baby. They don't think about the child is going to become eight years old at some point. They forget that this kid is going to talk. It's horrible. This kid is going to talk. This kid has feelings.

This kid is going to become a teenager. And as a teenager, you can have a child, you can get a gun, like all these things. But no one's thinking bigger picture. And then when someone like me or you thinks bigger picture, they're like, you're a fucking negative Nancy, or you're annoying, or you're difficult, or you think you're a know-it-all. Call me a know-it-all. I can't believe you've ever been called a know-it-all. I got called a know-it-all. Call me a know-it-all. I can't believe you've ever been called a know-it-all. I got called a know-it-all last week.

You're just a know-it-all. Maybe. Maybe I am. I know more than you. That's what you're really mad about. You actually did say something about that that resonated with me you said and i wrote it down because i don't want to fuck it up um and i you were talking about mental health but i think that this could actually apply apply to to a lot of things that you said stop acting like everyone

has the same access to the insight you've had access to. I'm just like, give it a fucking rest. And I've, I've been, I've been guilty of doing that before, but it's like,

I hate this culture of like, how did you not know that? I hate it so much because, and then it'll be done to people who are like very clearly not from the same access point. Like this was in reference to YG, who is very clearly like a rapper from Compton who didn't have the best education access, who was in gang violence and gang culture for most of his life, continues to be probably, and really is like just embarking on this awareness about what is mental health. And people were like, how does he not know what mental health is?

I'm like, first of all, you just fucking found out what mental health is on a Tumblr meme. On Facebook. Like two years ago. Right. So let's everybody bring it down a notch. And it can be very um condescending and then once you start being condescending to people then they just shut down they don't want to be receptive right right right right right it's um but but there are people who have the

same amount of insight as i've had and are just being willfully ignorant. And that's when I have a problem. And do you find, I mean, have you been pleasantly surprised in people being open-minded or open to other perspectives or point of views or learning shit that they maybe didn't know? And I mean, I hate to say seeing the light because it's so tired but I think the best the most encouraging thing so for instance like for Smart, Funny and Black

I think what's been really dope is this two particular two particular responses that I get from the show Smart, Funny and Black one I'll get black people who are like I really didn't realize I disconnected from our culture I have been

and that I really need to get back and that I actually have been successfully brainwashed into thinking I really didn't realize how disconnected from our culture I have been and that I really need to get back and that I actually have been successfully brainwashed into thinking that we didn't make all these contributions to this country. So I'll hear that and then I'll also hear people say like, I didn't realize how much I was craving a safe space because I've become

so accustomed to just having to muddle through the mainstream um the mainstream ostracization of my experience that i forgot that like i would benefit from having like an experience where i'm in a safe space to be black and like I always say like when we do Smart, Funny, and Black like everyone can come to the show but it is tailored to the black experience it's well everyone's welcome

it's curated for black folk in the same way that like I would not go to a bat mitzvah and ask when are we gonna swag surf like I'm not

I'm not are people coming to your shows trying to dance the horror you know what I'm saying but like it's like just respect a culture. Respect a space for what is happening in that space.

If I come to a bat mitzvah, I know what I'm coming to do. I know what I'm coming to experience. And I also know that I need to have a certain large level of just space between me and newness. And just accepting that they're not here for me. Or just be quiet and listen. Just be quiet and listen. They're not here for me. Or just be quiet and listen. Just be quiet and listen. Like, they're not here for me. I'm here for Baruch Atah, Chol Adonai.

You're totally becoming an honorary Jew before you leave this place. I am. Like, that's what I'm here to do. And so with Smart, Funny, and Black, I feel that with my stand-up or with small doses the thing I get from people is oftentimes more so about like people realizing that they were they didn't know something like they didn't know their own strength or they didn't know their own like failure to research like it was like brought to their attention like wait a minute I've really been bugging up. Like, I didn't realize that I have been being led and that I, like, actually do need to do my own research for things.

And, you know, because that's the gift and the curse of all this information, right? We have this information age in social media where things are brought to our fingertips so easily that we forget that, like, just because that was brought to your fingertips doesn't mean it's accurate. Like, you actually should fact check that.

That's really beautiful. I mean, that must be really wonderful to see. It is. I mean, ever so often I get like, are you a dirty cunt? And I'm like, black women don't care about the word cunt. Bye. I think one of the problems,

one of the many problems is that white people come into spaces and they really do feel entitled to take up space. Yes. And they do that everywhere. They're doing that in your hood. They're doing that in the aisle in the grocery store. They're doing that when you're standing in line to board the plane and they just are like you can't possibly be in first class like move like it's just happening all that

they're doing that I mean literally I was at TSA once and a man physically tried to walk through me just like physically walk through me and I was like what the what are you doing and he was like you're in the way and then tried to do it again and then when I pushed him because I ain't no sucker, he said, oh, she put her hands on me.

And the three black women TSA agents were like, get out of here. Get your bag and get out of here. Like, where are you? Get out of here but that's potentially dangerous for a black person to do in the country we live in one thousand percent um but it's also like if there weren't three black no yeah she could have went left very easily but i'm also jason bourne so i had already peep game i already knew who was there i knew it was there because you're 18 months ahead all the time. Yeah.

I knew it was there. I know I'm with my white publicist and she's not letting shit go down. Right. Um, yeah. Just sprinkling, letting it happen. So like she will,

yeah. Call on like the entire Israeli army if she has to. So I just knew like in that space I feel like I always have to, but that's another thing about privilege, right? He's so privileged that he didn't have to scope before he acted out. That's right. It didn't even occur to him.

It never occurred to him. I'm walking into every space like scan. Yeah. I know what I'm in. I mean, that's what the joke is on my special. I'm on a plane and I realize I'm the only black person on this plane. You think any white people realize I was the only black person on this plane?

They're not looking. They're not looking. They're not looking. But I'm always having to have a certain level of awareness for safety and also for jokes. And also for jokes. Is there anything else that we need to... Let me make sure I get in here.

SmartFunnyAndBlack.com Yeah, I need to just plug the fact that this is our second tour for Smart Funny and Black. I created Smart Funny and Black in my living room. It was just like I was in LA and realizing

that there was no comedy safe space for black folks. We used to have Def Comedy Jam and was in LA and realizing that there was no like comedy safe space for black folks like we used to have Def Comedy Jam and Live in Color and you know Chappelle Show and even Comic View and we just don't have anything like that anymore and it was like I wanted to create something that um was able to use more than just my comedy, but also my intellect. And then it turned out to develop into also using my musical ability. So we have a live band. And basically, I bring two guests on the show that are already proven funny folks. And I write these games that test their knowledge of black culture, black history, and the black experience.

And we take them through a show that challenges them and challenges the audience and we sing all these songs and we we dance and we come up with shit and we improv and it ends up being just like a very theatrical experience and it's gone from nerd melt which it used to just be like in the back of a comic bookstore in LA. Wow. Is that where it started? That's where it started. And now we just did a residency at the Kendi Center and we were in the concert hall.

We had a 2,300 seat room. Oh my God. That's amazing. Like doing the electric slide in the Kendi Center. Like I know JFK was like, what is going on down there? And it was incredible to just see how, because you get scared sometimes when you create something in an intimate space.

You're like, is it going to translate to a big space? But this is something that needs to translate to a big space because so many more people need it. We're going to cities this time on the tour. Outside of the major markets like Chicago and Detroit and Atlanta. We're going to smaller markets like St. Louis and Columbus, Ohio

and Kansas City, Missouri and Richmond, Virginia. I think that there was a part of me that was like, damn, when we're going to smaller markets are we going to really do numbers? But then it's like you got to go to those smaller markets because they're not getting shit. And they're the ones having to deal with these unsafe spaces so much more because urban centers

definitely have more access to cultural diversity, et cetera. So like, no, you need to bring this to those spaces. So you can get tickets to Smart, Funny and Black at smartfunnyandblack.com. We'll be on the road July 5th through the end of July. I also like, I won an award. I won an award at JFL. Tell us about it. I won a rising

comedy star award. Wow. That's really exciting. It's trippy, right? I'm not surprised at all. That's so cool. You also were written up as one of the most

creative people of 2019 in Fast Company. And they gave me like a dope ass spread. I'm number 100, but well, last but not least. That's better than being like number 37, isn't it? It's easy to find. And I got a two page spread.

I'll take it. You're so multi-tal spread. I saw it. I'll take it. You're so multi-talented. You do so many things. I mean, I think in that is, you can see it. Like Jodi said, shout out to Jodi Lieberman of Talent Rises. Talent Rises. Thank you and thank you for

having me. Thank you so much for coming and I'm Perrielle Ashenbrand and this is Live From The Table. You can follow us on Instagram at live from the table and you can also email us

at podcast.comedyseller.com Thank you Amanda Thank you and thank you everyone for listening and bye Bye Thank you everyone for listening and bye.