Why Some Black Women Aren’t Laughing at Saturday Night Live
When I found out that Saturday Night Live had added new cast members this season, I hoped a black woman would be among the new crop. I was disappointed to find out that, although one black man was added to the cast, not one black woman was chosen. In fact, over the show’s 35 year history, only 3 black women have been a part of the cast.
Unfortunately, rather than completely avoid sketches that parody black women, Keenan Thompson dresses in drag to play everyone from Oprah to Whoopi Goldberg. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried his hand at Beyonce yet–although I probably shouldn’t speak too soon.
Adding a black woman to the cast should be a no-brainer given how pervasive black women are in pop culture. Comedienne and Oscar winner Mo’nique and popular former radio personality Wendy Williams both have their own talk shows. Oprah is the powerhouse she’s always been. Then there’s First Lady Michelle Obama and pop singers like Rihanna and American Idol winner Fantasia and, of course, Beyonce. All of these women are ripe for comedic material. I can’t figure out why SNL hasn’t capitalized on this fact given their decreased ratings and clear need to broaden their audience.
But even when not parodying real people SNL would benefit from having a black woman on air. So would the wildly popular ”The Daily Show,” which has, over the years, featured several black men.
A couple months back, there was much debate about whether or not sexism is rampant on the set of the “The Daily Show.” The women who work for the show wrote a letter defending their bosses. Above the letter was a photo of the “The Daily Show” women. Out of 31 women 2 appeared to be black. I don’t know what their roles are on the set or if there are additional black women who weren’t pictured, but I do know “The Daily Show” does not feature a black woman on air.
Too bad these aren’t the only examples of black women being virtually frozen out of mainstream comedy.
Thompson is only one of a slew of black male performers such as Tyler Perry, Martin Lawrence, and Jamie Foxx, who have, in part, built careers dressing as black women for laughs. Lawerence’s Big Mama’s House and all of Tyler Perry’s films that feature the gun-toting ”matriarch” Madea have been successful with crossover audiences. It appears that black women are funny provided they’re not actually women. Perhaps the best way for a black woman to build a career in comedy is to dress up as a man dressing up as a woman.
I’m well aware that the male-dominated world of comedy isn’t kind to women overall. Still, America has become too comfortable with the gender equivalent to performing in black face. For the most popular sketch comedy show on television to favor having a man dress in drag every episode rather than hire a black woman simply isn’t funny.
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I’m conflicted – I think you’re right – there should be more women of color on SNL (Maya Rudolph count? I know she left on her own terms) but honestly, the show is so bad at times that I think it should be outright canceled.
And the Daily Show pokes fun at itself by having a Senior Black Correspondent, but even that gets a little old.
I think there’s a concerted effort to effeminize (sp?) black males and men in general. That’s why you frequently see black men in drag. The media is just uncomfortable with black male masculinity, IMO.
Maya Rudolph does count…but honestly, there just arent that many good comediennes. Out of curiosity, which ones do you think actually would be funny on SNL?
Grad are you serious?????? There are PLENTY of black woman comediennes around who are good. Even if you don’t know any by name, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I didn’t know Jay Pharoah’s name until he was hired on SNL. In fact, until SNL I didn’t know any of the cast members who have appeared on the show over the years. New York and LA alone are full of black women doing improv etc. People we’ve never heard of.
I think this goes back to the whole conversation about whether men, on a whole, find women funny, and judging by your comment I guess not. I mean out of 300 million people living in the US you don’t think that SNL and other white skit shows can find a black woman who makes people laugh? I’m in shock at you saying that. smh
I’m not saying they couldnt find one, but compared to men, you dont think the pickings are slim? I only asked bc I thought there were some specific ones you’d had in mind.
I dont really know to what degree this speaks to whether or not men find comediennes funny.
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I also believe that SNL should add a black female to their cast. There are plenty of funny black female comedians to choose from: Vanessa Graddick, Skipper Hart, Loni Love… the list is LONG. SNL will only help their ratings by expanding their cast.
I’ve seen this meme floating around, but I’m sorry, the people generating it are definitely not in the comedy business, nor do they know what is happening in the comedy business. We need to separate movies from comedic performances. Two different things completely. With films, you’re dealing with elaborate scripts, production, investors and studios. Comedy has none of that redtape, constraints & hoopla, so it’s a wide open field. Martin Lawrence, Tyler Perry or Jamie Foxx dressing in drag is nothing new. I always get a chuckle when it’s insinuated that black men performing in drag is to emasculate black men and exclude black women. This goes back to the days of Flip Wilson and his show. There was no evil plot to feminize black men, it was HIS show. The inherent point of comedy that you all seem miss is that comedy is about exaggerations and oftentimes, the absurd. A woman playing a woman is not ABSURD. A man playing a woman even before going into character is absurd. Many comedic actors have done drag work. Robin Williams, Jim Carrey (made a name for himself for it on In Living Color!), Rodney Dangerfield, Dustin Hoffman, Eddie Izzard (duh!), Seinfeld, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais – the list is endless. These are all white men. Think about it.
Now, before we systematically say that black women are being left out of shows like Saturday Night Live, we need to actually have some facts. The first one being, how many black women audition for positions in the first place? The 2nd one being, out of the few that do audition, how many of them are actually funny? Most people who audition will not be selected, that goes without saying. If you’re non existent in the pool to begin with, then what? Ellen Cleghorne, who made it as a cast member on SNL for almost half a decade was a disaster who bungled lines, missed her cues and was pretty much seen as a joke. She has basically faded into obscurity since leaving the show for good reason, she was a hack.
I’m a general manager at a comedy club in NJ, and we hold open mic nights. Sometimes, prizes are upwards of up to $400. For a struggling comedian, that’s like winning the lottery. This is a business where most won’t make it rich. For every Chris Rock, there are thousands of comedians who will need to have a day job to make ends meet. It’s pretty much a given, if you want to make money, don’t become a comedian.
To get back to my point, I’ve worked for this establishment for 6 years. Do you know how many black women have participated in open mic night here since I’ve been here? 5. That’s right, a grand total of 5 black women in the last 6 years. In a club that’s located in a black neighborhood no less. There are more white women coming to try out open mic night in a week, than we’ve had black women in the last 6 years! I know people in the comedy business, and it’s very well known that many black women just don’t come out to perform, period. Don’t believe me? Go out to your local comedy clubs. We’re not talking SNL here. I mean the lowdown & gritty. These establishments cannot afford to be racist or sexist. They need all the money they can get to function, which is why most of them have drink minimums. Most are in the red financially!
Furthermore, you can’t be exclusionary in open mic. You just have to get up on the stage. In fact, go to any open mic night or go to a club in the hood or any urban environment. I guarantee you this, you will see more white male & female performers than you will see black women. This is open mic night here, so we can’t say anyone is being excluded! Open mic means, anyone can get up there. Open mic is how all stand-ups get their start! This is how you hone your skills, get thick skin and build your chops. Now if you aren’t even developing your craft or getting in the race to begin with, how can you be upset when you aren’t on the winner’s podium? Again, don’t take my word for this. Go out there and see it for yourself.
I’ve worked with & toured with many comedians, including a few black female comedians and they all have theories about open mic night and black women. Some have told me it’s because open mic shows are brutal and most comics doing it will be heckled, booed and basically embarrassed if they don’t bring their A-game. Something that many black women aren’t willing to face, criticism in general. Not my words, these are the words from a few female black comedians.
Of course, these are things most arm-chair quarterbacks aren’t privy too or bother to consider when making their analysis.
With all that being said, you seriously believe that out of the black female comediennes that exist, there aren’t TWO currently working that could appear on the Daily show or SNL? You seem intent on defending male domination of comedy, but you can’t POSSIBLY believe that there are no black women currently working who could be effective on those shows–whether they audition or are discovered.
In terms of men dressing in drag, sure white men do it too. But it’s not how they build their careers and it’s certainly not to any real exclusion of white women. And yes black men dressing in drag dates back to a time when women really weren’t accepted in the industry. The question is, why is still still happening?
That said, I believe that SNL should stop parodying black women until they have a black woman on the cast. I’m curious to see if any women will comment and defend the status quo.
That’s not what I said. Of course there are funny black women. Do you even know how SNL works? They are not a headhunting agency. You have to audition for the part. How can you complain about a lack of representation, if you don’t do the legwork in the first place? You can’t talk about exclusion, if you don’t know how many black women actually show up to audition in the first place. Believe me, it’s minuscule. The notion you have here is that SNL should “hire” black women. No one is going to give you anything. You have to let them see you. People build their chops through open mic. Spotting black women at open mic shows is like spotting bigfoot. Oftentimes, people go to Improv at big cities like NY or LA, and think that is indicative of female comedians since all the ones with balls flock there to be seen. Conduct the experiment for yourself and tell me if I’m wrong here.
Let me give you an example. I know Tracy Morgan fairly well. Do you realize how long it took him to get on SNL? They didn’t just hire another black guy. The guy was a beast on the open mic circuit. He put in YEARS doing this all around the east coast developing his name & reputation. This was how he developed his craft. He then used to perform at the Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem. He was there for like 5 years doing this for peanuts. From there, Martin Lawrence discovered him & gave him a bit part on his show. Then he auditioned SEVERAL times for SNL. The point I’m making here which you glossed over is that he wouldn’t have gotten this far or have been noticed by anyone if he didn’t do to open mic shows. Most female black comedians do not do this. It should come as little surprise that they rarely get noticed or hired for that matter. You can’t perform in the safety net of house shows and think you will make it in this business. You won’t.
Ask yourself why the now defunct show MADtv had quite a few black female comedians on their roster. In fact, the longest serving female cast member on the show is Debra Wilson, a black woman. Do you know how she got her start? Open mic shows! She did the Apollo and then sketches on the Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem around the same time as Tracy Morgan. That was how she got her start. Believe me, if you take the risks required, you will make it. No one just gets “hired” in this business. You have to do the legwork. Most female black comics prefer to do houseshows, which might be risk free, but it is pretty much a dead end. This has very little to do with “male domination” of comedy. It’s mostly men that take the risks! The few women who put themselves out there have been justly rewarded. You seem to think comedy is just like a job where you get hired for showing up.
I don’t know the workings of the Daily Show, so I won’t opine on that.
I really liked Debra Wilson. She was actually one of the people I was thinking of that would do really well on SNL but I couldnt remember her name. Also think Sherri Shepherd would do well but she might be more actress than comedian…if that matters.
I’m surprised to hear that there are so few Black women attempting to do the open mics tho. Thats disappointing. The few times I’ve heard a comedian discus how they made it, it always involves open mics.
Debra Wilson isn’t funny to me, but point taken. lol! I watched Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes and there were plenty of black women. I’ve also been to the Chocolate factory in LA and seen quite a few black woman perform. Some of my favorite comedians are women: Melanie Comacho, Hope Flood, Luenell. There were some younger ones that were discovered by Bill. There were also women on Diddy’s comedy show as well as Martin Lawrence’s. But let’s remember, you don’t have to be a stand up comedian to do comedic acting. Keenan doesn’t do standup.
And yes I will acknowledge the pickings are slimmer, but if SNL insists upon parodying women it seems like they would go out and FIND someone who could meet a need they’ve already obviously identified. Is Keenan funny when he’s playing a woman? Is he as funny playing a woman as a REAL woman would be? If SNL’s goal is to be as funny as possible they need a black woman.
[...] it was fine. First of all, it was nice to see an actual black woman in an SNL skit. Typically, Keenan plays every black female character, so seeing Nicki in a skit was refreshing by itself. Beyond that, I found the skit harmless and [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tuckera Max , imjdan. imjdan said: For the record, I gave my opinion on the gender equivalent of blackface when I wrote about SNL. http://j.mp/hxqJHS [...]
[...] blog that the way in which gender is portrayed on SNL is the equivalent of “gender blackface” (http://mediastrut.com/2010/10/saturday-night-live-black-women/). Instead of hiring woman comedians to add to the cast SNL and therefore be able to have a more [...]
[...] discovered an article entitled “Why Some Black Women Aren’t Laughing at Saturday Night Live” (http://mediastrut.com/2010/10/saturday-night-live-black-women/ ) that made me think there might be a relevant connection between gender and race in SNL. The [...]
I couldn’t agree more. I stopped watching the show because of this. Maya Rudolph is talented and as some who could pass for her sister, I can freely say that her appearance is not black enough to play the part of all the women that are so familiar to us and are constantly in the news. When are some of those black male snl players going to grow a backbone and refuse to dress in drag rather than suggest hiring a black women player or two.
I meant to mention Dave Chapell’s courageous stand against drag–he’s to be commended all around.