Stopping the Police

On Live At The Apollo 2010

More Gina Yashere videos

Born in Bethnal Green, East London, to a Nigerian family, Gina Yashere turned to comedy after working as a lift engineer.

She made her Edinburgh debut in 1995, and in 2000 completed her first stand-up tour, and has been regularly on the road ever since.

Her first TV exposure was as a regular on the BBC Two comedy show Blouse and Skirt (originally called The A Force) in 1996. Other TV credits Live at Jongleurs, The Comedy Store, Jo Brand's Hot Potatoes and talking heads shows such as the I Love...series for BBC Two. In 2001, she briefly hosted a BBC Choice chat show, Up Late With Gina Yashere and she provided the voice of Keisha Marie in the Channel 4 animated series Bromwell High

In 2007, she took part in the NBC reality show Last Comic Standing, giving her a foothold in the US. In 2008, she became the first British comic to appear on the influential black stand-up show Def Comedy Jam.

She has also branched out into acting, appearing in the films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Mr In-Between, as well as in the West End show The Vagina Monologues.

She was named best female at the Black Comedy Awards in 2002, and nominated as best female stand-up in the Chortle awards the same year.

Gina Yashere: Brighton Comedy Festival
Live Review

Posturing cheerfully in a pulled-up hoodie, she spits out her greetings like a pumped up performance poet before launching into a string of typical Yashere anecdotes: rap stars think they are so street but then they have chandeliers in their ‘cribs’, colonic irrigation is brilliant but – ew – so disgusting, black women don't like getting their hair wet. The audience relaxes in familiar territory.

Yashere is a shrewd entertainer and knows exactly what buttons to press to keep her audiences happy. With a little bit of politics, a little bit of the personal and a good smattering of knob gags, her pick 'n' mix material has something for everyone.

It's not hard to see why she has retained her position as ‘that woman off the telly’ or why she keeps getting flown to war zones to perform gigs for Our Boys. She is a formidable presence on stage, with a self-aware swagger that nips heckles in the bud. It certainly takes a confident performer to break from routine to confiscate an audience member's bleeping mobile phone and shove it down her pants.

All very slick but not exactly innovative. There is no doubt Yashere is capable of better - she hints at it now and then with a genuinely incisive observation or a flash of ad-libbed genius - but too often she falls back on the safe pay-offs, the middle-of-the-road material disguised as something more daring, those bloody impressions of her mum.

When the formula is so well received, it's not hard to see why she would be loathe to meddle with it, but it's a depressingly calculated approach to comedy.

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She's awful. Never changes her routine. Eventually you'll get tired of the same "Nigerian parents" routine.... that's all she has to offer, and it sucks.

James, August 2012

Saw her a few years ago. Extremely racist material against white people and I'm no shrinking violet. If the jokes were switched to a white comedian's point of view then there would be uproar. Doesn't sit well with her cuddly media image...

Tom D, December 2011

Brash and hilarious. Brilliant stage presence.

ns, September 2008

Saw Gina in Derby a few days ago - she blew my mind! She made me laugh so hard, I was sweating! We were sat on the front row - and as I hadn't seen/heard of Gina before, I went in completely blind to her obvious talents! Thrilling life affirming sense of comic timing - and knows just how much to push, and when to let go of her audience. I am sorry she has moved to the US - I would love to see her again. You go girl!

Samragi, May 2008

I was at the taping of Def Comedy Jam in LA. Gina was the best! Different perspective, different energy, and she didn't have to resort to cussing and filth to get laughs. She will be the next Ricky Gervais.

Danielle Merton, November 2007

I saw Gina at the Laugh Factory here in Los Angeles, and she was hilarious! You guys have lost an amazing talent, as I have no doubt that America is going to keep her!

Kyle Fernandez, October 2007

Loud is not the same as charismatic. No material, no technique. no insight. Just plain awful.

Billy, August 2007

Saw her last night and sorry to say she was dire. A thirtysomething crowd are a bit beyond poo jokes.

Phil, June 2007

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