...not 13 years of slogging around the US clubs

Gina Yashere has told how she slogged away around the American comedy circuit for years - only to get her big break when a Hollywood bigwig googled ‘Nigerian female comic’ to help him with a show.

That executive was Chuck Lorre, creator of comedy mega-hits such as Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, who wanted someone to advise him on his new sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola, about an middle-class white guy trying to start a relationship with a Nigerian nurse.

Giving the keynote session at Just For Laughs’ online festival, Yashere revealed that she initially told her agent that she wanted to reject the offer as ‘consulting on African things sounds weird’.

But her brother and her best friend in the UK persuaded her to take up the offer – and she soon found out why she was needed. 

The writers originally named the lead character Lupita, presumably after Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. But Yashere had to point out that the actress’s family was from Kenya – about 3,000 miles from Nigeria – and she was born in Mexico and the name Lupita is actually Spanish, not African.

‘They knew they needed me from the beginning,’ London-born Yashere told interviewer  Wanda Sykes.

Although only employed as a consultant, she said: ‘Once I’m in the room I can’t help myself, I’m a comedian I start writing - eventually they call my agent and make me a co-creator and a producer.’

She said she was wary of joining the show initially as she feared that as a black writer she would be overlooked by white bosses, based on her past experiences.

‘I never wanted to be a writer on sombody else’s show in case nobody listened,’ she said. ‘But  [on Bob Hearts Abishola] they are open to listening and learning and it’s great to see that now happening industry-wide. People are starting to listen to us when they never listened to us before.’

She also spoke of having a ‘hard journey as a performer’, explaining that she came to the US 13 years ago because there were not enough opportunities for black comedians in the UK.

‘Yes there’s a glass ceiling [in the US] too,’ she acknowledged. ‘But at least when you hit that ceiling you’re a multimillionaire!’

Yashere said she made no money in her first seven years in America, as only famous acts made money in the clubs. But she would fly back to England to make money on the UK circuit whenever her funds ran out.

‘I’ve been getting doors shut in my face for so long,’ she said. ‘It’s been a long struggle.’

Below is the full session – and click here to watch any of the Just For Laughs online programming.

Published: 11 Oct 2020