February 11, 2024 • 55 mins
Today, we return to our conversation with “Abbott Elementary” creator and star, Quinta Brunson!
On the heels of her historic Emmy wins, we discuss the guiding principles behind the series (6:02), its incomparable cast (9:41), and the show’s personal connection to Quinta’s upbringing in West Philadelphia (14:49). Then, we unpack her earliest comedic influences (19:21), performing in improv in college (26:31), and the solace she found in Second City Chicago (29:09).
On the back-half, Quinta reflects on moving to Los Angeles at twenty-three (33:27), the feelings of alienation that followed (35:02), and the Comedy Store performance that irrevocably altered her course (36:55) and brought her to Abbott Elementary (46:56). To close, she shares her hopes for the years to come (51:00).
For questions, comments, or to join our mailing list, reach me at sf@talkeasypod.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Pushkin. This is talk easy.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm setting forgo SOO, welcome to the show. Today we
return to our conversation with actor, writer, and comedian Quentin Brunson.
(00:56):
I first sat with Brunson a couple of years back
around season two of her hit show Abbott Elementary. As
you may have seen, she recently won an Emmy for
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, making her the first
black woman to do so since nineteen eighty one. When
she's not making history, she's making Abbott Elementary, which, as
(01:17):
you also may have seen, just return for season three
on ABC. Here's a little bit of a preview of
what's to come in the new season.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Good day to the fine teachers of Abbit Elementary.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
What no comment about Gregory being FOI n foy.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
No, that is highly inappropriate. I went to Harvard this summer.
I've learned what it truly takes to do the job
of a principal.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Break it up, flagness.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I got cameras all over this joint. She must be stopped.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, trying out cursing, you know see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Oh no, no, no, no, no. Gregory and I are good. Yeah, no,
we're fine. Interesting.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
I cannot stand anymore of this new ava, and.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
You are a very powerful tool.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
All these rules are so hard. Here's a rule.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Put your arms away, Jeremy Allen Black, You guys missed
a lot of silent.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
You can watch new episodes of Abbot Elementary every Wednesday
on ABC. They're also available to stream the next day
on Hulu. The new season finds Brunson reprising her role
as Janine Tigue's, a dedicated, wide eyed second grade teacher
and a predominantly black elementary school in Philadelphia. The character
was partially inspired by Brunson's mother, who taught kindergarten for
(02:54):
nearly forty years. We talk about the influence of her
mother a whole lot in this conversation, but we also
discuss her winding path and comedy, from making viral videos
a BuzzFeed to creating Abbot, which many critics have claimed
has single handedly revived the network sitcom. As someone whose
father has been teaching at public schools for thirty years now,
(03:17):
this episode, and really a whole lot of Quinta's recent work,
means a whole lot to me because Abbott is, above
all a celebration of teachers, the ones that endlessly fight
for their students, the ones who work above and beyond
in under resource districts, the ones that are often underpaid
and overworked, the ones that show up every day and
(03:41):
really care. And so with that, Dad, I hope you're listening,
and I hope you enjoy this conversation. I think he's
probably heard it at least two to three times already.
I also want to thank Quinta for coming on a
couple years back. She has continued to be a supporter
of our show. I am sorry that Jalen Hurts and
the Eagles are not playing today. And for those of
(04:04):
you who have not heard this episode, or for those
that are listening to it for a second time, thank
you and I.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We'll be back next Sunday with a new episode. Until then,
have a good rest of your weekend. And without further ado,
this is Quinta Brunson.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Quina Brunson. How you doing. I'm doing well? Okay, Yeah,
I'm good. I'm here. Should we stop now? No, I'm
doing well.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Honestly, you don't traditionally like doing podcasts very much.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Is that true?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
This is true, and you've made the exception for us.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yes, I've heard so many good friends speak so highly
of this podcast. I don't listen to podcasts, so I
have never listened to it myself. I find them a
little intimidating. Do you talking too much scares me?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
So yeah, if you just want to stop talking and
have me talk, okay, I'll jump right in.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
All right, cool, Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So, going into the first season of Abbot Elementary, you
talked about how you wanted to provide respite from a
global pandemic, a fragile democracy, an escalating climate crisis, the
list goes on. You said, the world isn't a crazy place.
We just wanted to make a feel good sitcom that
(05:36):
was twenty two minutes long that families can watch together,
but wasn't corny and could still be for everyone. Now
that the world is basically fixed and the problems I
mentioned no longer exist, what's the driving force of season two.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I think the driving force now is I enjoy making it.
As you said, the whole world is fixed now, so
I still want people to be happy though. I think
there's something really beautiful about people just enjoying something sweet
In short, and I think our show doesn't require much
like brain power.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Well, it doesn't hurt to have brand power.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
It doesn't hurt. Everyone's going to have fun. But there
are a lot of television programs that I think require
a lot of mental gymnastics. Like everyone's watching the Doahmer
series right now, and I feel like everyone is crushed
with the weight of watching the Dohmer series. It just
feels like a weighted thing for people to watch, and
(06:38):
I feel like Abbott doesn't feel that weighted. Granted, people
think about the state of American public schools, but that's
not my intention. I think that's just inherent to the
creation of a show about a public school. Sometimes people
take away, man, I'm having fun watching Abbot. I'm really
enjoying myself, but man, the public school system is fucked up.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It's like, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Should know that also, and I hope you're moved to
action by that, but ultimately, really just still enjoy making
a show that people enjoy.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You're almost making it sound like the show is weightless.
I think you're under selling the show. Yeah a little bit.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Maybe I don't think it's weightless. I think it's just
not as heavy as.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Some others, as heavy as Dahmer.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Not as heavy as Dahmer. You should put that on
the poster of season two. Abbit Elementary not Dahmer. You
have this quote.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
If I go back home to my family in Philadelphia
and I asked my mother, cousin, uncle nice, if they're
watching Succession, They're going to say no. Yet, Succession is
hip cool. Everyone writes about it. But the hipp is
coolest thing isn't always for everyone, and that's okay. Network
TV is inherently made for the people. Abbot is in
this middle space between the two bars.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
See, this is why it get scared. I just be talking.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
I don't have any recollection of when I said that,
and that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's why it's scary.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
But here we are going into the second season. What
was your frame of mind?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I think it allowed me to trust myself even more.
The first season felt very intention but like with any art,
you know you're making something and you can't control how
it's received. You hope that your art is received in
the way you intended it to be. And it was
and it caused conversation. It did stuff that I didn't
(08:24):
necessarily intend for it to do, but it still added
to it being I think a great cultural piece.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So, for instance, you know, last season there was an
episode about the Gifted program, and when that episode aired,
and I think two or three days later, I remember
online people were having this extensive conversation about the ethics
of having a gifted program at all. That wasn't necessarily
(08:52):
a conversation that we were trying to create. So it's
awesome that people are motivated to have these conversations and
motivated to reach out to their local public schools and
donate that all of that is more than we could
have asked for. And so in the second season it
(09:13):
felt like we should just do more of the same.
We really trust ourselves and we just have to do
more of what we were already doing.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And the thing you were doing, I think above all
else is being funny.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think so too.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Why don't we watch a clip from the new season
of hab It Elementary.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Watch a clip one of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Ava I see you, I saw you see me make
free trips.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You could have helped me.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
I could have that was an option, got Jacob.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I missed you. Please never go to Peru again. You're
not having service was the worst. Oh, it's so nice
to be called Jacob again. After teaching abroad and being
called El Diablo blanco every day. I really started to
feel like about sah. Somebody say trash.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Welcome back dorks and welcome back abbit elementary staff. Let's
have a great Development Week. I'll see you guys in
the auditorium at nine.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Most people think schools start when the kids get here,
but it actually starts now at Development Week.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Teachers prep for the year.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
We get ready, get our curriculum, We research, our students,
make plans.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
It's the calm before the storm. It's very zin.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Actually, I had a fantastic summer after my cruise to
Jamaica all inclusive. I worked with AVA to properly appropriate
the funds that we got from the grant last year,
and I found out in early July that I would
be welcoming a student who uses a wheelchair. So I
(10:43):
was very excited to be able to use part of
that grant money to get a new ramp installed. My
next goal is to get that student the appropriate desk
and follow up on the shoes I lost on the cruise.
I was very inebriated. Oh see, Barbara is different than
land Barbara.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Well, Barbara and I have that in common.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
She just keeps getting funnier.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I was watching an episode yesterday, a cut of an
episode which is episode eight, that just text shry I
was like, how do you keep getting funnier?
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And she's so not aware.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
She just is such a good actress that I don't know, whatever,
That's not the point.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Sure it is.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Even in that scene, you get a sense of these
teachers that they love this job, but that the job
is demanding probably too much from them. And over and
over again, You've talked about this, but I like this
quote where you said, what if we took the approach
that teachers are real people instead of heightened stereotypes. Do
(11:48):
you think that is why people have come to this show,
because in some ways they can always see a version
of the teachers they had or are having.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Absolutely, teachers, everyone has one or everyone was one. Lisa
and Walter says that on our show, like it's literally
someone we all have come into contact with one way
or another. You know, even in past shows about teachers,
all of which I feel I'm a student of things
like Welcome Back Carter, Mister Carter, shows with teachers in
them that were prominent, like Boy Meets World, or even
(12:19):
like never have I ever, the focus is on the kids.
But still though the typical funny approach was people hate
this job they're doing, you know, they hate the students
and how bad it is. But all the teachers in
my life, like my mother, they love the job. It's
really the only reason to do it because it's not
the pay. My mom is just a teacher to the core.
(12:42):
Even when she retired, she still keeps teaching. It's just
who she is. And I think that's so inspiring and
beautiful and what I tried to bring into Abbitt. There's
no pulling Barbara away from this job. There's no pulling
Janine away from it. I think the character Gregory is
learning that there's no pulling him away from it, like
(13:02):
this is who you are. But then you still have
your personal life, you still have bills, you still have
to deal with the things everyone else deals with. So
I thought that was also the beauty. And like the
documentary format, I wanted people to feel like they worked
at Abbot or went to Abbot two, so that they
could be immersed in this world and feel the joy
(13:23):
that these people feel, and the love and the fun
and the humor. It's so all encompassing. My mom worked
around the clock to be a good teacher. It's not
just those you know, hours of eight to three. It's
so much that goes into it. So I wanted to
flesh that out for everyone out there who didn't know
what it was like.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
She was your kindergarten teacher, right, my.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Mom was my kindergarten teacher. Yes, it was tu It
was so.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Normal, my mom teaching me in the kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
It wouldn't have worked out.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
No, it wouldn't have worked out.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Are you kidding? You would have just been a child.
You wouldn't have known.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Trust me, My mom would have made her presence known.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Do you have a good relationship with your mom? Now
stop recording? Oh my god. Oh not Sam's mom. Yes,
we have a very good relationship. Okay, good, good, good.
I think it's all love. It's just that the joke
was too easy.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, but your mom is your teacher. She's your teacher
in kindergarten. Then from first to fifth grade you attend Holly,
a Learning program on the top floor of Harrody Elementary
School in West Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It's now Mastery Charter School, changed into a charter I
wasn't going to mention that.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, what did that program teach you about who you
were and where you came from?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So A Holly was incredible. It was you were in
the same program from first to fifth grade. You had
the same teachers. They just you know, changed the curriculum
when you, of course changed grades. But I had two teachers,
Umi and Mongozi, and they were my teachers for all
five years. Two very different women, two very different women.
Yes you read the book, yes, And in this program
(15:00):
it was based in African learning and learning your black
history first. So a Holly the name means family, and
that's what it felt like. While we learned everything that
the other kids were learning. We had multiple lessons on
black history a day, and they didn't really pull any punches.
(15:20):
I learned about the slave trade in first grade and
learned about the Civil Rights era in first grade. And
I always tell the story because I think it's the
best way to sum it up, you know. While other
kids in other second grade classes were watching like Beauty
and the Beast, we watched Amistade and I was like, hmm,
(15:42):
that movie's tough to watch now. It's tough to watch period.
But they really believed in telling us the truth. And
telling us our history. It was just learning what the
world was, what the country was for black people at
an early age. In all honesty, I think it improved
my life greatly. It made me able to navigate the
(16:04):
world in a different way.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Because they were centering blackness in the curriculum.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yes, my controversial thought is that I feel that should
be the case for every person. I think that, like,
if you are Hispanic American, I think it's so vital
to learn about your history in this country before going
out into the world.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I think the same thing for white American children.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
You should know your full, well rounded history instead of
you know, being denied it and you find out later
what your ancestors did and what they were capable of.
I think it's just helpful to no sooner so you
can be like, all right, fuck, let's just let's not
do that again, because I think the lady you find out,
the more defensive you are one way or another.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Because you feel you've been deceived.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Deceived, lied to, betrayed.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I have a lot of friends Black Americans who didn't
really find out about the history of black people in
America until they got to college. And at that point,
why the fuck did nobody tell you know. It's like, Okay,
I didn't know this information on purpose. And honestly, maybe
that's true that so much of our history is missing
from modern textbooks, or that slavery is like reduced to
(17:14):
a page in your history book. It'd be helpful to
know all of that so you have a better center
of gravity. I think about therapy a lot when people
have to go to therapy later to sift through their
childhoods and sift through trauma, and they get in therapy
this opportunity to unlock repressed feelings, things they didn't know
(17:35):
about their family, things they didn't get the chance to
ever reconcile, and now are affecting them poorly in adulthood.
I think it's something that could help repair the country
which feels beyond repair.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
But I just feel like we all stopped lying to ourselves.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I thought we just agreed that we had repaired all
the problems.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot never mind, forget everything I
just said.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I think if that's a controversial opinion, then we got
more problems than I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
We do have more problems than we thought. All I
know is like my experience with like a Holly it
never became up for debate, do you know what I mean?
And never was a debatable, actionable item that people could
shut down.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It just you know, was happening back when you were
coming in page in the mid nineties. Yes, different world
back then.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
At that age you said, even though an enormous weight
was dropped on my back, I felt like I could
take on the world because I was given a keen
awareness of how society worked and treated black people. It's
also around this time, I think, age six or seven,
that you started, in your words, flirting with comedy. What
(18:40):
did that flirtation look like.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
It looked like really wanting to make my siblings laugh.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
My siblings were much older than me.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, four, I was there a little clown, and I
started doing stuff like reciting lines from their favorite shows,
which were in living color in Martin. I love that feeling.
I loved making these people laugh. I didn't know this
when I was a little kid, but I came so
much later that my brother, who was closest to me,
was like pissed. He was like, I was the baby,
(19:09):
Where'd she come from? And I wasn't on purpose. I
was a surprise baby. And my older siblings they seem
so far away from me, but making them laugh I
felt that that brought me closer. I thought that was
the one way to be super close to these people
was to be able to make them laugh.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
In the book, he wrote, slowly, I began building up
characters and stories in my head, ones that I knew
would get people laughing. It felt good to be loved,
but it felt better to get a laugh. Did you
believe those two things were mutually exclusive.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
No, I don't think they were, because it wasn't always
like a laugh per se. It was just entertaining people
and getting that kind of emotional response from them, Like
I started out a dancer, my dad really or other
people be like I just love like watching you dance.
That to me is so powerful to get an emotional
response from art. I imagine it's what a painter wants
(20:06):
when they paint something, just an emotional response, whether they laugh, cry,
are just experiencing extreme joy. That's something that I really
enjoyed from a young age.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
In high school. Your mother gives you her Mac laptop.
On it you start editing videos on iMovie using photo booth.
Was she supportive of that art that you were talking
about at that age.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
No, because I didn't really show her what I was doing.
She got the mac through the Philadelphia public school system.
One year they gave all the teachers Max, which was
super cool.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
She didn't even.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Really know what that was, you know, She's like, what
is this? And I was like, mom, you have a MacBook.
This was a big, big deal at the time, and
so I would be like, can I see it?
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Can I play on it? Can I see it?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
She was like, yeah, fine, whatever, like, just don't break it.
And I was like, I won't break it. I would
never break such.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
A beautiful thing. And I was just did you just
praise the mac laptop.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
You have to remember this was two thousand and six.
The mac book was game changing, you know, iMovie game changing.
I started a little talk show called The Rant, and
that followed me into college where I just interviewed random
people on my campus, and that started expanding all of
a sudden. I was like interviewing people in Chicago and
(21:28):
different college campuses, and it was just fun to make
that kind of art, which I think the MacBook allowed
me to do.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Very grateful for the invention of the MacBook.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
At eighteen nineteen, you started attending Temple University.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
YEP.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
The verdict on whether your mother was supporting your creativity,
where did we land on that?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
It's really a no. She didn't see the stability and
the things that I wanted to do. Once she did
start like finding out as you read the book. I
wrote about it in my book. When I was just
like going to improv club, she was like, oh, what
is this. My mom understood stand up and yes she
undersot diod TV, but I was starting at ground zero
(22:12):
of zipzab zop and she was like, this is nonsense
and we don't have time for nonsense, and why are
you doing that?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
To be fair, when I first saw the zip zap zop,
I also thought, what's happened?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What's happening?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
And that's why I was totally respected my mom's choice
to not support that the zipab sp completely support that.
It looks like nonsense.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
It does.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I watch improvisers do it now and I'm like, God,
it's so awful, but some of you will go on
to become some of the greatest comedic minds of our time.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So when you join this group foul play Yes God
in college, your mother one night drives you to your
friend's Scott's house. Yep, Scott, he had an apartment, I
believe on campus.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yep. What happened when you two roll up and park,
we get in a fight. She's like, why are you
going into this boy's house? And I'm like, we're just
hanging out and doing improv, and she's like, I don't
trust this situation. These are nerds.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I cannot state enough how these were the most typical nerds.
They should have been out having sex and they were
in the house doing improv and listening to uh, what's
that one singer? They put me on to him? Actually, fuck,
I could hold you. They put me on a bunch
(23:36):
of white shit, a bunch of like stuff I never heard.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Keep looking at me like I'm gonna know, I know,
you know, you don't know if I know.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I'm pretty sure you do. And then you know they
had ukuleles and guitars. You they likes.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I'm just saying things that I know are probably in
your background somewhere orre. You had a friend or a
friend that partook and stringed instrument behavior. Ray lamont Lamontage,
That's who they put me. Ontok was always played it.
So these were just the biggest dorks. Ever, I was like, Mom,
you really have to chill, like for real, and we
(24:10):
got into a fight and she told me my earrings
were too big. It was just a constant pick at
me and who I was becoming. It was ultimately a
fear of what all of this could turn into. You know,
my mom, she left the dance world behind. She's a
very good dancer, but eventually she had to raise a
family and focus on being a good mother. The artist's world,
(24:33):
in being a mother having a sustainable income, they don't
go hand in hand. And I feel like I don't
know when I'm going to be able to have a
child because of my job and because this is where
my passion lies now. But my mom made her choice,
and her choice was her family and her kids. So
I think the arts weren't realistic to her anymore. She
(24:55):
had her first child at twenty, and here I am
approaching my twenties and I wasn't shutting the arts down.
I was going further into them. I didn't know at
the time what we were really arguing about. It's not
until you get older you're like, oh man. She wasn't
trying to criticize me for no reason. She was afraid.
But my mom and I have since had talks where
(25:16):
I'm like, you truly raised me so well that there
was no way I was ever going to turn into
what you were afraid of.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Was part of this, as you write in the book
Some Battle over a Religion.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yes, I was raised a Jehovah's witness I was a
kid growing up in West Philly, pretty rough city. My
mom just wanted us to have protection in every single way,
me and the rest of my siblings, and being Jehah's
witnesses was another layer of that protection. It's a religion
that keeps you from getting into any trouble, except for
the trouble that eventually finds its way in a secular
(25:52):
branch of Christianity. But you know, I didn't want to
be any one anymore and I was pulling away from it,
and I think that also scared her, you know, like
without religion, you're not at the whims of having fear
of God.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And I didn't think that was true.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I was figuring it out at the time, but I
think always knew, like I can be spiritual without this religion,
Like I said, was grateful because I think it kept
me out of so much trouble kept me on the
straight and narrow path, but eventually I just knew that
it wasn't going to work out for me.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You said, it's a pretty strict religion to people who
aren't in it, But I continue to push the boundaries
until I eventually pushed my way on of it. I
just wasn't going to be able to be the person
I wanted to be well being part of this religion
at eighteen, nineteen twenty. Who was that person that you
wanted to be.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I wanted to go to improv club. I did, and
I was like, if this is a big deal exactly.
I was like, I can't be.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Here, like foul plays out of bounds.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I wanted to go zip zip zop and that was
looking really nasty to the Jehobes Witness. I was like, well,
I can't be here. This is the smallest thing I
want to do. I was just like, what the fuck.
It's just like I just want to go do some
improv and this is a big problem. I didn't want
anything to be taboo for me. If I wanted to
talk about sex, I would want to talk about sex.
(27:18):
If I wanted to curse, because you're not even supposed
to curse, I would want to curse. You're not supposed
to watch certain things. I wanted to watch whatever I wanted.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
It was a breakup.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
It was like, it's not you, it's me, and that's
what I felt it was. I didn't necessarily have a
bad word to say about the religion, but I just
knew that it wasn't for me anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
You break up from this person that you were to
basically pursue comedy and then to eventually experience life outside
of West Philly. I believe during your freshman year of college,
you traveled to Chicago to take a second City in
prov class over on Wells Street. After a week of courses,
(28:00):
there's like a showcase.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
For the class.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
What do you remember about that performance.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
I remember feeling like I was like at home. I
felt super aligned with who I was supposed to be.
I felt at home, at peace. There was no question
about whether or not this is where I belong. It
was like, okay, no, I belong here. And I think
it became very clear to me that this is what
I want to do for the rest of my life,
(28:26):
not necessarily being a stage performer, but writing and performing comedy.
That's when I was like, Okay, this is part of
my purpose to do this. I still didn't really tell anyone,
but everything I started doing was all for that. Like
when I got a job at Apple and Philly, it
was like so that I could eventually move to cause
(28:48):
I was like, oh, the Apple store. They'll move you
to another store and give you like a small relocation
fee bomb, like not only do I want to work there,
not only Apple, but eventually I'll be able to move
to Chicago or LA and still have a job.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
But I didn't tell anyone that. It was like my
little like my little plan.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
That I don't even think I told the plan to myself,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Like it was in sight, like in the shower to
or something.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
No, no, no, no, I think I now I have
a brain that's functioning here, and then there's something back
here that's like here's it's just a little feeling that's like,
here's what we're going to be focusing on for the
next ten years. But yeah, go ahead, frontal lobe and
do what you think you're doing. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
It does?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Okay, It's like you're in your early twenties, you have
this plan for yourself, but you almost don't want to
put it into words because then suddenly it becomes real
and the wight of something that is real. It's just
easier if it lives in the imagination.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Absolutely, it's different for different people. You know, if it
doesn't come true. I think that can sometimes like fuck
people up instead of just enjoying the ride. And if
it happens, it happens.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I don't know. You never know what is going to happen.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
And if you're just living and just going on for
the ride of life, it's much easier to never be disappointed.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, we're right back with our guests, the one and
only Quina Brunson. This right of life, it does take
(30:28):
you to Los Angeles. It does you get that relocation
job at Apple over at Century City. You're twenty three,
leaving West Philly for the first time. You have this quote,
he said. When I moved to Los Angeles, I stayed
at a friend of a friend's apartment in Koreatown. I
was subletting it for three weeks. I was then going
(30:50):
through their bookshelf and I found a paperback copy of
You Get So Alone at Times by Charles Bukowski. I
related I was like twenty three, and at that time
in my life, there were a lot of people, my parents' friends,
who thought I was a terrible person for moving away
from I had this idea, maybe I am terrible because
(31:13):
this is what I had to do. Did you really
believe that that that you were terrible for moving.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
I didn't believe I was terrible.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
But when enough people are mad at you, I think
you start to think, well, maybe I'm unaware.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
You know. I think I felt maybe you're missing something.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Yeah, I was like, I damn, but I was still
gonna go for the ride. I felt like I like
I was saying. I was like, well, I'm here, I'm
still gonna do this. I'm going to pursue it. And
you know, if I'm wrong, so be it. Maybe I am.
Maybe I am wrong for this. Maybe my parents right.
There was a period where I wasn't working at Apple
yet the job relocation hadn't happened, so I was dead broke.
I had to find some work, and I was working
(31:54):
as like a styling assistant and doing these long day.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Jobs for very little pay.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
And when you are an assistant, you know you can't
be on the phone and stuff like that. You're you're
grabbing minuscule things like tights and and keeping track of,
you know, fifty thousand dollar pieces of joy. It requires
a lot of focus for not a lot of money.
And I had a friend who was so mad at
me at the time that I all of a sudden
wasn't answering the phone as much, and I wasn't there
as much. Was a good friend of mine from college,
(32:22):
and I was like, I don't know what to tell you, Like,
I have to work, I have to do this now.
My mom was still very upset that I really was
going to move out here. It didn't stop me from
doing it. It just made me wonder if I was
going to be wrong or not, but it didn't stop
me from trying to find out. And I think that
book it's a lot of quick poems about being okay
(32:46):
with being awful. I think definitely people have mixed feelings
on Charles Bikowski period, but I didn't know that at
the time. I just grabbed this book off a shelf
and started reading it, and it felt peaceful because also
I was like, I'm not as bad as him, and
somehow he's okay with himself because he was fucking horrible. Yeah,
(33:07):
but he was somehow okay with himself in seeing who
he was supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
So you were making peace with being less awful than him.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I think that moving somewhere, pursuing a career like mine,
it just requires a period of misunderstanding from people sometimes,
and I had to be okay with that period that
everybody was going to jump on board. And I don't
think I also was good at articulating what I was
trying to do. I just had this conversation with someone
else recently. It's hard to articulate to someone that I
(33:39):
think that one day I'll make a television show on
ABC and it'll be really good and everyone will love it.
You don't even know that to articulate it. It's just
a dream that's in the back of you somewhere.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I think it's best to not articulate something like that.
Same it's like the politicians are like, I've been talking about, yes,
being a politician since I was nine, and you're like,
and I don't want to ever talk to you.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Did you know when you were seventeen where you like,
I'm going to have a show called Talk Easy.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, And I thought I can't wait until Emmy winner
Quinta Bunsen sits down on that show. Does that period
of misunderstanding? Does that end? On the day that your
life changed? You wake up, leave your morning shift at Apple,
carding your tattered H and M tope bag packed with
(34:29):
a T shirt, a banana, a joint, and a copy
of that Bukowsky book because that night you had lined
up a performance at the comedy store where you plan
to try out some new dating material. Is that where
the period of misunderstanding comes to an end?
Speaker 3 (34:48):
No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't because a misunderstanding
was always coming from other people.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Did I just misunderstand the period of you being misunderstood?
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Maybe I was never misunderstanding myself. It was other people
misunderstanding me. This is like a riddle, I know, does
that make sense?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I think if we listen to the tape it may.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Okay, No, I think I said it clearly.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
I felt I was doing the right thing, and so
that comedy store moment was a big moment of like, okay, no,
I'm on the right path.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Everyone else was wrong. Sorry, guys, So what happens?
Speaker 3 (35:22):
We had to put on a little sketch show before
stand up, so nobody wanted to watch us anyway. No
one wants to watch sketch comedy at the comedy store.
They come there for a stand up and I did
it with some friends, and you know, in spite of everything,
we did a pretty good job for a crowd that
really did not want to see some dorks up there
(35:42):
doing sketch. I think it was like three of my
white friends already wild to bring to a like a
black comedy night, and they won them over. My friend
Kate did this sketch about Annie, but the dog won't
stop pumping her leg while she's trying to perform. Got
a good amount of chuckles. My friend Danny did a
sketch wearing a dashiki that he never should have done,
(36:05):
so he fell flat on his face.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I think that was a good lesson for him.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Kate did this where she's trying to talk to Drake,
but it's just Drake lyrics. It's just great, God if
you laughs. And then I did the Girl's Never been
on a nice date. It wasn't named that, it was
just a character that I wanted to do of a
one sided date of this girl who's super impressed by
her date and this place was howling with laughter, and
that was important to me to get that when that
(36:29):
crowd over in that way was like, okay, no, I
know I have something something special here. And Joe Brown
was in the audience and he said, you're really funny,
and I was like, thank you, judge, Joe Brown.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
I've seen on your show that you're a good judge
of character. Did you deliver it just like that? He
pretty much said. He was like, you were funny. You
were a real funny girl, and I was like, wow,
he's a judge.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
After you performed this bit, you upload it on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Yeah, and remember this was before Instagram had video. It
wasn't what it is now, you know, and the video
went super viral. It was crazy that it was sharing
like that because it wasn't easy to share videos on Instagram.
It was kind of word of mouth and people coming
to my page to watch this video. Should we take
(37:16):
a look, Sure, if you want to.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
This is quin de Brunson from twenty fourteen in the
sketch the Girl Who's Never been on a Nice date?
Speaker 6 (37:26):
You going to see Book on Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
The tickets was thirteen ninety five, but he paid thirteen
ninety five and thirteen ninety five, He got money.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
I have a good night.
Speaker 6 (37:38):
Dugas with skittles, uh sid dips, recess pieces and a
large pot for it, a large You.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Got money, he got money. Get it all warm?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Those what are good?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Excuse me, waitress? We all get your water. Oh my god,
you got money.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
After that video goes viral and you become sort of
known for this this thing, it sounds like when you're
looking back on that that you're not all the way
proud of it.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
I feel a lot of pride over it. I understand
that my past is interesting, but I'm like more about
the future, more about what's to come than focusing on
my past, I guess.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
And so writing this book, which comes on the heels
of that video, which then leads to you working at BuzzFeed,
there's a whole bunch of other accomplishments in there. Did
you not enjoy writing in No.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
It was a little hard for me. It was a
little tough to put that much about my life in print.
And even though the researching of it, I just don't
I don't know exactly well.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
We can talk about the future and second, but there's
one there is one. There is one thing I do
want to discuss as you have this great job at
BuzzFeed and things are going well, You're thriving. They've made
you a development partner, I think, making you the youngest
show runner there. But there's one morning in February of
(39:20):
twenty seventeen where that past that we've been talking about
and this present that is being a creative person in
the world, it kind of collides. What do you remember
about that morning?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
I just remember, you know, being in the middle of
making a video with my friends and getting a call
from my sister, which already was weird, but then she
called me twice, which was extra weird because my sister
just doesn't call me. She doesn't call me like that
for no reason. And I knew something was wrong. It's
almost like you ever, you look at the miscall differently
when you know something is wrong. It looks different to you.
(39:57):
It's like screaming at you. And I was like, oh fuck.
And then my sister had told me that my little
cousin was shot and killed, and it just shut everything down.
I continue to work for the rest of the day,
but mentally I was like, I'm not home, I'm not
with my family, my little cousin didn't deserve that, which
(40:20):
was really tough for me to reconcile with. And it's
not like I hadn't experienced steps before where the person
didn't deserve it, but it just really bothered me. I
was like, he's a kid, he was seventeen, seventeen years old.
It really really pissed me off, and it made me
mad at the city. It made me mad that I
had left the city. Not it's that a rational thing
of like somehow you believe that if you were there,
(40:42):
that wouldn't have happened. It made me mad at myself
for being so far away from my family at such
a critical time. I was sad I was so far
away from them. I was upset. I was around a
bunch of people who didn't understand. I wasn't mad at them.
I was just upset once again at myself for being
so far away and around a bunch of people who
(41:03):
couldn't understand the situation. And I didn't want to give
them an opportunity to which I talk about a lot
in the book.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
You put a lot on yourself.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
In that moment and being like, I don't want to
talk about my cousin being shot and killed with people
who have never had that experience before. I don't want
to give them room to say anything wrong because I
don't want these people to say anything wrong to me,
So I don't want to tell them about it so
that they have the chance to.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The thing that struck me that the way you decided
to get through it was to go back and continue
making the video that you were making before you got
that phone call.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
How did you do that? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
It could be a fight or flight response, it could
be a trauma response, but I just did it. I
was like, I didn't have a choice. It was either
go home or keep working. And I chose to keep
working because.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
I like what I do for.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
A living and I find it therapeutic, inspiring, fun. So
that seemed like the better option at the time, until
my need was to go home and be by myself.
And so now I still find myself juggling a similar
issue right now in Philadelphia. The murder rate is at
(42:23):
the higahts is everything. It really really affects me, and
sometimes I want to like post about it and talk
about it, but then I'm like, Okay, should I talk
about it or should I not use social media? And
just use it to promote Abbod And it's like making
a choice of this thing is really affecting me, it's
(42:44):
really sad, it's affecting my city, it's breaking my heart.
But I think my job right now is to put
more twenty two minute goodness into the world because I'm
not sure what me talking about this and public is
going to do. And maybe that's wrong. I probably could
do more, But the thing is, I've tried to do
more in the past, and it feels like there's nothing
(43:07):
for me to do but try to put more abbot
out because at a certain extence, like, yeah, I can
talk about it all I want. I've tried this, but
it's up to policymakers, it's up to politicians. It's up
to people to like put conflict resolutions into our environments,
into our neighborhoods. And that's all work I can do
in the background, and you know, work with counselmen and
(43:30):
work with groups and stuff like that. But ultimately, I
think my job is probably to put more abbit out.
I think that's where I am now. It's the same
kind of juggling, though you know.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
You're right about that juggling. In the book you said,
I realized in that moment after my cousin's passing, that
I had spent my entire life separating my personal life
from professional, creating invisible barriers between who I was with
my family and who I was in the world. It
started in school and it was continuing with my work.
(44:02):
My job quote unquote was to be relatable, and the
deeper I got into my family dynamics less relatable. I felt, sure,
everyone's family is wacky, but there's something so uniquely specific
about the black experience that it's very hard for the
white majority demographic of this country to understand. I guess
(44:24):
I'm wondering in twenty twenty two, that separation between personal
and professional, between the person you really are and the
person you present. Do you think Abbot Elementary is your
way of bridging those two people?
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Yeah, I think inadvertently, Yeah, I think so. I think
Abbot is a lot of what I believe in my ethos,
my principles, it's a lot of my past. It's so
much of who I am in something that's a little
bit more consumable for the public. And I could talk
(45:05):
all I one, but I think making things to me
feels more that feels like the best way for me
to communicate with the rest of the world. I also
don't feel a need for my personal life to be
all over the place. I think that it's actually quite
healthy for me to have things that the rest of
the world never knows about or never gets in a
(45:26):
peek into. I think I don't need to give so
much of myself to the world. I can do that
through making things. I can decide what I want to
be out there and put it into a structure I trust. Like,
even if someone doesn't like Abbott, that's okay. But this
is the art that I've chosen to put out there
that I like, and that it's clearer to me than
(45:47):
me just rambling on like I'm doing now.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
I don't think it's okay. I think if someone doesn't
like it, send it to me.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
I saw some people always say we have this charter
school storyline this year that's starting, and it's you know whatever,
And I did already see that.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
It ruffled some feathers.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Oh people at charter schools got mad there.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
It wasn't a huge majority.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I think for the most part, an audience understands this
is a show we're going to have a storyline.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
It's not like it wouldn't be the first time for
those schools. It's not.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
It's a show, and these are characters who are relating
to the experience. I went to charter schools, I went
to I also went to public schools. It's just an experience.
But I think what feels good about Abbott is like
I'm able to stand on my own two feet with it.
I'm able to be like, thank you for engaging with
my art. I think that's okay that you don't like it,
and I think that's fine. And one of my favorite
(46:35):
things I ever studied in high school was the visual
arts and studying people like Frieda Callo and Diego Rivera
and Henriotsowa Tanner, people who were making pieces that upset
a lot of people, but they also brought so many
other people joy.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
And you know Freed Collo's work for.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
People who were upset she was naked in it, but
other people were moved to tears by seeing her imagery.
And I think that's the beauty of like making something.
It's like this came from the heart. I don't know
what to say. If you don't like it, that's okay,
thank you for engaging, but I don't know, I feel
much more secure in making things. I find like reality
starts fascinating because I'm just like that seems like the
(47:15):
scariest thing on earth to me.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
But in some ways, I mean, you put so much
of yourself, yeah, into a weekly sitcom.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
True, But one day I hope to not like one day,
I hope I make something that is nothing like Abbott
and there's a little less of me in it. I
think it'll still come from of course, from the heart,
but I don't you know.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
You know, I don't know well before that happens. Yes,
you've mentioned a couple times how you like to talk
about the future. Mm hmm, So why don't we as
we leave think about what that looks like. In October
of twenty twenty, you did an interview with Vulture and
they asked you how has quarantine affected the way you
(47:57):
approach your comedy and your audience. Here's what you said.
I motivated the champion the stories of everyday people even
more now. I always wanted to, But I think it
was exciting, prior to this pandemic to talk about my cutesy,
pseudo privileged problems. And I don't think there's anything wrong
with that. Problems are problems and truth is truth. But
(48:21):
now I want to help create stories based around people
who make communities work, teachers, nurses, neighbors, carpenters, bars, people
who I feel aren't appreciated enough.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Yeah, because that was before Abbot, before I habit.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
Yeah, now there were in twenty twenty two together, Everything's fixed,
Everything's Fixed. Season two is here? Yep, thirty four year
old Quinta two thirty two year old Quinta two more
years twenty four year old Quinta.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
What do you want?
Speaker 3 (48:52):
I want to keep making a habit. I'm excited about that.
I also see a world where I make another show.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
I see it.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
Remember I told you about like the little back of
the you know, something back there just gearing me and
veering me towards something. I feel it, something feeling. Yeah,
it's going towards another show that I think is going
to be really good.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
I haven't done anything for it.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
Every now and then I'll meet someone and you know,
we'll start getting to talk and I'm like, oh man, yeah,
this idea I have for later will be happening. I
want to I really want to explore having a family
I don't know what that looks like right now. I
don't know which way that's going to go, but having
the desire for it is going to take it somewhere.
(49:39):
I met someone recently who has children that they help,
and I think that that is that person's version of family,
you know, And I think I'm interested in what that
looks like for me. I've always just saw myself like
having a child, but I just don't know what that's
going to look like for me now.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
So it's one of the biggest thoughts in my head.
What do you think it will look like? I don't know.
I really don't know. It's going to be corny.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
But one of the best things that I've learned from
working at Apple was being comfortable, was being like, I
don't know, let's find out. And I think it's really
healthy to just accept and I don't know sometimes so
I really don't know. There's so many options people have,
other people carry for them, people work carrying a child
(50:28):
into their shows. Sometimes people adopt, So I know people
who are really good aunts. I'm experiencing that with my
nieces and nephews right now. I took my nephews, my
nephews and my niece. But I have a nephew who's
only six to Disney and I was like, oh my god,
this is the best thing I've ever, ever, ever, ever
(50:48):
done watching him run around and just scream with little
grogu ears on. And I want to go to some
theme parks in other countries. That's the only thing that's like,
I really want to go to Shanghai. They have a
Jurassic Park ride that.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Are you bought the plug? It's a Disney ride.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (51:12):
They have Pirates of the Caribbean ride that I just
need to get on. They also have a Beauty in
the Beast ride that is mind blowing. I need to
see it in person. I love rides, I love theme parks,
but America is just not doing it like the other girls.
The closest we have is the Rise of the Resistance,
which is fucking flames. But what I'm trying to tell
(51:33):
people is that in other countries they've.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Been on that.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
I was really with you, and so I could I
said that until all the rides. I love rides, I
don't even know what you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
You need to play a clip of that forget my videos.
You need to play the Beauty and the Beast Ride.
I'm serious. It's really cool. So that's really the only
couple of things on my to do.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
List, some small things, some big things.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
But you know what, I bet my wont to go
ride that Beauty and the Beast Ride.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
It'll lead to some other beautiful thing, you know, wherever
it takes you. I don't like your tone.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
I was gonna do something positive, Okay, not my tone.
What was this Twitter? Have you had a problem with
my tone?
Speaker 3 (52:16):
No?
Speaker 1 (52:16):
Not until that moment.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
I was gonna say something really nice, good. Well, no,
no I'm not.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
I want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Okay, wherever it takes me, wherever the ride takes you,
literal or metaphorical, I'm excited for you.
Speaker 3 (52:30):
I'm excited to get on the ride. Wow, this is
really such a full Did you know this? Did you
create this metaphor did you know? Because no, you didn't know,
I would tell you about the rides. Wow, this is good.
This is good podcast. I would listen to this.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
This is a good podcast. It'll be your first podcast.
You go, this is good TV. This is good material
right here.
Speaker 2 (52:52):
I guess all we have to do now is check
back in in ten years and see how it went.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Maybe? Who knows where I'll be in ten years.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Compliment, followed by this that feels right. I had a
really good time, Quinta Bronson anytime bye. We did it,
We did it. We covered a lot of ground we
did I think of ten years.
Speaker 4 (53:10):
Maybe, and that's our show.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
If you enjoyed our talk with Quinta, be sure to
leave us five stars on Spotify, Apple, wherever you do
your listening. You can also tag us on social media
when you share this episode at talk easypod. We'd like
to repost those and see those on Sunday, so thank
you in advance for that. All of this really does
help new listeners find the program. I want to give
(54:05):
a special thanks this week to the teams at Persona
pr ABC, and of course, our guest, Quinta Brunson. You
can watch new episodes of Abbott Elementary every Wednesday on
ABC that are also available to stream on Hulu the
day after. If you want to learn more about Quinta
and her work, visit our show notes at talk easypod
(54:25):
dot com if you'd like to hear other conversations with
very funny people, and recommend our talks with Bill Hayter,
Dan Levy and Steven Young. To hear those and more
Pushkin Podcasts, listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
like to listen. Talk Easy is produced by Caroline Reebok.
Our executive producer is Jeni Si Bravo. Our associate producer
(54:48):
is Caitlin Dryden. Today's talk was edited by Kitlyn Dryden
and mixed by Andrew Vastola.
Speaker 1 (54:53):
This episode was taped at.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Your recording here in Los Angeles, California, Special thanks to
Tim Moore. Our music is by Dylan Peck. Our illustrations
are by Trich Shadowy. Photographs are by Julius Chew. Video
and graphics by Ian Chang, Derek Gaberzac, Ian Jones and
Ethan Seneca. I also want to thank our team at
Pushkin Industries. They include Justin Richmond, Julia Barton, John Stars,
Kerrie Brody, Eric Sandler, Jordan McMillan, Cara Posey, Tara Machado,
(55:18):
Jason Gambrel, Justine Lang, Malcolm Gladwell, Greta Cohn, and Jacob Weisberg.
I'm San Fragoso. Thank you for listening to another episode
of Talk Easy. I'll see you back here next week.
Until then, stay safe, and so long
Pushkin. This is talk easy.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm setting forgo SOO, welcome to the show. Today we
return to our conversation with actor, writer, and comedian Quentin Brunson.
(00:56):
I first sat with Brunson a couple of years back
around season two of her hit show Abbott Elementary. As
you may have seen, she recently won an Emmy for
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, making her the first
black woman to do so since nineteen eighty one. When
she's not making history, she's making Abbott Elementary, which, as
(01:17):
you also may have seen, just return for season three
on ABC. Here's a little bit of a preview of
what's to come in the new season.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Good day to the fine teachers of Abbit Elementary.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
What no comment about Gregory being FOI n foy.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
No, that is highly inappropriate. I went to Harvard this summer.
I've learned what it truly takes to do the job
of a principal.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Break it up, flagness.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
I got cameras all over this joint. She must be stopped.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, trying out cursing, you know see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Oh no, no, no, no, no. Gregory and I are good. Yeah, no,
we're fine. Interesting.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
I cannot stand anymore of this new ava, and.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
You are a very powerful tool.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
All these rules are so hard. Here's a rule.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Put your arms away, Jeremy Allen Black, You guys missed
a lot of silent.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
You can watch new episodes of Abbot Elementary every Wednesday
on ABC. They're also available to stream the next day
on Hulu. The new season finds Brunson reprising her role
as Janine Tigue's, a dedicated, wide eyed second grade teacher
and a predominantly black elementary school in Philadelphia. The character
was partially inspired by Brunson's mother, who taught kindergarten for
(02:54):
nearly forty years. We talk about the influence of her
mother a whole lot in this conversation, but we also
discuss her winding path and comedy, from making viral videos
a BuzzFeed to creating Abbot, which many critics have claimed
has single handedly revived the network sitcom. As someone whose
father has been teaching at public schools for thirty years now,
(03:17):
this episode, and really a whole lot of Quinta's recent work,
means a whole lot to me because Abbott is, above
all a celebration of teachers, the ones that endlessly fight
for their students, the ones who work above and beyond
in under resource districts, the ones that are often underpaid
and overworked, the ones that show up every day and
(03:41):
really care. And so with that, Dad, I hope you're listening,
and I hope you enjoy this conversation. I think he's
probably heard it at least two to three times already.
I also want to thank Quinta for coming on a
couple years back. She has continued to be a supporter
of our show. I am sorry that Jalen Hurts and
the Eagles are not playing today. And for those of
(04:04):
you who have not heard this episode, or for those
that are listening to it for a second time, thank
you and I.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We'll be back next Sunday with a new episode. Until then,
have a good rest of your weekend. And without further ado,
this is Quinta Brunson.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Quina Brunson. How you doing. I'm doing well? Okay, Yeah,
I'm good. I'm here. Should we stop now? No, I'm
doing well.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Honestly, you don't traditionally like doing podcasts very much.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Is that true?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
This is true, and you've made the exception for us.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yes, I've heard so many good friends speak so highly
of this podcast. I don't listen to podcasts, so I
have never listened to it myself. I find them a
little intimidating. Do you talking too much scares me?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
So yeah, if you just want to stop talking and
have me talk, okay, I'll jump right in.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
All right, cool, Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So, going into the first season of Abbot Elementary, you
talked about how you wanted to provide respite from a
global pandemic, a fragile democracy, an escalating climate crisis, the
list goes on. You said, the world isn't a crazy place.
We just wanted to make a feel good sitcom that
(05:36):
was twenty two minutes long that families can watch together,
but wasn't corny and could still be for everyone. Now
that the world is basically fixed and the problems I
mentioned no longer exist, what's the driving force of season two.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I think the driving force now is I enjoy making it.
As you said, the whole world is fixed now, so
I still want people to be happy though. I think
there's something really beautiful about people just enjoying something sweet
In short, and I think our show doesn't require much
like brain power.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Well, it doesn't hurt to have brand power.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
It doesn't hurt. Everyone's going to have fun. But there
are a lot of television programs that I think require
a lot of mental gymnastics. Like everyone's watching the Doahmer
series right now, and I feel like everyone is crushed
with the weight of watching the Dohmer series. It just
feels like a weighted thing for people to watch, and
(06:38):
I feel like Abbott doesn't feel that weighted. Granted, people
think about the state of American public schools, but that's
not my intention. I think that's just inherent to the
creation of a show about a public school. Sometimes people
take away, man, I'm having fun watching Abbot. I'm really
enjoying myself, but man, the public school system is fucked up.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It's like, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Should know that also, and I hope you're moved to
action by that, but ultimately, really just still enjoy making
a show that people enjoy.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You're almost making it sound like the show is weightless.
I think you're under selling the show. Yeah a little bit.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Maybe I don't think it's weightless. I think it's just
not as heavy as.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Some others, as heavy as Dahmer.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Not as heavy as Dahmer. You should put that on
the poster of season two. Abbit Elementary not Dahmer. You
have this quote.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
If I go back home to my family in Philadelphia
and I asked my mother, cousin, uncle nice, if they're
watching Succession, They're going to say no. Yet, Succession is
hip cool. Everyone writes about it. But the hipp is
coolest thing isn't always for everyone, and that's okay. Network
TV is inherently made for the people. Abbot is in
this middle space between the two bars.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
See, this is why it get scared. I just be talking.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
I don't have any recollection of when I said that,
and that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That's why it's scary.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
But here we are going into the second season. What
was your frame of mind?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I think it allowed me to trust myself even more.
The first season felt very intention but like with any art,
you know you're making something and you can't control how
it's received. You hope that your art is received in
the way you intended it to be. And it was
and it caused conversation. It did stuff that I didn't
(08:24):
necessarily intend for it to do, but it still added
to it being I think a great cultural piece.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
So, for instance, you know, last season there was an
episode about the Gifted program, and when that episode aired,
and I think two or three days later, I remember
online people were having this extensive conversation about the ethics
of having a gifted program at all. That wasn't necessarily
(08:52):
a conversation that we were trying to create. So it's
awesome that people are motivated to have these conversations and
motivated to reach out to their local public schools and
donate that all of that is more than we could
have asked for. And so in the second season it
(09:13):
felt like we should just do more of the same.
We really trust ourselves and we just have to do
more of what we were already doing.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And the thing you were doing, I think above all
else is being funny.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think so too.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Why don't we watch a clip from the new season
of hab It Elementary.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Watch a clip one of the podcast.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Ava I see you, I saw you see me make
free trips.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You could have helped me.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
I could have that was an option, got Jacob.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I missed you. Please never go to Peru again. You're
not having service was the worst. Oh, it's so nice
to be called Jacob again. After teaching abroad and being
called El Diablo blanco every day. I really started to
feel like about sah. Somebody say trash.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Welcome back dorks and welcome back abbit elementary staff. Let's
have a great Development Week. I'll see you guys in
the auditorium at nine.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Most people think schools start when the kids get here,
but it actually starts now at Development Week.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Teachers prep for the year.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
We get ready, get our curriculum, We research, our students,
make plans.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
It's the calm before the storm. It's very zin.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Actually, I had a fantastic summer after my cruise to
Jamaica all inclusive. I worked with AVA to properly appropriate
the funds that we got from the grant last year,
and I found out in early July that I would
be welcoming a student who uses a wheelchair. So I
(10:43):
was very excited to be able to use part of
that grant money to get a new ramp installed. My
next goal is to get that student the appropriate desk
and follow up on the shoes I lost on the cruise.
I was very inebriated. Oh see, Barbara is different than
land Barbara.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Well, Barbara and I have that in common.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
She just keeps getting funnier.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I was watching an episode yesterday, a cut of an
episode which is episode eight, that just text shry I
was like, how do you keep getting funnier?
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And she's so not aware.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
She just is such a good actress that I don't know, whatever,
That's not the point.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Sure it is.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Even in that scene, you get a sense of these
teachers that they love this job, but that the job
is demanding probably too much from them. And over and
over again, You've talked about this, but I like this
quote where you said, what if we took the approach
that teachers are real people instead of heightened stereotypes. Do
(11:48):
you think that is why people have come to this show,
because in some ways they can always see a version
of the teachers they had or are having.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Absolutely, teachers, everyone has one or everyone was one. Lisa
and Walter says that on our show, like it's literally
someone we all have come into contact with one way
or another. You know, even in past shows about teachers,
all of which I feel I'm a student of things
like Welcome Back Carter, Mister Carter, shows with teachers in
them that were prominent, like Boy Meets World, or even
(12:19):
like never have I ever, the focus is on the kids.
But still though the typical funny approach was people hate
this job they're doing, you know, they hate the students
and how bad it is. But all the teachers in
my life, like my mother, they love the job. It's
really the only reason to do it because it's not
the pay. My mom is just a teacher to the core.
(12:42):
Even when she retired, she still keeps teaching. It's just
who she is. And I think that's so inspiring and
beautiful and what I tried to bring into Abbitt. There's
no pulling Barbara away from this job. There's no pulling
Janine away from it. I think the character Gregory is
learning that there's no pulling him away from it, like
(13:02):
this is who you are. But then you still have
your personal life, you still have bills, you still have
to deal with the things everyone else deals with. So
I thought that was also the beauty. And like the
documentary format, I wanted people to feel like they worked
at Abbot or went to Abbot two, so that they
could be immersed in this world and feel the joy
(13:23):
that these people feel, and the love and the fun
and the humor. It's so all encompassing. My mom worked
around the clock to be a good teacher. It's not
just those you know, hours of eight to three. It's
so much that goes into it. So I wanted to
flesh that out for everyone out there who didn't know
what it was like.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
She was your kindergarten teacher, right, my.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Mom was my kindergarten teacher. Yes, it was tu It
was so.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Normal, my mom teaching me in the kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
It wouldn't have worked out.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
No, it wouldn't have worked out.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Are you kidding? You would have just been a child.
You wouldn't have known.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Trust me, My mom would have made her presence known.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Do you have a good relationship with your mom? Now
stop recording? Oh my god. Oh not Sam's mom. Yes,
we have a very good relationship. Okay, good, good, good.
I think it's all love. It's just that the joke
was too easy.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, but your mom is your teacher. She's your teacher
in kindergarten. Then from first to fifth grade you attend Holly,
a Learning program on the top floor of Harrody Elementary
School in West Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It's now Mastery Charter School, changed into a charter I
wasn't going to mention that.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, what did that program teach you about who you
were and where you came from?
Speaker 3 (14:39):
So A Holly was incredible. It was you were in
the same program from first to fifth grade. You had
the same teachers. They just you know, changed the curriculum
when you, of course changed grades. But I had two teachers,
Umi and Mongozi, and they were my teachers for all
five years. Two very different women, two very different women.
Yes you read the book, yes, And in this program
(15:00):
it was based in African learning and learning your black
history first. So a Holly the name means family, and
that's what it felt like. While we learned everything that
the other kids were learning. We had multiple lessons on
black history a day, and they didn't really pull any punches.
(15:20):
I learned about the slave trade in first grade and
learned about the Civil Rights era in first grade. And
I always tell the story because I think it's the
best way to sum it up, you know. While other
kids in other second grade classes were watching like Beauty
and the Beast, we watched Amistade and I was like, hmm,
(15:42):
that movie's tough to watch now. It's tough to watch period.
But they really believed in telling us the truth. And
telling us our history. It was just learning what the
world was, what the country was for black people at
an early age. In all honesty, I think it improved
my life greatly. It made me able to navigate the
(16:04):
world in a different way.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Because they were centering blackness in the curriculum.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yes, my controversial thought is that I feel that should
be the case for every person. I think that, like,
if you are Hispanic American, I think it's so vital
to learn about your history in this country before going
out into the world.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
I think the same thing for white American children.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
You should know your full, well rounded history instead of
you know, being denied it and you find out later
what your ancestors did and what they were capable of.
I think it's just helpful to no sooner so you
can be like, all right, fuck, let's just let's not
do that again, because I think the lady you find out,
the more defensive you are one way or another.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Because you feel you've been deceived.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Deceived, lied to, betrayed.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I have a lot of friends Black Americans who didn't
really find out about the history of black people in
America until they got to college. And at that point,
why the fuck did nobody tell you know. It's like, Okay,
I didn't know this information on purpose. And honestly, maybe
that's true that so much of our history is missing
from modern textbooks, or that slavery is like reduced to
(17:14):
a page in your history book. It'd be helpful to
know all of that so you have a better center
of gravity. I think about therapy a lot when people
have to go to therapy later to sift through their
childhoods and sift through trauma, and they get in therapy
this opportunity to unlock repressed feelings, things they didn't know
(17:35):
about their family, things they didn't get the chance to
ever reconcile, and now are affecting them poorly in adulthood.
I think it's something that could help repair the country
which feels beyond repair.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
But I just feel like we all stopped lying to ourselves.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I thought we just agreed that we had repaired all
the problems.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot never mind, forget everything I
just said.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I think if that's a controversial opinion, then we got
more problems than I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
We do have more problems than we thought. All I
know is like my experience with like a Holly it
never became up for debate, do you know what I mean?
And never was a debatable, actionable item that people could
shut down.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It just you know, was happening back when you were
coming in page in the mid nineties. Yes, different world
back then.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
At that age you said, even though an enormous weight
was dropped on my back, I felt like I could
take on the world because I was given a keen
awareness of how society worked and treated black people. It's
also around this time, I think, age six or seven,
that you started, in your words, flirting with comedy. What
(18:40):
did that flirtation look like.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
It looked like really wanting to make my siblings laugh.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
My siblings were much older than me.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, four, I was there a little clown, and I
started doing stuff like reciting lines from their favorite shows,
which were in living color in Martin. I love that feeling.
I loved making these people laugh. I didn't know this
when I was a little kid, but I came so
much later that my brother, who was closest to me,
was like pissed. He was like, I was the baby,
(19:09):
Where'd she come from? And I wasn't on purpose. I
was a surprise baby. And my older siblings they seem
so far away from me, but making them laugh I
felt that that brought me closer. I thought that was
the one way to be super close to these people
was to be able to make them laugh.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
In the book, he wrote, slowly, I began building up
characters and stories in my head, ones that I knew
would get people laughing. It felt good to be loved,
but it felt better to get a laugh. Did you
believe those two things were mutually exclusive.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
No, I don't think they were, because it wasn't always
like a laugh per se. It was just entertaining people
and getting that kind of emotional response from them, Like
I started out a dancer, my dad really or other
people be like I just love like watching you dance.
That to me is so powerful to get an emotional
response from art. I imagine it's what a painter wants
(20:06):
when they paint something, just an emotional response, whether they laugh, cry,
are just experiencing extreme joy. That's something that I really
enjoyed from a young age.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
In high school. Your mother gives you her Mac laptop.
On it you start editing videos on iMovie using photo booth.
Was she supportive of that art that you were talking
about at that age.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
No, because I didn't really show her what I was doing.
She got the mac through the Philadelphia public school system.
One year they gave all the teachers Max, which was
super cool.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
She didn't even.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Really know what that was, you know, She's like, what
is this? And I was like, mom, you have a MacBook.
This was a big, big deal at the time, and
so I would be like, can I see it?
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Can I play on it? Can I see it?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
She was like, yeah, fine, whatever, like, just don't break it.
And I was like, I won't break it. I would
never break such.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
A beautiful thing. And I was just did you just
praise the mac laptop.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
You have to remember this was two thousand and six.
The mac book was game changing, you know, iMovie game changing.
I started a little talk show called The Rant, and
that followed me into college where I just interviewed random
people on my campus, and that started expanding all of
a sudden. I was like interviewing people in Chicago and
(21:28):
different college campuses, and it was just fun to make
that kind of art, which I think the MacBook allowed
me to do.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Very grateful for the invention of the MacBook.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
At eighteen nineteen, you started attending Temple University.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
YEP.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
The verdict on whether your mother was supporting your creativity,
where did we land on that?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
It's really a no. She didn't see the stability and
the things that I wanted to do. Once she did
start like finding out as you read the book. I
wrote about it in my book. When I was just
like going to improv club, she was like, oh, what
is this. My mom understood stand up and yes she
undersot diod TV, but I was starting at ground zero
(22:12):
of zipzab zop and she was like, this is nonsense
and we don't have time for nonsense, and why are
you doing that?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
To be fair, when I first saw the zip zap zop,
I also thought, what's happened?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
What's happening?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
And that's why I was totally respected my mom's choice
to not support that the zipab sp completely support that.
It looks like nonsense.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
It does.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I watch improvisers do it now and I'm like, God,
it's so awful, but some of you will go on
to become some of the greatest comedic minds of our time.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
So when you join this group foul play Yes God
in college, your mother one night drives you to your
friend's Scott's house. Yep, Scott, he had an apartment, I
believe on campus.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yep. What happened when you two roll up and park,
we get in a fight. She's like, why are you
going into this boy's house? And I'm like, we're just
hanging out and doing improv, and she's like, I don't
trust this situation. These are nerds.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I cannot state enough how these were the most typical nerds.
They should have been out having sex and they were
in the house doing improv and listening to uh, what's
that one singer? They put me on to him? Actually, fuck,
I could hold you. They put me on a bunch
(23:36):
of white shit, a bunch of like stuff I never heard.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Keep looking at me like I'm gonna know, I know,
you know, you don't know if I know.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I'm pretty sure you do. And then you know they
had ukuleles and guitars. You they likes.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I'm just saying things that I know are probably in
your background somewhere orre. You had a friend or a
friend that partook and stringed instrument behavior. Ray lamont Lamontage,
That's who they put me. Ontok was always played it.
So these were just the biggest dorks. Ever, I was like, Mom,
you really have to chill, like for real, and we
(24:10):
got into a fight and she told me my earrings
were too big. It was just a constant pick at
me and who I was becoming. It was ultimately a
fear of what all of this could turn into. You know,
my mom, she left the dance world behind. She's a
very good dancer, but eventually she had to raise a
family and focus on being a good mother. The artist's world,
(24:33):
in being a mother having a sustainable income, they don't
go hand in hand. And I feel like I don't
know when I'm going to be able to have a
child because of my job and because this is where
my passion lies now. But my mom made her choice,
and her choice was her family and her kids. So
I think the arts weren't realistic to her anymore. She
(24:55):
had her first child at twenty, and here I am
approaching my twenties and I wasn't shutting the arts down.
I was going further into them. I didn't know at
the time what we were really arguing about. It's not
until you get older you're like, oh man. She wasn't
trying to criticize me for no reason. She was afraid.
But my mom and I have since had talks where
(25:16):
I'm like, you truly raised me so well that there
was no way I was ever going to turn into
what you were afraid of.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Was part of this, as you write in the book
Some Battle over a Religion.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Yes, I was raised a Jehovah's witness I was a
kid growing up in West Philly, pretty rough city. My
mom just wanted us to have protection in every single way,
me and the rest of my siblings, and being Jehah's
witnesses was another layer of that protection. It's a religion
that keeps you from getting into any trouble, except for
the trouble that eventually finds its way in a secular
(25:52):
branch of Christianity. But you know, I didn't want to
be any one anymore and I was pulling away from it,
and I think that also scared her, you know, like
without religion, you're not at the whims of having fear
of God.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
And I didn't think that was true.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
I was figuring it out at the time, but I
think always knew, like I can be spiritual without this religion,
Like I said, was grateful because I think it kept
me out of so much trouble kept me on the
straight and narrow path, but eventually I just knew that
it wasn't going to work out for me.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You said, it's a pretty strict religion to people who
aren't in it, But I continue to push the boundaries
until I eventually pushed my way on of it. I
just wasn't going to be able to be the person
I wanted to be well being part of this religion
at eighteen, nineteen twenty. Who was that person that you
wanted to be.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I wanted to go to improv club. I did, and
I was like, if this is a big deal exactly.
I was like, I can't be.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Here, like foul plays out of bounds.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I wanted to go zip zip zop and that was
looking really nasty to the Jehobes Witness. I was like, well,
I can't be here. This is the smallest thing I
want to do. I was just like, what the fuck.
It's just like I just want to go do some
improv and this is a big problem. I didn't want
anything to be taboo for me. If I wanted to
talk about sex, I would want to talk about sex.
(27:18):
If I wanted to curse, because you're not even supposed
to curse, I would want to curse. You're not supposed
to watch certain things. I wanted to watch whatever I wanted.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
It was a breakup.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
It was like, it's not you, it's me, and that's
what I felt it was. I didn't necessarily have a
bad word to say about the religion, but I just
knew that it wasn't for me anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
You break up from this person that you were to
basically pursue comedy and then to eventually experience life outside
of West Philly. I believe during your freshman year of college,
you traveled to Chicago to take a second City in
prov class over on Wells Street. After a week of courses,
(28:00):
there's like a showcase.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
For the class.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
What do you remember about that performance.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
I remember feeling like I was like at home. I
felt super aligned with who I was supposed to be.
I felt at home, at peace. There was no question
about whether or not this is where I belong. It
was like, okay, no, I belong here. And I think
it became very clear to me that this is what
I want to do for the rest of my life,
(28:26):
not necessarily being a stage performer, but writing and performing comedy.
That's when I was like, Okay, this is part of
my purpose to do this. I still didn't really tell anyone,
but everything I started doing was all for that. Like
when I got a job at Apple and Philly, it
was like so that I could eventually move to cause
(28:48):
I was like, oh, the Apple store. They'll move you
to another store and give you like a small relocation
fee bomb, like not only do I want to work there,
not only Apple, but eventually I'll be able to move
to Chicago or LA and still have a job.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
But I didn't tell anyone that. It was like my
little like my little plan.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
That I don't even think I told the plan to myself,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Like it was in sight, like in the shower to
or something.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
No, no, no, no, I think I now I have
a brain that's functioning here, and then there's something back
here that's like here's it's just a little feeling that's like,
here's what we're going to be focusing on for the
next ten years. But yeah, go ahead, frontal lobe and
do what you think you're doing. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (29:25):
It does?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Okay, It's like you're in your early twenties, you have
this plan for yourself, but you almost don't want to
put it into words because then suddenly it becomes real
and the wight of something that is real. It's just
easier if it lives in the imagination.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Absolutely, it's different for different people. You know, if it
doesn't come true. I think that can sometimes like fuck
people up instead of just enjoying the ride. And if
it happens, it happens.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I don't know. You never know what is going to happen.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
And if you're just living and just going on for
the ride of life, it's much easier to never be disappointed.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, we're right back with our guests, the one and
only Quina Brunson. This right of life, it does take
(30:28):
you to Los Angeles. It does you get that relocation
job at Apple over at Century City. You're twenty three,
leaving West Philly for the first time. You have this quote,
he said. When I moved to Los Angeles, I stayed
at a friend of a friend's apartment in Koreatown. I
was subletting it for three weeks. I was then going
(30:50):
through their bookshelf and I found a paperback copy of
You Get So Alone at Times by Charles Bukowski. I
related I was like twenty three, and at that time
in my life, there were a lot of people, my parents' friends,
who thought I was a terrible person for moving away
from I had this idea, maybe I am terrible because
(31:13):
this is what I had to do. Did you really
believe that that that you were terrible for moving.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
I didn't believe I was terrible.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
But when enough people are mad at you, I think
you start to think, well, maybe I'm unaware.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
You know. I think I felt maybe you're missing something.
Speaker 3 (31:32):
Yeah, I was like, I damn, but I was still
gonna go for the ride. I felt like I like
I was saying. I was like, well, I'm here, I'm
still gonna do this. I'm going to pursue it. And
you know, if I'm wrong, so be it. Maybe I am.
Maybe I am wrong for this. Maybe my parents right.
There was a period where I wasn't working at Apple
yet the job relocation hadn't happened, so I was dead broke.
I had to find some work, and I was working
(31:54):
as like a styling assistant and doing these long day.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Jobs for very little pay.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
And when you are an assistant, you know you can't
be on the phone and stuff like that. You're you're
grabbing minuscule things like tights and and keeping track of,
you know, fifty thousand dollar pieces of joy. It requires
a lot of focus for not a lot of money.
And I had a friend who was so mad at
me at the time that I all of a sudden
wasn't answering the phone as much, and I wasn't there
as much. Was a good friend of mine from college,
(32:22):
and I was like, I don't know what to tell you, Like,
I have to work, I have to do this now.
My mom was still very upset that I really was
going to move out here. It didn't stop me from
doing it. It just made me wonder if I was
going to be wrong or not, but it didn't stop
me from trying to find out. And I think that
book it's a lot of quick poems about being okay
(32:46):
with being awful. I think definitely people have mixed feelings
on Charles Bikowski period, but I didn't know that at
the time. I just grabbed this book off a shelf
and started reading it, and it felt peaceful because also
I was like, I'm not as bad as him, and
somehow he's okay with himself because he was fucking horrible. Yeah,
(33:07):
but he was somehow okay with himself in seeing who
he was supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
So you were making peace with being less awful than him.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I think so.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I think that moving somewhere, pursuing a career like mine,
it just requires a period of misunderstanding from people sometimes,
and I had to be okay with that period that
everybody was going to jump on board. And I don't
think I also was good at articulating what I was
trying to do. I just had this conversation with someone
else recently. It's hard to articulate to someone that I
(33:39):
think that one day I'll make a television show on
ABC and it'll be really good and everyone will love it.
You don't even know that to articulate it. It's just
a dream that's in the back of you somewhere.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I think it's best to not articulate something like that.
Same it's like the politicians are like, I've been talking about, yes,
being a politician since I was nine, and you're like,
and I don't want to ever talk to you.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Did you know when you were seventeen where you like,
I'm going to have a show called Talk Easy.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, And I thought I can't wait until Emmy winner
Quinta Bunsen sits down on that show. Does that period
of misunderstanding? Does that end? On the day that your
life changed? You wake up, leave your morning shift at Apple,
carding your tattered H and M tope bag packed with
(34:29):
a T shirt, a banana, a joint, and a copy
of that Bukowsky book because that night you had lined
up a performance at the comedy store where you plan
to try out some new dating material. Is that where
the period of misunderstanding comes to an end?
Speaker 3 (34:48):
No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't because a misunderstanding
was always coming from other people.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Did I just misunderstand the period of you being misunderstood?
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Maybe I was never misunderstanding myself. It was other people
misunderstanding me. This is like a riddle, I know, does
that make sense?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
I think if we listen to the tape it may.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Okay, No, I think I said it clearly.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
I felt I was doing the right thing, and so
that comedy store moment was a big moment of like, okay, no,
I'm on the right path.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Everyone else was wrong. Sorry, guys, So what happens?
Speaker 3 (35:22):
We had to put on a little sketch show before
stand up, so nobody wanted to watch us anyway. No
one wants to watch sketch comedy at the comedy store.
They come there for a stand up and I did
it with some friends, and you know, in spite of everything,
we did a pretty good job for a crowd that
really did not want to see some dorks up there
(35:42):
doing sketch. I think it was like three of my
white friends already wild to bring to a like a
black comedy night, and they won them over. My friend
Kate did this sketch about Annie, but the dog won't
stop pumping her leg while she's trying to perform. Got
a good amount of chuckles. My friend Danny did a
sketch wearing a dashiki that he never should have done,
(36:05):
so he fell flat on his face.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I think that was a good lesson for him.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Kate did this where she's trying to talk to Drake,
but it's just Drake lyrics. It's just great, God if
you laughs. And then I did the Girl's Never been
on a nice date. It wasn't named that, it was
just a character that I wanted to do of a
one sided date of this girl who's super impressed by
her date and this place was howling with laughter, and
that was important to me to get that when that
(36:29):
crowd over in that way was like, okay, no, I
know I have something something special here. And Joe Brown
was in the audience and he said, you're really funny,
and I was like, thank you, judge, Joe Brown.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
I've seen on your show that you're a good judge
of character. Did you deliver it just like that? He
pretty much said. He was like, you were funny. You
were a real funny girl, and I was like, wow,
he's a judge.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
After you performed this bit, you upload it on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Yeah, and remember this was before Instagram had video. It
wasn't what it is now, you know, and the video
went super viral. It was crazy that it was sharing
like that because it wasn't easy to share videos on Instagram.
It was kind of word of mouth and people coming
to my page to watch this video. Should we take
(37:16):
a look, Sure, if you want to.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
This is quin de Brunson from twenty fourteen in the
sketch the Girl Who's Never been on a Nice date?
Speaker 6 (37:26):
You going to see Book on Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
The tickets was thirteen ninety five, but he paid thirteen
ninety five and thirteen ninety five, He got money.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
I have a good night.
Speaker 6 (37:38):
Dugas with skittles, uh sid dips, recess pieces and a
large pot for it, a large You.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
Got money, he got money. Get it all warm?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Those what are good?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Excuse me, waitress? We all get your water. Oh my god,
you got money.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
After that video goes viral and you become sort of
known for this this thing, it sounds like when you're
looking back on that that you're not all the way
proud of it.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
I feel a lot of pride over it. I understand
that my past is interesting, but I'm like more about
the future, more about what's to come than focusing on
my past, I guess.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
And so writing this book, which comes on the heels
of that video, which then leads to you working at BuzzFeed,
there's a whole bunch of other accomplishments in there. Did
you not enjoy writing in No.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
It was a little hard for me. It was a
little tough to put that much about my life in print.
And even though the researching of it, I just don't
I don't know exactly well.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
We can talk about the future and second, but there's
one there is one. There is one thing I do
want to discuss as you have this great job at
BuzzFeed and things are going well, You're thriving. They've made
you a development partner, I think, making you the youngest
show runner there. But there's one morning in February of
(39:20):
twenty seventeen where that past that we've been talking about
and this present that is being a creative person in
the world, it kind of collides. What do you remember
about that morning?
Speaker 3 (39:35):
I just remember, you know, being in the middle of
making a video with my friends and getting a call
from my sister, which already was weird, but then she
called me twice, which was extra weird because my sister
just doesn't call me. She doesn't call me like that
for no reason. And I knew something was wrong. It's
almost like you ever, you look at the miscall differently
when you know something is wrong. It looks different to you.
(39:57):
It's like screaming at you. And I was like, oh fuck.
And then my sister had told me that my little
cousin was shot and killed, and it just shut everything down.
I continue to work for the rest of the day,
but mentally I was like, I'm not home, I'm not
with my family, my little cousin didn't deserve that, which
(40:20):
was really tough for me to reconcile with. And it's
not like I hadn't experienced steps before where the person
didn't deserve it, but it just really bothered me. I
was like, he's a kid, he was seventeen, seventeen years old.
It really really pissed me off, and it made me
mad at the city. It made me mad that I
had left the city. Not it's that a rational thing
of like somehow you believe that if you were there,
(40:42):
that wouldn't have happened. It made me mad at myself
for being so far away from my family at such
a critical time. I was sad I was so far
away from them. I was upset. I was around a
bunch of people who didn't understand. I wasn't mad at them.
I was just upset once again at myself for being
so far away and around a bunch of people who
(41:03):
couldn't understand the situation. And I didn't want to give
them an opportunity to which I talk about a lot
in the book.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
You put a lot on yourself.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
In that moment and being like, I don't want to
talk about my cousin being shot and killed with people
who have never had that experience before. I don't want
to give them room to say anything wrong because I
don't want these people to say anything wrong to me,
So I don't want to tell them about it so
that they have the chance to.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The thing that struck me that the way you decided
to get through it was to go back and continue
making the video that you were making before you got
that phone call.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
How did you do that? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
It could be a fight or flight response, it could
be a trauma response, but I just did it. I
was like, I didn't have a choice. It was either
go home or keep working. And I chose to keep
working because.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
I like what I do for.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
A living and I find it therapeutic, inspiring, fun. So
that seemed like the better option at the time, until
my need was to go home and be by myself.
And so now I still find myself juggling a similar
issue right now in Philadelphia. The murder rate is at
(42:23):
the higahts is everything. It really really affects me, and
sometimes I want to like post about it and talk
about it, but then I'm like, Okay, should I talk
about it or should I not use social media? And
just use it to promote Abbod And it's like making
a choice of this thing is really affecting me, it's
(42:44):
really sad, it's affecting my city, it's breaking my heart.
But I think my job right now is to put
more twenty two minute goodness into the world because I'm
not sure what me talking about this and public is
going to do. And maybe that's wrong. I probably could
do more, But the thing is, I've tried to do
more in the past, and it feels like there's nothing
(43:07):
for me to do but try to put more abbot
out because at a certain extence, like, yeah, I can
talk about it all I want. I've tried this, but
it's up to policymakers, it's up to politicians. It's up
to people to like put conflict resolutions into our environments,
into our neighborhoods. And that's all work I can do
in the background, and you know, work with counselmen and
(43:30):
work with groups and stuff like that. But ultimately, I
think my job is probably to put more abbit out.
I think that's where I am now. It's the same
kind of juggling, though you know.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
You're right about that juggling. In the book you said,
I realized in that moment after my cousin's passing, that
I had spent my entire life separating my personal life
from professional, creating invisible barriers between who I was with
my family and who I was in the world. It
started in school and it was continuing with my work.
(44:02):
My job quote unquote was to be relatable, and the
deeper I got into my family dynamics less relatable. I felt, sure,
everyone's family is wacky, but there's something so uniquely specific
about the black experience that it's very hard for the
white majority demographic of this country to understand. I guess
(44:24):
I'm wondering in twenty twenty two, that separation between personal
and professional, between the person you really are and the
person you present. Do you think Abbot Elementary is your
way of bridging those two people?
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Yeah, I think inadvertently, Yeah, I think so. I think
Abbot is a lot of what I believe in my ethos,
my principles, it's a lot of my past. It's so
much of who I am in something that's a little
bit more consumable for the public. And I could talk
(45:05):
all I one, but I think making things to me
feels more that feels like the best way for me
to communicate with the rest of the world. I also
don't feel a need for my personal life to be
all over the place. I think that it's actually quite
healthy for me to have things that the rest of
the world never knows about or never gets in a
(45:26):
peek into. I think I don't need to give so
much of myself to the world. I can do that
through making things. I can decide what I want to
be out there and put it into a structure I trust. Like,
even if someone doesn't like Abbott, that's okay. But this
is the art that I've chosen to put out there
that I like, and that it's clearer to me than
(45:47):
me just rambling on like I'm doing now.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
I don't think it's okay. I think if someone doesn't
like it, send it to me.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
I saw some people always say we have this charter
school storyline this year that's starting, and it's you know whatever,
And I did already see that.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
It ruffled some feathers.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Oh people at charter schools got mad there.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
It wasn't a huge majority.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I think for the most part, an audience understands this
is a show we're going to have a storyline.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
It's not like it wouldn't be the first time for
those schools. It's not.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
It's a show, and these are characters who are relating
to the experience. I went to charter schools, I went
to I also went to public schools. It's just an experience.
But I think what feels good about Abbott is like
I'm able to stand on my own two feet with it.
I'm able to be like, thank you for engaging with
my art. I think that's okay that you don't like it,
and I think that's fine. And one of my favorite
(46:35):
things I ever studied in high school was the visual
arts and studying people like Frieda Callo and Diego Rivera
and Henriotsowa Tanner, people who were making pieces that upset
a lot of people, but they also brought so many
other people joy.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
And you know Freed Collo's work for.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
People who were upset she was naked in it, but
other people were moved to tears by seeing her imagery.
And I think that's the beauty of like making something.
It's like this came from the heart. I don't know
what to say. If you don't like it, that's okay,
thank you for engaging, but I don't know, I feel
much more secure in making things. I find like reality
starts fascinating because I'm just like that seems like the
(47:15):
scariest thing on earth to me.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
But in some ways, I mean, you put so much
of yourself, yeah, into a weekly sitcom.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
True, But one day I hope to not like one day,
I hope I make something that is nothing like Abbott
and there's a little less of me in it. I
think it'll still come from of course, from the heart,
but I don't you know.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
You know, I don't know well before that happens. Yes,
you've mentioned a couple times how you like to talk
about the future. Mm hmm, So why don't we as
we leave think about what that looks like. In October
of twenty twenty, you did an interview with Vulture and
they asked you how has quarantine affected the way you
(47:57):
approach your comedy and your audience. Here's what you said.
I motivated the champion the stories of everyday people even
more now. I always wanted to, But I think it
was exciting, prior to this pandemic to talk about my cutesy,
pseudo privileged problems. And I don't think there's anything wrong
with that. Problems are problems and truth is truth. But
(48:21):
now I want to help create stories based around people
who make communities work, teachers, nurses, neighbors, carpenters, bars, people
who I feel aren't appreciated enough.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Yeah, because that was before Abbot, before I habit.
Speaker 2 (48:35):
Yeah, now there were in twenty twenty two together, Everything's fixed,
Everything's Fixed. Season two is here? Yep, thirty four year
old Quinta two thirty two year old Quinta two more
years twenty four year old Quinta.
Speaker 1 (48:51):
What do you want?
Speaker 3 (48:52):
I want to keep making a habit. I'm excited about that.
I also see a world where I make another show.
Speaker 1 (48:59):
I see it.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
Remember I told you about like the little back of
the you know, something back there just gearing me and
veering me towards something. I feel it, something feeling. Yeah,
it's going towards another show that I think is going
to be really good.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
I haven't done anything for it.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
Every now and then I'll meet someone and you know,
we'll start getting to talk and I'm like, oh man, yeah,
this idea I have for later will be happening. I
want to I really want to explore having a family
I don't know what that looks like right now. I
don't know which way that's going to go, but having
the desire for it is going to take it somewhere.
(49:39):
I met someone recently who has children that they help,
and I think that that is that person's version of family,
you know, And I think I'm interested in what that
looks like for me. I've always just saw myself like
having a child, but I just don't know what that's
going to look like for me now.
Speaker 1 (49:59):
So it's one of the biggest thoughts in my head.
What do you think it will look like? I don't know.
I really don't know. It's going to be corny.
Speaker 3 (50:06):
But one of the best things that I've learned from
working at Apple was being comfortable, was being like, I
don't know, let's find out. And I think it's really
healthy to just accept and I don't know sometimes so
I really don't know. There's so many options people have,
other people carry for them, people work carrying a child
(50:28):
into their shows. Sometimes people adopt, So I know people
who are really good aunts. I'm experiencing that with my
nieces and nephews right now. I took my nephews, my
nephews and my niece. But I have a nephew who's
only six to Disney and I was like, oh my god,
this is the best thing I've ever, ever, ever, ever
(50:48):
done watching him run around and just scream with little
grogu ears on. And I want to go to some
theme parks in other countries. That's the only thing that's like,
I really want to go to Shanghai. They have a
Jurassic Park ride that.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Are you bought the plug? It's a Disney ride.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (51:12):
They have Pirates of the Caribbean ride that I just
need to get on. They also have a Beauty in
the Beast ride that is mind blowing. I need to
see it in person. I love rides, I love theme parks,
but America is just not doing it like the other girls.
The closest we have is the Rise of the Resistance,
which is fucking flames. But what I'm trying to tell
(51:33):
people is that in other countries they've.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Been on that.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
I was really with you, and so I could I
said that until all the rides. I love rides, I
don't even know what you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (51:42):
You need to play a clip of that forget my videos.
You need to play the Beauty and the Beast Ride.
I'm serious. It's really cool. So that's really the only
couple of things on my to do.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
List, some small things, some big things.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (51:56):
But you know what, I bet my wont to go
ride that Beauty and the Beast Ride.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
It'll lead to some other beautiful thing, you know, wherever
it takes you. I don't like your tone.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
I was gonna do something positive, Okay, not my tone.
What was this Twitter? Have you had a problem with
my tone?
Speaker 3 (52:16):
No?
Speaker 1 (52:16):
Not until that moment.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
I was gonna say something really nice, good. Well, no,
no I'm not.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
I want to hear it.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Okay, wherever it takes me, wherever the ride takes you,
literal or metaphorical, I'm excited for you.
Speaker 3 (52:30):
I'm excited to get on the ride. Wow, this is
really such a full Did you know this? Did you
create this metaphor did you know? Because no, you didn't know,
I would tell you about the rides. Wow, this is good.
This is good podcast. I would listen to this.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
This is a good podcast. It'll be your first podcast.
You go, this is good TV. This is good material
right here.
Speaker 2 (52:52):
I guess all we have to do now is check
back in in ten years and see how it went.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Maybe? Who knows where I'll be in ten years.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Compliment, followed by this that feels right. I had a
really good time, Quinta Bronson anytime bye. We did it,
We did it. We covered a lot of ground we
did I think of ten years.
Speaker 4 (53:10):
Maybe, and that's our show.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
If you enjoyed our talk with Quinta, be sure to
leave us five stars on Spotify, Apple, wherever you do
your listening. You can also tag us on social media
when you share this episode at talk easypod. We'd like
to repost those and see those on Sunday, so thank
you in advance for that. All of this really does
help new listeners find the program. I want to give
(54:05):
a special thanks this week to the teams at Persona
pr ABC, and of course, our guest, Quinta Brunson. You
can watch new episodes of Abbott Elementary every Wednesday on
ABC that are also available to stream on Hulu the
day after. If you want to learn more about Quinta
and her work, visit our show notes at talk easypod
(54:25):
dot com if you'd like to hear other conversations with
very funny people, and recommend our talks with Bill Hayter,
Dan Levy and Steven Young. To hear those and more
Pushkin Podcasts, listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
like to listen. Talk Easy is produced by Caroline Reebok.
Our executive producer is Jeni Si Bravo. Our associate producer
(54:48):
is Caitlin Dryden. Today's talk was edited by Kitlyn Dryden
and mixed by Andrew Vastola.
Speaker 1 (54:53):
This episode was taped at.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Your recording here in Los Angeles, California, Special thanks to
Tim Moore. Our music is by Dylan Peck. Our illustrations
are by Trich Shadowy. Photographs are by Julius Chew. Video
and graphics by Ian Chang, Derek Gaberzac, Ian Jones and
Ethan Seneca. I also want to thank our team at
Pushkin Industries. They include Justin Richmond, Julia Barton, John Stars,
Kerrie Brody, Eric Sandler, Jordan McMillan, Cara Posey, Tara Machado,
(55:18):
Jason Gambrel, Justine Lang, Malcolm Gladwell, Greta Cohn, and Jacob Weisberg.
I'm San Fragoso. Thank you for listening to another episode
of Talk Easy. I'll see you back here next week.
Until then, stay safe, and so long
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