March 18, 2024 • 48 mins
Kerry Coddett is a Caribbean-American writer, actress, and stand-up comedian from Brooklyn, who currently serves as the co-EP, showrunner, and head writer of the upcoming Untitled Yvonne Orji Stand-Up Special on HBO. Kerry is also a story editor on Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, where she appears as a recurring guest star. Kerry can also be seen on Showtime’s Desus & Mero, Pause w/ Sam Jay on HBO, and season 2 of Ramy on Hulu, in addition to appearing as a core cast member of The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show on Netflix. Prior to that, she was a staff writer on Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, which was produced by John Oliver and aired on HBO. Kerry can also be seen on HBO’s Crashing, TruTV’s Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks, BET's The Rundown with Robin Thede, Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, and TruTV’s Comedy Knockout.
Kerry shares how falling in love with the journey as she evolves in comedy, film and television. Kerry talks about her early viral rap parodies to her vibrant stand-up sets, Kerry's story is a dance of resilience and reinvention, seasoned with the rich flavors of her Trinidadian and Guyanese roots. Growing up in Brooklyn's East Flatbush, she weaves the threads of her heritage into a tapestry of comedic tales that resonate with authenticity and spark joy in the art of storytelling.
Kerry shares laughs and learnings from the battlefield of comedy clubs and offers a candid look at the challenges she's faced as a black female comedian. The wisdom imparted by industry experiences and icons lights the path for up-and-coming voices seeking to carve out their unique niches in the comedy scene.
We wrap up our chat with a dive into the pool of black creativity and economic power, where community-centric events like Kwanzaa Crawl merge with the drive to support black-owned restaurants in New York City and she gives a sneak peek at an independent series she's working on, a heartfelt portrayal of Caribbean life in Canarsie, and the nuances of producing a one-woman show.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of
the Silent Vibes podcast withyours truly Makayla.
If you are new to the family,welcome to the family.
If you are returning, welcomeback.
Family Today we have.
I always say that we have aspecial guest, because all of my
guests are special to me, butthis one is especially special
because she and I went to CUNYBaruch College, so we're Bearcat
(00:26):
alums, I guess you can say so.
I have seen her grow on herjourney over the last I'm not
going to tell you how much yearsbecause we're not age or cell,
but it's been just beautiful.
Just watching her from backthen, I knew she was going to be
someone amazing, and she wasthen and she's just amazing now.
Welcome, carrie Cadet.
(00:48):
I would read your resume, but Ithink we're going to get
through your entire resume inthis interview.
I don't want to spiel it off,but you've done a lot of amazing
work and you know when you andI went to college you weren't in
the comedy space.
So let's go back there and tellme about how you got into
comedy, because me and you are abig dancer, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
How did I end up?
I don't even know.
I've always been a storyteller.
I've always been writing,performing my whole life.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And so when I met you in Baruch.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I was a big, big, big dancer and I started my fashion
company Senior Year, baruch.
So right after graduation I wasa fashion designer.
And then the recession came andthat popped down and I think
that I pivoted to like rap.
I was always rapping or doingsomething and I remember I want
(01:46):
to say like 2007 or 2008.
I made like a rap parody videoand the parody I like recorded
it, we shot it, we filmed thisbig music video and it was so
much fun and it went viral.
Which viral back then was likewhere else are hip hop?
And this is 50.com and YouTubemight have just become a thing.
(02:11):
And I remember all the peoplewere writing all these comments
because my parody was dissingJay-Z, and all these comments
were like bet you from Brooklyn,this is disrespectful, we're
going to kill you.
And I was like, wow, people arereally feeling something.
I think I can do this.
And so in putting together likea parody rap video, I realized
(02:32):
that it was like one big comedysketch and so I was like, oh, I
think I'm onto something here.
Let me go to comedy school.
And so I started taking sketchcomedy classes and then, after
taking sketch comedy classes, Istarted doing improv and
performing improv comedy with agroup of people, and then improv
led to me doing stand up.
So the last couple of like 15years have just been dedicated
(02:56):
to all the different forms ofcomedy.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I feel like New Yorkers really coined the term
multi hyphenant before it becamea thing, because I remember
always networking and it wasjust like, well, what do you do
and what else and what else yougot going.
So it's also like the Caribbeannest in us to have multiple
(03:19):
things going on, but you havealways been such a creative
spirit.
Tell me what you were like as ayoung child, growing up.
What would your parents sayabout you growing up in terms of
all of your interests?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
As a kid, I was always literally doing the most.
I was always doing everything.
I was always writing plays andthen performing in it and like
doing different characters andaccents and making the costuming
and doing the wardrobe for thecharacters that I was playing,
and so I was always doing andthen dancing and choreographing
(03:57):
the dance pieces in it, and soI've always just been somebody
who, as a kid, I was reading alot and writing a lot, and so
that's been my entire life.
And my grandmother used to belike you could be a comedian,
you know, and I remember beinglike that's so ridiculous.
Like I fully attacked my girlfor what you mean, like what
would you be?
(04:18):
Because I thought I was deadserious and she's like you're so
funny, and so I resisted comedyfor a long time until I
realized that she was right thewhole time.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Boy, when you have a grandmother who know what I know
, and it just comes intofruition.
So we touched on your Caribbeanbackground, but I didn't give
you the opportunity to shareyour Caribbean ancestry.
Tell the people then, please,and thanks.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Sure, I'm Trini and Guyanese, which the combination
of which makes me Jamaican.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah you're going to be like that, we'll interview
you, and you grew up in Brooklyn, in Flatbush in particular.
So what was that like, beingexposed to your culture, and how
did that kind of shape you aswho you are, in your comedy
style that you have now?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I grew up in East Flatbush and was raised in every
place in the back of Brooklyn,every Caribbean neighborhood.
I claim that East Flatbush,flatbush, flatlands, canarsie,
those are my stomping grounds.
And from literallypre-Kindergarten to eighth grade
, I went to a Caribbean privateschool.
All of my teachers wereCaribbean, everybody in the
(05:34):
school was Caribbean, and so Inever had a white teacher until
I got to high school and I waslike this is boring, that's how
y'all learn, nobody threateningto lash you, no, like how y'all
stay on your toes with this dryinstruction.
And so I think that, beingCaribbean and growing up in a
predominantly Caribbeancommunity and a predominantly
(05:56):
Caribbean school, I always feltproud of my background.
I never felt like I had to hideit.
I never felt like I didn't fitin because I felt like I didn't
fit in for other reasons, but itwasn't because of being
Caribbean.
And so I think that that justlet me be really proud and have
a sense of self, a strong senseof self, in everything that I
did.
Blah, blah, blah blah, blah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I think that I think a lot of young Caribbean
Americans.
They don't necessarily get that.
And when we talk about Brooklyn, we talk about Brooklyn.
It's like the United States ofthe Caribbean in Brooklyn, right
, Because all of the culturesare there and it's so unique to
Brooklyn and even Queens and theBronx in some respect.
(06:42):
But I think that that's aunique experience to being in
New York where you're heavilyexposed to other cultures.
What would you say to the younggirl who it doesn't have that
same experience?
How do you keep that rich senseof culture as you are growing
up in this space?
(07:03):
That is it necessarily withpeople that look the same around
you?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I think it's really about not letting anyone
determine who you are.
What are the things you shouldlike?
What are the things youshouldn't like and identify with
?
I think that you should anybody.
You should try to beauthentically yourself, no
matter what your surroundingsare, and so it doesn't matter if
you're the only one that lookslike you, Like.
That's your superpower, that'swhat actually makes you special,
(07:30):
so that's what you should leaninto Instead of trying to blend
in.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I've always been a big fan of standing out from the
crowd and you mentioned it inyour response that you felt like
an outsider for other reasons.
What are some of those reasons?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
I think it's so interesting.
It really depends on thesituation.
Like, I went from that samesmall like Caribbean school I
had a graduating class of ninepeople.
From there I went to BrooklynTech, which is one of the
largest.
It's one of the largest giftedschools, but it's also just one
of the largest schools periodand so we had 5,000 students and
(08:09):
so just feeling like I wasgetting swallowed up by all of
these kids, I'm just like oh,I'm clearly a private school
girl in public school for thefirst time, and so I didn't have
the same sensibilities as someof my other friends did and I
also didn't talk the same way.
Like I remember people beinglike you talk white and it's
like girl if I sound white, Idon't know what y'all sound like
.
(08:32):
So I think that if anybody likethat went to school with me,
heard me say I didn't fit in,they'll probably be like that
sounds crazy because, knowing me, I was always in the mix of
something, but it was reallyjust my social activities were
the things where I found.
That's where I found my tribe.
Like on the dance team.
I found other people who liketo dance, doing spoken word
(08:54):
poetry.
I would find people who like todo spoken word also.
So I think, although I didn'tfeel like I fit in in a
conventional sense, once I foundthe hobbies and things that I
liked I found my tribe.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Now you talked about, like all of your multiple
interests.
How did you kind of hone in?
Was it truly the parody videothat allowed you to kind of hone
in on comedy specifically?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I don't know that made a conscious decision to
stop doing all the other things.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
When.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I started doing comedy, I was like, oh, this is
a great way for me to do all thethings I like to do.
So when.
I first started, I did a webseries called the Codditt
Project, named after me, and itwas basically all the different
things that lived in my head,and so I got to play all these
different characters.
There was one character,completely, who was a pop star
(09:45):
parody and so all I did was rapand dance and I would make her
clothes and I would choreographand put her in that, and then I
would do other accents anddifferent characters, and so I
always thought that comedy was avehicle that will allow my
other skill sets to still live.
I don't know if that answeredyour question, but it sounded
like you asked me when did youchoose?
(10:05):
And the answer is I never chose.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You didn't choose.
Your choice was to not choose,and I think that that's
important too, because sometimeswe feel like we have to and
your interests don't change.
Like your interests and otherthings evolve, and so I think
you've been able to really bringthem together in a really nice
way and we'll get more into someof the projects that you have.
(10:29):
But tell me a little bit moreabout just doing standup.
Like that's not an easy role tokind of, or it might be because
you're a natural, so from theoutside looking in, that I think
could be challenging.
So when you first got on thestage, tell me about that
experience.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Well, this is so funny.
When I first started doingstandup, before you do standup,
everyone tells you you're goingto bomb your first time, which
means you're going to do aspoorly as you imagine.
They're like don't worry aboutit, everybody bombs.
And if you want somebody likeme, who comes from like a
perfectionist background, thethought of not being, I could
(11:09):
deal with not being great myfirst time, but I don't know if
I could deal with being reallybad, and so in my head I was
always afraid of doing it.
I was like, no, I'm good.
And then my friend, she workedfor HSBC corporate and she was
in charge of the, I think likethe Caribbean interest group for
(11:31):
the employees in the workplace.
And she was like yo, my company, they're giving me a budget to
have some talent for ourCaribbean night and I want you
to do standup.
I was like bitch, I don't dostandup.
She was like well, we're goingto pay you $500.
I was like, well then, I guessI do standup.
And the night before she wasconfirming me and I hadn't
written anything I hadprocrastinated so much and I was
(11:54):
like, okay, well, how long doesthis thing have to be?
And she was like I don't know,maybe 15 minutes.
If I knew then what I knew nowI would have canceled completely
.
Like if you ask a comedian, itmight take somebody the whole
year to get 15 minutes worth ofjokes that they really think is
tight.
And so I was like 15 minutes,huh.
Okay, and I stayed up the wholenight and I wrote, and it had
(12:14):
to be because it was Caribbean.
I was like I'm just going tomake fun of my mother, I'm going
to make fun of my mother andeverything Caribbean.
And I wrote and I wrote and Iwrote and then the next day I
had my mother there, mygrandmother, my sister and I
mean I was powered by Red Bulland the blood of Christ child,
because I got up there and Ifirst of all remembered
(12:34):
everything and I did a full hour.
I did a full hour worth ofcomedy and I destroyed and I got
a standing ovation andeverything, everything I said,
got a laugh, I went off book.
I was just like winging it.
And then I went back to stuff Iwrote and I was like, oh my God
, that was incredible.
(12:55):
Thank you for my $500 check.
And everybody said I wassupposed to bomb and I didn't.
So I'm done now.
Now I can say I've done it.
And I didn't do stand up foranother year after that because
I was so frightened.
I was like, oh, that wasperfect.
That might be beginner's luck,and so that was how I first
started.
But it was doing Caribbeanstuff and putting on a tranny
(13:15):
accent and making fun of mymother and ting and ting and
ting and ting, and I never, evertold Caribbean jokes.
After that, to be honest, I dida whole other thing I pivoted.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Really Okay.
So tell me what's going throughyour mind in that entire year,
like why didn't you get?
Is it because that experiencewent so well that you were kind
of like let me not do it again?
And what made you get back onthe stage?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, I think it was.
I will not do it again.
That was perfect.
That felt amazing, and I thinkwhat brought me back was a
combination of things, cause Ibelieve, like, whenever you make
a really big pivot in your life, it's never just one moment.
It's like a bunch of littlethings that happen incrementally
that really crystallize, like,okay, this is the thing that I
should be doing.
So after that I was doing Ithink I was doing improv with my
(14:06):
comedy group and I took likeanything that I did, especially
like coming from a dancebackground, I approached things
like an athlete.
So, the same way with X Factor,my college dance group,
whenever we would perform, wewould get in the room and we'd
be like let's watch the tape,let's see what we could have
done better With improv.
Improv is a type of thing wheresomebody in the audience throws
(14:27):
out a suggestion and you andyour group you wing it and you
make a whole scene, but based onnothing, and I would be like
let's watch the tape.
And my group was like what areyou talking about?
Watch the tape, this is improv.
We made this up.
There was no room for us to bebetter.
And I was like I now need toperform solo.
I am not a solo act becausewith standup comedy, you record
(14:47):
your set every night and whenyou're done, you listen to it.
You listen to it forimprovement, you go this is
where it could have been better,and so I think that the thing
that drove me to do standup wasthe solo aspect, but, more
importantly, because I hadcontrol over my own success in a
way that I didn't have in otherart forms.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So did you ever experience that tough crowd that
you were to date, that you werekind of like you had to turn
them, or like you're like?
No, I'm funny.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yes and no.
Like everybody bombs yeah,Everybody.
You will have a show where it'snot your best set.
But I've been doing stand-upsolely for about 11 years now
and I can probably still countthem on.
I'm still scared of bombingbecause I haven't done it enough
.
I don't bomb, I don't like it,I don't bomb.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
You're like I'm trying to avoid that feeling as
much as possible.
Yeah, you can't really avoid it, though, so I just like prepare
as much as I can and I trustmyself to be able to deliver.
I like that approach.
If you prepare, then you cankind of deal with whatever comes
at you.
So there has been a lot ofconversations around comedy,
(16:01):
particularly with Club she, she,since, ever since Cat Williams
been on the scene.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Why you gonna do that now, mckella.
Oh, come on now.
Why you gonna do that, mckella?
She, she's a trip.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So, but I think it's interesting because I haven't
seen this many comedians in thespace talking and doing podcasts
as I have since that interview.
So tell me about yourexperience, like if you read
into what Cat was talking about,is it really that bad or is it
(16:37):
like just his era or hisexperiences?
Tell me about the comedy scenefor you as a black woman coming
up right now.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, what specifically about the Cat
industry?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
It just felt messy, like messy boots.
He's there sharing all of thedifferent truths about different
comedians, about their routines, stealing jokes, being locked
out of situations Like is thatsomething that you have
(17:10):
experienced?
Like what has your experiencebeen coming up over the years
that you kind of encountered?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
A whole range of things.
First of all, when you're awoman, people automatically
assume you're not funny, sothat's just the regular stuff.
Or when you're a woman, theyusually it's a male host, and so
they'll be like ladies, youready for the next comic?
Come to stage, ladies, ladies,ladies, we got a female for you.
And so very early in my careerI've learned to go up to host
(17:41):
and be like listen, causethey'll be like how do you want
to be introduced?
Which usually means like whatare your credits?
And so I'll tell them.
I'll be like you could saywhatever you want about my
credits, but do not introduce meas a lady.
And they are generally stumped.
They be like so what you wantme to say?
I'm like say what you say whenyou bring somebody else up.
We have a funny comic coming tothe stage, and the reason is
(18:03):
first of all as a woman.
I'm not just telling jokes forthe women, Like you guys assume,
like I don't tell jokes from myvagina.
There's no need to identify mygender before I get here.
My thoughts are.
My thoughts are carries.
These are my thoughts.
I do not wish to representevery woman, every black woman,
so when they go, ladies, we gotone for you.
Watch all the men get up, theygo to the bathroom, the women
(18:26):
they get up, they go to thebathroom, they start scrolling
on their phones because itsubconsciously signals oh,
there's a woman coming up, sheain't gonna be funny, let me
take a break.
And so early on in my career Ihad to counteract that.
So that's one thing thathappens.
People do try to steal yourjokes, and somebody tried to do
that to me once, and that wasthe last time he tried to do
(18:46):
that.
Because I'm not playing withyou, I'm not playing, I'm not
playing at all.
I let people know very quickly,like before I was telling jokes
, I was beating bitches up.
Please don't play with me.
Okay, the Brooklyn will comeout like hehehe, it's all funny,
hehehe, it's not funny, don'tplay with my jokes.
Um, but now I meditate and so Ino longer wish harm on you.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Try try it, try it, hehehe.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
you all pray until until somebody dry your oats
Girl, don't, don't make me goback but I also learned that you
can't do anything about peoplestealing your jokes, except for
make your things more personalto you.
And so when I tell my personalpersonal stories, like, and as
you get older in comedy, yourjokes do become more personal,
(19:32):
like the joke that he saidCedric Entertainment stole from
him.
That was a joke that anybodycould see and take, because it
was just about you know whatit's like for black people to be
in a car listening to music.
Any other person could takethat.
But if I'm telling a verypersonal joke about me going to
four high schools and whatever,whatever, that's a unique story
(19:52):
to me.
So, um, those are some of theexperiences and things that I
have faced that I can relate towith what Kat Williams was
talking about.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You've been on a couple of different like film
and television projects.
How did you, how did thoseopportunities come about?
How did you get involved withwith some of the work that
you've done?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So my very first time on TV it was the Nightly Show
on Comedy Central with LarryWilmore and it was right in was
it 2016?
2016 when they killed someblack person.
It was at the beginning of allof the.
It was right before Black LivesMatter and it was when the cops
(20:37):
were just starting to go crazyand I used to be very vocal on
Facebook.
And one of the girls who Iactually did improv with she had
a day job working at theNightly Show and she was like
you have a very strongperspective on this and we're
looking for a panelist becausesomebody dropped out tonight.
Do you think you can show uptonight in like an hour?
(20:57):
And I was like say less?
And I showed up in whatever Ihad on and I was like put me on
TV.
And so that began like my firstforay on Kat.
I lied that was not my firsttime on TV.
My first time on TV wasactually in high school on MTV,
but that was not comedy related.
So my first time as a comedianwas on the Nightly Show and when
(21:22):
you're a standup comedian, alot of opportunities open for
you just to just be talking,especially on these new shows,
because people like people whoare informed, or as informed as
comedians can be.
But comics are known for ourperspective and how we look at
things might not be the way thateverybody approaches it.
So that was the contributors tolike a lot of my early success.
(21:42):
And then, once you get an agent, you start auditioning for
stuff.
And once I started auditioningfor TV shows, then I started
being booked on TV shows.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Now, do you have like any like comedians or actors,
actresses, that you findinspiring to, like their
journeys inspiring to you as anartist?
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
I love Issa Rae's journey, just from somebody who
has started from her own webseries to see where she is today
.
And I love her as an examplebecause she's contemporary and
it's like you don't have to lookso far back, like growing up or
even 10 years ago.
When I first started comedy, myinspiration was Whoopi Goldberg
.
It was great to see WhoopiGoldberg be a multi hyphenate
(22:29):
and do all the things that shedoes and carve out a lane for
her, whereas, like she is Whoopi, that is it.
There's no one greater thanWhoopi to me, especially coming
up and growing up.
But now I'm inspired byeverybody.
I'm inspired by the people onTikTok, I'm inspired by the
Quinta Brunson's, the DonaldGlover's.
(22:51):
I'm inspired by so much of mycontemporaries because I see how
much my peers are making of thecurrent landscape and I love
that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And as you were auditioning for roles and you
also have writing credits,particularly on Flatbush, Mr
Meanest, so tell me about thatLike.
What was that like for you tokind of flex both?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
WebWitch Misimina started out as a web series and
the two leads of the showthey're also stand-up comedians,
and so in the web series theyjust had a bunch of other
stand-up comedians in it.
And so I already played Kevin'sLove Interest in the web series
version of it.
And when it got picked up forTV it was right after the
pandemic, and I used thepandemic to write my TV sample.
(23:39):
You gotta have, you have to beable to show that you know how
to write an episode oftelevision.
And I was pitching my own TVshow at the time and so I wrote
my sample and or my pilot.
And when they were looking forwriters for Flatbush
Misdemeanors, they reached outto me and was like, oh, do you
know, do you know how to writeTV?
And I was like, actually, thankGod, thank God, the pandemic
(24:00):
happened because I had all thistime to polish this writing
sample.
So then I booked the writingjob and then, when I was in the
writer's room, you know, it cameup that Kevin would be looking
for Love Interest and we werewriting for her.
And in the room it happens.
It happens in the room I'm innow.
I'm currently I'm at work, Iwork for an Apple TV show and
I'm in the room and they createda character for me to play.
(24:22):
So it just happens where, andthe same thing happens to
Natasha Rothwell.
She's a writer, but she was sogood in the writer's room that
they gave her a role on Insecureas Kelly.
So sometimes you happen to beso grateful and so fortunate and
all the stars have to bealigned where you're able to do
both right in the show and thenthe people in the show like damn
(24:43):
, you're really good, let's putyou on camera in this role.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
I love it.
I think it's educational for me, because I'm like just wanting
to know more about what thatprocess is like, and I think
just sharing your journey is isinteresting to just hear all of
the different touchpoints, causewhat it really feels like is
you're good at being prepared,right, so you're always prepared
(25:09):
for the opportunity,continuously writing,
continuously practicing, andwhen the right opportunity shows
up and presents itself, you'rethere to step in and kind of do
your best work, and I love that.
That is extremely inspiring.
So I don't know if anybody'sever told you that, but that's
what I think.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Oh well, thank you.
I think so much of that is thatwe tend to be very results
oriented in most things, butalso particularly in my industry
.
Like people will create shows,and in the creation of those
shows they're like this gonna bethe one that wins the Emmy,
we're gonna win an Oscar, thisis.
And so what happens that thatdoesn't happen?
For you, then, is everythingthat you did all for naught,
(25:50):
like, is there no value to behad in the journey, and so what
you call preparation, I lovethat, but I just call being in
love with the process and thejourney and not really being
fixated on where I think I'mgonna end up, cause I don't know
what the opportunities are forme.
You know, you might think youwant an Emmy and you don't get
it, but it opens up some otherthing.
(26:10):
That opens up some other thing.
That opens up some other thing.
So just fall in love with thework and everything else would
take care of itself.
See, that was very Zen.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Listen, listen.
Your meditation is on 10.
Like I feel it, I feel theenergy.
So how did the writer's strikeimpact you?
I'm sure it did, but when ithappened, what were your initial
thoughts?
And how has it impacted yousince getting back to work?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Great question.
So when the writer's strikehappened, I was at the top of my
game.
I had just came back from threemonths in LA where I was a part
of a writer's skillsshowrunners program which is
like highly competitive for thefuture showrunners of America,
and I was just selling a TV showto Showtime and I was up for
(27:02):
two different writing jobs and Iwas like, oh yeah, I'm cooking
with grease, this is great.
And then the writer's strikehappened and everybody was like,
what do we do now?
And I was like, oh, I'm goingto create.
This is the thing that theuniverse keeps telling me to do,
and I truly think that that isthe only way is to control what
you can't control.
(27:23):
If you sit down and wait forthese people to give you a job
and wait for the industry tocome back, then you're letting
opportunities pass you by andyou're also powerless, and for
me it was not a constructive,helpful place to be, and so
during the strike, I used it tocreate opportunities.
I wrote more, so I startedwriting my one woman show that
(27:46):
I've been thinking about doingfor such a long time.
I went back to doing more standup.
I just started creating shit.
I just started creating.
So I think that that was thething with the strike is just
being ready for when the worlddoes open up.
And thankfully, right after thestrike came back, I got a
writing room job the one thatI'm in now and so, literally
(28:09):
once the announcer strike wasover, I got a call like great,
we're up again.
Are you still free?
And I was like, oh hell yeah, Iam.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So tell me about the project that you're on now, the
show that you're on now.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
So I write for a drama on Apple TV.
It's a new show, so it has notbeen announced yet and the two
of the main characters are ofCaribbean descent.
And I've become the girl thatif people want to tell a new and
it's a New York story if peoplewant to tell a story in New
York and if they want to tellany story that has any Caribbean
(28:41):
people, you need me to be on it, and I'm not mad at that.
At some point I'll probablyfeel like I'm pigeonholed, like
I can do more than that, butright now I love that for us.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I love it.
For us, too, we need more pop,more pop, more pop, more.
But, I also think that we'vebeen talking a lot about film
and writing and television andthe more people that are behind
the scenes to really be voicesto our experiences and even
(29:13):
incorporating like I thinkyou've done like a really good
job of incorporating, even ifit's not like the main portion,
you know what I mean Like giveit like a seasoning, you know.
So I think that that's cool.
I'm excited, I can't wait.
You gotta share, when you can,what that is so I can tune in
for sure.
(29:33):
I have my Apple subscription,so you know I'm good.
But let's switch gears a littlebit, because you are also the
founder of Kwanzaa Crawl, sotell me about that.
I've been twice.
I went to the one in Harlem andI went to when you had two
locations.
I went to the one in Harlem andthen I went once in Brooklyn.
(29:56):
And that is a time child, it isa time as a mom.
I had to muster up the energyto post Christmas Day, energy to
go, so I bought my tickets alittle early so I can make sure
I plan to go.
But I had like a wonderfulexperience.
And but tell me how you startedthat and why you started that.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
So it was again in 2016,.
After all of the consecutivekilling of unarmed black men, it
was just we all felt verypowerless, like what are we
gonna do?
This keeps happening.
And I don't know if you couldtell the theme of the last 32
minutes.
I don't like situations where Ifeel like my destiny is up to
(30:43):
other people and so I'm notwaiting for anybody to come save
me.
I'm tired of begging whitepeople to stop killing us.
I'm tired of doing.
I'm tired of all of that, and Iwas like what is it that we can
do to empower ourselves?
Because I do believe that thepeople do have the power.
And so the shortest version ofhow we came up with Kwanzaa
(31:03):
Crawl is we realized that inorder for black people to see
any types of systemicimprovement in this country, we
need political power, and inAmerica, in anywhere, you can't
have political power withouteconomic power.
That's just how it works.
Politics and money areintrinsically intertwined.
(31:26):
And so we were like okay, ifwe're focusing on black
economics, what does that looklike?
We were like well, how can weget the money circulating in the
black community and how can wedemonstrate in one action the
power of cooperative economics?
And so Kwanzaa Crawl came outof a need to see what does it
look like when you get blackpeople on one page for one day
(31:49):
for one goal All of the blackowned businesses.
Even though you don't usuallyoperate like this, could you
just, for one day, open up yourvenues, remove all your
furniture?
We know y'all not a club, butcould you pretend to be a club
for this day?
And then we get all the blackpeople to come out wearing
whatever makes them feelunapologetically black.
And then we go around and webasically round robin, hop
(32:11):
around, cause it's a bar crawl.
We literally we take 5,000people and we divide them into
different groups of like 100people and we rotate them
throughout all of these blackowned bars for like seven hours,
which is insane.
And the whole goal is at theend of the day, can we track how
much money this one day eventbrought in?
And so the last time we did it,we brought in over $500,000 in
(32:35):
one day for black ownedbusinesses.
So we just want to track thepower of the black dollar.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's amazing, and I think tracking it is important
because that's where thestrength is, in the numbers.
So how was it?
Did you have to convince a lotof these bars and restaurants to
kind of get involved?
I would imagine like the firsttime it was probably like okay,
yeah, maybe.
But now that they've seen theresults and you have a few years
(33:01):
behind you, I'm sure it'seasier now.
But what was it like in thatinitial event that you started?
What was that process like foryou?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
The first year we started.
I used to be the door girl atVoodoo, which was my favorite
black owned bar in Bed-Stuy, andI had a really great
relationship with them because Iworked with them and for them
and they were the best.
And so I went to the people whoI thought would say yes first.
So I went and I asked my oldboss.
I was like, if I was, to say Iwas like what dare you the
slowest?
(33:32):
And that's how also it came tobe the day after Christmas,
because any other day, if youdid it on a weekend even the
restaurants that aren't doingwell on the weekend that's their
busiest day.
So you don't wanna come in andreplace their busiest day if
you're trying to help them andthe goal in helping them is to
do it on a slow day.
So I was just like what's theslow day?
(33:53):
He was like the day afterChristmas and it fell on a
Monday that year, and so I justput feelers out and you know, a
lot of black businesses aren'tclosed on Mondays.
So I was like how about y'alldon't close on this Monday?
What happens if you open up andwe get a couple hundred people
in here and once you get onerespected venue on board, like
you tell Sugar Cane that Voodoodid it.
(34:13):
Sugar Cane's like Voodoo's in,all right, we in.
Then you go and you tell threeto three that Sugar Cane's in
and they like Sugar Cane's doingit.
Okay, and so that's how that'sbeen the premise for the whole
thing for the last seven years.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And it's grown for over the last seven years.
Like where do you think it'sgoing to go?
Like it's getting bigger andbigger.
So what are your hopes in termsof the next few years for
Kwanzaa girl?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
That's an interesting question because my sister and
I do it and we're always tryingto talk about, like what does
success look like for us?
And I think on the outside,success to everyone is bigger.
You had 30 venues, 50, you had5,000 people.
Do 10,000 people?
However, for us, we want to findthe right balance between
(35:03):
helping the right amount ofbusinesses and also keeping the
integrity of the event, and so,honestly, I would be fine if we
just did what we did every year,like for me, it doesn't happen.
When I first started, we waslike every city, every country,
everywhere in the world.
Now I'm cool if it's just we dothis right here and it's just a
(35:25):
nice thing, and even if thedemand is great, if it feels
like a thing that is not goingto be fun once it expands like
10,000 people, if it's gettingout of control, we're absolutely
not interested in that.
So that's my goal.
My goal is to maintain theintegrity of the event, making
sure that it stays about Kwanzaaand black people first, and the
(35:45):
bigger it gets, the morediluted the spirit of it gets.
So we're keeping a fine eye onexactly how our vision for this
event is being maintained as wegrow.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I love that Because even in me asking the question
about growth, I never reallykind of considered or thought
about what that experience wouldbe like, as you, you know, get
bigger because you don't have asmuch control there.
You know what I mean.
Like I totally get like wantingto keep it the same vibe and
(36:22):
the same energy that you bring,and just bring that same love
every year, consistently, overover time, without the need to
focus on growth.
I think I'm like, yeah, I'venever really even thought about
that or considered that, becausewith growth comes even more
responsibility and you know itagain, it might not be the the
(36:45):
vision that you have.
So I think that that's that'sreally poignant for me.
So I take that with greatfeedback and even just asking
the questions.
But I know you kind of alludedto like what you're working on.
Now you seem like you got a fewthings up your sleeve.
So tell me, like, what else canwe truly expect from you in the
(37:06):
, in the future, that you canshare?
I know you have comedy stillgoing, so tell me more about
what you got coming up.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Sure.
So the TV show that I got anoffer from Showtime to buy
before the strike fell throughand I mean it's a show that is
set in Karnarsi, it is sopersonal, it's literally about
my life.
It's an homage to my lategrandmother, and so the story is
(37:36):
about a Caribbean family and agirl who her grandmother leaves
her in inheritance and she endsup having to move back home.
She used to live in a fancyluxury apartment in Bed-Stuy,
but you know the rents is risingand things are happening, and
so when her grandmother passesaway, she moves back home and
it's just about like even thejourney of being someone who
(37:56):
considered themselves asuccessful 30 something year old
but post pandemic, maybe losingyour business, getting evicted
and the business are going up,and how sometimes grown adults
have to go back home in aphysical but also a spiritual
sense.
And what does that look likefor 30 something year olds who
are adults but still live veryclosely with their family and
their parents and trying toredefine for themselves what
(38:19):
success looks like, especiallywhen you have these immigrant as
parents who are telling youwhat it looks like?
And so she moves back home andshe is.
She's first of all remindedabout how, like you know,
canarsie is this one place thathas not been gentrified.
And so if you, if you come fromBed-Stuy, where you use to your
oat milk and your cafe, and youtry to go back, it's almost
(38:41):
like you're a fish out of water,like wait what I got to take $3
vans and like what's going on,and so there's a little bit of
that.
And then there's also like I'mnot going to play the same games
that my family is asking me toplay.
So the family, that's like keepfamily business and he family
in.
You know how Caribbean peopleare very much like secretive and
(39:02):
don't tell people this, she'snot here for all of that, and so
she literally blows up thefamily because all the secrets
the secret pedophiles, thesecret babies, the secret
whatever she's like uh-uh, ifI'm back home now, we all got to
heal and deal with thistogether.
So I'm very, very excited aboutthat.
I'm producing it myself, I'mgoing to make it a web series.
(39:23):
I'm going to be able to castauthentic Caribbean people.
I'm going to make the show thatI want to make and it's going
to be for us, by us, fiiwi, bywe.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So that is Fiiwi by we, that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I'm very excited about that.
We are going to startcrowdfunding and getting people
to help us make the show,because if it's one thing I
learned, being a Caribbeanperson and being a Caribbean
person in television, I amacutely aware of how it happens
when we see non-Wistening peopleplaying with staining roles.
So the Barb Marley thing is abig thing.
(39:58):
There's so many differentversions that our whole lives
we've been waiting for people toget this right.
Our whole lives it's like again, I'm not waiting for them to
get it right, I'm going to do itmyself.
So I'm excited about that.
And then the other thing thatI'm excited about is my
one-woman show, and that'sanother autobiographical
experience and story, and that'sall about growing up, going to
(40:21):
that Caribbean.
It's a Caribbean ChristianPan-African school is where I
went from pre-kate to eighthgrade and then having to
graduate from that and godirectly into the New York City
public school system where I gotkicked out of four different
high schools.
And so that is the wholejourney that I'm telling in my
(40:43):
one-woman show that I'm excitedabout.
And then I have an hour ofstand-up comedy that I'm working
on.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
I love it and I love how you come in full circle to
your story and really using itas inspiration.
And, like you said, a lot ofCaribbean folks are like don't
tell the people that we'rebusiness.
How has your family respondedto some of you drawing
inspiration from your life andkind of incorporating elements?
(41:13):
I don't know how much is yoursand how much is the balance of
creative versus real life, sotell me about that.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Well, thankfully I have a family who has always
been encouraging of me, and soI've been this way my whole life
.
So they already know like theyjust waitin', they already know
that I don't really know how to.
If you tell me a secret, I'mgoing to keep it, but if there's
something that's a part of mylife, I'm going to tell it.
(41:46):
And so sorry if you don't likethe way you came out and my
story.
You should have been nicer tome.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Kari, have you seen my Marley film?
What did you do?
I've done it twice.
You've done it twice.
What did you do?
I?
Speaker 2 (42:02):
thought it was great.
I thought it was great, Ithought it was really well done.
I thought that and it might bethe very first time that I've
seen it, I've seen it, I've seenit, I've seen it, I've seen it,
I've seen it it's the veryfirst time that I've felt that
way about a Caribbean story thathas not been played by a
Caribbean person, and the reasonis for several reasons.
Well, and I know people have alot of critiques about the Barb
(42:23):
Marley movie.
One, it's not a documentary, soI didn't expect it to tell all
the parts of his life.
Two, when the family is behinda biopic, you know that you're
going into it with a certainlevel of biases anyway, that
you're not going to get the uglytruth of it all, and so I was
fine with that.
And also, although the lead guyis not Jamaican, I actually
thought that he was morecompetent than a lot of the
(42:46):
people that I've seen try toattempt it.
And also they cast actuallyauthentic Jamaican people around
him.
So there was not the people inhis band, the Rasta man I used
to be Rasta, and so I cried big,big, dirty tears when I saw the
Nayin Bingi, because I've neverseen the Nayin Bingi through
(43:06):
the screen.
I've been to it at ProspectPark, july 23rd, fasalasi's
birthday, but I've never seen iton television.
So to see Rastafarianism bedepicted in such a respectful
way, where it's not just aboutBrun and Ganja and it's not just
about having locks and doingall this, like to actually see
Rastafarianism be depicted inthe spiritual way, I was like I
(43:30):
don't know if it's my own Rastabias, but I was like okay, I
like did you see it?
Yeah, yeah, I saw it.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
They've get it right.
They've get it right.
Yes, yes.
Well, I have a long podcastepisode on recap of that, so I
thought it was good.
I did want more, but Kingsleydid a great job.
I think he did a really, reallygood job.
He did a great job and I willsay this.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I will say this I was telling it to my cousins
because she's like I'm not goingto go see it because I and
being in the industry, there isa line because I'm already
starting to see and hearing andother meetings that I've been
taking, that in shows that weresupposed to be Caribbean people
and setting Caribbean peoplethat the networks are like did
you see the Barb Marley backlash?
(44:13):
Well, you know what?
Why don't we take this Jamaicanguy and make him American
instead?
Because we don't even want todeal with it.
So some of us like the backlash, we feel like we're going to do
it right.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
No, we're not.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
We're going to force them to not do it at all, and so
now we're not going to see ourstory.
We're going to see our storiesway less now.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
I think that's sad and the reason why I say this is
because we have to giveourselves the space to critique
one another.
So it's not necessarily acriticism of the film houses,
but, again, films get critiquedall the time and you're gonna
(44:57):
have a and your connection tothe filmmakers and the creators
can play a part in how you viewthe films objectively.
So it's not necessarily thatit's just about the accent.
My producer her name is Carrie,carrie Ann she actually, you
(45:22):
know, said she said something awhile back where it's like if we
get two out of three, I thinkit's good, a good storyline, the
accent, and there was one moreshoot Now my shop's Carrie
analogy and I'm like you'reright, it's either you're gonna
get the accent and the storylineor you're gonna get the
(45:46):
connection to the actual film orthe actors.
Like you might not get all ofwhat you want and we should be
allowed to not have it beperfect, but still be supported.
Right, they still make rom-coms, whether they're good or not
and whether they're funny or not.
Sitcoms still get made, theyjust get canceled.
(46:08):
So I don't think that we, asCaribbean people, should be
pigeonholed into not either itbeing really good and positive
or just be thrown in the garbage.
You know what I mean.
So, like I know, I'm not inthose rooms, but I'm complete on
your side.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
It's like in dollars and cents, and the difference in
rom-coms is white people, andso when we are such a small
subset of the population and wedon't show up to support certain
things, it's like well if y'alldon't like it we was doing this
for you, and if we don't likeit, then and so that is just,
(46:45):
and I'm not advocating Matter offact, I am advocating.
I'm making my shit myself.
Yes, yes, and I don't need thisperson whatever, like, I'm
gonna make it because we need it.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yes, I agree, I agree .
Well, thank you so much.
I totally appreciate thisconversation.
I really love everything thatyou're doing.
I'm gonna get out to a comedyshow, but you know, missy, how
Funny is on a regular basis, soI know that that's gonna be good
.
But tell the people then wherethey can find you and how they
(47:15):
can keep in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
Sure, you can find me at Overfab.
So that's Over, not under.
Fab Everywhere in the world,Overfabcom.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
All right.
Thank you so much, keri.
I totally appreciate you beingon the podcast and really just
connecting with me, lookingforward to getting together with
you soon and until next time,lea time and peeps Bye, thank
you.
Thanks for listening to thelatest episode of the Style and
(47:48):
Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit stylingvibescom and
follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram at
Styling Vibes.
Until next time, lea time andpeeps, I hope to be 존oss.
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of
the Silent Vibes podcast withyours truly Makayla.
If you are new to the family,welcome to the family.
If you are returning, welcomeback.
Family Today we have.
I always say that we have aspecial guest, because all of my
guests are special to me, butthis one is especially special
because she and I went to CUNYBaruch College, so we're Bearcat
(00:26):
alums, I guess you can say so.
I have seen her grow on herjourney over the last I'm not
going to tell you how much yearsbecause we're not age or cell,
but it's been just beautiful.
Just watching her from backthen, I knew she was going to be
someone amazing, and she wasthen and she's just amazing now.
Welcome, carrie Cadet.
(00:48):
I would read your resume, but Ithink we're going to get
through your entire resume inthis interview.
I don't want to spiel it off,but you've done a lot of amazing
work and you know when you andI went to college you weren't in
the comedy space.
So let's go back there and tellme about how you got into
comedy, because me and you are abig dancer, you know.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
How did I end up?
I don't even know.
I've always been a storyteller.
I've always been writing,performing my whole life.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And so when I met you in Baruch.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I was a big, big, big dancer and I started my fashion
company Senior Year, baruch.
So right after graduation I wasa fashion designer.
And then the recession came andthat popped down and I think
that I pivoted to like rap.
I was always rapping or doingsomething and I remember I want
(01:46):
to say like 2007 or 2008.
I made like a rap parody videoand the parody I like recorded
it, we shot it, we filmed thisbig music video and it was so
much fun and it went viral.
Which viral back then was likewhere else are hip hop?
And this is 50.com and YouTubemight have just become a thing.
(02:11):
And I remember all the peoplewere writing all these comments
because my parody was dissingJay-Z, and all these comments
were like bet you from Brooklyn,this is disrespectful, we're
going to kill you.
And I was like, wow, people arereally feeling something.
I think I can do this.
And so in putting together likea parody rap video, I realized
(02:32):
that it was like one big comedysketch and so I was like, oh, I
think I'm onto something here.
Let me go to comedy school.
And so I started taking sketchcomedy classes and then, after
taking sketch comedy classes, Istarted doing improv and
performing improv comedy with agroup of people, and then improv
led to me doing stand up.
So the last couple of like 15years have just been dedicated
(02:56):
to all the different forms ofcomedy.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I feel like New Yorkers really coined the term
multi hyphenant before it becamea thing, because I remember
always networking and it wasjust like, well, what do you do
and what else and what else yougot going.
So it's also like the Caribbeannest in us to have multiple
(03:19):
things going on, but you havealways been such a creative
spirit.
Tell me what you were like as ayoung child, growing up.
What would your parents sayabout you growing up in terms of
all of your interests?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
As a kid, I was always literally doing the most.
I was always doing everything.
I was always writing plays andthen performing in it and like
doing different characters andaccents and making the costuming
and doing the wardrobe for thecharacters that I was playing,
and so I was always doing andthen dancing and choreographing
(03:57):
the dance pieces in it, and soI've always just been somebody
who, as a kid, I was reading alot and writing a lot, and so
that's been my entire life.
And my grandmother used to belike you could be a comedian,
you know, and I remember beinglike that's so ridiculous.
Like I fully attacked my girlfor what you mean, like what
would you be?
(04:18):
Because I thought I was deadserious and she's like you're so
funny, and so I resisted comedyfor a long time until I
realized that she was right thewhole time.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Boy, when you have a grandmother who know what I know
, and it just comes intofruition.
So we touched on your Caribbeanbackground, but I didn't give
you the opportunity to shareyour Caribbean ancestry.
Tell the people then, please,and thanks.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Sure, I'm Trini and Guyanese, which the combination
of which makes me Jamaican.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah you're going to be like that, we'll interview
you, and you grew up in Brooklyn, in Flatbush in particular.
So what was that like, beingexposed to your culture, and how
did that kind of shape you aswho you are, in your comedy
style that you have now?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I grew up in East Flatbush and was raised in every
place in the back of Brooklyn,every Caribbean neighborhood.
I claim that East Flatbush,flatbush, flatlands, canarsie,
those are my stomping grounds.
And from literallypre-Kindergarten to eighth grade
, I went to a Caribbean privateschool.
All of my teachers wereCaribbean, everybody in the
(05:34):
school was Caribbean, and so Inever had a white teacher until
I got to high school and I waslike this is boring, that's how
y'all learn, nobody threateningto lash you, no, like how y'all
stay on your toes with this dryinstruction.
And so I think that, beingCaribbean and growing up in a
predominantly Caribbeancommunity and a predominantly
(05:56):
Caribbean school, I always feltproud of my background.
I never felt like I had to hideit.
I never felt like I didn't fitin because I felt like I didn't
fit in for other reasons, but itwasn't because of being
Caribbean.
And so I think that that justlet me be really proud and have
a sense of self, a strong senseof self, in everything that I
did.
Blah, blah, blah blah, blah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I think that I think a lot of young Caribbean
Americans.
They don't necessarily get that.
And when we talk about Brooklyn, we talk about Brooklyn.
It's like the United States ofthe Caribbean in Brooklyn, right
, Because all of the culturesare there and it's so unique to
Brooklyn and even Queens and theBronx in some respect.
(06:42):
But I think that that's aunique experience to being in
New York where you're heavilyexposed to other cultures.
What would you say to the younggirl who it doesn't have that
same experience?
How do you keep that rich senseof culture as you are growing
up in this space?
(07:03):
That is it necessarily withpeople that look the same around
you?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I think it's really about not letting anyone
determine who you are.
What are the things you shouldlike?
What are the things youshouldn't like and identify with
?
I think that you should anybody.
You should try to beauthentically yourself, no
matter what your surroundingsare, and so it doesn't matter if
you're the only one that lookslike you, Like.
That's your superpower, that'swhat actually makes you special,
(07:30):
so that's what you should leaninto Instead of trying to blend
in.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I've always been a big fan of standing out from the
crowd and you mentioned it inyour response that you felt like
an outsider for other reasons.
What are some of those reasons?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
I think it's so interesting.
It really depends on thesituation.
Like, I went from that samesmall like Caribbean school I
had a graduating class of ninepeople.
From there I went to BrooklynTech, which is one of the
largest.
It's one of the largest giftedschools, but it's also just one
of the largest schools periodand so we had 5,000 students and
(08:09):
so just feeling like I wasgetting swallowed up by all of
these kids, I'm just like oh,I'm clearly a private school
girl in public school for thefirst time, and so I didn't have
the same sensibilities as someof my other friends did and I
also didn't talk the same way.
Like I remember people beinglike you talk white and it's
like girl if I sound white, Idon't know what y'all sound like
.
(08:32):
So I think that if anybody likethat went to school with me,
heard me say I didn't fit in,they'll probably be like that
sounds crazy because, knowing me, I was always in the mix of
something, but it was reallyjust my social activities were
the things where I found.
That's where I found my tribe.
Like on the dance team.
I found other people who liketo dance, doing spoken word
(08:54):
poetry.
I would find people who like todo spoken word also.
So I think, although I didn'tfeel like I fit in in a
conventional sense, once I foundthe hobbies and things that I
liked I found my tribe.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Now you talked about, like all of your multiple
interests.
How did you kind of hone in?
Was it truly the parody videothat allowed you to kind of hone
in on comedy specifically?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I don't know that made a conscious decision to
stop doing all the other things.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
When.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I started doing comedy, I was like, oh, this is
a great way for me to do all thethings I like to do.
So when.
I first started, I did a webseries called the Codditt
Project, named after me, and itwas basically all the different
things that lived in my head,and so I got to play all these
different characters.
There was one character,completely, who was a pop star
(09:45):
parody and so all I did was rapand dance and I would make her
clothes and I would choreographand put her in that, and then I
would do other accents anddifferent characters, and so I
always thought that comedy was avehicle that will allow my
other skill sets to still live.
I don't know if that answeredyour question, but it sounded
like you asked me when did youchoose?
(10:05):
And the answer is I never chose.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You didn't choose.
Your choice was to not choose,and I think that that's
important too, because sometimeswe feel like we have to and
your interests don't change.
Like your interests and otherthings evolve, and so I think
you've been able to really bringthem together in a really nice
way and we'll get more into someof the projects that you have.
(10:29):
But tell me a little bit moreabout just doing standup.
Like that's not an easy role tokind of, or it might be because
you're a natural, so from theoutside looking in, that I think
could be challenging.
So when you first got on thestage, tell me about that
experience.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Well, this is so funny.
When I first started doingstandup, before you do standup,
everyone tells you you're goingto bomb your first time, which
means you're going to do aspoorly as you imagine.
They're like don't worry aboutit, everybody bombs.
And if you want somebody likeme, who comes from like a
perfectionist background, thethought of not being, I could
(11:09):
deal with not being great myfirst time, but I don't know if
I could deal with being reallybad, and so in my head I was
always afraid of doing it.
I was like, no, I'm good.
And then my friend, she workedfor HSBC corporate and she was
in charge of the, I think likethe Caribbean interest group for
(11:31):
the employees in the workplace.
And she was like yo, my company, they're giving me a budget to
have some talent for ourCaribbean night and I want you
to do standup.
I was like bitch, I don't dostandup.
She was like well, we're goingto pay you $500.
I was like, well then, I guessI do standup.
And the night before she wasconfirming me and I hadn't
written anything I hadprocrastinated so much and I was
(11:54):
like, okay, well, how long doesthis thing have to be?
And she was like I don't know,maybe 15 minutes.
If I knew then what I knew nowI would have canceled completely
.
Like if you ask a comedian, itmight take somebody the whole
year to get 15 minutes worth ofjokes that they really think is
tight.
And so I was like 15 minutes,huh.
Okay, and I stayed up the wholenight and I wrote, and it had
(12:14):
to be because it was Caribbean.
I was like I'm just going tomake fun of my mother, I'm going
to make fun of my mother andeverything Caribbean.
And I wrote and I wrote and Iwrote and then the next day I
had my mother there, mygrandmother, my sister and I
mean I was powered by Red Bulland the blood of Christ child,
because I got up there and Ifirst of all remembered
(12:34):
everything and I did a full hour.
I did a full hour worth ofcomedy and I destroyed and I got
a standing ovation andeverything, everything I said,
got a laugh, I went off book.
I was just like winging it.
And then I went back to stuff Iwrote and I was like, oh my God
, that was incredible.
(12:55):
Thank you for my $500 check.
And everybody said I wassupposed to bomb and I didn't.
So I'm done now.
Now I can say I've done it.
And I didn't do stand up foranother year after that because
I was so frightened.
I was like, oh, that wasperfect.
That might be beginner's luck,and so that was how I first
started.
But it was doing Caribbeanstuff and putting on a tranny
(13:15):
accent and making fun of mymother and ting and ting and
ting and ting, and I never, evertold Caribbean jokes.
After that, to be honest, I dida whole other thing I pivoted.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Really Okay.
So tell me what's going throughyour mind in that entire year,
like why didn't you get?
Is it because that experiencewent so well that you were kind
of like let me not do it again?
And what made you get back onthe stage?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, I think it was.
I will not do it again.
That was perfect.
That felt amazing, and I thinkwhat brought me back was a
combination of things, cause Ibelieve, like, whenever you make
a really big pivot in your life, it's never just one moment.
It's like a bunch of littlethings that happen incrementally
that really crystallize, like,okay, this is the thing that I
should be doing.
So after that I was doing Ithink I was doing improv with my
(14:06):
comedy group and I took likeanything that I did, especially
like coming from a dancebackground, I approached things
like an athlete.
So, the same way with X Factor,my college dance group,
whenever we would perform, wewould get in the room and we'd
be like let's watch the tape,let's see what we could have
done better With improv.
Improv is a type of thing wheresomebody in the audience throws
(14:27):
out a suggestion and you andyour group you wing it and you
make a whole scene, but based onnothing, and I would be like
let's watch the tape.
And my group was like what areyou talking about?
Watch the tape, this is improv.
We made this up.
There was no room for us to bebetter.
And I was like I now need toperform solo.
I am not a solo act becausewith standup comedy, you record
(14:47):
your set every night and whenyou're done, you listen to it.
You listen to it forimprovement, you go this is
where it could have been better,and so I think that the thing
that drove me to do standup wasthe solo aspect, but, more
importantly, because I hadcontrol over my own success in a
way that I didn't have in otherart forms.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So did you ever experience that tough crowd that
you were to date, that you werekind of like you had to turn
them, or like you're like?
No, I'm funny.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yes and no.
Like everybody bombs yeah,Everybody.
You will have a show where it'snot your best set.
But I've been doing stand-upsolely for about 11 years now
and I can probably still countthem on.
I'm still scared of bombingbecause I haven't done it enough
.
I don't bomb, I don't like it,I don't bomb.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
You're like I'm trying to avoid that feeling as
much as possible.
Yeah, you can't really avoid it, though, so I just like prepare
as much as I can and I trustmyself to be able to deliver.
I like that approach.
If you prepare, then you cankind of deal with whatever comes
at you.
So there has been a lot ofconversations around comedy,
(16:01):
particularly with Club she, she,since, ever since Cat Williams
been on the scene.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Why you gonna do that now, mckella.
Oh, come on now.
Why you gonna do that, mckella?
She, she's a trip.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So, but I think it's interesting because I haven't
seen this many comedians in thespace talking and doing podcasts
as I have since that interview.
So tell me about yourexperience, like if you read
into what Cat was talking about,is it really that bad or is it
(16:37):
like just his era or hisexperiences?
Tell me about the comedy scenefor you as a black woman coming
up right now.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Well, what specifically about the Cat
industry?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
It just felt messy, like messy boots.
He's there sharing all of thedifferent truths about different
comedians, about their routines, stealing jokes, being locked
out of situations Like is thatsomething that you have
(17:10):
experienced?
Like what has your experiencebeen coming up over the years
that you kind of encountered?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
A whole range of things.
First of all, when you're awoman, people automatically
assume you're not funny, sothat's just the regular stuff.
Or when you're a woman, theyusually it's a male host, and so
they'll be like ladies, youready for the next comic?
Come to stage, ladies, ladies,ladies, we got a female for you.
And so very early in my careerI've learned to go up to host
(17:41):
and be like listen, causethey'll be like how do you want
to be introduced?
Which usually means like whatare your credits?
And so I'll tell them.
I'll be like you could saywhatever you want about my
credits, but do not introduce meas a lady.
And they are generally stumped.
They be like so what you wantme to say?
I'm like say what you say whenyou bring somebody else up.
We have a funny comic coming tothe stage, and the reason is
(18:03):
first of all as a woman.
I'm not just telling jokes forthe women, Like you guys assume,
like I don't tell jokes from myvagina.
There's no need to identify mygender before I get here.
My thoughts are.
My thoughts are carries.
These are my thoughts.
I do not wish to representevery woman, every black woman,
so when they go, ladies, we gotone for you.
Watch all the men get up, theygo to the bathroom, the women
(18:26):
they get up, they go to thebathroom, they start scrolling
on their phones because itsubconsciously signals oh,
there's a woman coming up, sheain't gonna be funny, let me
take a break.
And so early on in my career Ihad to counteract that.
So that's one thing thathappens.
People do try to steal yourjokes, and somebody tried to do
that to me once, and that wasthe last time he tried to do
(18:46):
that.
Because I'm not playing withyou, I'm not playing, I'm not
playing at all.
I let people know very quickly,like before I was telling jokes
, I was beating bitches up.
Please don't play with me.
Okay, the Brooklyn will comeout like hehehe, it's all funny,
hehehe, it's not funny, don'tplay with my jokes.
Um, but now I meditate and so Ino longer wish harm on you.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Try try it, try it, hehehe.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
you all pray until until somebody dry your oats
Girl, don't, don't make me goback but I also learned that you
can't do anything about peoplestealing your jokes, except for
make your things more personalto you.
And so when I tell my personalpersonal stories, like, and as
you get older in comedy, yourjokes do become more personal,
(19:32):
like the joke that he saidCedric Entertainment stole from
him.
That was a joke that anybodycould see and take, because it
was just about you know whatit's like for black people to be
in a car listening to music.
Any other person could takethat.
But if I'm telling a verypersonal joke about me going to
four high schools and whatever,whatever, that's a unique story
(19:52):
to me.
So, um, those are some of theexperiences and things that I
have faced that I can relate towith what Kat Williams was
talking about.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
You've been on a couple of different like film
and television projects.
How did you, how did thoseopportunities come about?
How did you get involved withwith some of the work that
you've done?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So my very first time on TV it was the Nightly Show
on Comedy Central with LarryWilmore and it was right in was
it 2016?
2016 when they killed someblack person.
It was at the beginning of allof the.
It was right before Black LivesMatter and it was when the cops
(20:37):
were just starting to go crazyand I used to be very vocal on
Facebook.
And one of the girls who Iactually did improv with she had
a day job working at theNightly Show and she was like
you have a very strongperspective on this and we're
looking for a panelist becausesomebody dropped out tonight.
Do you think you can show uptonight in like an hour?
(20:57):
And I was like say less?
And I showed up in whatever Ihad on and I was like put me on
TV.
And so that began like my firstforay on Kat.
I lied that was not my firsttime on TV.
My first time on TV wasactually in high school on MTV,
but that was not comedy related.
So my first time as a comedianwas on the Nightly Show and when
(21:22):
you're a standup comedian, alot of opportunities open for
you just to just be talking,especially on these new shows,
because people like people whoare informed, or as informed as
comedians can be.
But comics are known for ourperspective and how we look at
things might not be the way thateverybody approaches it.
So that was the contributors tolike a lot of my early success.
(21:42):
And then, once you get an agent, you start auditioning for
stuff.
And once I started auditioningfor TV shows, then I started
being booked on TV shows.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Now, do you have like any like comedians or actors,
actresses, that you findinspiring to, like their
journeys inspiring to you as anartist?
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
I love Issa Rae's journey, just from somebody who
has started from her own webseries to see where she is today
.
And I love her as an examplebecause she's contemporary and
it's like you don't have to lookso far back, like growing up or
even 10 years ago.
When I first started comedy, myinspiration was Whoopi Goldberg
.
It was great to see WhoopiGoldberg be a multi hyphenate
(22:29):
and do all the things that shedoes and carve out a lane for
her, whereas, like she is Whoopi, that is it.
There's no one greater thanWhoopi to me, especially coming
up and growing up.
But now I'm inspired byeverybody.
I'm inspired by the people onTikTok, I'm inspired by the
Quinta Brunson's, the DonaldGlover's.
(22:51):
I'm inspired by so much of mycontemporaries because I see how
much my peers are making of thecurrent landscape and I love
that.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And as you were auditioning for roles and you
also have writing credits,particularly on Flatbush, Mr
Meanest, so tell me about thatLike.
What was that like for you tokind of flex both?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
WebWitch Misimina started out as a web series and
the two leads of the showthey're also stand-up comedians,
and so in the web series theyjust had a bunch of other
stand-up comedians in it.
And so I already played Kevin'sLove Interest in the web series
version of it.
And when it got picked up forTV it was right after the
pandemic, and I used thepandemic to write my TV sample.
(23:39):
You gotta have, you have to beable to show that you know how
to write an episode oftelevision.
And I was pitching my own TVshow at the time and so I wrote
my sample and or my pilot.
And when they were looking forwriters for Flatbush
Misdemeanors, they reached outto me and was like, oh, do you
know, do you know how to writeTV?
And I was like, actually, thankGod, thank God, the pandemic
(24:00):
happened because I had all thistime to polish this writing
sample.
So then I booked the writingjob and then, when I was in the
writer's room, you know, it cameup that Kevin would be looking
for Love Interest and we werewriting for her.
And in the room it happens.
It happens in the room I'm innow.
I'm currently I'm at work, Iwork for an Apple TV show and
I'm in the room and they createda character for me to play.
(24:22):
So it just happens where, andthe same thing happens to
Natasha Rothwell.
She's a writer, but she was sogood in the writer's room that
they gave her a role on Insecureas Kelly.
So sometimes you happen to beso grateful and so fortunate and
all the stars have to bealigned where you're able to do
both right in the show and thenthe people in the show like damn
(24:43):
, you're really good, let's putyou on camera in this role.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
I love it.
I think it's educational for me, because I'm like just wanting
to know more about what thatprocess is like, and I think
just sharing your journey is isinteresting to just hear all of
the different touchpoints, causewhat it really feels like is
you're good at being prepared,right, so you're always prepared
(25:09):
for the opportunity,continuously writing,
continuously practicing, andwhen the right opportunity shows
up and presents itself, you'rethere to step in and kind of do
your best work, and I love that.
That is extremely inspiring.
So I don't know if anybody'sever told you that, but that's
what I think.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Oh well, thank you.
I think so much of that is thatwe tend to be very results
oriented in most things, butalso particularly in my industry
.
Like people will create shows,and in the creation of those
shows they're like this gonna bethe one that wins the Emmy,
we're gonna win an Oscar, thisis.
And so what happens that thatdoesn't happen?
For you, then, is everythingthat you did all for naught,
(25:50):
like, is there no value to behad in the journey, and so what
you call preparation, I lovethat, but I just call being in
love with the process and thejourney and not really being
fixated on where I think I'mgonna end up, cause I don't know
what the opportunities are forme.
You know, you might think youwant an Emmy and you don't get
it, but it opens up some otherthing.
(26:10):
That opens up some other thing.
That opens up some other thing.
So just fall in love with thework and everything else would
take care of itself.
See, that was very Zen.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Listen, listen.
Your meditation is on 10.
Like I feel it, I feel theenergy.
So how did the writer's strikeimpact you?
I'm sure it did, but when ithappened, what were your initial
thoughts?
And how has it impacted yousince getting back to work?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Great question.
So when the writer's strikehappened, I was at the top of my
game.
I had just came back from threemonths in LA where I was a part
of a writer's skillsshowrunners program which is
like highly competitive for thefuture showrunners of America,
and I was just selling a TV showto Showtime and I was up for
(27:02):
two different writing jobs and Iwas like, oh yeah, I'm cooking
with grease, this is great.
And then the writer's strikehappened and everybody was like,
what do we do now?
And I was like, oh, I'm goingto create.
This is the thing that theuniverse keeps telling me to do,
and I truly think that that isthe only way is to control what
you can't control.
(27:23):
If you sit down and wait forthese people to give you a job
and wait for the industry tocome back, then you're letting
opportunities pass you by andyou're also powerless, and for
me it was not a constructive,helpful place to be, and so
during the strike, I used it tocreate opportunities.
I wrote more, so I startedwriting my one woman show that
(27:46):
I've been thinking about doingfor such a long time.
I went back to doing more standup.
I just started creating shit.
I just started creating.
So I think that that was thething with the strike is just
being ready for when the worlddoes open up.
And thankfully, right after thestrike came back, I got a
writing room job the one thatI'm in now and so, literally
(28:09):
once the announcer strike wasover, I got a call like great,
we're up again.
Are you still free?
And I was like, oh hell yeah, Iam.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
So tell me about the project that you're on now, the
show that you're on now.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
So I write for a drama on Apple TV.
It's a new show, so it has notbeen announced yet and the two
of the main characters are ofCaribbean descent.
And I've become the girl thatif people want to tell a new and
it's a New York story if peoplewant to tell a story in New
York and if they want to tellany story that has any Caribbean
(28:41):
people, you need me to be on it, and I'm not mad at that.
At some point I'll probablyfeel like I'm pigeonholed, like
I can do more than that, butright now I love that for us.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I love it.
For us, too, we need more pop,more pop, more pop, more.
But, I also think that we'vebeen talking a lot about film
and writing and television andthe more people that are behind
the scenes to really be voicesto our experiences and even
(29:13):
incorporating like I thinkyou've done like a really good
job of incorporating, even ifit's not like the main portion,
you know what I mean Like giveit like a seasoning, you know.
So I think that that's cool.
I'm excited, I can't wait.
You gotta share, when you can,what that is so I can tune in
for sure.
(29:33):
I have my Apple subscription,so you know I'm good.
But let's switch gears a littlebit, because you are also the
founder of Kwanzaa Crawl, sotell me about that.
I've been twice.
I went to the one in Harlem andI went to when you had two
locations.
I went to the one in Harlem andthen I went once in Brooklyn.
(29:56):
And that is a time child, it isa time as a mom.
I had to muster up the energyto post Christmas Day, energy to
go, so I bought my tickets alittle early so I can make sure
I plan to go.
But I had like a wonderfulexperience.
And but tell me how you startedthat and why you started that.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
So it was again in 2016,.
After all of the consecutivekilling of unarmed black men, it
was just we all felt verypowerless, like what are we
gonna do?
This keeps happening.
And I don't know if you couldtell the theme of the last 32
minutes.
I don't like situations where Ifeel like my destiny is up to
(30:43):
other people and so I'm notwaiting for anybody to come save
me.
I'm tired of begging whitepeople to stop killing us.
I'm tired of doing.
I'm tired of all of that, and Iwas like what is it that we can
do to empower ourselves?
Because I do believe that thepeople do have the power.
And so the shortest version ofhow we came up with Kwanzaa
(31:03):
Crawl is we realized that inorder for black people to see
any types of systemicimprovement in this country, we
need political power, and inAmerica, in anywhere, you can't
have political power withouteconomic power.
That's just how it works.
Politics and money areintrinsically intertwined.
(31:26):
And so we were like okay, ifwe're focusing on black
economics, what does that looklike?
We were like well, how can weget the money circulating in the
black community and how can wedemonstrate in one action the
power of cooperative economics?
And so Kwanzaa Crawl came outof a need to see what does it
look like when you get blackpeople on one page for one day
(31:49):
for one goal All of the blackowned businesses.
Even though you don't usuallyoperate like this, could you
just, for one day, open up yourvenues, remove all your
furniture?
We know y'all not a club, butcould you pretend to be a club
for this day?
And then we get all the blackpeople to come out wearing
whatever makes them feelunapologetically black.
And then we go around and webasically round robin, hop
(32:11):
around, cause it's a bar crawl.
We literally we take 5,000people and we divide them into
different groups of like 100people and we rotate them
throughout all of these blackowned bars for like seven hours,
which is insane.
And the whole goal is at theend of the day, can we track how
much money this one day eventbrought in?
And so the last time we did it,we brought in over $500,000 in
(32:35):
one day for black ownedbusinesses.
So we just want to track thepower of the black dollar.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's amazing, and I think tracking it is important
because that's where thestrength is, in the numbers.
So how was it?
Did you have to convince a lotof these bars and restaurants to
kind of get involved?
I would imagine like the firsttime it was probably like okay,
yeah, maybe.
But now that they've seen theresults and you have a few years
(33:01):
behind you, I'm sure it'seasier now.
But what was it like in thatinitial event that you started?
What was that process like foryou?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
The first year we started.
I used to be the door girl atVoodoo, which was my favorite
black owned bar in Bed-Stuy, andI had a really great
relationship with them because Iworked with them and for them
and they were the best.
And so I went to the people whoI thought would say yes first.
So I went and I asked my oldboss.
I was like, if I was, to say Iwas like what dare you the
slowest?
(33:32):
And that's how also it came tobe the day after Christmas,
because any other day, if youdid it on a weekend even the
restaurants that aren't doingwell on the weekend that's their
busiest day.
So you don't wanna come in andreplace their busiest day if
you're trying to help them andthe goal in helping them is to
do it on a slow day.
So I was just like what's theslow day?
(33:53):
He was like the day afterChristmas and it fell on a
Monday that year, and so I justput feelers out and you know, a
lot of black businesses aren'tclosed on Mondays.
So I was like how about y'alldon't close on this Monday?
What happens if you open up andwe get a couple hundred people
in here and once you get onerespected venue on board, like
you tell Sugar Cane that Voodoodid it.
(34:13):
Sugar Cane's like Voodoo's in,all right, we in.
Then you go and you tell threeto three that Sugar Cane's in
and they like Sugar Cane's doingit.
Okay, and so that's how that'sbeen the premise for the whole
thing for the last seven years.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
And it's grown for over the last seven years.
Like where do you think it'sgoing to go?
Like it's getting bigger andbigger.
So what are your hopes in termsof the next few years for
Kwanzaa girl?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
That's an interesting question because my sister and
I do it and we're always tryingto talk about, like what does
success look like for us?
And I think on the outside,success to everyone is bigger.
You had 30 venues, 50, you had5,000 people.
Do 10,000 people?
However, for us, we want to findthe right balance between
(35:03):
helping the right amount ofbusinesses and also keeping the
integrity of the event, and so,honestly, I would be fine if we
just did what we did every year,like for me, it doesn't happen.
When I first started, we waslike every city, every country,
everywhere in the world.
Now I'm cool if it's just we dothis right here and it's just a
(35:25):
nice thing, and even if thedemand is great, if it feels
like a thing that is not goingto be fun once it expands like
10,000 people, if it's gettingout of control, we're absolutely
not interested in that.
So that's my goal.
My goal is to maintain theintegrity of the event, making
sure that it stays about Kwanzaaand black people first, and the
(35:45):
bigger it gets, the morediluted the spirit of it gets.
So we're keeping a fine eye onexactly how our vision for this
event is being maintained as wegrow.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I love that Because even in me asking the question
about growth, I never reallykind of considered or thought
about what that experience wouldbe like, as you, you know, get
bigger because you don't have asmuch control there.
You know what I mean.
Like I totally get like wantingto keep it the same vibe and
(36:22):
the same energy that you bring,and just bring that same love
every year, consistently, overover time, without the need to
focus on growth.
I think I'm like, yeah, I'venever really even thought about
that or considered that, becausewith growth comes even more
responsibility and you know itagain, it might not be the the
(36:45):
vision that you have.
So I think that that's that'sreally poignant for me.
So I take that with greatfeedback and even just asking
the questions.
But I know you kind of alludedto like what you're working on.
Now you seem like you got a fewthings up your sleeve.
So tell me, like, what else canwe truly expect from you in the
(37:06):
, in the future, that you canshare?
I know you have comedy stillgoing, so tell me more about
what you got coming up.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Sure.
So the TV show that I got anoffer from Showtime to buy
before the strike fell throughand I mean it's a show that is
set in Karnarsi, it is sopersonal, it's literally about
my life.
It's an homage to my lategrandmother, and so the story is
(37:36):
about a Caribbean family and agirl who her grandmother leaves
her in inheritance and she endsup having to move back home.
She used to live in a fancyluxury apartment in Bed-Stuy,
but you know the rents is risingand things are happening, and
so when her grandmother passesaway, she moves back home and
it's just about like even thejourney of being someone who
(37:56):
considered themselves asuccessful 30 something year old
but post pandemic, maybe losingyour business, getting evicted
and the business are going up,and how sometimes grown adults
have to go back home in aphysical but also a spiritual
sense.
And what does that look likefor 30 something year olds who
are adults but still live veryclosely with their family and
their parents and trying toredefine for themselves what
(38:19):
success looks like, especiallywhen you have these immigrant as
parents who are telling youwhat it looks like?
And so she moves back home andshe is.
She's first of all remindedabout how, like you know,
canarsie is this one place thathas not been gentrified.
And so if you, if you come fromBed-Stuy, where you use to your
oat milk and your cafe, and youtry to go back, it's almost
(38:41):
like you're a fish out of water,like wait what I got to take $3
vans and like what's going on,and so there's a little bit of
that.
And then there's also like I'mnot going to play the same games
that my family is asking me toplay.
So the family, that's like keepfamily business and he family
in.
You know how Caribbean peopleare very much like secretive and
(39:02):
don't tell people this, she'snot here for all of that, and so
she literally blows up thefamily because all the secrets
the secret pedophiles, thesecret babies, the secret
whatever she's like uh-uh, ifI'm back home now, we all got to
heal and deal with thistogether.
So I'm very, very excited aboutthat.
I'm producing it myself, I'mgoing to make it a web series.
(39:23):
I'm going to be able to castauthentic Caribbean people.
I'm going to make the show thatI want to make and it's going
to be for us, by us, fiiwi, bywe.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So that is Fiiwi by we, that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I'm very excited about that.
We are going to startcrowdfunding and getting people
to help us make the show,because if it's one thing I
learned, being a Caribbeanperson and being a Caribbean
person in television, I amacutely aware of how it happens
when we see non-Wistening peopleplaying with staining roles.
So the Barb Marley thing is abig thing.
(39:58):
There's so many differentversions that our whole lives
we've been waiting for people toget this right.
Our whole lives it's like again, I'm not waiting for them to
get it right, I'm going to do itmyself.
So I'm excited about that.
And then the other thing thatI'm excited about is my
one-woman show, and that'sanother autobiographical
experience and story, and that'sall about growing up, going to
(40:21):
that Caribbean.
It's a Caribbean ChristianPan-African school is where I
went from pre-kate to eighthgrade and then having to
graduate from that and godirectly into the New York City
public school system where I gotkicked out of four different
high schools.
And so that is the wholejourney that I'm telling in my
(40:43):
one-woman show that I'm excitedabout.
And then I have an hour ofstand-up comedy that I'm working
on.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
I love it and I love how you come in full circle to
your story and really using itas inspiration.
And, like you said, a lot ofCaribbean folks are like don't
tell the people that we'rebusiness.
How has your family respondedto some of you drawing
inspiration from your life andkind of incorporating elements?
(41:13):
I don't know how much is yoursand how much is the balance of
creative versus real life, sotell me about that.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Well, thankfully I have a family who has always
been encouraging of me, and soI've been this way my whole life
.
So they already know like theyjust waitin', they already know
that I don't really know how to.
If you tell me a secret, I'mgoing to keep it, but if there's
something that's a part of mylife, I'm going to tell it.
(41:46):
And so sorry if you don't likethe way you came out and my
story.
You should have been nicer tome.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Kari, have you seen my Marley film?
What did you do?
I've done it twice.
You've done it twice.
What did you do?
I?
Speaker 2 (42:02):
thought it was great.
I thought it was great, Ithought it was really well done.
I thought that and it might bethe very first time that I've
seen it, I've seen it, I've seenit, I've seen it, I've seen it,
I've seen it it's the veryfirst time that I've felt that
way about a Caribbean story thathas not been played by a
Caribbean person, and the reasonis for several reasons.
Well, and I know people have alot of critiques about the Barb
(42:23):
Marley movie.
One, it's not a documentary, soI didn't expect it to tell all
the parts of his life.
Two, when the family is behinda biopic, you know that you're
going into it with a certainlevel of biases anyway, that
you're not going to get the uglytruth of it all, and so I was
fine with that.
And also, although the lead guyis not Jamaican, I actually
thought that he was morecompetent than a lot of the
(42:46):
people that I've seen try toattempt it.
And also they cast actuallyauthentic Jamaican people around
him.
So there was not the people inhis band, the Rasta man I used
to be Rasta, and so I cried big,big, dirty tears when I saw the
Nayin Bingi, because I've neverseen the Nayin Bingi through
(43:06):
the screen.
I've been to it at ProspectPark, july 23rd, fasalasi's
birthday, but I've never seen iton television.
So to see Rastafarianism bedepicted in such a respectful
way, where it's not just aboutBrun and Ganja and it's not just
about having locks and doingall this, like to actually see
Rastafarianism be depicted inthe spiritual way, I was like I
(43:30):
don't know if it's my own Rastabias, but I was like okay, I
like did you see it?
Yeah, yeah, I saw it.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
They've get it right.
They've get it right.
Yes, yes.
Well, I have a long podcastepisode on recap of that, so I
thought it was good.
I did want more, but Kingsleydid a great job.
I think he did a really, reallygood job.
He did a great job and I willsay this.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I will say this I was telling it to my cousins
because she's like I'm not goingto go see it because I and
being in the industry, there isa line because I'm already
starting to see and hearing andother meetings that I've been
taking, that in shows that weresupposed to be Caribbean people
and setting Caribbean peoplethat the networks are like did
you see the Barb Marley backlash?
(44:13):
Well, you know what?
Why don't we take this Jamaicanguy and make him American
instead?
Because we don't even want todeal with it.
So some of us like the backlash, we feel like we're going to do
it right.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
No, we're not.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
We're going to force them to not do it at all, and so
now we're not going to see ourstory.
We're going to see our storiesway less now.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
I think that's sad and the reason why I say this is
because we have to giveourselves the space to critique
one another.
So it's not necessarily acriticism of the film houses,
but, again, films get critiquedall the time and you're gonna
(44:57):
have a and your connection tothe filmmakers and the creators
can play a part in how you viewthe films objectively.
So it's not necessarily thatit's just about the accent.
My producer her name is Carrie,carrie Ann she actually, you
(45:22):
know, said she said something awhile back where it's like if we
get two out of three, I thinkit's good, a good storyline, the
accent, and there was one moreshoot Now my shop's Carrie
analogy and I'm like you'reright, it's either you're gonna
get the accent and the storylineor you're gonna get the
(45:46):
connection to the actual film orthe actors.
Like you might not get all ofwhat you want and we should be
allowed to not have it beperfect, but still be supported.
Right, they still make rom-coms, whether they're good or not
and whether they're funny or not.
Sitcoms still get made, theyjust get canceled.
(46:08):
So I don't think that we, asCaribbean people, should be
pigeonholed into not either itbeing really good and positive
or just be thrown in the garbage.
You know what I mean.
So, like I know, I'm not inthose rooms, but I'm complete on
your side.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
It's like in dollars and cents, and the difference in
rom-coms is white people, andso when we are such a small
subset of the population and wedon't show up to support certain
things, it's like well if y'alldon't like it we was doing this
for you, and if we don't likeit, then and so that is just,
(46:45):
and I'm not advocating Matter offact, I am advocating.
I'm making my shit myself.
Yes, yes, and I don't need thisperson whatever, like, I'm
gonna make it because we need it.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yes, I agree, I agree .
Well, thank you so much.
I totally appreciate thisconversation.
I really love everything thatyou're doing.
I'm gonna get out to a comedyshow, but you know, missy, how
Funny is on a regular basis, soI know that that's gonna be good
.
But tell the people then wherethey can find you and how they
(47:15):
can keep in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
Sure, you can find me at Overfab.
So that's Over, not under.
Fab Everywhere in the world,Overfabcom.
Speaker 1 (47:27):
All right.
Thank you so much, keri.
I totally appreciate you beingon the podcast and really just
connecting with me, lookingforward to getting together with
you soon and until next time,lea time and peeps Bye, thank
you.
Thanks for listening to thelatest episode of the Style and
(47:48):
Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit stylingvibescom and
follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram at
Styling Vibes.
Until next time, lea time andpeeps, I hope to be 존oss.
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