Robin Thede Talks "A Black Lady Sketch Show"

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robin Thede works hard. She always has. One of her first gigs in showbiz was on Queen Latifah's daytime talk show as head writer. Fast forward to 2015, Robin was making history. She became the first ever Black woman to become head writer on a late night talk show: The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. But Robin isn't only an incredible writer. She's an amazing comedian and actor. As a Second City alum, her name is up there with some of the biggest names in comedy like Jordan Peele, Amy Poehler and Steve Carell. And Robin's done a lot with this extraordinary legacy. For the past few years, she's been making waves as showrunner of the HBO show A Black Lady Sketch Show. This week on Bullseye, we're revisiting our chat with Robin about A Black Lady Sketch Show. Plus, we'll get into her childhood. Robin grew up in a mostly white, suburban part of Iowa. She'll talk about the challenges that being biracial presented and why she identifies as Black today.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:10.0	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:21.4	Robin Thede works hard, incredibly hard.
0:26.0	She always has, she probably always will.
0:29.1	She was the first ever Black woman to be the head writer on a late night talk show.
0:33.7	That was the nightly show with Larry Wilmore.
0:36.1	Before that, she was head writer of Queen Latifah's daytime talk show.
0:41.5	Robin is a second city alumna, the former host of the BET show The Run Down, and an actor,
0:48.7	who's appeared on Key and Peel in Secure and Central Park.
0:53.1	As if that wasn't enough, she also created and stars in the Emmy winning series of Black
1:00.1	Lady Sketch Show, which is in its fourth season on HBO.
1:04.8	As the title suggests, a Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch show created by and starring Black
1:11.2	ladies.
1:12.6	The show's crazy funny, of course.
1:14.3	Robin and her team are some of the best at what they do, but what makes a Black Lady
1:19.1	Sketch Show so unique is its specificity.
1:22.6	Thede and her co-stars cover Church Politics, Family Reunion Line Dancing, and as you'll
1:28.4	hear in this clip, Hair Care Specific Weather Forecasts.
1:32.8	Thanks, Larry.
1:33.8	On Thursday, but don't break out the flat iron just yet, or I foresee a ton of breakage.
1:40.3	As we head into the weekend, the cold front will pass.
1:43.2	Temperatures will soar into the 90s, so it'll be a great time to break out those protective
	...

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