Why Gina Yashere Fled Britain’s ‘Subtle’ Racism for ‘In Your Face’ America

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2021

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Comedian Gina Yashere’s new memoir is titled ‘Cack-Handed,’ which, she explains, means “left-handed or awkward and clumsy, which I am all of these things.” She’s also the first Brit to perform on ‘Def Comedy Jam,’ a one-time Senior British Correspondent for ‘The Daily Show’ and the co-creator with Chuck Lorre of the CBS sitcom ‘Bob Hearts Abishola,’ which uses her Nigerian heritage as comedic inspiration. She originally thought he was trying to exploit her and is really glad she gave him a second chance. We get into all of it on this week’s episode and Yashere reveals the unique challenges she has faced in the entertainment industry and shares her thoughts about “that pug-faced twat” Piers Morgan.

Follow Gina Yashere on Twitter @ginayashere and Instagram @ginayashere

Follow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilstein

Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod

Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	My guest on today's show had almost as much trouble coming out as a comedian as she did coming out as a lesbian.
0:08.3	So I live in New York with my girlfriend. That's right, lesbian.
0:13.6	I know that went well when I came out to my African mother.
0:17.5	My mother's Nigerian, super ambitious for her kids.
0:22.8	You know, I was meant to be the doctor.
0:28.4	I became an engineer. She was like, okay, that's good. That works. Because there's only a few jobs you can have in your family. And an African family, there's only a few choices of job.
0:33.0	Doctor, lawyer, engineer, disgrace to the family. Those are the... So I became an engineer. She's like, okay, engineer, disgraced the family. Those are the...
0:40.0	So I became an engineer.
0:41.8	She's like, okay, engineer, that's good.
0:42.7	It's on the list, okay.
0:46.8	And then I decided to leave engineering to become a comedian.
0:48.5	I knew that wasn't going to go well,
0:49.9	so I thought, well,
0:50.9	I might as well come out to her
0:52.1	and go for the double whammy.
0:58.2	Thank you. I thought, well, I might as well come out to her and go for the double whammy. That did not go well.
1:00.1	She's like, what?
1:00.7	What are you telling me?
1:01.9	You're telling me that my daughter is a gay clown.
1:05.2	Oh, God.
1:12.8	This is the Last Laugh.
1:22.1	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and that was comedian Gina Yashire, sharing just a taste of her fascinating life story on stage.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Daily Beast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Daily Beast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.