Hi Reader’s, it’s Co-editor Gail. I apologize for missing a blog last week, but I had my second covid shot and boy did it wipe me out! So, this week, we are going to keep it chill and light. I am just going to recommend to y’all some shows I’ve been watching. Specifically, sketch comedy shows.
I’m the kind of person who loves to laugh and often finds comedy to be the best medicine. I am always seeking out new content that tickles my funny bone. I watch Saturday Night Live most of the time (ya know when they’re not laundering the reputations of billionaires) and I enjoyed Key & Peele back when it was airing, and I also love classics like Carol Burnette. But sometimes you just need new voices that are more niche and out-there than what is currently mainstream.
So, here’s what I’ve been watching:
Three Busy Debras:
Three Busy Debras is a show created, written by, and staring Sandy Honig, Alyssa Stonoha, and Mitra Jouhari. They play three rich housewives all named Debra who live busy lives in their town of Lemoncurd. What I love about this show is it plays with surreal and absurd elements as well as 1950’s sitcom pastiche to criticize privilege, wealth, the patriarchy, and misogynistic ideals of femininity. Its visuals are stylistically on point and I am interested in seeing how the character and world building expands as we the viewers learn more little tidbits about each Debra and Lemoncurd itself.
Here is a promo sketch for the show entitled “The Rules Of Being A Debra”
A Black Lady Sketch Show:
A Black Lady Sketch Show is a series created by Robin Thede. As the title would suggest, it is sketch show starring black women. Between the two current seasons, the main cast has consisted of Thede herself, Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, Quinta Brunson, Laci Mosley and Skye Townsend. There are also many guest appearances by famous black actresses such as Issa Rae, Laverne Cox, Yvette Nicole Brown, Nicole Byer, Angela Basset and more. The sketches go between individual scenes mixed with a serialized story of the main cast holed up in a bunker as survivors of the apocalypse. As a white fan, what I enjoy about this show is the exact fact that it is not made for me. This is a show created by and primarily for black women. This show is giving them the opportunity to use their comedic voices to address and poke fun at things in their own culture. An opportunity they do not often get in mainstream media. As a white viewer, I get to gain a new perspective and learn things about what black women experience both good and bad that I am just unaware of given my privilege and different background. It is also has just the most celebratory, loud, proud and joyful vibes that make you want to smile and dance.
For a taste, here is the first part of a two-part series called “Courtroom Kiki”:
Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House Of Fun:
Aunty Donna is my newest media obsession. I am so disappointed that I hadn’t heard of them prior to their Netflix show because their humor is right up my alley. Aunty Donna is an Australian improv/sketch comedy trio. The group comprises of Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane, and Mark Bonanno. The premise of the show is that all three of them live in a house together and hilarity ensues around each episode’s theme. Like Three Busy Debras, it is incredibly absurd and off the walls. The bits are weird, silly, and sometimes a bit rude fun that never go where you expect and always has another curveball to throw you just when you think you have predicted what’s going to happen. Since watching the show, I have dived into their Youtube archive as well as becoming a weekly listener of their podcast.
Here is the opening sketch of the Netflix show called “Everything’s A Drum”:
So those are the three sketch comedies shows that have caught my attention recently. I hope you check them out and have a good laugh yourself!
P.S. Submissions for Crow Name Issue #3: Bud, Blossom, Bloom are now open! Check out our submissions page for more information.
Gail Bello is a poet and playwright from Waltham, Massachusetts. She graduated in 2019 with a BFA in Creative Writing and a minor in Theatre from The University of Maine at Farmington. Find her previous publications at https://thaumaturgedramaturge.wordpress.com and follow her on Twitter @AquajadeGail