What do you get when you combine excellent writing skills, amazing comedic timing, and the ability to morph into literally anyone? None other than the incredible Robin Thede!
Whether it is behind the scenes or in front of the camera, Thede has been making people laugh for many years. She has worked as head writer for a number of talk shows, including "The Queen Latifah Show", "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" (which she also performed on), and "The Nightly Show".
Her position as head writer for these late night shows marked Thede as the first African-American woman to hold that position, and only the second African-American woman to write for any late night talk show, the first being Amber Ruffin.
Thede’s other writing credits include the BET Awards from the years 2007-2012 and 2014, the 2011 NAACP Image Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards from the years 2010-2012, and the 2013 BET Honors.
She has also appeared on a number of TV shows, including "Key & Peele", "Hot In Cleveland", "Chocolate News", "Kath & Kim", "Worst Week", and "All of Us". She was also a series regular on the BET original webseries "Buppies" with Tatyana Ali.
Thede has also found success as a YouTube star, posting videos which garner millions of views, both on her own channel and others'. Her most popular video is "S*** Black Guys Say", uploaded 7 years ago, and currently has 2.7 million views.
She has also done videos for the Funny or Die YouTube channel called "For Stuffed Colored Girls", "The Real Housewives of Civil Rights", and "Every Little Step", which also featured Wayne Brady, Bobby Brown, and Mike Tyson.
Most recently, Thede has found mega success with "A Black Lady Sketch Show", a series she created, writes, and stars in. In her new show, Thede takes on multiple characters an episode, each one funnier than the next. HBO has already ordered a second season for the breakout comedy of the summer.
It seems as though Thede has a record for breaking barriers. Along with being the first African-American woman to be head writer of a late night talk show, with "A Black Lady Sketch Show", Thede is the first African-American woman to write, direct, and star in her own comedy variety series. Plus, the show employs a number of women of color comedians, both in front of and behind the camera, which is also extremely unprecedented.
No matter what Thede does next, we can expect it to be not only be hilarious, but for her to continue to break barriers and clear the path for other young African-American woman.
What’s your favorite Robin Thede character on "A Black Lady Sketch Show"?