Robin Thede Talks “A Black Lady Sketch Show”

Episode notes

Robin Thede in Season 4 of A Black Lady Sketch Show. Photograph by Tina Thorpe/HBO

This interview originally aired in June of 2022. 

Robin Thede works hard. She always has. 

One of her first gigs in showbiz was as head writer on Queen Latifah’s daytime talk show. Along with some time as a staff writer at BET. 

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 has done a lot with this extraordinary legacy. 

She’s the former host of the BET show The Rundown. And as an actor, she’s appeared on shows like Key & Peele, Insecure and Central Park. 

But for the past few years, Robin Thede has been making waves as showrunner of the HBO hit A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Like the title suggests, A Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch show created by and starring Black women. Robin and her team are carving out space in the comedy world—which has been predominantly white and male for a long time. 

What makes this show so unique and rich is its specificity. Thede and her co-stars cover church politics, family reunion line dancing, and hair-care specific weather forecasts. And it’s funny every single time. 

This week on Bullseye, we’re revisiting our chat with Robin about HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show back in 2022. Plus, we 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.

A Black Lady Sketch Show is back for its fourth season. You can stream it on HBO Max starting April 14th.

This interview originally aired in June of 2022