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Meet 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' star Ashley Nicole Black, the double-nominated Emmy contender taking over TV comedy

Alicia Lutes   

Meet 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' star Ashley Nicole Black, the double-nominated Emmy contender taking over TV comedy
  • Ashley Nicole Black was nominated twice in the variety series writing category at this year's Emmys.
  • Black's brand of comedy centers smart, informative, and empathetic humor with plenty of heart.
  • She spoke to Insider about her work on "A Black Lady Sketch Show," "The Amber Ruffin Show," and "Ted Lasso."

Ashley Nicole Black wasn't allowed to watch TV as a child. So, naturally, because she loves a challenge, she became a force to be reckoned with on our small screens.

"Literally, TV is my whole life - don't ever tell me I can't do anything," Black said, laughing.

The multi-hyphenate performer, writer, and comedian has become a sought-after and vital voice in onscreen comedy today, from her work on "A Black Lady Sketch Show," to late night's "The Amber Ruffin Show," and even joining the writers' room for the second season of "Ted Lasso."

Nominated twice in the same category (writing for a variety series) at the 2021 Emmy Awards, Black is having quite the year, and her domination in comedy shows no signs of stopping.

On the heels of her impressive double-nomination at the Emmys, the comedian spoke to Insider about how she manages to juggle many, often quite different, projects and what's next for her.

Black's particular brand of comedy is all about breaking down real, often complicated issues in a smart, funny, and empathetic way

Black's career is as varied as it is fun to follow.

With her characters on "A Black Lady Sketch Show," Black showcases her prowess as a writer/performer, making people laugh with nuanced, knowing, and just-plain-funny sketches in which she tackles a myriad of parts, from spy to grandma to guest at the Last Supper, all the while centering Black women in a way comedy often does not. She also goes the extra mile to make sure her comedy punches up and is smart about assessing what's truly funny in a situation.

"I am really interested in, obviously, making people laugh, but comedy that has a heart," Black told Insider. "I'm not really interested in that sort of, like cynical, sarcastic, or removed brand of humor. I mean, like, I can do that - I don't want people to read an article and be like, 'She said she'd never be sarcastic!'"

This sense of comedy is what makes her work on "The Amber Ruffin Show," led by "Late Night with Seth Meyers" alum Amber Ruffin, particularly engaging.

A longtime friend of the show's host, Black works extensively on the standout segment "How Did We Get Here?" where Ruffin, with comedy and vulnerability, breaks down a very serious issue in an attempt to bring understanding and greater empathy to the way people view it.

"What I like about the segment is that there are a lot of jokes, but we really do take the topic we're talking about very seriously," Black explained. "And we're giving you jokes because it's a heavy topic to talk about; we're giving you jokes to get you through the piece, but we're never making fun of the thing."

For the writer, this skill is a natural extension of her prior experience.

"Before I was doing this," Black said, "I was a teacher, so it's kind of my sweet spot - bringing together my ability to do research that I learned in grad school, my ability to teach, and then also the comedy."

And Black certainly does teach people with comedy, helping Ruffin, the only Black woman in late-night right now, speak effectively about issues ranging from the importance of Black Lives Matter to the violent history of Anti-Asian sentiment in America.

"It was really cool to see the audience reaction to the piece we did about the history of violence against Asian Americans, and to see Asian Americans responding and being like, 'Wow, thank you for doing this,'" she said. "Because that is a culture that is used to being made fun of by comedy, more so than comedy being used to tell their story and explain their story, but not make fun of them in any way."

Black sees a clear similarity to what they're doing on "A Black Lady Sketch Show" ("presenting a community in a light that maybe you haven't seen before, comedically") even if the means of production are different, "in a narrative way versus in a late night way."

"It's like the same project - seeing each other and having empathy for each other, and not making fun of each other - but just in two completely different ways of realizing it," said Black of her work on both her sketch show and Ruffin's show.

"To me, it's just so much more interesting, and also connected to the real world, when comedy has consequences, you know?"

Black doesn't only work in the realm of late-night talk shows and sketch comedy - she's also a writer on 'Ted Lasso,' arguably the most popular scripted comedy currently on-air

This mentality - of comedy with consequences - also ties into her work on the second season of "Ted Lasso," the empathy-heavy AppleTV+ show about the titular American football coach and his work coaching the AFC Richmond football (soccer, for us Americans) team.

The beloved show's heart is full of compassion and kindness, showing a different way to tell comedic stories that doesn't play into the crueler instincts of humanity. People being allowed to feel and express how other's actions affect them earnestly is not often where comedy is found. But, as Black told me, "How you affect people's feelings matters," and that's an idea that is also a central tenet of the "Ted Lasso" writers' room.

Of course, that doesn't mean she wasn't still worried about joining the show in its second season as the sole new writer. But true to the show's form, the team behind the series is just as cheerful and friendly as Lasso himself.

"I was nervous to go into it because I was the only new writer," Black said. "But I really do think this writers' room is a lot like the locker room on the show, where it was immediately so welcoming. All of those nerves that I had were gone on day one."

Spending time with the likes of Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard), Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent), and co-creator Bill Lawrence, even if only through Zoom, does not seem like a bad way to spend one's pandemic quarantine, and Black agrees.

"It turned out to be, like, the best possible way to be quarantined - to every day get on Zoom for a few hours with the kindest, funniest, smartest people," Black said. "If you're going to have to join a new show over Zoom during a pandemic, this was the best group of people to have to join because they just welcomed me so quickly."

There is, however, one downside to her ever-blossoming career: Black's dog is displeased with how sought-after her owner is now.

A post shared by Ashley Nicole Black (@ashnb1)

"I have been going back to work more in-person, and that is not her preference," Black said of her pet. "She was just fine with the quarantine situation. She has her little spot that she naps in while I'm on Zoom."

It seems like the pup may have to get used to it, though, as Black's career shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. And surely the future of comedy is infinitely better because of it.

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