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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

The Standups

Gina Yashere

Netflix · 2018

An energetic half-hour about growing up British-Nigerian and moving to America.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Gina Yashere walks onto the stage at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles to clear up a geographical misunderstanding: black people do, in fact, live in England. This culture-clash observation sets the tone for a half-hour set that relies on her physical energy and rapid-fire punchlines to bridge the gap between her native London, her ancestral Nigeria, and her adopted home in America.

The core of her performance targets the absurdities of immigration, specifically her mother choosing to leave sunny Nigeria for the grey, rainy skies of England. Yashere, who worked as a lift engineer before transitioning to comedy, brings a practical, no-nonsense perspective to her storytelling, building momentum with sharp character voices and an expressive stage presence.

Filmed at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, this 2018 set caught Yashere during a busy transitional phase. Already a regular on British television and a recurring correspondent on The Daily Show, she was beginning to establish herself in the United States, shortly before co-creating the network sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola. Her performance is structured as a series of quick, physical bits that lean into character voices and rapid punchlines rather than long-winded setups.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Hollywood auditions and limited roles for Black women

    Explaining that Hollywood only casts Black women as either Halle Berry or Precious, recounting an audition for 'Ghetto Hoochie Number Three' which she refused on principle until seeing the paycheck.

  2. British 'ninja' racism versus American racism

    Contrasting polite, subtle British racism with upfront American racism, appreciating that American cinema explicitly warns her about places like Mississippi.

  3. Traveling to Birmingham, Alabama

    Anticipating swamps and shacks from movie stereotypes, only to find modern amenities and Southern hospitality, remarking that she treated Alabama the way white people treat their first visit to Africa.

  4. Her mother's scrapbook of bus and train crashes

    Describing how her ultra-overprotective Nigerian mother kept newspaper clippings of transit disasters to terrify her children out of going to the park, the Tower of London, or on school trips.

  5. Nigerian mother rejecting American Halloween

    Her mother viewing trick-or-treating as begging for confectionary that makes the family look poor, suggesting children trick-or-treat inside their own home instead.

How it plays

Tone
Lively, direct, and engaging.
On stage
Fierce London-born comic delivering sharp outside-in observations of American life.
Pace
Fast-paced delivery featuring rapid punchlines, short and quick bits, and non-stop comedic momentum.
About
Hollywood casting stereotypes for Black women, Subtle British racism vs. blatant American racism, Her first trip to Birmingham, Alabama, Her overprotective Nigerian mother and the scrapbook of disasters, American television tropes versus British childhood

What the critics said

Praised as a standout half hour in The Standups series, highlighted for non-stop comedic pacing, rapid punchlines, and clever cultural comparisons drawn from an outsider's viewpoint.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: scrapsfromtheloft.com, ayearofreviewcom.wordpress.com, boldentrance.com, indiewire.com.

Backstory

London-born comic of Nigerian immigrant parentage who relocated to America after previously living in Los Angeles, exploring American culture and racial dynamics from an outsider perspective.

Details

Released
Where
Netflix
Topics
Before
Ticking Boxes (2017)

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