Be Well: Sasheer Zamata Talks 'The First Woman' Comedy Special

<div class="block">Actor and comedian Sasheer Zamata joined &quot;beWell&quot; to talk about her latest stand up special &#39;The First Woman.&#39; </div>

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We all loved our first guest when she starred on Saturday Night Live and most recently as the Voice of Reason on the hit show Home Economics. That's right. So she Zamata is an actress, comedian, writer and producer. And if you need a good laugh, then you can catch her new comedy special. The first woman take a look, I think people may be confused by the term strong black woman and think we're like immortal, which I understand is confusing because we never age. I'm actually 72 years old and I actually believe that black does not crack. OK, like you do look fantastic. So, so talk to me about this new special. Yeah, I'm very excited. It's my second stand up special. The first one I've produced and it's like such an exciting time. I I'm really excited for people to see new material for me. It's great. But what can we expect? And who's it for? Would you say it's for everyone? Uh I named it the first woman because this special in particular is very woman heavy. I talk about women and their bodies, our anatomy, um women in history, my health problems like a lot of stuff and I just want people to know there's like a lot of feminine energy in this. You're not bashing us though, are you? No, if you feel some kind of way that's like you have to look inward that's on yourself and, and talking about, you know, women's bodies and this complicated relationship that we have with them, like to turn that into humor. Yeah. Yeah. I, I try to speak from a place of uh personal history, like something that happened to me or something that confuses me or angers me. And I also shot this special in DC. And there's something really cathartic about just like talking about my body and asking women in the audience about their bodies because we are in a time where people are wanting to stifle the information about women's bodies and our health and, and our access to it. And yeah, I think this is a good moment for people to watch this. And so what was the reaction from the audience? And was it therapeutic for you? Were you like, you get me? I think it's therapeutic for everyone. I think people are just so happy to be able to like shout out like, I mean, I don't know how like much I can talk about. There's, there's some um little risque stuff in the, in the special. Um But I think it's, it is concerning for women to think, oh, other people have these kinds of questions too. Or people are, are exploring like I am and I haven't felt comfortable talking about that. But you can, in this environment that I've created with my, with my special, yeah. How different is that than shooting the show? Yeah. I mean, well, the special, like, it's the first one I've produced and it's, it was so exciting because I have control over it. I, I know exactly where my art is going and it, it is funny because there's moments where I'm like, whose job is it to do this? And I'm like, oh, it's mine. I, I didn't know it's, this is a new, a new hat for me, but it was very fun to do. But I would think like doing SNL, you guys really, you know, put so much input into it. But then you have to be a team player, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is different because it, like, I'm the team. I mean, I, there's a whole crew involved and I did have a £800 gorilla was a production company who was like my producing partner. So it was nice to have help with everything. But it was really nice because it was like, I was creating all of it. It's like I wrote the material. I had the idea for the special, it was executed the way I wanted. I'm so thankful it came out the way I did. Is there one discipline that you enjoy more whether that's, you know, acting, whether that's, you know, scripted or sketch or then stand up and then you got, producing everything else that you do in writing. Yeah. I think sleeping is really my favorite activity. You doing everything? Yeah. And you've lived in a lot of different places because of your dad, right. Yeah. My dad was in the Air Force, so I was born in Japan and then we moved to Texas, Kentucky, Virginia, California, uh, Indianapolis all over the place. So you must be really good at like trivia games. Like, you know, like I probably not because I think because I was only there for like a year or two. I'd be like, I don't have to remember anything. I don't even remember your names. I don't have to remember these places. I'm never coming back here again. Yeah, we're about to leave anyway. Yeah. But your parents name, you talk to us about that because I know you have a bit in one of your stand up about. People always get my name wrong. Yeah. Yeah. Is from Star Trek. My parents were Trek and, uh, it's from an old episode where Captain Kirk was flirting with this alien princess as he's wanted to do and he gives her a rose and she goes, oh, we have something like this on my planet. It sets me out of crystal and it's called and my parents were like wine drunk and they were like, yes, we will save this for later and, and then, yeah, they gave me the name but then like years later my mom found the script where my name comes from and realized that my parents misspelled my name. And she's like, do you wanna change the spelling of your name? And I was like, I'm 20 years old. It is way too late for that. I mean, do you research first mom? Yeah. Like, that's not my problem. I already have the name but they created a great story. So yes, there you go. Yeah, which is, I mean, I, I love how you can take something that must be difficult. People say my last name wrong. It's hass ha if I say it, there's a way to remember that I won't share with everybody. But um you know, sometimes that's difficult that people, you know, struggle with your name, but you got us all laughing about it and it's so memorable. Oh, thanks. Yeah, I think it's like a easy way for people to be like, oh, I'll just refer to the joke so, so I can like know how to say her name. And also there's tons of people who have their name mispronounced all the time. So I think you can really relate. How do you feel like that's the way that as a comedian, you kind of cope and make your way through life like, ok, this is difficult. I'm gonna make a joke about it. Yeah, definitely. I mean, yeah, it's a, it's a fun way to, like, turn something on its head is like, oh, this might make me feel uncomfortable or this makes me confused. But if I make a joke out of it, I can have more ownership of it. And like, we all get to laugh at it. Can you share with us a little bit about what it's like to work with the AC Lu? Oh, I love working with the Ac Lu. I started working with them in 2014 and they approached me because they were like your work kind of aligns with what we're doing with the women's rights project, which is a huge compliment. And I've done different videos from them. I've done essays, speeches and it's been like a nice symbiotic rela relationship where I get to take the work they're doing and turn into kind of comedy and like make it more digestible for people to understand. And then I also learned a ton about what's going on in, in court and in the country and what easy worked on. Is there anything that shocked you or you learned by working with them? Oh, so much about like um the mortality rate of, of black women who are giving birth. And I talk about that in the special too. Like there's a lot of uh unfortunate health stats when it comes to women in this country and especially black women. And so I'm hoping that saying it out loud and, and giving it more of a platform, helps people understand how much of a problem it actually is and hopefully gets us closer to actually changing it. Thank you so much. It was so lovely meeting you and we want everyone to know you can watch her special, the first woman on the £800 gorilla website.