Original subtitles

CRAIG CHARLES: 'We Brits are known for our sense of humour.'

'We like nothing better than sitting in front of the telly

'and having a right good laugh.'

DANNYjOHN-JULES: 'Today, British comedy is revered

'as some of the best in the world.'

'And Black British comedians are playing a big part in that success.'

Delbert Wilkins, on the Brixton Broadcasting Corporation,

the BBC, how you feeling?

He is the most talented person I've ever worked with.

Norman Beaton, what you did for comedy was second to none.

I knew from the day I saw Richard Blackwood

that he was gonna be a star.

But we're Black on TV.

The great Little Miss Jocelyn.

Everyone was watching The Real McCoy.

'But it's a tough journey to the top of the comedy game.'

'And for everyone who makes it,

'there are many more that struggle to get their big break.

'I'm Craig Charles.'

'And I'm Dannyjohn-jules.'

'My feline friend and I hit the big time

'as two Black comic actors, on a voyage to outer space.'

'Red Dwarf changed both our lives, but the truth is,

'we were standing on the shoulders of those who came before us -

'the pioneers.'

LAUGHTER It's a belter, that one!

'And the amazing talent that followed.'

We're not paying them prices, no way!

'Through some of our favourite ground-breaking shows,

'we tell the story of what it means to be Funny, Black and On TV.

'Our journey begins in the 1970s,

'when the Ford Cortina was king of the road

'and the chopper bike was prince of the pavement.'

'It was a golden era.

'West Indies dominated the cricketing world,

'and I wore fashion my dad wouldn't understand.'

'Yeah, doubt that's changed, Danny.

'But as the UK became more multiracial,

'far-right groups took to the streets in protest

'at the changing face of Britain.'

'Yeah. It appeared that TV was also a bit slow on the uptake,

'and comedy was all about the mother-in-law

'and upsetting as many foreigners as possible.'

'But one proud Yorkshireman stood out from the crowd.

'Ha-hey! Charlie! Charlie!'

CHARLIE: Does tha know? I said to Enoch Powell,

I said, "Nocher, come here, cock, how are thee?"

'Yes, 50 years ago, a cheeky Yorkshire lad from Barnsley

'was the first mixed-race comedian to storm onto our telly.

'Charlie Williams honed his comedy skills

'in working men's clubs,

'and eventually made it onto our TV screens

'in one of the biggest shows of the '70s.'

'He would become the first Black comic to appear on television,

'at a time when stand-up comedy was dominated by white men.'

Ee, it's grand.

You know, there were a bloke went to t'doctor's -

it's true, this - Doctor says, "Can I help thee, old fruit?"

He says, "Tha can, lad."

Everybody was a fan of Charlie Williams.

I mean, as a Caribbean man myself, I found him extra funny,

because this Yorkshire accent, one found a bit strange,

but very, very funny.

'With bang-on punchlines,

'Charlie was an instant hit with the audiences.'

Charlie was a lovable Yorkshireman, and don't forget,

that culture had already permeated the British psyche.

George Formby used to play his ukulele

and sing all these kind of working-class cultural songs,

with his broad Yorkshire accent.

So hearing a Black man with that voice

was kind of unique for the time.

'Charlie was born in 1927.

'His dad had come from Barbados in 1918,

'decades before the Windrush generation.'

I came over here in 1918, to Barnsley.

Most of them worked in the pits.

My Uncle Cliff, here, is the only one left.

In them times, everybody were alike, you know.

It's only in these later years where they begin to get

this kind of mixed-up talk about colours.

LAUGHTER

DANNY LAUGHS

'As a 21-year-old, Charlie signed for Doncaster Rovers.

'And after hanging up his boots in 1959,

'Charlie sang in working men's clubs.

'But it was his banter between the songs

'that captivated the audience.'

Am I Yorkshire, eh?

Tha can't buy class, can tha?

There was no better training than the working men's clubs,

cos they were ruthless.

Like, you had to be on your A-game.

Because if not, "Boo!"

'A decade after starting out,

'Charlie got his big break on the hit show The Comedians.'

'With its brightly-coloured end-of-the-pier styling

'and its Who's Who

'of smartly-dressed comedians of the day,

'Charlie soon became part of the television comedy elite.'

Ah, ta.

That's lovely, me old flowers, that's grand.

'Me old flower! I love that, it's so charming.'

'Yeah, he chatted to the audience

'as if he was gossiping with his neighbours over the fence.'

'In keeping with the other comedians on the show,

'Charlie's gags were often race-based.'

'Yeah, he had to tread a fine line with his brand of comedy.

'And his gags often ended with him as the punchline.'

And then you know what happens? "Don't rub your eyes, love -

"all that mascara, you'll be darker than me!"

LAUGHTER

Obviously, he's put himself down.

This was tailored for a white audience.

So he was the token Black man,

but speaking their tongue.

There was an acceptable face of Black comedy.

And it's Black comedy

that doesn't make white audiences feel uncomfortable.

Me mother's Yorkshire, me mother.

She is, aye. Me dad, anybody's guess, but doesn't matter.

So in order for white audiences to feel comfortable,

I'm gonna make the joke about me.

He didn't feel like he was talking to us.

You'd watch them because they were mainstream television,

and they were...

It wasn't an option, you just watched it,

and you just knew that that was comedy from the British perspective.

'And in 1973, Charlie was asked to host The Golden Shot,

'a prime-time game show.

'Millions tuned in each week.'

And the next contestant, my flower?

Miss Valerie Hodgson, and she's from Blackpool...

Blackbrook, yes? Yes. Blackbrook, in Derbyshire.

Thank you very much. That name does want changing,

it should be Brownbrook. LAUGHTER

'The Golden Shot ended in 1974,

'and Charlie kept working until he retired in 1995.

'But he went on to receive an MBE

'for his contribution to entertainment.'

I could look at him now

and take on the ignorant kind of philosophy

of, like, "l would never do that!"

But that's because I don't have to.

He did it so that I don't have to do it.

To get through in those clays,

you know, it was just about getting through.

And I remember he had a little poem, It's Nice To Be Nice.

It was about prejudice and colourism,

and he'd always say that to the audience

as he rounded up, you know, his comedy act.

And I think he just did it hoping that they would get the message,

which was his kind of rebellion.

'You have to big up and give huge respect to Charlie Williams.

'A true pioneer.'

'As the '70s rolled on, Britain was changing fast.

'We had decimalisation, supersonic travel,

'and the advent of disco.' 'Whoo!

'And nowhere could that change be seen more clearly

'than in its population.'

You had a rise of a certain new generation, and a new Britain,

where you'd had the Windrush generation.

Their children, like me...

On a cultural level, things were changing,

but television was finding it hard to catch up.

Television in England in the '70s was just horrible.

Look, Jim Davidson, he had a character called Chalky.

My mate Chalky, who lives next door to me, knocks at me door one day.

BAD CARIBBEAN ACCENT: "Hello there!

"L've just bought myself a new car, come and have a look."

He said that he really did have a friend called Chalky,

but Chalky probably now would've gone,

"l don't even know why I let you guys call me that."

The next day at school, you'd know that Jim Davidson was on last night,

cos they'd be in the playground going, "Chalky, Chalky!"

And you'd just think, "Here we go again."

'Television thought it could help,

'by offering up comedy shows like Mind Your Language

'and Mixed Blessings.'

'And with only three television channels on the box,

'around 17 million viewers regularly tuned in to Love Thy Neighbour.'

'It was one of the most watched sitcoms of the decade,

'with some of the most colourful and racist language.' 'Nah!'

I want to buy this bed for me and the wife.

Look, white takes precedence over Black.

'Then, in 1974, writer Eric Chappell flipped the script,

'and gave us a very different Black character

'in the sitcom Rising Damp.'

'It starred Don Warrington as Philip,

'a privately-educated son of an African chief.'

When I saw Philip on Rising Damp as a kid,

I was like, "Oh, yeah, I recognise that character."

I'm from a Nigerian immigrant family.

My family are very well educated, very well spoken.

All right, Rigsby, if you're so sporting,

why don't you watch Muhammad Ali?

Then how did he become World Champion?

Don Warrington plays it so brilliantly.

He's so cultured.

He brings this kind of whole air of civility.

He's got etiquette, he's got manners. You know,

he looks great, he's so sexy.

Everything that Leonard Rossiter is not.

Philip is always in control.

He's two or three steps ahead.

Do you want to call it off, Rigsby?

I thought you seemed nervous.

'So, as Don Warrington was becoming a rising champ on Rising Damp...'

'Nice! You should try poetry.'

'..new stars were starting to break through.

'And in 1975, one Brummie teenager was bunking off school

'to take part in the nation's biggest talent contest.'

It's got to be Lenny Henry!

Lenny on New Faces... I mean,

the actual casting of him was a genius thing.

This guy came on, and you couldn't see what he looked like,

and he turned...

and it was, like, this Black kid going, "Mmm, Betty!"

And it was just, "Oh, my God, this is brilliant."

And it WAS brilliant.

AS FRANK SPENCER: Oh!

There's a lot of people out there!

Young Lenny Henry was dynamite, yeah.

Lenny Henry was the Don.

She said, "Frank, my mother in Bolton

"used to cuddle me when I was cold."

I said, "l'm not fetching your mother from Bolton

"at this time of night!" LAUGHTER

'The audiences loved Lenny from the off,

'and just a year after getting his big break on New Faces,

'Lenny landed the lead role in Britain's first Black sitcom,

'lTV's The Fosters.'

'And young Lenny got the chance to showcase

'his burgeoning acting skills

'alongside classically-trained actor Norman Beaton.'

Sonny, if you really wanna cheer me up,

just keep that mouth of yours shut tight, you hear me?

OK, Dad.

Good.

HE SPEAKS WITH CLOSED MOUTH

The Fosters was ground-breaking.

It was the first Black family situation comedy in this country.

The Fosters, being an all-Black cast,

was a real excitement to watch.

Seeing a reflection of us on screen.

Here's some good news!

The value of stocks and shares is going down.

What's good about that?

We haven't got any.

I suppose it must have been daunting for Lenny as a teenager.

He got the gig,

and then he had to learn on the job.

'But perhaps 1970s Britain

'wasn't quite ready for an all-Black sitcom.

'After just one season, the show was axed.'

'Coming up, it's the 1980s, and Lenny hits the big time!'

Lenny was a brand, and quite an iconic one.

'And the bros take their fros for a trim down at Desmond's.'

now!'

It was great to see a great representation

of a beautiful Black family.

'So, Craig, what are your impressions of the 1980s?'

'I don't do impressions.'

'It was big and brash,

'and, like Harry Enfield said, Loadsamoney!'

'We had a grocer's daughter as our first female Prime Minister.'

The lady's not for turning.

'Anything seemed possible.'

'We had mobile phones the size of bricks,

'and Black American popstars were ruling the charts.'

# Wanna feel the heat With somebody. #

'But TV was changing,

'and the usually calm waters of kids' telly

'was in for a comedy makeover,

'when, fresh from New Faces

'and Britain's first Black sitcom The Fosters,

'Lenny landed a new job on Tiswas!'

'Every Saturday, kids revelled in being covered in flour,

'as Tiswas, with its catchy theme tune,

'brought the spirit of anarchy to children's TV.'

That studio was just the stuff of legends.

I mean, it was just awash, every week.

People in the cage covered in rubbish.

And children were crying!

'This zany and chaotic environment

'turned out to be ideal for Lenny and his many funny characters.'

Lenny used to do this regular weekly thing

as Trevor McDonald, who we'd decided we'd call Trevor McDoughnut.

The first time I saw Lenny as Trevor McDoughnut,

I thought it was hilarious, because his face never broke.

Lenny would do, "Here are the main headlines."

With his silly glasses, and we'd throw water on him.

I could imagine that Trevor McDonald would look and laugh.

In Oxford Street today, a suicidaljapanese fighter pilot

crashed his plane... Pardon?

LAUGHTER

Look at his face.

It was brilliant. I mean, but there is a close-up there,

when Lenny looks really like,

"Oh, my God, what have they done to me now?"

Trevor sat down, we put the real Trevor McDoughnut in front of him,

and the two of them read silly news items.

And at the end, they got buckets and buckets of water.

The Tiswas years. They were wonderful years,

and Lenny grew and grew and grew during that period.

'Some say good things come in threes,

'and after three years on Tiswas,

'Lenny starred in a new sketch show, Three Of A Kind.'

Think it's the milkman?

I thought that combination with Tracey Ullman and David Copperfield

was brilliant.

What they went on to do as a result of that show is phenomenal.

'Tracey would go on to make it big in the US,

'and in 1984, Lenny landed his own show.'

It was very significant that Lenny Henry got his own show.

Lenny was a brand, at that time.

And quite an iconic one.

He wasn't just the add-on,

he wasn't the butt of other people's jokes,

he was Lenny Henry in his own domain,

and allowed to shine.

'The more Lenny began to tap into Black culture for inspiration,

'the more his sketch characters became comedy classics,

'like elderly Jamaican Deakus.'

I realised that you English people

have a lot of different words for cold.

Deakus is paying homage to those that came to England the first time.

And he was able to weave in

good, straight up, traditional gags

within that kind of character,

which is, you know, quite genius.

Back home in Jamaica, we just have the one word for cold.

"England!"

'He might've drawn inspiration from his roots,

'but he made comedy that all Britain related to.

'Millions of people tuned into The Lenny Henry Show at its peak.'

He could do all different types of characters,

from American to Brit, to young, to old.

Hi, there, ladies. This is Theophilus P Wildebeeste,

and I've got a mirror on my kitchen ceiling -

that's how cool I am.

Theophilus P Wildebeeste, baby! LAUGHS

It felt like it was an homage to all the '80s Black soul singers.

Those kind of big voice characters,

women loved!

But Lenny mashed them all up into one,

and he created Theophilus.

Lenny would go to about 80% of how the person sounded.

# Talking about northern girls... #

That extra 20% gave him the space

to embellish and put the funny in there as well.

My favourite character was Delbert Wilkins.

# Delbert! #

The laugh is quite high-pitched.

HIGH-PITCHED LAUGH

The playfulness. As a young kid, I was like, I wanted to be like him.

# Delbert Wilkins on the BBC! #

Yeah, that's right, that's who you're listening to,

Delbert Wilkins on the Brixton Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC.

He put Brixton on the map.

All of a sudden, you could see people you recognised

that wasn't in your area, but you knew that it was more,

it was the vibes.

He was in tune with what was going on.

There was lots of negative portrayals of young Black men,

and then you've got these two.

It was great to see two positive characters on TV.

'Four decades on, Lenny's still in showbiz.

'As well as comedy, he's turned in some ace performances

'as a serious actor.'

'And he's a Sir. Rise, Sir Lenny!

'An icon of British comedy.'

'I think we both remember that for a long time in mainstream TV comedy,

'there was only really Lenny, wasn't there?' 'That's right.

'But in 1982, Channel 4 launched with Black sitcom No Problem.

'Times were changing.'

'But six years later, young British writer Trix Worrell

'wrote a sitcom about a Peckham barber shop

'that became an instant hit.'

Oh, Desmond's!

The theme tune, straight away, you know,

you'd rush to the TV to watch it.

Yeah, it was like calypso, wasn't it?

I remember the images of Windrush,

and then it cuts to, like, Peckham and Peckham Market.

It was good.

'The title role of Desmond

'was played by Guyanese actor Norman Beaton,

'who showed his thespian flair from an early age.'

Norman and I, we go back a long ways together.

I knew him as a boy.

We were in school together,

riding our bicycles up to the sea wall in Georgetown.

And he was very bright, very bright as a kid.

You know, his nickname was Shakespeare,

because he used to be able to memorise reams of Shakespeare

and unload it at the street corner.

'But it would be a street corner

'in the same part of London as Del Boy and Rodney

'that another classic '80s sitcom legend was born.'

'And it gave 56-year-old Norman his most famous role,

'as a West Indian barber.'

'As it's set in a barber shop,

'I wonder what happened when the director shouted, "Cut!"'

'Yeah, right, that could be confusing.'

There was a time when people wanted their hair cut.

Now they want it styled!

That's because we had style, didn't we, Porkpie?

Yeah, man!

'Norman gave audiences an unforgettable performance

'as a proud Guyanese barber,

'bantering with his family and friends.'

It was great to see a great representation

of a beautiful Black family, you know,

that had their own business, they're doing well.

I don't know why this didn't occur to me before:

Desmond and Daughter!

I mean, I can't see my son running the family business.

I mean, it calls for someone with imagination and flair,

of which my son Michael's got none.

It was uplifting. They were working people.

You had a very supportive wife,

you had kids who were going through life.

Barber shop, the West Indian hair shop,

and the West Indian food shop and the church,

these are the hubs of the Black community.

There's so much that goes on in the Black barber shop.

We talk about politics, life, sport, you know.

'And at the heart of the barber shop

'was the role so expertly observed by Norman Beaton.'

You see, Porkpie, who said Black people aren't enterprising?

I think I better go Short and Curly and get a haircut,

because I'm not getting one here!

Sit down, you arse!

His facial expressions, you know, if he got angry,

the way he would just jump up unexpectedly.

Norman's timing was brilliant,

and that's the hallmark of any great comedy performance.

I'm supposed to be Desmond's best friend,

we're supposed to have come up to Britain together.

You know, there was this tension between them,

but there's this love between them, too.

100 proof pure rum!

Guaranteed to kill all household germs.

Dead!

That's if it don't kill you first!

BOTH LAUGH

The scenes where he and I were reminiscing in the barbershop,

and we are slightly inebriated... CHUCKLES

We were reminiscing about our past,

and so there were many, many moments that I cherish.

We worked beautifully together, you know.

'But behind the laughter and success,

'Norman's health was in decline.'

He had emphysema.

I think he thought he was everlasting.

He thought he could have survived,

thought he had a strong enough body

to cope with this, constitution.

'Norman passed away in 1994,

'and with no Norman, Desmond's finally closed its doors.'

I think when we lost Norman Beaton, it was a time when we realised

just the level that he was on.

You can't replace him.

He's a comedy legend.

He just happens to be Black.

'Coming up, as the '90s comes knocking...'

I like that 291 club, you know.

'..Black comedy gets a big old boost

'with the arrival of sketch show The Real McCoy.'

'Yeah! And a new breed of comedy star

'was about to find out the harsh realities of life at the top.'

I was the golden child.

I had the Midas touch. Everything I touched turned to gold.

'Welcome back to Funny, Black And On TV.

'It's time to rewind to the 1990s.'

'In the 1990s,

'British sitcoms were very much coming from a white perspective,

'but in America, they were enjoying a Black sitcom boom,

'with shows like Sister, Sister and A Different World,

'and boy, was it.'

'The US was setting the standard in all forms of comedy.'

'So when Janet Street-Porter, head of youth TV,

'brought The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air t0 the BBC,

'young Brits tuned in in droves.'

I went to a recording for The Fresh Prince,

and it was just hilarious.

MUSIC: 'It's Not Unusual' by Tom Jones

I just thought Will Smith was so electric on camera.

# It's not unusual... #

'With the Fresh Prince generating a whole new appetite

'for Black comedy on TV,

'in London, young stand-up comedians like Angie Le Mar

'were creating a hip new Black comedy scene.'

I like that 291 Club, you know.

'With London's vibrant new Black comedy scene

'starting to catch on nationally,

'it didn't take long before the BBC appeared to see the potential

'in a sketch show written by and for a Black audience.'

'So, The Real McCoy showcased the talents

'of a new generation of comedy writers,

'who immediately appealed to young Black Britons.'

The question is, would I like some tea?

The answer to the question is simple.

LAUGHTER

The teacup is empty, the teapot is full.

Therefore, it is time for me to have some more tea.

The Real McCoy was the Holy Grail...

...of television for up-and-coming Black comedians.

'Angie Le Mar's beautifully observed stand-up routines

'had the audience in hysterics.'

LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

I almost made it on, and then they changed their mind

and booked someone else at the last minute.

That was one of my first real heartbreaks.

'I love the fact that the show gave a break

'to both male and female comedians.'

'And one of those leading ladies, Llewella Gideon,

'gave us her genius comic creation, Hortense Pretentious,

'one of the show's most iconic characters.'

APPLAUSE

'Ello. LAUGHTER

And good afternoon.

My name...

is Hortense Pretentious.

So, Hortense was based on one of these people that just

like to do the public speaking and put on their best voice.

"'Ello? How can I help you?"

She was just this little petite woman on TV,

but so big and rich in character.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Everyone was watching The Real McCoy. Everybody.

And you are talking about...

our story, unapologetically.

It's intelligent, smart.

I think The Real McCoy was a ground-breaking moment

for British comedy.

I started on The Real McCoy at season two,

and I brought Felix Dexter.

Felix was more comfortable as a stand-up,

but he became this amazing character.

'Felix Dexter was a master

'at creating hilarious character comedy.'

When Felix came out with Douglas, that was just a joy to watch.

He did it with such impeccable timing

that it just landed beautifully every single time.

POSH ACCENT:

LAUGHTER

When he plays Nathaniel, you just think...

He just left you with some greats.

LAUGHTER AND CHEERING

And that was the first time I saw...

...a Caribbean comedian

properly encapsulating

a Nigerian character.

LAUGHTER

He just got it. He done something with characters

that you just felt, I know that character.

He could do all of it, and he...

"should have been a star.

'Although he would later feature in The Fast Show and Citizen Khan,

'tragedy was about to strike down

'one of the country's most promising Black comedians.'

'In 2013, when Felix told close friends

'that he had terminal cancer, they were in disbelief.'

We got a call late, and, erm...

had enough time to go and say goodbye to him.

And we could sit down and just say, "Well done."

When he was in the hospice, I went to see him.

It broke my heart, because I'm like,

this is a guy that should have had all the opportunities,

because he was that good.

He will go down in history.

Felix Dexter, the comedian that was loved by everybody.

'Such a tragic loss to the comedy world.

'Felix certainly was a remarkable talent.'

'But although The Real McCoy was no more,

'at the end of the '90s, there was an explosion of new TV channels.'

'And for rising comedy stars,

'being funny was no longer their sole ambition.

'They wanted much more.'

'And one 22-year-old Black British comedian

'was about to start his climb

'to the very summit of Mount Television.'

I was at a party one time.

This man, squared up the place, walked in, went...

GRUNTS

Look at me. GRUNTS

LAUGHTER

You know, I was there, boogying, I was like, "Hey!"

I knew from the day I saw Richard Blackwood

that he was gonna be a star.

I was the golden child.

I had the Midas Touch. Everything I touched turned to gold.

'Channel 4 also fell for Richard's charm and charisma,

'snapping him up for his own weekly entertainment show.'

Look how cocky I was.

Let's g0!

What it did for Black comedians was revolutionary,

because we were so used to just being on the circuit

and not being recognised.

As a young comedian, working on that show was fantastic.

Oh, don't!

But you know what it was,

I was cheeky because we knew each other.

And, you know, Mel was not a pushover.

If you said something Mel didn't like, she'd let you know about it.

I saw it, though.

LAUGHTER

I was a young gllY-

She was a young woman. Both stars in our own right.

But we're Black on TV.

I went to The Richard Blackwood Show,

and it was just, like, an amazing moment for me,

just to watch this guy just killing it,

looking good, being funny.

'And after a two-year run,

'The Richard Blackwood Show was cancelled.'

They was bringing in Ali G.

What hurt me the most with the Ali G situation,

as a young Black man,

I was showing that the stereotype that you put on us -

that we're just bad and blah-blah-blah - we're not that.

And I remember a paper put a picture of me and Ali G

on the page, and they said, "Who's the real Black person?"

Yeah.

'Now, Sacha Baron Cohen has always claimed Ali G

'was a parody of a white guy trying to be a Black guy.

'But for Black male comedians, TV had become a comedy wasteland.

'But one sister was determined to do it for herself

'to achieve her comedy dreams.'

'Yes, it's a tough task for any comic

'to make it big in their own country,

'so it takes a special talent like our next comic

'to make it big in the States.

'With her British Nigerian background

'a goldmine for comedy,

'Gina Yashere was a superstar in the making.'

So, that's right, people, I went back to Nigeria.

That's right, went back to Africa to get in touch with my roots.

My roots!

'And boy, did she always have a killer punchline.'

I discovered that my ROOTS...

are in Bethnal Green!

LAUGHTER

Phenomenal comic.

Not female comic, she's just a phenomenal comic.

'Gina was born in 1974 in east London,

'and for this former lift technician,

'the only way was up.'

I was a Nigerian kid

in a predominantly West Indian neighbourhood,

and we were the butt of the joke back then.

So I had to, you know, divert fights by using humour.

'In the late '90s, Gina was knocking it out of the park

'with regular appearances on shows such as Blouse And Skirt.'

Blouse And Skirt was the show that made me Black famous.

SHE LAUGHS

'Lenny Henry asked her to write and perform her own comedy characters

'on his show, including the classic Tanya.'

Vexed.

I was like, look, you think I'm gonna be catching a bus

at seven in the morning and miss Trisha

so that I can spend a whole day in a room full of old people

who look like they got dressed together in Primark?

AUDIENCE JOINS IN: I don't think so.

'Now, Gina might have been wowing audiences and winning fans,

'but the uncompromising style of her own stand-up

'had yet to be championed by a UK broadcaster.

'But Gina still had very big ambitions.'

They dangled the carrot of me getting my own show for years.

America's the home of stand-up comedy,

so my dream, all my life, had been to go to America.

'And in 2007, she fulfilled that dream

'and went to America to try her luck.'

Every Black comedian goes, "l'm gonna go to America."

And they go for a little while, and they come back.

So we just thought it was that, Gina's gonna go to America,

be there for six months, come back.

'Within three months of arriving,

'she landed a gig and a chance to showcase her talent

'to millions of viewers on the Def jam comedy tour.'

Yes, I know you're looking at me funny.

I'm the first British comic on Def Comedy jam.

Clap it up, clap it "P-

I made this T-shirt with the Union Jack, but just in black and white,

blackjack, so I made a point of wearing the T-shirt on the show

and then coming out and going, "OK, I'm Black and British,

"let's get this out of the way, and now let's get to the jokes."

You are never gonna see a Black woman in the movies

where you have to make love in the shower.

Right?

Cos that would not look romantic with a Black woman in it.

Because she would be in that shower with her Safeway grocery bag.

I did that, it's a shared experience

with Black women, wherever we are in the world.

That routine would kill in front of a British audience

and definitely in front of an American audience,

where these women will forego food to make sure their hair looks right.

'Today, Gina's a rising star in the USA

'and has written and starred in her own NBC sitcom,

'Bob Hearts Abishola.'

'Gina not only created the show, and a great new character for herself,

'but she became instrumental in the making of the show.'

It's the first Nigerian family on a sitcom

in the history of American television.

I mean, it's pretty amazing.

Since you are no longer interested in Chukwuemeka,

what would you think if I set him up with somebody else?

Yes, you are right.

Well, maybe there's a woman out there who can see past those flaws.

Someone with a lot of love to give.

And enough frequent-flyer miles to take him to Aruba.

I'm a creator, executive producer,

writer, and actor. SHE LAUGHS

She is massively underestimated in terms of the strides she has made

for Black British comics, not just domestically, but globally.

'Coming up, sketch show legend Little Miss Jocelyn.'

'And the new generation of young comedians

'changing the face of British comedy.'

Michaela Coel... is a genius.

'Welcome back to Funny, Black And On TV.'

'Time to focus on the 2000s,

'the decade that Leona Lewis conquered the charts.

'Yeah, Brad and Jen divorced.'

'Yes, and in 2012, the City of London

'proudly hosted the Olympic Games.

'And in 2002, a trio of fabulously funny Black women

'became 3 Non-Blondes on new channel BBC Three.'

'Two years later, its break-out star,

'Jocelyn Jee Esien,

'went on to make history as the first Black British woman

'to get her own solo sketch show.

'From the top, the quirky titles

'shows that the show is gonna be just perfect

'for jocelyn's hilarious comedy characters,

'like traffic warden jiffy.'

But it's too late. My pen has made contact with the paper.

If you make any attempt

to penetrate your car, I will conjunctivate you.

She was just very good at portraying your worst nightmare.

Do not rush me, because what I'm about to do takes time.

Not everybody understands

what perfection this job demands and requires.

Maybe I'm not ready to give you your ticket yet,

because I have not finished talking to you.

You know, she created phrases

that people would be saying on the street or in schools.

This may take a l-o-o-ong time.

Jocelyn has this character called Fiona.

LAUGHS

So...

She didn't want people to know that she was Black.

Look, I've been working here for seven years now,

and no-one, absolutely no-one knows I'm "Black".

Now, um, I don't know what pirate radio station you've come from,

or whom you mugged to get in here...

What are you going on about?

I don't want you asking me for recipes for rice and peas.

She plays on the stereotypes so well.

Black is referred to as urban, you know,

if you're gonna say the "B" word, say "urban".

You know.

It's still done today, you know what I'm saying?

Let's get some "urban" acts. HE LAUGHS

Little Miss Jocelyn, she was doing that alone.

She was doing all those characters.

She's definitely got a genius, like, gene, 100%.

Madame Jocelyn, if I can call her that, is a queen.

'In 2020,

'star of BBC Three sketch show, Famalam

'Tom Moutchi is part of the new generation

'of Black British comedy talent.'

'And budding stars like Judi Love and Michael Dapaah

'are using social media to build their audiences.'

'And they're taking their lead from the new prince of comedy.'

Mo Gilligan. Mo Gilligan.

I love what is happening with Mo.

He did something so real.

He's playing, like, a white Cockney guy

whose wife, he's like, "Julie, get us a couple of cans."

This is lovely, it's like Barbados.

It's like Barbados!

You what, love?

I have a lady on my road who does it every time it's hot.

She walks out of her house,

she literally picks, she finds Black people

and tells them it's like Barbados. And I thought it was un...

I thought, surely she's seen the sketch.

No. This is what she does. So, that, for me,

it was amazing to see.

'In 2019, he hosted his own chat show,

'The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan.'

'Later that same year,

'he landed a show that went out globally on Netflix,

'proving just how far Mo has come

'since making us laugh on the internet.'

Remember hearing that word "grounded", just being stressed.

"Oh, my gosh, Mum. Oh, my gosh, man!"

Do you remember that small rage you used to get?

That's another thing about Mo, is his relatability.

Remember saying twisted stuff about your family?

"L hope Satan takes my mum tomorrow!"

MOANS AND HUFFS

"And the demons can take my family away."

He really knows how to get that out.

It's like, we've all done that, we've all gone in our rooms

and, like, scuffed up pillows,

you know, got angry at our parents for being grounded.

And he did it, he showed that it's possible,

and strength to strength to strength.

He has TV shows on TV shows. He's BAFTA-nominated, BAFTA-winning.

'And so, a generation of exciting new young Black performers

'and writers are finding their own unique voice,

'and none more so than Michaela CoeL

'In 2015, a fresh new comedy series

'aired on Channel 4 about a quirky young shop assistant.

'Michaela plays teenager Tracey,

'who brings audiences into her vibrant council estate life

'using revealing internal monologues.'

If I had £1,000, I would buy...

Brazilian yaki hair, like Yonce.

'It made the show an instant hit.'

Probably a dustpan and brush for this place.

I mean, look at it, it's boring. There's not even crime here.

It's like some fake-arse estate, it's like bipolar, it's diluted.

She is an amazing comedy writer.

Chewing Gum was incredibly unique.

She spoke of the very specific experience.

It came from her head. It's like, "This is not on TV,

"so I'm gonna create it. I'm not on TV, in terms of my representation,

"so I'm going to create it."

'Chewing Gum catapulted Michaela to stardom,

'and in this historic moment in 2016,

'Michaela became one of a few Black actors ever to win a BAFTA.'

If there's anyone out there that looks a bit like me,

or just feels a little bit out of place,

trying to get into performing and all this kind of stuff,

I'd just say, you are beautiful, embrace it.

You are intelligent, embrace it. You are powerful, embrace it.

Thank you. APPLAUSE

Her writing is so raw, so original,

so true to her own vision and her own voice.

She's in her own lane.

'Well, folks, it's been a roller-coaster ride

'through 50 years of the very best of Black British comedy.'

'British TV's come a long way since Charlie Williams

'opened the doors for Black comedians.'

Am I Yorkshire? Eh?

Tha can't buy class, can tha?

'And a 16-year-old Birmingham lad

'who burst right through them into the hearts of the nation.'

'The unforgettable legends of sitcom, pushing the boundaries

'and changing the face of British comedy.'

'Well, Danny, how about doing this again sometime?'

'See you back here in 50 years.' '50 years?'

'Hopefully, we won't have to wait that long to do this again.'

# Well, I talk about it, Talk about it

# Talk about it, talk about it

# Talk about, talk about, Talk about moving... #

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