Robin Thede still continuing to change the way the world views sketch comedy–and she’s coming in hot with the third season of A Black Lady Sketch Show!
As the hit sketch comedy series heads back to HBO this week for its third year, Thede notes that the material this time around is nothing like we’ve ever seen before. With more than 40 guest stars, advanced choreography, and a recurring cast that not only gets the vision– but executes it exquisitely– it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up with the lane of comedy that has been created through the show.
“This season is bigger, better. It’s epic,” Thede told Shadow and Act in a recent interview.
“It is hands down my favorite season that we have done. We have 40 guest stars, we have these massive set pieces [and] we’re just breaking the boundaries of what sketch comedy can be, not for black women, but for comedians and for comedy, period,” she exclaimed. “Anybody who watches this season and isn’t impressed has no humor in their body. We explore so many things and it’s our densest season. Between the four core cast members, we’re playing over 100 characters, well over 100 characters, in six episodes which is so dense and fun.”
The way that this season is set up, it is meant to showcase the raw talent of its core cast which, along with Thede, include Skye Townsend, Gabrielle Dennis, and Ashley Nicole Black, while also pushing the audience to new levels for the way in which they view comedy. According to Thede, this is also the season of answers to some lingering questions that have gone unanswered since the initial season.
“I thought that it was time for the audience to get some answers,” she continued.
“I’ve been stringing you guys along for two seasons, about this end of the world storyline and I thought it was time to give answers and also present larger challenges, right. You’re gonna get really concrete answers on what’s been going on. I highly recommend people to rewatch seasons one and two before they watch three because you’re going to start to see all the Easter eggs and things that have been brewing since ‘Bad Bitch Support Group.’ The cool thing is that there’s so much thought that goes into the show. It’s not just like we’re throwing up a bunch of sketches.”
She says the intentionality behind the sketches behind this season is also something to note for those that will be tuning in.
“Every sketch is intentional, every piece of art on the wall is intentional, every coffee cup is intentional,” Thede shared.
“It’s important for me that I kind of spread that message because I don’t think most people know it, but I do think that with the answers that people are gonna get this season in the interstitial narrative storyline that will help them kind of start to connect the dots.”
To find out just what those answers are, check out A Black Lady Sketch Show starting April 8 on HBO.
Watch the full interview with Thede above.
