Laughter is the best medicine, and due to a number of worldwide circumstances, comedy has seen a surge in popularity. From animated shows for adults like Rick and Morty to new voices being heard through shows like the award-winning Insecure and Reservation Dogs, comedies are sprouting up all over the place. Another addition to this list is A Black Lady Sketch Show. This HBO series consists of comedy sketches performed by an all-Black women cast. The show began in 2019 and was subject to universal acclaim, earning a TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sketch/Variety Shows after its first season.

With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, A Black Lady Sketch Show has been considered one of the best sketch comedy shows since The Dave Chappelle Show. Despite the delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, the show’s second season continued in 2021 and took home three Black Reel Awards. This Emmy-nominated series has become a favorite of many for a number of reasons. Since its third season premiere on April 8, 2022, A Black Lady Sketch Show is getting more and more time in the spotlight, yet it is still passing under the radar. Here’s why you should be watching HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show.

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Robin Thede and Her Brilliant Cast

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The requirements for a good comedy are quite different from every other genre. Comedy depends on a combination of fantastic writing and a talented cast to pull it off. A Black Lady Sketch Show has been given the glorious gift of Robin Thede, the show’s effortlessly funny creator. Thede’s talents are emphasized thanks to her phenomenal cast in the show like Gabrielle Dennis, Quinta Brunson, Ashley Nicole Black, Laci Mosley, and Skye Townsend. While some of the cast has rotated out after the first season, no void was left as every single member of the cast lives up to the standards set by Thede. As with any sketch show, on top of the regular cast, the show also features guest stars, and Thede has chosen her guests wisely — featuring people like the award-winning Insecure creator Issa Rae and Jesse Williams, who was featured on the show the day after his departure from Grey’s Anatomy. The cast is a big part of what makes the show as good as it is.

Groundbreaking Comedy

Comedy is not an easy genre to conquer for anyone, with many knowing where the comedians have gone wrong. A Black Lady Sketch Show manages to achieve humor through its sketches without becoming offensive or losing its sense of humor. The show is also written from a subjective point of view, specifically the perspective of a Black woman, a voice that often goes unheard in the comedy genre. Thanks to shows like Insecure, Black women are finally having their stories told through their own perspectives. Now, with A Black Lady Sketch Show, every joke has a unique perspective. Thanks to the creator Robin Thede and an all-Black women writers team, Thede leads her team and manages to distract us from our problems through unique sketches while also being poignant enough to prove a point. The show is a perfect mixture of everything needed for groundbreaking comedy.

Fulfills All Criteria for a Great Sketch Show

While sketch shows are not as approachable to most audiences as medical dramas, they still have audiences to entertain which is not an easy task. The talented writing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show seems to have discovered the perfect formula to create a perfect sketch show with a talented cast, sketches of an appropriate length, and an overarching narrative split between scenes. Many people have trouble getting on board with sketch shows as there are rarely recurring characters and, with between four and five sketches per episode, many find the format confusing, but once you get on board, you’ll find yourself laughing til you drop. Over its three seasons, A Black Lady Sketch Show has managed to build a name for itself as one of the greatest comedy shows on the market right now.