Jillian Ebanks - Where Does Comedy Go From Here?

The first installment of Performance Revue's 'Where Does Comedy Go From Here?' is a conversation/interview/check-in with Jillian Ebanks. <p>

Jillian is a comedian, actor, a Bob Curry fellow, a co-producer of B.A.P.S., and a brilliant black woman just trying to survive during a global pandemic in a regressive country. <p>

Jillian's waxing video is now on YouTube! Give it a look: https://youtu.be/-_0sikMMaZQ. <p>

Time Stamps:<p>

01:20 - Recap of Previous Episode Begins<p>

• Mention of Drake <p>

01:55 – “I’ve toned down my love of rappers”<p>

02:16 – “I’m trying not to idolize celebrity”<p>

• Mentions of Lizzo, Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion<p>

02:52 – “I think celebrity is dangerous”<p>

03:00 – Recapping the “Drake Rant”<p>

04:01 – Recommending ‘Unlocked’ by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats<p>

• Mention of Tiana Taylor<p>

05:14 – Harry Potter and the Curse of the TERF Author<p>

• Mentions of J.K. Rowling<p>

08:03 – Lauryn Hill, ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ is a slut-shaming song<p>

• Mention of ‘Friday Night Lights’<p>

09:42 – Kanye West is a mental landmine in my randomized playlists<p>

• Mention of Kim Kardashian<p>

12:20 – “I host weekly support meetings for people who have given up their favorite rapper”<p>

• Mention of ‘Rami’<p>

13:58 – The Covid Waxing Video<p>

• Inspired by waxing her face during a Zoom call. Improvised performance<p>

17:20 – “Covid Chic”<p>

19:43 – Chicago Winters<p>

21:17 – Will all performances be online?<p>

• Mention of BAPS<p>

23:31 – “I got invited to do a stand-up show in a back yard”<p>

24:38 – “Broadway is closed until January”<p>

25:14 – COVID Begins; the impact on gigs and jobs<p>

27:25 – The governmental response, or lack thereof<p>

• Mention of Bob Curry Fellowship<p>

30:40 – How has COVID changed your comedy?<p>

32:21 – “I haven’t been able to find anything funny about Corona Virus, itself”<p>

33:13 – Impact of the George Floyd protests<p>

33:45 – “Even white people are protesting now”<p>

34:14 – “I’ve never watched any footage. Ever.”<p>

• Mentions of Philando Castile, Eric Garner<p>

36:30 – “Being black in America was hard enough”<p>

38:05 – Mention of Colorism<p>

38:30 – Mentions of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland<p>

39:25 – “Where does comedy go from here?”<p>

40:48 – “We are living in farce”<p>

41:51 – “I write from a source of insecurity”<p>

43:53 – Sidebar on Marxism<p>

44:43 – Fuck Starbucks<p>

44:57 – Internalized Capitalism<p>

46:37 – “I was up for a promotion and I didn’t want it”<p>

48:26 – “I feel like I wasted this stay-at-home order”<p>

• Mention of Pro Tools<p>

50:00 – Jillian has a hard time accepting compliments<p>

Life During Quarantine<p>

50:34 – Dating during quarantine<p>

51:49 – Intimacy (or lack thereof) during COVID<p>

53:10 – Addressing priorities and FOMO<p>

54:00 – Roommates and companionship<p>

56:30 – The creative process<p>

57:10 – Jillian accepts the compliment<p>

57:40 – Pay people a living wage (unions are good)<p>

• Jillian talks about working out of a theater in DC<p>

59:28 – “This is the most money I’ve ever had, and it’s because I’m on unemployment. That’s not fun for me”<p>

1:01:28 – “This feels like 2008 all over again”<p>

1:02:10 – My biggest investing win<p>

1:03:30 – How industries and jobs are changing<p>

1:05:06 – “We have no national guidance”<p>

1:05:44 – “I’m not a sharp enough satirist to satirize what’s going on right now”<p>

• The Banana Republicans sketch<p>

1:06:52 – Political false equivalency, “Why are we appeasing racists?”<p>

1:08:30 – Mitch McConnell can die<p>

1:08:36 – Media Diet<p>

1:09:35 – Jillian Recommends HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Gentefied’<p>

1:09:55 – We review ‘Veep’<p>

• Neither of us liked it, but we respect the effort by the talent involved<p>

1:11:31 – Jillian’s criteria for consuming quarantine media<p>

1:12:16 – For the record, ‘Insecure’ is an amazing show<p>

1:12:25 – Jillian recommends ‘Rami’, ‘Snowpiercer’, ‘I May Destroy You’, and ‘Killing Eve’<p>

1:14:35 – Jillian does not recommend ‘Ozark’<p>

1:14:45 – I recommend ‘The West Wing’<p>

• Stark contrast between the show and the Trump administration<p>

1:15:49 – “It’s hard to watch newer shows right now”<p>

1:16:02 – Jillian enthusiastically recommends ‘Hamilton’<p>

• Mention of Daveed Diggs<p>

1:16:48 – We both recommend ‘Blindspotting’, ‘Black Panther’, and ‘Into The Spiderverse’<p>

• Mention of Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’<p>

1:18:10 – We both recommend ‘Always Be My Maybe’<p>

1:18:53 - Jillian pitches me on ‘The Lovebirds’<p>

1:20:17 – I pitch Jillian on ‘The Witcher’<p>

• Mention of ‘Game of Thrones’<p>

1:21:30 – No black main character in ‘The Witcher’ (Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla Vigo notwithstanding)<p>

1:21:54 – “Storse material”<p>

1:22:28 – Jillian recommends the new ‘Charmed’ reboot<p>

1:23:07 – First impressions of ‘Space Force'<p>

• Something is missing from the show, even though it has a lot of talent involved<p>
• Show is trying too hard. Too much going on.<p>
• Mentions of ‘The Office’, Steve Carrell, ‘High Fidelity’, Tawny Newsome, Lisa Kudrow, Zoey Kravitz<p>

1:27:23 – Jillian can’t stop watching ‘Hamilton’<p>

1:27:56 – I stan for ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’<p>

1:28:20 - Jillian stans for ‘Hamilton’<p>

1:30:48 – “I love fantasy, I just don’t feel represented in fantasy”<p>

• Mention of Disney, Avengers, ‘Endgame’<p>

1:34:29 – Disney corporation constantly changes laws on public domain<p>

• Factual Error: Ron DeSantis is the Governor of Florida, not Rick Scott. I confused one anthropomorphic sack of turds for another. <p>
• Mentions of Disney World, Disney Land, Michael Eisner, Rick Scott, Stacy Abrams, Andrew Gillam, Beto O’Rourke, Lori Lightfoot<p>

1:36:40 – Possible futures for media production and live performance<p>

• Mentions of ‘Euphoria’, Zendaya, John David Washington, Leslie Odom Jr., ‘The Winter Soilder’<p>

1:39:04 – “All the things we want, we can have. We just don’t want to wait for them”<p>

1:39:40 – Final Thoughts<p>

• Recommendations for ‘Pose’ and ‘Disclosure’<p>