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Chris Redd was known for his stand-up routines before he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) for Season 43 in 2017. The comedian recently spoke to EBONY about getting a spot on the late-night live television variety show and representing for its Black icons, who include Eddie Murphy and Kenan Thompson.
Redd auditioned to be
a cast member for the previous season but didn’t get the job. moment, he tried
not to make SNL his only top-tier
goal.
“I like to prepare
myself to not get something and be able to live my life and figure out
different ways to make it,” he said. “I was like, ‘I don’t need that.’ And I
actually believed it. I still believe that if I [hadn’t it, I would still make
it in this business in some way.”
The comedian, whose
debut stand-up album, But Here We Are,
dropped two weeks ago, said he got word he would be on the legendary show while
on tour in Detroit, and he immediately became excited.
“I started thinking
about Eddie. I started thinking about Chris [Rock]. I started thinking about
Tracy [Morgan], and all the Black people that were in that place and how I
could be a part of that legacy [that includes] Kenan and Leslie [Jones]. It
would be dope if I could leave my stamp here,” Redd recalled.
He noted that writing
in the environment is already tricky, but “being Black and trying to write what
you think is funny” adds a layer of complexity.
Redd used the example
of impersonating rapper Soulja Boy on the show during his viral Black Twitter
moment in January. It made him “nervous”
wondering how that joke would go over because it was so culturally specific.
He said he watches
archived and unaired sketches of Murphy to see how he was able to make jokes
more palatable to a broader audience.
Watch the full
interview above to hear the advice Redd received from Thompson, the longest- serving
SNL cast member.
Redd wrapped a tour last
week. His But Here We Are album is available on iTunes,
Amazon and Google Play, and for on-demand streaming via Apple Music, Spotify,
Pandora Premium and Stitcher Premium.
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