In music, you ain't really got to be able to sing. In comedy, you may be cute, you may be able to add a little extra to your routine, but if you're not funny, no one's really rocking with you - and if you're a black woman, you better be hilarious. As usual, we always have to do the most.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the demanding standards placed on black women in entertainment, particularly in comedy, highlighting the necessity of exceptional talent to gain acceptance.
Amanda Seales' quote reflects the challenges that black women face in the entertainment industry, where they are often expected to exceed typical expectations. It conveys that while talent can vary in different fields, such as music and comedy, in comedy, the ability to be genuinely funny is crucial. It points out the additional pressure on black women to not only meet but surpass these standards in a competitive environment where they must work harder to be recognized and accepted.
In practice
During a panel discussion on the representation of women in comedy.
Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order.
As I started writing about loss and grief, I was taking what felt unmanageable and using my songwriting, my sense of poetry and discipline, to try and make it manageable.
I've always felt that complement of opposites: body and soul, solitude and companionship, and in the dance studio, contraction and release, rise and fall.
I've always believed that a dance evening energizes an audience, that an audience goes out feeling chemically stronger and more optimistic. This is what I understand about dance. And this is an important thing. We need this. Our culture needs it.
But I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind.
Look, Salvador Dali did not paint because he needed the money. No conversation about materialism and music makes sense. You make music and that's that, it doesn't matter why.
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