Amanda Seales is a ‘Smart, Funny and Black’ comedian and creative visionary with a masters degree in African American studies from Columbia University. Many know her as “Tiffany DuBois” of HBO’s “Insecure” and her HBO stand-up special, “I Be Knowin’.” She is also a former co-host on the daytime talk show, “The Real,” host of NBC’s “Bring the Funny,” and a face of the groundbreaking 2020 BET Awards. The creator and host of the hit “Live,” and now virtual, music and comedy game show, “Smart Funny & Black,” she speaks truth to change through her wildly popular Instagram, a weekly podcast, and book Small Doses. Always an advocate for Black voices, she founded Smart Funny & Black Productions to produce and create art as “edu-tainment” across the media landscape by any joke necessary.
Tell us about “The Black Outside Again” comedy tour.
I went on tour because I had been in the house for two and a half years, and most of us had been locked down. I was seeing how much was going on in the news and the nation, and I was like “Wait, I have to go talk about this because I can’t just keep this to myself.” So, I started going back on stage. The material came so quickly that I was like I need to get on the road with this. I hadn’t done a stand-up special since 2019, so it’s overdue for me to do another one. I said I’m going get on the road, get in the mix, and I’m going to get things cracking. It’s been great going to all these cities, I’ve been to so many.
Let’s talk about your upcoming show in Detroit, on Saturday, October 8, at the Fillmore.
I haven’t done stand-up in Detroit since 2018, and I really felt like a lot of people say to me that I say things they can’t say, or say what they’re afraid to say. What’s been cool on this tour is I’m saying things on stage that make people feel as though they’re being seen. They’re like, “Thank you. Somebody else gets it.” And I think we all need that to feel safe. I love it so.
You also have upcoming shows in Atlanta on October 15 and Brooklyn on October 29. Tell us more.
In Atlanta, I’m doing my variety comedy game, ‘Smart, Funny and Black’, which is where I put two funny folks versus each other. They have to go through games that test their knowledge of culture, history and the Black experience. Our two black spurts for Atlanta’s show are going to be T. S. Madison versus Da Brat. It’s really going to be a great time.
Then we go to Brooklyn and do ‘Smart, Funny and Black’ on October 29, and that’s going to be a Halloween show. We’re asking folk to come dressed as their favorite Black characters and icons.
It’s a whole vibe. I really feel like there’s no show that I do that’s the same. You can come and see me do stand up seven times, and it’s going to be a different show every time. Every time you come to ‘Smart, Funny and Black’ it’s going to be a different show every time. So, anyone who wants to go to Detroit, then take a flight down to Atlanta and then to New York, come through. You’re going to get three different shows.
When it comes to being a comedian, you really have to put in work. What should an aspiring comedian do to get into the business?
You have to hang out outside and go to the comedy club. When I started doing comedy, that was the hardest part of it. Telling the jokes was the easy part. It was the mingling, hanging out, and talking to people that was tough. I’m an introvert in that way. That was tough for me, and it made me feel like I was the new girl in seventh grade all over again. It’s different to be on a stage than to be at a bar. It’s very different. If I come to a party and I don’t know anybody I become very acquainted with my phone. Me and my phone are best friends. We are in a corner. I’m physically here but I’m not going to talk until somebody talks to me. Then I get pegged as, “Oh, she’s rude.” And it’s like, no, I just don’t know what to say. Once people start talking to me, I’ll warm up. I’m never the one who’s like “Hey, I’m Amanda. What do you do? What brings you here?”
Where can we find more information or purchase tickets?
You can find everything by visiting www.AmandaSeales.com.
