VIDEO: Comedian and Actress Robin Thede Discusses HBO's 'A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW' and More

On the Tuesday, April 5 edition of "Tamron Hall," comedian and actress Robin Thede joins Tamron in-studio to discuss her groundbreaking HBO comedy series "A Black Lady Sketch Show" and its upcoming third season. Thede opens up about her experience as a Black woman in comedy, paving the way for other Black writers and comedians.

Robin Thede discussed how her parents influenced her success, stating, "I did [grow up in Iowa], in a trailer park and I grew up with no privilege, no nothing. And look, I think for me I had parents who said you can be anything but they meant it...I think for me, it was about them saying it doesn't matter that you don't have the resources, you have the talent and the abilities and the smarts so you can forge your own path. I think about just the ways in which we are told by society that we can't define ourselves and that we are defined by people who think we should be kept small. And I think they [her parents] just prevented me from feeling that way. It's not that I don't struggle with it because I do, this industry will beat you up. But I think I always go back to that like 'no, I can be anything, I can create anything because my parents told me I could."

She also talked about being "the first Black woman" in so many fields, noting, "It's a mixed blessing. I always say it's bittersweet because when you're the first it's this honor, you get to have that title but then when you are doing the job, and you look behind you for help, there's no one there. You look back like 'Well, what did you do? Oh, there's no one there.' So it's tough, but I've had great mentors in the business and I've had people, you know, who have helped me along the way like Larry Wilmore. But I think the tricky thing is, you want to hold that title with honor, but you also want to usher the rest in, right. So I hired the second Black woman head writer in late night on my late night show. So that's how I reconcile it. I was like, I'll just hire more."

Watch the clip below!

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