Save this article to read it later.

Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.

Ziwe Fumudoh practices the art of discomfort.

Article image

She claims not to see it that way, though.

They volunteer that information for better or worse!

The gesture says, Look at them!

It also says, Look at me!

By the time the guest tries to answer, they have already been eviscerated.

What bothers you more: slow walkers or racism?

she asks Fran Lebowitz, who retorts, Thats a real question?

before explaining that on a day-to-day basis she encounters more slow walkers.

Thank you for being here!

Fumudoh greets comedian andSNLcast member Bowen Yang.

How much money do you make?

You have a book calledPretty Powerful.Why do you think ugly people cant be powerful?

she asksReal Housewives of New York Citystar Eboni K. Williams.

Most guests are aware of the trap being put in front of them.

Does my nose bother you?

she asks Dr. Stephen Greenberg, whom she visits on the pretext of wanting a cosmetic-surgery consultation.

They ping-pong for a bit before he admits that her nose could look more refined.

Refined, she says.

Fumudoh shoots a look at the camera like a glowing, neon Can you believe this?!

Dr. Greenberg is behaving as though his office is still his domain.

Ziwemay depend on its guests, but it proudly proclaims its allegiance to Ziwe the person.

None of this is a secret.

But the icon has always been, and still is, Fumudoh.

That is its own form of performative commentary.

It is very different for Fumudoh, a Black woman, to demonstrate a Colbertian balloon of self-love.

When Fumudoh does the same thing, it is a radical reversal.

My comedy is about power.

Its having to listen to a Black woman and not being able to make me stop.

That doesnt mean the series is always a convincing platform for those politics.

For all of Fumudohs skill as a performer, the shows songs tend to be long and thematically repetitive.

See, this is funny!

Tags: