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I get wild DMs, Ziwe Fumudoh tells me as she scrolls through her phone.
), or some random racist person (My audience would be confused).
There is a humiliation fetish.
Were sitting across from each other at a picnic table in Brooklyns Herbert Von King Park.
It was accidental, she swears!
Shes just attracted to texture!
The moments are delightful or stressful (or both), depending on your mileage for Schadenfreude.
She presents people with a standard questionnaire that includes a pop quiz about historical figures Who is Marcus Garvey?
and more personal ones like, How many Black friends do you have?
or Qualitatively, what do you like about Black people?
Ilovethat interview, she says of Calloways in particular.
The influencer screamed, Lets fucking go!
She appreciates the Calloway interview in the same way she appreciates how children are natural comedians.
The purity of spirit!
It is in the failure where one strikes comedy gold.
Theres so much value in what she offered, intentionally or unintentionally, she says.
I really could not have written better jokes.
Fumudoh, 28 (19 for the record!
Fumudoh has an edgelord spirit, but its less Heres something racist and more Youresomething racist.
That said, she discusses the Instagram Live show in more benign terms slightly crunchy and less anti-comedy provocation.
I want to bring healing, but thats a little earthy, she says.
I dont really think I need to trap anyone into saying anything racist.
They volunteer that information for better or for worse!
Her logic is that because everyone, including herself, is racist, any discomfort is simply human.
She filmed the firstBaitedvideo the day after Donald Trumps election, what she considers the point of no return.
The Instagram show has been a way for Fumudoh to reverse the power dynamics that have shaped her life.
Born to Nigerian immigrants in Lawrence, Massachusetts, she grew up middle class.
Youre just being sensitive, she says.
I have gotten through life as a Black woman in white spaces by being extremely controlled, she says.
My comedy is about power.
Its having to listen to a Black woman and not being able to make me stop.
For the next 15 minutes, Im the captain now!
Im veryCaptain Phillipswith that.
The first time she sang it, the crowd thought she was done.
She did it again and asked for audience participation.
It wasnt enthusiastic enough, so she did it again.
People shifted nervously; a few tried to put their backs into it.She cant hear you.
Was this the joke?
People loved it, she says.
And I was like,No!
You dont get to watch my Black pain and be entertained!
So then she decided to perform the Melania song over and over and over again until people walked out.
Ive done the song 13 times back to back to back, she says.
People get enraged with me.
Ive been banned from shows.
But I like interacting with my audience.
Rage or joy I want a reaction.
Any collateral humiliation is her way of upending the racial hierarchy.
What if people had to be held accountable to her?
And what if she werent nice about it?
And absolutely asked questions in bad faith?
She operates on instinct, so her actions depend on her mood.
If you catch me on the wrong day, I will fucking beat your ass.
When people are racist in front of me, I will badger them.
Ill be like, Did you knowmaster bedroomis because of slave masters?
Did you know that in Central Park, all the land was taken from Blacks?
Ill give you random facts because I want to make you feel bad about racism!
Hulk crash!Im Mark Ruffalo.
More often than not, though, Fumudoh says, she tries to be nice.
I consider that a gift.
I ask if she felt the Instagram Live show would become a way for people to launder their reputations.
I dont know, she says.
Are these people better off for having spoken to me?
Fumudoh emphasizes that shes not a journalist.
Im just a comedian cosplaying!
Future iterations will require shifting the goalposts to constantly keep people off balance.
Harris was booked so the show wouldnt become a white womens redemption tour.
(Harris has sent her a proposal to do it as a theater show.)
My entire personality was stolen fromClueless.
Is it interesting to watch a Black woman tear another Black woman down?
she asks, her eyes twinkling.
What do you think?
