(CelebNMusic247-News) Kenan Thompson Poor Excuse Why SNL Has No Black Female Comics
Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson made headlines when he gave a poor excuse why the show has only had four African-American female comics on the roster.
Thompson told TV Guide’s Sadie Gennis:
“It’s just a tough part of the business.”
Like in auditions, they just never find ones that are ready.”
Keep in mind that Kenan Thompson plays many of the black female roles on the show and having a actual black female may take from some of his skits, but like Kenan said “It’s just a tough part of the business.”
Here is what we’ve noticed from the comment and think its a cop out that SNL hasn’t tried to do a talent search, because In Living Color had plenty of African American comics that were funny and ready. If they could find talent then so could SNL, but is sound more like SNL isn’t actually looking.
Here’s the drop and what Kenan Thompson underlining answers suggests via ThinkProgress:
It was a statement that seemed to suggest either an exceptionally shallow talent pool of African-American comediennes, or a low level of preparation or professionalism, and as such, Thompson’s analysis of Saturday Night Live‘s was met with both a lot of frustration, many suggestions of very talented, very funny black women he’s overlooked, and anger at SNL czar Lorne Michaels, who bears larger responsibility than Thompson for the show’s composition. None of these reactions are unreasonable. SNL has a long history of failing to cast African-American women that suggests larger issues in the comedy talent pipeline, and in Michaels’ use of his considerable power to bend the curve on the composition of the mix of comedians who get the benefit of a stint on SNL, itself a potential launching pad for even more significant opportunities. These are all things we need to discuss.
But one casting director, who goes by the handle HelloMocha*, hopped on Twitter to recount her own experiences trying to cast black female comedians for a client in recent months. And in addition to questions of individual availability, she raised a number of structural factors that might genuinely be making it more difficult for SNL and similar shows to find the kind of cast members they’re looking for:
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