The Great Big Comedy Pile-up

Why I Love Gina YashereBy Joyelle Johnson[http://rookiemag.com/2011/11/great-big-comedy-pileup-one/]If I had a girl gang, Gina Yashere would be my muscle.She is my true definition of a rock star. Pure confidence with a cockney accent and natural timing that makes comedy seem easy. When Gina grabs the mic, I sit down and become a stand-up student. I’ve seen her perform so many times that I’ve unintentionally committed most of her material to memory. Her perspective is omniscient and worldly: in the same set she can joke about getting her camera snatched by thugs in Nigeria, choosing a coffin for a friend’s relative in Jamaica, having a colonic irrigation in Thailand, and seeing a Dominican on the subway in New York for the first time. Like a brand-new Shih Tzu puppy, I follow her everywhere. I was there when she was the first Brit on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and the first (and only) black female comedian on Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show. Most comics never dare to cross the line between “urban” (black) and “mainstream” (white) audiences. Such barriers do not exist in her world. Through her example I see what success will look like when it’s my turn. From Gina I’ve learned confidence (she’s the shit to herself and therefore to everyone else) and extravagance (driving down the streets of L.A. with her convertible top down and the air conditioner on full blast). She’s a hustler: I’ve seen her walk into a comedy club and demand in her brash British accent, “Who books this room?” She gets the information she needs and gets onstage.Offstage you might hear this sentence come out of her mouth: ”I’m doing Malaysia, Bali, and Thailand for Christmas. You should come over, muppet!” Right, Gina, can I take the MegaBus there? OR she might say something along the lines of, ”I’m going to be knackered for the next month because I’ve got to hop to Ireland to shoot a TV Show, Sweden to work on a cruise, and then back to London to perform a couple of one-woman shows.” Knackered? Gina, you’re in America now, speak American English please!Yet and still, every single time she speaks I perk up and listen, because I want to be just like her. Not only is she my big sister, friend, and mentor; she is my blueprint for everything I am now and aspire to be, both on and off the stage.