Issa Rae: creating compelling stories from being introverted and awkward

Writer, actor and producer Issa Rae commented to Terry Gross, host of the NPR show Fresh Air, that she was socially uncomfortable and introverted growing up, and one day wrote the phrase "I'm awkward. And black." in her journal.

Rae says it was a revelation.

"I knew I was black, obviously, but the 'awkward' part really just defined me in a sense," Rae noted.

"That felt like an identity that I had not seen reflected in television or film before, or at least in a very long time."

Terry Gross: "So what made you think that the parts of your life that made you feel awkward and insecure you could claim as an identity and then use that to your advantage and create a character who would be kind of like funny and relatable and everything.

"And that so you could turn what you perceived as like your weakness into a strength."

Issa Rae: "Well, for me, it came from watching shows like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and even 30 Rock, and just identifying with the very specific sense of humor that those shows had, but also being like, wow, there are no people of color in these shows that have the same sense of humor, you know?

"Wondering like why is there this segregated humor? There seems to be like black humor and there seems to be white humor and you know a lot of my friends...we like both, but we don't get to see ourselves reflected on the quote-unquote white humor side.

"And so I wanted to take these traits in the same way that, you know, a lot of my favorite comedians have done it, and Ellen included. Ellen takes so many relatable, embarrassing moments and amplifies them and makes it like, Oh my god, I've been through that too, and that's so funny.

"And have a black character go through those things and make it very racially specific but universal at the same time."

(See the transcript for more.)

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Show notes for the Fresh Air podcast interview summarizes: "Her Web comedy series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl [based on her memoir] ran for two seasons, and Rae continued to explore themes of race, identity and belonging as the creator and star of the HBO series Insecure."

This audio in an excerpt from that interview.

Fresh Air episode with Terry Gross (on NPR): 'Awkward' And 'Insecure' Get To The Root Of Writer Issa Rae's Humor.

video: Issa Rae Teaches How to Get Out of Our Own Way and Create Content Successfully

Learn about MasterClass "Issa Rae Teaches Creating Outside the Lines"

Related Substack/Creative Mind posts/podcast episodes:

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