Ziwe Fumudoh is a funny lady based in New York City, USA, baby. Her jokes have been featured in the The Onion, Above Average, and Reductress. Additionally, her tweets have appeared in Buzzfeed, CNN, Cosmopolitan, The Fader, NPR, New York, and other publications probably. You can find her hammin’ it up on stage somewhere. This week Fumudoh told me a little about three (and a half) of her favorite tweets.
Fumudoh: I drop hints about being single on Twitter just in case a Nigerian prince wants to ship diamonds to my office. If this doesn’t happen, I’ll be single forever because not realizing I’m on a date happens to me far too often. Maybe I’m missing social cues because I’m too busy polling Twitter about my love life? Only time and retweets will tell.
What are your go-to topics for tweets?
My tweets are just a public stream of consciousness. So whether it’s passive aggressively mocking on manspreaders or reacting to job applications, I just write whatever makes me cackle.
Water is the most important substance I ingest next to donuts. If Yeezy or Hov rapped about proper hydration, no one would forget to drink 2 liters a day. I don’t need to be encouraged to take shots of henny because I know that drinking alcohol is fun. It numbs mouth and warms my lady parts. I spent 4 years learning this in college! I tweeted this because I want to elevate the level of conversation on twitter and raise awareness about proper hydration. I got in this game to change lives after all.
(Note: I should mention that 700 people have explained to me that Mick Jenkins has a mixtape about water. I’m glad another disciple of the water god is preaching the gospel.)
How do you feel about serious @-replies to joke tweets / @-replies in general?
I follow a strict “Don’t Respond†policy when people roll through my mentions trying to correct my jokes. Honestly, my blood pressure has never been better. As far as kind replies are concerned, those are more than welcome! Please send your moral support to @ziwe, it makes me feel less alone in this cruel world.
In terms of accounts you follow, what would you say is the ratio of funny accounts to more serious stuff? Is keeping a balance important to you at all?
I don’t have a serious ratio for funny people vs. serious people. I try not to put too much thought into that because it’s a digital rabbit hole. Overall, I’m concerned with following smart, interesting people (who appreciate my dog jokes).
If Trump is going to personally attack my president, I’m going to clapback and defend Obama’s honor. This one is for you Obama, I know you’re reading this and I know you love me.
No explanation necessary. Please put this tweet on my tombstone.
I really like both your Trump jokes, especially considering how it’s getting to the point where it’s too upsetting for me to enjoy jokes about him. Do you think there’s a way (or ways) to joke about him that’s better than other ways?
My favorite Trump jokes are the ones that point out his hypocrisy, just constantly poking holes in his toupee-thin logic. But it’s a double-edged sword because Donald Trump is Tinkerbell– if we stop paying attention to him, he’ll disappear. Yet, every hour he’s doing something increasingly outrageous and hard to ignore. Maybe these jokes are part of the problem. Who knows? I’m just a lady tweeting memes.
Jenny Nelson lives and writes in Brooklyn and works at Funny Or Die.