This week, we’re highlighting 24 talented writers and performers for Vulture’s annual list “The Comedians You Should and Will Know.†Our goal is to introduce a wider audience to the talent that has the comedy community and industry buzzing. (You can read more about our methodology at the link above.) We asked the comedians on the list to answer a series of questions about their work, performing, goals for the future, and more. Next up is Brandi Denise.
Tell us a story from your childhood that you think might explain why you ended up becoming a comedian.
Growing up, I discovered some of Adam Sandler’s old comedy songs. I never knew I was listening to a form of comedy, but I loved them. I remember after that, I kept a notebook where I began to write my own comedy parodies. After remixing Big Tymers and Alanis Morissette, I still didn’t know I was writing jokes at a young age, but I was. I think that was when I first began my journey with enjoying being funny.
If you were immortalized as a cartoon character, what would your outfit be?
Def a sword, some black leather cute mini-outfit, and a bomb-ass Afro or some superlong sleek braids that I use as a rope to swing from things like Spider-Man, lol.
What’s your proudest moment/achievement of your comedy career so far?
Definitely going back to my alma mater and performing at the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University homecoming comedy show with over 6,000 people in attendance — my biggest show to date! I performed on the same stage I walked across nine years before to receive my bachelor’s in political science and minor in journalism and biology. And recently, FAMU named me one of FAMU’s “40 Under 40†alumni. Both of these are huge to me as a first-time college graduate in my family and it being one of the top HBCUs. FAMU really shaped me and showed what Black excellence is and can be!
Which comedian’s career trajectory would you most like to follow?
Wanda Sykes! She has had her own TV shows, has hosted, and still pushes out banging specials. And Adam Sandler — he does what he wants. He transitioned from comedy to drama effortlessly and works with his friends. That’s the goal with my people!
Tell us everything about your worst show ever. (This can involve venue, audience, other acts on the lineup, anything!)
It was six months into my career in Valdosta, Georgia. They needed a “female comedian,†so they added me to this show. It was my first big paid show on the road. I was still living in my college town. I took my baby sister. We stayed at a small Holiday Inn. We even had radio promo we had to go into the station to do. The show was with some other older vetted comics that had done shows like Comic View and Def Comedy Jam. I had done neither — it was way before my time — but that didn’t stop them from slapping that credit under my name on that flyer. We had a limo pick us up and take us to do the radio advertisement, which was weird because I remember driving my Hyundai Sonata to the club venue. It was in the middle of nowhere down a dirty road. There was an armadillo in the parking lot when we pulled up!
So I’m onstage bombing like a person six months into comedy should. My baby sister in the back is still clapping and being supportive. Then a group of large women start to heckle me. I tell one of them to hush before I take her, man. I said she was shaped like a chicken leg: large at the top and small at the bottom. They start booing; my sister screams “STFU!†I get offstage, and the host continues to roast me for ten minutes while my sister is arguing with the crowd.
I go to my car with my sister, sit down, and cry really hard. I wipe my face, then go inside to the bathroom to clean up. I’m inside the stall, and the women from the show I was talking crap to come into the bathroom. As I’m in the stall, I hear them talking crap about beating me the fuck up. I quietly climb on the toilet because I knew if they saw me in there, I was going to get my ass beat. I sit at the bar, and a man comes up and tells me he knows I’m going to make it because that was terrible, but I still came back inside. He bought me a shot.
What have you learned about your own joke-writing process that you didn’t know when you started?
I write onstage and punch up onstage, and that’s my process. It can help because I trust my own instincts; I’m fearless onstage. But it can hurt too because I don’t always remember every punch line I said every time. But it’s like telling the joke again for the first time because I don’t have a script I stick to. I transcribed my jokes when I needed to clear the bit out. For the most part, I bullet-point my sets.
What’s the biggest financial hurdle you’ve encountered since becoming a comedian?
Being broke is easy, but making a nice six figures for the first time after being broke for so long was a learning curve. I learned how to spend money quickly! But after that, I realized investing and saving are just as important when you start making money. Some years are better than others, but as long as you learn to budget early, you should be good. And also, always know how to go get a bag real quick when it’s necessary. Hit the road, sell merch, or get a branding deal. Always have other moneymaking ways on the table!
At the end of the movie 8 Mile, Eminem’s character, B-Rabbit, starts his final battle rap by dissing himself so the person he’s battling has nothing left to attack. How would you roast yourself so the other person would have nothing to say?
I know the things people would say first: I’m single; I talk about that a lot, but I also don’t want none of y’all. And my eyes are huge! Either you like me or I look like a SpongeBob character to you. But it’s great for TV, so you figure it out, lol.
When it comes to your comedy opinions — about material, performing, audience, trends you want to kill/revive, the industry, etc. — what hill will you die on?
Black women can not be racist! We are at the bottom of everything, so miss me with that.
What is the best comedy advice, and then the worst comedy advice, you’ve ever received?
Best comedy advice: “You are already fun. So make sure your spirit is right and you know yourself and stay grounded.†Because those things will be your downfall if you aren’t. I got a financial adviser; a great supportive, non-hating tribe; and a therapist. This boat ain’t rockin’ no time soon. We are sturdy over here.
Worst: A lame-ass, stool-fucking comic in ATL told me not to move to L.A. ’cause I wasn’t ready. Well, I would say his name, but you’ve probably never heard of him. Like I said — can’t rock this boat, baby!
“I Do What I Want†is tattooed on the back of my neck, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible.
More From This Series
- Eagle Witt Plans to Keep It Diabolical
- Emil Wakim’s Parents Finally Understand His Job Now
- Gianmarco Soresi Demands Inclusive Bullying in Comedy
- Veronika Slowikowska’s Got Magic to Do