Kenny Ryan served as host of the evening, and Jared Waters also warmed up the stage for Yashere with their witty sets. Both openers were impressive in their own right.
Yashere is known for her work on The Daily Show and on Netflix. She opened up about her roots, growing up in England, however, her mother came from Nigeria. She poked fun at her mom’s decision to leave sunny Nigeria for rainy England and noted that her religion changed quite a few times. When she first moved to England, she belonged to the Church of England and gave the Long Island audience a lesson about how that term came about (dating back to King Henry VIII), and her reasoning was quite hilarious.
“Wouldn’t you want me teaching your kids history?” she asked, jokingly, and the answer was a resounding “yes.” As she moved from school to school, her religion changed, and following the Church of England, she became a Roman Catholic at the age of 10. She noted that she was so tall during her christening (at 10 years old) that the priest simply dipped her head into the bowl.
Another memorable moment was when she discovered her hobby of “baking.” Her mom defined the term “hobby” was doing something “completely useless for fun,” however, since her mother enjoyed the cake that she baked, she required her to bake a cake for the house every Sunday. At that moment, her “hobby” became a family job. “I learned from an early age to stop learning things,” she admitted.
She opened up about her love for old-school rap music, and she loved to go to America since growing up in England, she would watch American kids on television going to prom, and in England, they never had proms; moreover, the schools would be two minutes away from beaches, and the boys would be named Brad and Chad. “A prom must be the best party ever,” she thought.
Yashere poked fun at contemporary artists as Cee Lo Green and Lil Wayne, and expressed her disdain towards a new genre that she coined as “mumble rap.”
She is privileged to have her British accent since, in the United States, it is “the shit,” which makes her “special.” In England, on the other hand, with her accent, she is a “regular black person.” She also opened up about her superhero alter ego “Uncover African American.”
Yashere shared that New York is similar to London, but a “crazier and filthier version” since it is comprised of such “disgusting” creatures as waterbugs and rats.
The Verdict
Overall, Gina Yashere was superb at The Brokerage in Bellmore, and she had the audience in the palm of her hand the entire time. She certainly put on one of the funniest comedic sets by a female comic in 2018. She is worth checking out whenever she plays in the area. One will not be disappointed. Her live show garnered five out of five stars.
To learn more about Gina Yashere and her show dates, check out her official homepage.
