Spreading joy through comedy is Ziwe Fumudoh’s first priority as a Bushwick-based comedian and writer. At 27 years old, Fumudoh is currently a staff writer on the Showtime show “Desus & Mero,” and constantly works hard at perfecting her performance craft at popular Bushwick clubs like Cobra Club, Starr Bar, and Pine Box Rock Shop crediting them as spaces where she has been able to learn about herself as a performer.
Her road to comedy started in poetry, which was an easy way of her expressing herself while at Northwestern University. Expanding from poetry to comedy doesn’t necessarily seem like a natural segway, but Fumudoh did it easily, having the “luxury,” as she describes it, to experiment.
Living outside of Chicago at the time, she found herself surrounded by opportunities to study the craft from an audience’s point of view by frequently attending shows and interning at The Onion, a popular satirical digital media and news organization. “I discovered comedy by completely immersing myself in the diverse art form,” she shared. “Which ultimately allowed me to become a comedian that’s able to write, and perform, and produce, and make music.”
Her art is now heavily influenced by her surroundings in Bushwick often finding the costumes she wears on stage from various thrift shops off the Morgan L stop, as well as purchasing the props she uses to design her set for “Pop Show” at Party Glitters off Broadway. “There is something about this community: its food, its people, the ‘daddy yankee’ that cars blast at the stop light, that remind me of where I grew up and make me feel at home,” she said.
While her comedy is mainly made up of performing short bits, characters, and stand-up, Fumudoh is also well known for her musical comedy, which is the basis of her monthly Union Hall show, “Pop Show,” in Brooklyn. For “Pop Show,” she performs original pop songs and invites guests to join in on the fun.
Her music is political in nature and calls out the current administration with her wit and veteran sounding voice. Her most recent music video that dropped last month called, “From Melania to Sri Lanka,” talks about her love for shopping with Melania Trump in Sri Lanka. The track can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube.
Fumudoh is unapologetically herself and is determined to continue to be so as she progresses in her flourishing career, “I hope my voice encourages others in my community to live whatever their weird truth is because we’re on this earth for a short time.”
Up next she will be hosting “Pop Show” at Union Hall on April 12 and is planning a “Pop Show” comedy festival in June at the Bell House. You can find the comedian on Twitter.
Cover image courtesy of Bea Helman.
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