Robin Thede

The Second City is proud to announce that, for the first time in the iconic comedy company’s 62-year history, an Artistic Advisory Board has been formed to help promote and secure the organization’s success for the next 62 years and beyond. As The Second City works to attract and foster the next generation of comedy, the esteemed 15-member board will help guide The Second City’s creative direction and uphold the creative values of the institution. The board’s members – all proud Second City alumni and community members – are as follows:

"She picks fights with conspirators during a heist, wears a glittery silver wig that isn’t exactly inconspicuous, and, before stealing a diamond, takes a selfie and posts it to social media," says Jason Zinoman of the HBO sketch comedy show's creator and star. "It’s a stylishly executed genre spoof, with a solid premise and slick split-screen editing. And yet, its polish merely supports what really makes you laugh: the flamboyant goofiness of Thede, who commits to preposterousness with deadly seriousness. Her physical comedy, kinetic and rubbery, constantly shifting and shameless, italicizes everything. When she maneuvers across the room like a member of the Ministry of Silly Walks, the whole expensive-looking production becomes part of the joke." Zinoman adds that in Season 3, "the balance has shifted and it’s grown into, above all else, a spectacular showcase for Thede, the most influential and exciting figure in sketch at the moment. She leads a strong cast, including stalwarts Ashley Nicole Black and Gabrielle Dennis as well as the more recent addition Skye Townsend. It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t that long ago that the title sequence of this show included as many Black women as could be found in the casts of four decades of Saturday Night Live."

Robin Thede was in Austin on Thursday to talk about what to expect from Season 3 of her hit HBO show A Black Lady Sketch Show. She first announced to expect a lot of celebrity guests including Patti LaBelle, Wanda Sykes, David Alan Grier, Wayne Brady, and Angela Bassett. Bassett was extremely excited to be part of the show saying that she never gets to do comedy because the industry doesn’t think she can be funny. Well, Bassett is ready to prove them wrong. Robin Thede said,”we improvised a lot and it scares the guest stars.” On the opposite end of the spectrum. Thede discussed how her mom always wants her to do drama commenting “be on Law & Order. Why do you keep auditioning. Be on Law & Order.” Since it’s been on 20 years, her mom thinks it’s a stable job, but Thede informed the audience, I don’t want to do drama.

Thede's HBO sketch show is back for Season 3 with more than 40 celebrity guest-stars, from Wanda Sykes to Ava DuVernay to Shangela and Lance Reddick. “The biggest thing is scheduling,” Thede tells The Wrap of booking many celebrities. “People are always, like, how do you cast this show, and it’s threefold. One, people approach the show and say they want to do it, but that’s the least amount usually; Two, we have a great casting director, Vicky Thomas who casts the show – award-winning for this show; And then three … it’s me.” Thede adds: “It’s usually phone calls and texts. A lot of outgoing from me and luckily I’ve been in this business a long time and know a lot of folks, so I am very blessed in that way and believe that I have a good reputation, (so) people want to work with me. But even in Season 1, Angela Bassett said, ‘I came because I was a fan of your late-night show and because you asked me; you thought I could be funny.’ And I love that. And Patti LaBelle, same thing. I’d worked with Patti years ago and she remembered and she came on board immediately.”

After Hollywood spent the better part of two decades sleeping on Robin Thede, it's only appropriate that the sketch comedy impresario isn't overly interested in shut-eye nowadays. Thede instead tends to get by with three or four hours of sleep and wake up at 4 a.m. during production of "A...

She’s widely recognized as the first Black woman promoted to head writer of a late-night talk show. She’s acted, done comedy, both professionally and personally, and even hosted her own late-night show. But multifaceted entertainer Robin Thede says her current project, HBO‘s A Black Lady Sketch Show, is “100 percent” the thing she’s most proud of.

If there's one thing the women of A Black Lady Sketch Show are going to do, it's bring viewers a star-studded season. The sketch comedy series returns to HBO for its third season this Friday, and show creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer and star, Robin Thede, is excited for fans to see what the new installment holds.