{"id":258157,"date":"2021-05-25T01:28:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ziwe-on-her-showtime-series-and-provocative-interviews\/"},"modified":"2021-05-25T01:28:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:28:00","slug":"ziwe-on-her-showtime-series-and-provocative-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ziwe-on-her-showtime-series-and-provocative-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"#Ziwe on her Showtime series and provocative interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Ziwe on her Showtime series<\/a> and provocative interviews<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

She\u2019s laid claim to the hot seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mononymous comedia<\/a>n Ziwe has become renowned for posing provocative questions to famous interview subjects \u2014 although making them squirm isn\u2019t her aim, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can do is actively listen,\u201d Ziwe (nee Ziwe Fumudoh), 29, told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cMy goal isn\u2019t to get them to reveal things about themselves that are supposed to be hidden \u2014 my goal is to have a very honest conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her Showtime variety series \u201cZiwe\u201d (Sundays at 11 p.m.) features her unconventional interview style that sent her on the road to stardom over the summer of 2020 \u2014 when many of her Instagram and YouTube videos went viral after she asked celeb guests such as Alison Roman<\/a> questions like, \u201cHow many black friends do you have?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She takes a similar app<\/a>roach to her Showtime series, which features a mix of interviews and comedy sketches each episode. In the May 9th premiere, for instance, Ziwe asked author Fran Lebowitz if \u201cracism or slow walkers\u201d bothers her more. When \u201cReal Housewives\u201d star Eboni K. Williams<\/a> appeared on the second episode to discuss her book \u201cPretty Powerful,\u201d<\/a> Ziwe asked the reality TV personality if \u201cugly people\u201d can be powerful, too. <\/p>\n

\"Comedian
Ziwe on her Showtime series \u201cZiwe\u201d <\/figcaption>
Barbara Nitke\/SHOWTIME<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although it\u2019s tongue in cheek, \u201cZiwe\u201d frequently tackles serious social issues such as immigration and race. <\/p>\n

\u201cComedy is how I process trauma,\u201d said Ziwe, who\u2019s based in Brooklyn. \u201cSo, it\u2019s not that this is something that I\u2019m choosing because I think it\u2019s a better route than being serious. This is a reaction to the world \u2013 the world is in such utter disarray that to me, it is laughable. To have an honest conversation, you have to listen. If my guest says something interesting, I\u2019ll follow that road. And that\u2019s what you\u2019re feeling when you watch. It\u2019s organic and really fresh.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although Ziwe has become well-known for making audiences laugh, that wasn\u2019t always her pursuit while she was attending college at Northwestern.<\/p>\n

\"Ziwe
Ziwe in a comedy sketch on \u201cZiwe\u201d <\/figcaption>
Greg Endries\/SHOWTIME<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPoetry was one of the things I liked the most,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I realized quickly that there aren\u2019t many professional poets who can survive. But I found comedy and I saw similarities, because it\u2019s about the economy of words and flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before her Showtime series, Ziwe cut her teeth as a writer on \u201cDesus & Mero\u201d and \u201cThe Rundown with Robin Thede.\u201d Her rise to fame might seem like overnight success to viewers but, to her, it\u2019s been a long time in the making.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working as an entertainer for years. I\u2019ve been a working writer since I was 25, I\u2019ve been doing live shows in New York City as well as performing. So, [this show] feels like a culmination of everything that I\u2019ve been doing. With Instagram Live [videos], that was a lot of talent booking and the research of being an interviewer. All of those skills I brought to my Showtime show. And that helped me to decide who would be good pairings on talent for each episode, and get even bigger people that I could never imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guest
Guest Patti Harrison (left) and Ziwe (right) in a comedy sketch on \u201cZiwe\u201d <\/figcaption>
Barbara Nitke\/SHOWTIME<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The show\u2019s guests are an eclectic mix of reality stars and politicians such as New York Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (who will appear on the June 13th episode). <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are equally important,\u201d said Ziwe, referring to politics and reality TV. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Housewives\u2019 are an incredibly popular show. The last President of the United States came from an unscripted television show\u2026to ignore this sect of culture because it\u2019s not \u2018highbrow\u2019 is elitist. It reveals so much about twenty-first century America. So much of it is fake, but even in that fakeness, those values reflect our world and our country. I love examining it.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n