In 2017, after nearly 10 years of comedy, London Hughes spent $10,000 on her first one-woman show, “London Hughes: Superstar (it’s just nobody’s realized it)” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She had a 100-seat theater to perform in every day for a month. About six people, sometimes fewer, showed up each night.
“It took me six months to write the show. I put everything into it and just gave it one last go and it died. And then that was the lowest point,” Hughes said. “But there was a happy ending then, two years later , I came back to the same festival with a show called ‘To Catch a Dick,’ and then that show was nominated for best show and that show is a Netflix special… so you never give up.”
Hughes and fellow comedians Sam Jay and Michelle Buteau sat down with Amount film and media reporter Angelique Jackson for “Room for Discussion: Mentorship & Black Women in Comedy,” a conversation presented by Messenger. Their central advice for success was to “be yourself”. Hughes recalled feeling pressure to fit into Britain’s overwhelmingly white, male comedy scene. Then she had an epiphany – leading her to focus on impressing herself and speaking her truth.
“That’s when things started happening for me,” Hughes said. “I forgot the rules and did it my own way. I feel like the best thing about comedy, for me, is the authenticity of it.”
All the trio have impressive resumes that range from performing in stand-up specials and acting to hosting and producing. While that’s a reflection of their talents, it’s also a result of how the entertainment industry, and especially the comedy world, works.
“As a black woman, I feel like we have to do everything,” Hughes explained. “I don’t think there was ever a straight path for me to get into the business.”
For Buteau, that meant stepping out of her behind-the-scenes role.
“I started editing and producing fields because I had a college professor tell me I was too fat to be on camera,” she said. “For me, I was just really tired of producing basic people and giving them my shine and teaching people to be talented, so I thought, ‘Oh, what if you actually work with talented people?'”
Members of Displaced Comedians, a Facebook group of comics created for networking during the pandemic, joined the conversation seeking advice. Buteau, Hughes and Jay opened up about the personal nature of the industry and the hurdle of self-doubt.
“The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was me,” Jay said. “I feel like once you figure that out, the rest of the stuff is just stuff. But that’s the hardest part, is overcoming the fear of continuing to push yourself, of not allowing yourself to get comfortable.”
Watch the full conversation below.