When we talked about Quinta Brunson last week, Janelle James came up in the discussion. Janelle plays principal Ava Coleman on Abbott Elementary. She was a stand-up comedian and writer prior to Abbott. Quinta insisted Janelle be hired over some better-known actors for that role because she wanted to make Janelle known to a wider audience. Janelle is an absolute joy in the role. Now that she’s on more people’s radar, her star is quickly rising. Unfortunately when someone is recognized for their work, the trolls come to find them. When Janelle spoke with the Huffington Post, they asked her how she dealt with such things. Janelle said she’s been dealing with it for a while now because she’s a female comedian. She said that plenty of people don’t like women in comedy, so she’s learned to ignore that energy.
On criticisms of Ava’s portrayal of Black women: I saw that one post but didn’t dive into the comments. I’ve been online for a long time as a female comedian, and I already learned my lesson a long time ago to not care about what people say. This is a comedy, a sitcom, fictional work. The ratings will speak about whether it’s a good show or not, and so far they are saying it is. Of course, people are free not to like it. But just know: I don’t represent anybody but myself and this character. If I paid attention to every person who had something to say, I wouldn’t get anything done, so I don’t think about it all.
On how she’s learned to address criticisms: Comedy is a male-dominated profession, and a lot of times, women get a lot of shit online. Some people don’t think we exist. Some people don’t think we’re funny. Some people don’t want us here. Look, those are all things that people are allowed to think about, but they don’t need to bring that to me. That’s what people don’t understand: No one’s forcing you to listen to my albums, watch my stand-up, anything. So, that’s what I learned. I can’t engage with people who feel like they have to bring their bad news to my face. No matter what, I’m going to continue to do what I do. You know, I never know what their goal is, except what, hurt my feelings? So, my lack of reaction is less about my feelings being hurt and more about wasting my time, so I don’t pay attention.
On how she knew she wanted to do stand-up: I’ve always been a sarcastic person and people I dated would say, “Oh, you’re hilarious,” but it never occurred to me to be a comedian. I think most Black women are funny. Whether we get credit or not, we just are; we’re hilarious. So, this wasn’t me being some rebel or having this revelation. I never really thought about it. Honestly, it was just by chance. I did an open mic, and it was less about, “Oh, I think I’m funny now” and more about the feeling of getting laughs. That’s what I’m addicted to, so, the only way to get what I’m addicted to is to be funny. That’s how it works for me. I really like comedy, and making people laugh is one of the few pleasures of being alive. It’s a gift ― that’s how I look at it.
When people say comedy is male-dominated, they mean it with a heavy emphasis on the dominated part of that phrase. There is very little interest in evolving that boys club, too. Some male comedians that have truly made it big take a female comedian under their wings but mainly it’s women looking out for each other. Even though we’re seeing a lot more women in comedy now, it doesn’t mean things have actually improved for them. Janelle puts it succinctly in her answer about online abuse. I’d even argue it’s not that people don’t find women funny, it’s that they don’t want to find them funny. It really is weird how focused some people are on tearing women comedians down. But I appreciate Janelle’s ability to put their issues in perspective and move past it. I love her line, “they don’t need to bring that to me.” I should start using that in my own life. I could stand to learn from most of what Janelle says here.
Janelle’s episode of The Standups is the fourth episode of season three on Netflix. It won’t shock you to know that I thought it was terrific. If you haven’t checked her out as Principal Ava on Abbott Elementary, you should. She really is amazing in that role.
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