moniesha williams

This is a conversation between Ed Davis and Monisha Williams, a stand-up comedian. Monisha talks about how she got started in comedy and her love for it. She mentions her influences, including her mom who did comedy for them as kids. Monisha also discusses her characters and her experience in comedy contests. She mentions some of her favorite comedians and her admiration for Tony Roberts. Monisha is focused on enjoying her time on stage and doesn't think too far ahead about her future in comedy. She writes all her material but also ad-libs and incorporates audience interactions into her act. She handles hecklers by making something funny out of it. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the very first of many who's at the bar. Who's at the bar. Yes. Thank you. I am your host, Ed Davis, sitting with the proprietor of the bar, Mike Bass. Yes, sir. What's up, Mike? Hey, man. What's going on? How you doing? Everybody good? Doing great, man. I was in the back of the bar. I ran into this person. I had to bring him out. She's been doing stand-up comedy for nine years. She is the host or the inventor of the Dumpskits, okay, her own comedy troupe. She can be seen July 21st at the Comedy Club of Kansas City on her One Leg at a Time tour. Every ticket purchased comes with a T-shirt, probably a Dumpskits shirt, okay. I've worked with this lady for, God, I don't know how many years, but without further ado, let's bring out Monisha Williams, y'all. Hey, hey. What's going on, man? What's going on? What's happening? What's happening? How you doing, Mo? I'm enjoying the day, man. I'm eating barbecues and sitting up here with my toes out. That's a good thing to have. Now, God, we go way back. In fact, when I got the gig at the Elks, you actually just took a day over just every month. This was my show. What got you started in stand-up? Oh, man, it's a crazy story, actually. I never thought you'd just walk up and be a stand-up. I was just looking for an open mic to hit because I was going to do a little bit of singing the night before I went to check out the Vibes. I was like, I'll go to a comedy night. They got those. I went in there, man, and saw a whole bunch of people go up. I was like, oh, so I guess anybody can do this. And they was like, yeah, there's a list in the back. So I went, signed up on the list. I think I went dead last. It was at the Uptown Arts Bar. I think I went dead last, man. I had a lot of fun. I just kept doing it. Did you have a routine? I did not. I went up there and said some very inappropriate things about the way Blue Ivy looked at the time. But that was something I had. And like I said, I had a lot of fun doing it. Did somebody tell you that? Or did you know that you were funny? What made you want to really get up there and do it? Were you comparing yourself to the people that were already on the stage? Or were you just always just so you're always funny? I was always funny. I think I was naturally funny. I used to get in trouble a lot because my mom would say, stupid ain't funny. All the time, I was like, man, I laugh every time. So I could understand that I was a little different. I had a funny bone. I used to get in trouble a lot for being funny. So I was like, I'm here. Why not? Who did you grow up watching? Or who did you admire growing up in the comedy world? Or was this just you just being you? I believe, honestly, my mom did a lot of comedy for us. I don't know why. But if you met my mom, you would know. You'd pretty much pick up on it immediately. But I won't say why. But my mom did comedy for us a lot. So I didn't even start watching comedy until I was like maybe 16. And it's Pimpin' Pimpin' by Cat Williams was the first one I ever saw. And then from there, I just watched so many other specials. But I didn't really watch comedy. So speaking of Cat, I was going to save this for later, but speaking of Cat Williams, it was said that when Cat was out there talking about people stealing jokes, and that's been an ongoing thing over there. Have you seen anybody steal some of your jokes? Or by comparison, have you stolen some? I will confirm that I have never stolen anything. I will not confirm or deny the fact that you may or may not have stolen a joke from me. No. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. Okay, one thing that I really do enjoy about your stand-up is your characters. Okay? When you're up there and you're telling your jokes and you just do all these different voices. You do your mom's. You do your dad. Whatever. Who's your favorite one? Oh, man. That is. You're going to start something over here. I don't want to. Okay. Okay. I can hear them bickering all in my head at the same time right now. You better pick me. I will say that I enjoy Granny B a lot more. Okay. Okay. Now, will Granny make an appearance July 21st? Granny will not. She will not make an appearance. Vocally, yes, but an actual appearance. Well, yeah. That would sit this one out. Okay. I saw you talk. I did catch you. I got to see you at the Elks. One of the things that I watched some of your TikToks. It kind of turned me on to your TikToks over there. Now, I know you do these impressions, and I'm kind of thinking that you throw your voice to make sure. You ain't got a spouse over there, I don't think, because we never see the spouse. When's your spouse going to make an appearance? She makes an appearance a lot, actually. Not on TikTok? I don't most of the time take her with me, because she won't agree with some of the stuff I say. However, she makes an appearance quite often. Okay, but she ain't on TikTok. I mean, you could do like Tim Allen on Clue Man. You could just put her on the other side of the fence. Have the covers over her face. No, I prefer, you know, I just prefer her to be, you know, her. You know what I'm saying? In other words, like when TikToks start paying you, you don't want to give her a cut. You know, you could say that too. I give her some voice acting. Yeah, voice acting pay is different from actual visual. Visually on TikTok pay. Yeah. You know, even though sometimes I think like that, I ain't get a prenup in the beginning. Now, how many kids do you actually have? Do I actually have? Oh, goodness. I don't even, you do kids in your show. Yes. Yeah. Is that just made up? No, it is not. I have four actual children. A lot of fun. Okay. If you don't mind, I'll bring you a couple of them. I don't need a couple of them. Nope, nope, nope. I got a couple and they all probably would love to be doing stand up. But you know what he is. So, yeah. Nope, nope, nope. Have you ever entered any comedy contest? I have. I've done a couple because I like the competition and I also like seeing different comics from all over the place. So, I have done quite a few. I did Fizzacola's Pride Festival. I did a couple others. But I went and I did The Night Owl the first time and didn't win at Little Rock Arkansas. I didn't win the second time. I went back and I won. And I got a big shiny trophy for it. Oh, wow. Nice. Now, do you do it for the competition? Do you do it just for the love of it? I would say it's a combination of both, man. You can't do one without doing it for the other, you know. I like the competition style and meeting other comedians and seeing what's out there and seeing, you know, basically if I can hang with them. And that's also a lot of fun. But you got to do it for the love of it, too, or you ain't having fun. That is so true. There you go. That is very true. If you had to name your top three comedians that you really like to watch, who would that be? Top three? Or top five. How about that? Oh, you're going to get me in trouble. I feel like y'all are trying to start something. I've got a lot of friends like, hey, man, you ain't picked me. And I'm like, man, top five. I love Ali Savick, beautiful storyteller. I'm going to place him number one right now. Tony Roberts is another good friend of mine, very funny man. Everything was different. Every time he taught me a lot while I was with him. I'm going to place him number two. There's a guy named Jersey the Hastin Sensation out right now doing his thing and a brilliant guy. So I'm going to place him three. Billy D. Washington, amazing. Absolutely amazing. I'm going to place him number four. And who? Number five. We need number five. That is hard. Y'all starting something. No, no, no, no. No, no. Okay. Now, I want to go, I want to talk about number two on your list. Okay. When did you hang out with Tony Roberts? I got a chance to meet him around year three, I want to say. I was at the Improv hosting for him. And I met him at the Improv here in Kansas City. Okay. Because a long time ago, God, in like 2000, when he was the Burger King man. I don't know if you remember, he did commercials for Burger King. Yeah. Yeah. During that time of his career, he came through here and he performed at my club. And I hand down put him number one. He, to me, I would love to do a show with him, but I find myself, like if he gave me 20 minutes, I'd probably do 15, just so he could get up there five minutes earlier. Okay. You know? Because I just want to hear what he's got to say. He is the man. Yeah. He is. He is. He is the man. It's why he number two. See, I told you don't make me do this. And it's just the stuff that he says. I just don't. I asked you not to make me do this. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Because when he performed at Meek's, oh, my God. And he did the, you need your eyes beat. Okay? Oh, God, that was hilarious. Oh. Now, as far as you, do you see yourself staying in stand-up? Or do you want to, like, movies, eventually maybe a sitcom? I mean, where does Monisha want to go? You know what? I don't even think that far ahead. I just know that comedy is the only thing I see right now. So I just want to get on stage and have a good time. And whatever happens after that happens after that. But for now, I just want to have a good time on stage. Okay. All righty. Let's see. Hold on. Mike has something to tell you, or ask you real quick. Yeah. How much of your material do you write? 100%. Nice. Do you ad-lib up on stage at all? Yes. And if I find something good, I always add. I keep it. I add it in. If an audience member yells out something that I like, I ask them immediately if I can keep it. If they say yes, I keep it. How do you handle hecklers? Or do you run into a lot of that? Well, it's hard to say that. Because when you say no, then you have a big bomb, and then here come the hecklers. Right. Right. I usually try to make something funny out of it. Right. Immediately, my brain starts turning over and trying to make something funny out of it. And if it's funny enough, they won't yell back out. Right. That is so true. But you can't bomb twice. They keep on talking after that. If it ain't funny, you got to constantly heckle it. Right. Now, how many people are in the Dump Kids? Officially and unofficially? Yeah. We have a lot of members. But seven. What seven are official members? Officially, I have seven. I won't name names, but I have seven. Oh, okay. And like I said, officially and unofficially, I can swap these people out. So I never want to say seven, and that don't mean the seven you get. Right. So how does somebody get into your troupe like that? How do they become a member? I love comedy. So I study different styles, and I always want to be intertwined with different styles. And people think different. So you have a variety of a show. And through watching these guys at nights or at shows, we talk a lot about where we want our careers to go. And once I figure out, you know, we like-minded, then we talk about making it a Dump Kid. What's the worst thing about stand-up? Bombing. Because sometimes you write something and you think, oh, it's hilarious, but then other people don't see it that way, and it's kind of crazy. So bombing is the hardest part because you've got to get up there and try new stuff. See, for me it was the travel. I just hated to travel. Being in a brand-new city all the time and, yeah, yeah, I hated that part of it. Everything else I loved. You drive, right? Yeah. Yeah, I ride passenger seats, so I'd just be chilling. The driver would be tired. I'd be like, hey, man, I'm over here, can't drive. I need to figure out something. And how about the pay? And how about the pay when you're on the road? I mean, everything pays different, you know. I accept all payment. I even take food stamps if you got it. I would travel a long way for some food stamps. Really? Okay. Have you ever been, like, promised something, and then at the end of the night, oh, well, we didn't draw the crowd like we wanted to. I can only give you this. I feel like that comes with the territory a little bit. It really does. Comedy is a thing that is very fickle. Sometimes these places can be sold out. Sometimes there can be nobody. But if you set a four-door deal, that's what it is, you know, the door deal, unfortunately. Okay. So how can someone listening to this book you? How can they go about booking you? Oh, man, you can hit me up on Instagram, MyNishaWilliamsComedy. I know it's been a long time. Talked to my parents about it. But MyNishaWilliamsComedy on IG, or, you know, you can always catch me at a show and be like, hey, man, I want you to do something. Or hit me up on, I think it's text now, not even Twitter. Oh, I know. I know. And MyNishaWilliamsComedy, too. Okay. So what got you to doing TikTok? What drew you to TikTok? I followed it for a long time, too, y'all. I really did. I followed it. But, you know, when the pandemic happened, you can't go nowhere. And TikTok just stuck you right on in. So I was bored, but nothing to do, so made a TikTok. Right. Now, the TikToks that you made, my favorite, and I haven't seen one in a while, was when you went to Airbnb. See? When are we going to get some more of those? And for the people that don't know, go ahead. It's crazy because I really like these, right? But the dumb skits don't really like them. They be like, hey, man, you're going to get us in a lot of trouble. And I was like, you know what? Y'all probably right. I should probably stop doing this. But I liked them a lot, too. We probably will be seeing more of them once I convince them that they would. Yeah. Now, for the people that don't know, Monisha, it was almost like sneaking in the movie bit that Robert Townsend did of Hollywood Shuffle. Except that she wasn't sneaking in. She was actually coming into an Airbnb and giving you, like, the whole, you know, hey, welcome to my house, okay? Here's my living room. Here's my this. But she don't know everything that was in there because she's looking around. So it would be like, yeah, welcome to my bar. Yeah, here's a bar right here. Oh, and this is where, you know, where you just have to go. Oh, God, it was hilarious. And it was basically just Airbnbs that she was sneaking into. And I was like, oh, my God, you need the owner to show up while you're there. While you're there. You're like an Eddie Murphy. Was that 48 hours he did that or Beverly Hills Cop? Beverly Hills Cop where he stole the house. Yeah. Yeah. So we need more of those, okay, Monisha? Monisha didn't get it. Yeah. You can use my house. I might take you up on that. Yeah, just don't open up drawers. Don't open drawers. Don't swipe right. Don't open up. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God. So it is Memorial Weekend. So how did you celebrate this weekend? Man, we had some barbecue. Like I said, got my toes out. I'm feeling good. Cool. Now, do you cook? A little bit. I cook just a little bit. Okay. Not too much because I enjoy my wife's cooking. Favorite barbecue spot in Kansas City? It's got to be Gates. Can't go against it. I may have helped you. You put no thought into that. I can't go against it. Even when they get on your nerves at the beginning? They didn't let me. It made me think fast. I may have helped you. All right. So you just pissed off your spouse. She's mad at you. You got to come up with your go-to dish. What are you making? A little ramen and noodle. You know what I mean? A little cheese, a little butter. And we got a meal. Oh, God. I'm sorry, baby. All right. Now she goes just the opposite. She made you mad. What is her go-to dish? Air. Because that's what I'm going to be eating. Air. She's not cooking nothing. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. School's out. Any traveling with the family? Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. But I'm going to be traveling a lot by myself doing comedy this summer. How many shows are you doing? I got like maybe like 40 more for the year. And then I'll relax. Wow. Okay. Nice. All right. Some of your favorite places to play? I don't know. See, man, you started stuff again. You started stuff again. Favorite cities. You ain't even got to give me the club. Okay. Okay. Of course I love performing at home. Okay. So since this is a recorded podcast, I'm going to put that number one. That's a good answer. Yeah. Number two, who are you starting stuff? No, I just didn't know if there were some cities that you really liked. Yeah. This is a recorded podcast. Other people won't see it that way. Number two. No, it'll make them up. I didn't say bad cities. I didn't say cities you'll never go back to. But they'll feel like you said that. They'll feel like that was the question. Two, Arkansas. Three, Tennessee. Oh, wow. God, Lacey, I didn't know that you had traveled all down south. Oh, yeah. We had a blast everywhere. So you've been all the way down to Florida? Yes. And, like, what states have you not been to? Or is there a lot of those? I want to go to North Dakota. North Dakota? Yeah. And maybe Virginia. Oh, wow. Utah. Okay. And then we pretty much did it. Wow. So you've been to Pennsylvania? Yeah. Oh, wow. What cities did you hit there? I don't remember because I've remained inebriated the most of the ride. And I was in the passenger seat. So I don't know. But we went on a nice little tour. Cool. Hey, we're down to our last five minutes. So we always play this game right before we wrap it up. It's I'm not a hater, but I hate things. Okay. Now, you've got to be honest with us. You've got to play this game with us, okay? Okay. All right. Okay. I'll start off. All right. I'm not a hater, but I hate things. Okay. I hate the fact that now with the success that Caitlin Clark has drawn to the WNBA, that if she has a bad game or she does, they say the WNBA women are hating on her. No, these are professional athletes wanting to win. They're not going to roll over because she's Caitlin or, you know, or whatever. No. These people are feeding families and they want to win. Yeah. I just hate that they think that these other women are not grateful and happy to have her in the league. Because they are. Well, they get TV time, too. Yes. But it's a game. It's their livelihood. A game that she is losing. Her team is winning. Fighting. Yes. Cool. Okay. I'm going to go next. All right. I'm not a hater, but I hate things. And I'm going to say, because we're talking about comedy, I hate the fact that on a lot of social media now people are asking, you know, who does the world find funny, but you don't find them funny? And you've got people hating on each other, creating more division. Wow. These comedians and these people are naming people, you know, Kevin Hart, Mike Epps, and people out there that are making it. Yeah. And so, like I said, to have them hating and understanding that these people are doing a hell of a job, whether you like them or not. I just hate the fact that they pit these guys against each other. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But that's social media, you know. Thank you. Thank you. Somebody in their mama's basement. All right. What you got, Mo? I'm not a hater. I hate the fact that I hate TikTok. Like, I don't know why. I was just sitting here bored and I just started making things up. I don't know. I hate TikTok. It's not a big problem. No TikTok. It's scary. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 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