“Yvonne Orji: Momma, I Made It!,” premiering Saturday on HBO, encapsulates the entirety of who Orji is: a breakout star of “Insecure,” a seasoned stand-up comedian and a 36-year-old Nigerian American woman, who is in real life a far cry from her very sexually active character, Molly.
Read the full piece at LA Times
From LA Times –
Yvonne Orji didn’t intend for her first stand-up special to be so interactive.
Onstage at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. — which has the third-largest population of Nigerian immigrants among U.S. cities — she circled back to a bit about Nigerians’ distinct haggling strategy: being visibly insulted by outlandish prices. She repeatedly reenacted such shock — widening her eyes, dropping her jaw and placing her hand dramatically on her chest — and said, with great emphasis, “Me? A whole me?”
The phrase, which the audience was saying along with her by the end of her set, is “such a personal affront, like, ‘How dare you talk to me, the entirety of who I am, like that?’” Orji explained to The Times.
“Disrespect is probably the biggest insult you can give to a Nigerian, especially an elder Nigerian. I love how the crowd got so into it. That’s what comedy is supposed to be: rallying people together to actively participate in your joy.”
