Bold Brit Gina Yashere Brings Her Comic Stylings to Punch Line

Beyond her bold British accent, London-born and New York-based comedian Gina Yashere has a voice that exudes confidence and fearlessness. She broke into the American comedy scene when she appeared on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and then moved to the States shortly after while continuing to make numerous TV appearances. Since then, Yashere has performed around the world, back in the UK, as well as South America and Asian cities.

I recently spoke on the phone with Gina about her upcoming shows at Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco as part of a month-long series featuring women in comedy. Many comics tend to answer questions in one-word replies or can only talk in punchlines. Gina is not one of them. Despite a scratchy connection, I could easily hear the intense passion she has for her craft in her voice within every sentence she spoke.

Ronn Vigh: Why did you decide to do stand-up comedy?

Gina Yashere: I was an engineer, so that's why I did it. There is a lot of redundancy in that job but I had the summer off. The first thing I wrote wasn't actually comedy. I wrote what I thought was a play and people laughed their asses off.

I would imagine that the engineering field is like stand-up comedy, and dominated by men?

Exactly! I was the first female engineer that Otis in the UK ever had. I was the only woman out of 3,000 men and I went through the baptism of fire. They were sexist, racist...compared to that, comedy is a cakewalk for me!

I refer to myself as a comic who happens to be gay. You're black, female, and a lesbian. To me, comedy is bringing your most authentic self to stage. But as soon as you do that, people want to label you. How do you do that, but avoid people pigeonholing you as a black or gay comic?

As you said, I'm already female and black. Those two I couldn't avoid. And, then I'm from London. So, in the beginning I tried to make my comedy as broad as possible, not relying on any one thing. I wanted to establish myself as a good comic first and not be labeled as a lesbian. Now, that I'm established, I can start to talk about my sexuality onstage more.

You show a great deal of confidence onstage. Does that come naturally?

I'm an Aries; we're naturally confident and cocky! But the audience can also smell fear. They can all decide at the same moment to turn against you and you have to be confident, especially as a female comedian, as we already have a horrible reputation. And, it also comes from doing this for over 20 years. I know I'm good at this and got hours of material.

Performing on different coasts is tough for some comics, but you regularly perform internationally. Is it hard to adjust to audiences of different cultures?

Not really. I travel so much that I got a lot of material for wherever I go; Singapore, China and so on. Plus, I'm British and living in America, so you have to learn from that. When I first started coming to America I realized that I have a very strong Cockney accent and some people didn't understand me so I had to work on flattening it out.

You're headlining at Punch Line in San Francisco, which is having a month of all-female comics as a part of Women's History Month. Male or female, who were your biggest influences in comedy?

You know, I didn't have any. I never watched comedy, unlike many comedians who have an encyclopedic knowledge of comedy from 1920 to the present day. It was just never a thing I watched growing up. My mom was a teacher and I came from a very academic family. It's the same now. I can't say I have an influence rather than I like being in the clubs and watching my peers work.

When you're not performing, what are you currently really into?

I love being in bed and watching Netflix. I just watched the entire season of "The Man in The High Castle." Binge-watching Netflix, HBO, Showtime... that's my thing, because when you're out working as a comic that's when your partying. You're giving out your energy to people and people are feeding off of it, and then all you want to do is relax when you get home.

On the flip side, what do you hope would just go away?

All things Kardashian. In this era, people who have no discernable skills can now make celebrity status. I wish that -and they- would go away.

Do you have any plans for your time in San Francisco when you're not performing?

Well, I have a couple of ex-girlfriends from Oakland. So, I'll see them. I love San Francisco. I loved going there when I lived in L.A.

Oh, you lived in L.A. before New York?

I was in L.A. for seven years and I loved the weather and lifestyle there, but felt very unfulfilled. My true love is comedy, and that's more accessible in New York City. L.A., there's a lot of acting but I'm really a comic. If I made ten million doing stand-up, I would gladly never set forth in an audition room again. I just love stand-up and I recently taped a sold out special at the O2 Academy in Brixton. I only ever want to tape my specials in London or San Francisco. Both cities have the best audiences. This one's called Ticking Boxes.

Did you say ticking?

Oh, yes. I'm female. Black. Lesbian..... Ticking in England is like saying 'checking' in America. So, like checking boxes, but ticking.

Gina Yashere performs at Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery St. March 9-11, 8pm. March 11 also 10pm. March 12 at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. $16.50-$22.50. All shows are 18 & over with valid photo ID. 397-7573. www.Punchlinecomedyclub.com www.ginayashere.com