As a stand-up, to be at home for a whole year was wonderful
COMEDY STAR GINA YASHERE TELLS MARION MCMULLEN HOW SHE’S OVERCOME HER DOG PHOBIA TO FIND PUPPY LOVE DURING LOCKDOWN
You used to have a whole anti-dog comedy routine, but has that all changed?
It has. I was worn down. I’ve never had a dog. I wanted a dog as a kid, but my mum was very anti-animals and anti-pets and then I got chased down the street and bitten by a dog, when I was about nine.
So I did not want pets for a very long time, but my partner Nina is an animal lover and she worked on me during quarantine.
Eventually I was like, ‘OK, maybe it won’t be bad to have a little pup’.
(Laughs) And we got this dog and, honestly, I love this dog as if it came out of my own womb.
Oh, my God, I love this dog so much. I’m up at 3am in the morning when she wants to take a dump.
That is how much I love this dog.
You’ve been keeping people entertained with your Corona Diary film shorts. How did they come about?
I was keeping myself busy. Me and Nina were in the house together, couldn’t go anywhere obviously, nobody could, the whole world was on lockdown.
So I decided to keep ourselves busy by doing silly, fun sketches for our fans on Instagram.
It was entertaining ourselves and entertaining the interwebs.
Have you been missing stand-up comedy?
Absolutely. We’ve been back in LA doing shows for the last five months. There have been outdoor shows and shows in parking lots and that, so I’ve done a few of those.
I’ve enjoyed being at home because as a stand-up comic I was travelling non-stop for 25 years.
I was on a plane pretty much three weeks out of a month going somewhere so to be at home and in my own bed for a year was pretty wonderful, but I have missed the live element. When I got back on stage it was like, ‘I’ve forgot how much I miss this. How much I love this’.
You’ve brought out memoir Cack-handed about your family, early days in London and the racism you faced. Was it hard to relive some moments?
It was actually quite cathartic writing it. I didn’t realise it would be like that, but it was.
You don’t realise that you are holding on to trauma from the past, feelings from the past, so when I was writing it I was living it.
The chapter about my step father, the step b ****** , all the feelings of resentment and hate came pouring out of me. I was as angry writing it that day in 2020 as I was when I was 14 and it happened to me.
But it was nice to let all that stuff out. You don’t realise you are holding onto it. It’s luggage for years that you did not know you were carrying around so letting it out on the page was definitely cathartic.
Where did the title come from?
The definition of Cackhanded is left-handed, which I am, and also awkward and clumsy, which I am. It also represents the unconventional track my life and career has taken.
This is a book about trying, whether you succeed or not. About wanting something and going for it, despite how ridiculous, impossible and stupid it sounds to other people.
My mum is reading the book and so far she is enjoying it. I dedicated the book to her, but I don’t think she’s got to the chapter yet where she wouldn’t let me go to a party across the street and I talk about how much I hated her that day.
She’s at the beginning when I talk about her history. She said, ‘it’s very good, you’ve got a couple of things wrong, but it’s very good’.
You grew up watching American TV shows and always wanted to live there. Has it met your expectations?
Yeah, it took a long time to reach the level of success I’m at.
I’ve been at it for a long time, but I knew I would make it in the end and that whatever level of success I get here would far surpass anything I would have achieved in England. So in that respect it has lived up to all my expectations.
I loved New York because it was a busier, crazier London and I loved the comedy club scene and the culture and the people. I love LA because of the space and beautiful weather. When I came here 14 years ago, I lived in LA for seven years saying, ‘I don’t want to see another winter again. I’m going to do comedy in the sun’.
But I was not making a living so I moved to New York. I was very happy in New York and then this TV show (Bob Hearts Abishola) came along and Hollywood came calling and LA is so much better when you’ve a success.
We’ve bought a little house and have beautiful views of the mountains and the city. It is the American dream.
What is next for you?
I’m busy working on season three of the show. I’m acting on the show and produce and write it as well so I start work three months before the actors come back.
I’m on Zoom with the writers and writing for eight hours a day.
I’ll do a few dates in New York before we start filming and when we end the season we get three months hiatus before the next season. Then I might hit the road, but I don’t want to do to much. I kind of enjoy being at home. (Laughs) I’m getting old.
She said, ‘it’s very good, you’ve got a couple of things wrong, but it’s very good’
Gina on her mum reading the book