Just like her predecessor Stephen Colbert, Ziwe is controversial. By no means is that a negative, Ziwe's entire angle is to facilitate important discussions about race and equality. One cannot bring about and have those honest conversations without appearing as controversial to someone; controversy is not a bad thing if it gets important conversations started. Ziwe may be controversial to some people, but she's obviously loved by others, considering the second season of her show Ziwe has just begun.
Speaking of season two, Ziwe has already begun stirring the pot, if you will. In the first episode Ziwe has a few choice words for Megyn Kelly, a conservative news personality, who called Ziwe's first season "racist" against white women. Ziwe also has a sit-down conversation with controversial radio host Charlamagne Tha God and directly asks him about his "beef" with multiple black women. Ziwe's ability to ask these questions just solidifies her place as one of the great confrontational, satirical comedians of this next era, years after Colbert stopped doing so on The Colbert Report. To learn more about the next great comedian, asking the right questions and making people squirm, keep reading about Ziwe and give her show a watch on Showtime.
Who is Ziwe?
Ziwe is a Nigerian American woman with a degree from Northwestern University and a grocery list of great career moves (including actually interning on The Colbert Report). Ziwe is an accomplished Nigerian American woman in her field who is breaking proverbial glass ceilings, but is much more than her resume; she is also a hilarious human being. Ziwe aspires to create a place where we can be honest about race and the language we use when discussing it. The topic itself is most definitely taboo, but when you add comedy, things get even more interesting; sometimes it makes conversations much more uncomfortable, but sometimes easier.
Ziwe does this not to make a safe space for racists or to be simply malicious, but to facilitate good discussions about race. While it may sound like Ziwe is trying to stump her guests (which she may be doing sometimes) she is trying to facilitate important discussions about race, while happening to be absolutely hilarious. Ziwe also makes a significant effort to uplift other Black women in the entertainment industry. Her ability to uplift Black women and bring out the honesty in her guests is what makes Ziwe so impactful.
What is Her Comedy?
As previously mentioned, Ziwe is definitely a controversial figure in the late-night talk show realm. Again, as previously mentioned, this is not a bad thing. Controversy can be good, it makes people talk, and that's exactly what Ziwe wants to do. Ziwe's purpose with her comedy is to make people talk, and have conversations they don't want to. In her mind, if she won't bring it up, who will? Thus, by bringing it up, Ziwe not only creates these conversations on her show but also encourages conversations, engendering viewers to discuss with themselves and their friends.
By choosing "hot-button" issues, Ziwe puts herself into the news in a way that allows these important conversations to be discussed where they would not have before; she's one of the few people on TV who, as The New Yorker says, is in "an interminable dance with whiteness;" they say this pejoratively, but nobody else on talk shows or late-night television is shaking things up like Ziwe does with this dance. She takes the utter weirdness of the talk show from Eric Andre, the satirical and confrontational nature of the Colbert Report, the sketch and musical comedy of shows like A Black Lady's Sketch Show, and combines them all with her own ebullient, political, radical nature to create the great Ziwe series.
How Does She Compare to Colbert?
Who cares? It has become a trend to compare comedians to those who came before them. Honestly? It doesn't matter if Ziwe is "the new Colbert" or not, she's Ziwe and that's what matters. Ziwe did get her start as an aforementioned intern on Colbert's show, however, and has stated that Colbert is the template for the career she aspires to have. She saw what he did on the Colbert Report and was able to let that experience marinate in her creative mind until subverting it and transforming it in her own way.
Having people to look up to and model is vital to people trying to succeed in the entertainment industry. Colbert is a great model for Ziwe, but that doesn't mean she needs to exceed him in fame standards or live up to his legacy in any way. Having a model (or an "icon," as Ziwe says) is great, but that doesn't mean you need to become the next version of that person. Ziwe doesn't need to be "the next Colbert;" she just needs to be Ziwe, hilarious and raw in her own way.