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In the second episode of HBO’s _A Black Lady Sketch Show_, [Quinta Brunson](https://www.instagram.com/quintab/?hl=en)’s fictitious self—alongside fellow series leads Robin Thede, Ashley Nicole Black, and Gabrielle Dennis—reveals what she packed for the apocalypse. Unlike her companions for the End Times, who packed a dildo, medical supplies, and clothes, Brunson’s suitcase opens to reveal what Thede’s character refers to as, “a whole fucking Burning Man.” The proud owner of a bag overflowing with weed, pills, and various stoner accoutrement, Brunson remarks with a shrug, “It’s just the essentials.”
The end of the world is just one of the scenarios that the 29-year old actress has depicted on _A Black Lady Sketch Show_. The show, whose second season was announced just hours before I chat with Brunson, also hilariously postulates on other topics, including the adventures of “the CIA’s best…and most regular looking agent,” a bad bitch support group, and the dramatic decline of a woman who didn’t wear makeup to work. Each sketch manages to cleverly satirize issues that women regularly face, oftentimes skewering impossible beauty standards.
Brunson got her start in improv and sketch comedy, but transitioned to standup after going viral. She is well known for her work at [_Buzzfeed_](https://www.buzzfeed.com/quintab), a catalyst of her career which has also included a stint on _iZombie_, and now, her starring role on _A Black Lady Sketch Show._
I chatted with Brunson about her aspirations for season two of _A Black Lady Sketch Show,_ what she would pack for the apocalypse, and her forecast for the next decade. Check out the _Flaunt_ Q&A below.
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**Congrats on being renewed for _A Black Lady Sketch Show_! What are you looking forward to in season two?**
Thanks! I’m excited. As you know, I’m just an actor on the show, so I’m really looking forward to getting even more outrageous roles outside, more outrageous characters. Usually with season two comes with things like a bigger budget, so that means we can probably take the show to limits that we weren’t able to in the first season. One of the best things about doing a season two, I think, is regrouping on what was done in the first season, gathering feedback, gathering what worked and what didn’t, and making a better season two. I’m excited for us to do that.
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**I really love how everything on the show has a strong underlying theme of female empowerment, but it’s always really smart and satirical. Obviously I won’t ask _why_ you chose to do that, but could you speak more on that as a stylistic choice? I think a lot of comedy these days is pretty cynical and it’s nice to see something that can also have a wholesome message, even if it is buried.**
Oh, interesting! Well, once again, I’m just an actor on the show, and I think that the creators and writers really wanted to create a joyful space for these new characters to thrive in, at least to begin with. I know for me as an actor, I make stylistic choices to keep things fun and light because, why not? Everything is so dark and complicated and episodic, and it was fun to be silly onscreen, especially on a network like HBO, that currently is kind of anti-silly in a way. Not on purpose, that’s just what they’ve come to represent over the years, kind of meta-dramas, dramatic comedies, things like that. But it was fun to go on a network like that, as an actor, and make very silly choices.
**Who is your dream guest star on _A Black Lady Sketch Show_?**
Ooh, that’s a good question. Idris Elba would be fun, I think. I think he’d be a great guest star. I just want to see him be silly. Or James Earl Jones, someone like that, someone who is known for having a deep voice and for being serious, coming to play in this world would be really fun. Morgan Freeman would be great. He’s actually really funny. I want to get him in our arena.
**You’ve accomplished a lot before the age of 30. What are some things you would like to accomplish within the next decade?**
The next decade…
**Sorry, I know that’s kind of monumental.**
Yeah, that’s crazy, you’re really making me think here. I would like to have a family. I have a huge big family, which is great, but I would like to have a small family of my own. \[Family is\] really important to me. I would like to have my own body of work. It’s been wonderful being a part of other people’s projects, you know? Like this show was another example of \[me as\] an actor on this project. I would like to have my own body of work to serve as a staple of my own idea of storytelling, my own idea of humor. That’s really important to me. I was just explaining to a friend in music that when musicians put out albums, I feel like what writers can compare that to is having their own TV show—writers and creators. It takes so long to make, it actually takes a long time to get there, so that’s something that I’m constantly working toward is having a show that I can be proud of. A baby.
**Two babies, in a sense.**
Yeah, exactly!
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**What would be your dream show to create?**
Something that is funny to watch, that is telling of the times that we’re living in now. I look at shows like _30 Rock_ and _The_ _Mary Tyler Moore Show_. To me, those shows are hilarious, but they also serve as little time capsules for what the world was like at that time, especially for their female leads, and I would like to be a part of creating one more of those. Right now there’s a couple, there’s _Fleabag_—well _Fleabag_ is something I’m obsessed with right now—but shows like that are out there, and I would like to add to the mix, my version of that.
**How did you foray your stand-up comedy into acting, writing, and producing?**
Well I actually started in improv and sketch first, and was very interested in comedic writing—that was my focus. Then I had videos go viral on Instagram, and that kind of changed my course. Before my course was, “Okay, I’ll get really good at writing, really good at stage performance, and work towards _SNL,_ and then work towards a show.” Then, when I had videos that went viral online, the path changed a little bit, and I had a lot of demand to be seen in person by people, and so stand-up was the easy way to perform for people. I was really enjoying it. I looked at it as another form of storytelling, and while it’s not my favorite vehicle of storytelling, it was one that I enjoyed for a very long time, and still do from time to time.
**What would you pack for an end of the world party?**
\[Laughs\] Oh boy, of course as many items of canned goods as I could deal with. Just a ton of whiskey and wine, probably, just to have. Because you need that. Scrabble. I love Scrabble, I think it passes the time well. As much water as I can get my hands on. I think that’s it, I can’t think about that too much. Water, whiskey, wine, Scrabble.
**The three W’s.**
\[Laughs\] The three W’s, Scrabble, canned food. I’m not a big weed smoker like my character in the show.
**I feel like that would make you really hungry and you’d eat all your canned food, so maybe it’s for the best.**
Exactly.
**At this point in your life, have you finally been on a** [**nice date**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op2pK_w8_oY)**?**
I have. I have been on quite a few and they were all great, and one of them turned into a full-time boyfriend \[laughs\].
**Would you ever be interested in working on a production that isn’t a comedy?**
Oh yeah, definitely, I would love to. I’m very into the idea of performing in a drama, that has come up before. I also think comedies and dramas share a lot of the same sentiments and I would love to be able to give those skills to a dramatic piece.
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Photographed by: [Nolwen Cifuentes](https://www.instagram.com/nolwencif/?hl=en).
Styled by: [Sunzhique](https://www.instagram.com/sunzhique/?hl=en).
Hair: [Randy Stodghill](https://www.instagram.com/hairjunkierandy/?hl=en) using [Oribe](https://www.oribe.com/index.php) at [Opus Beauty](https://opusbeauty.com).
Makeup: [Bethany Garita](https://www.instagram.com/bethanygmakeup/?hl=en) using [UOMA Beauty](https://uomabeauty.com) at [Exclusive Artists](http://eamgmt.com).
Manicure: [Merrick Fisher](https://www.instagram.com/merricures/?hl=en) using [Chanel Le Vernis](https://www.chanel.com/us/makeup/nails/c/5x1x7/) at [Opus Beauty](https://opusbeauty.com).
Produced by: [BJ Panda Bear](http://instagram.com/bjpandabear/?hl=en).
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