A Black Lady Sketch Show Review: If I’m Paying These Chili’s Prices (Season 2 Episode 5)
On A Black Lady Sketch Show Season 2 Episode 5, “If I’m Paying These Chili’s Prices,” it’s magic wigs, an unexpected self-help seminar, and the return of a popular game show.
This is one of the series’ best episodes to date, as it leans into sketches specifically made for Black women. Every single joke plays to an audience that doesn’t routinely get comedy in its voice.
If we needed to tell a new viewer where to start with A Black Lady Sketch Show, this episode would be top of the list, but honestly, just watch them all, because it’s that good.
Newcomers Laci Mosley and Skye Townsend have blended in seamlessly, following Robin Thede, Ashley Nicole Black, and Gabrielle Dennis to every ridiculous place the joke takes them.
Look no further than “Sit Down Somewhere” to see how effortlessly hilarious Thede and Mosley are as the hosts. A callback to “Get the Belt,” guest star Skai Jackson fights for a seat in the high school cafeteria.
When we get repeat sketches, they’re never the same premise, which allows us to enjoy the familiarity, while also getting something new.
The fearless nature of A Black Lady Sketch Show is another reason we keep coming back. In the episode’s craziest sketch, two friends attend a self help seminar that ends with the audience voluntarily walking into hell.
Of course, it’s really all a ruse so that one of the women can get out of being in the other’s wedding.
It’s one of those bits that’s so wild it works. We’re never sure where it’s going, but Black is so committed we know she’s taking us somewhere funny. And the payoff is worth the journey. Something that’s pretty much always true on this show.
As much as we like the nods to things like high school angst and unwanted friend commitments, the show is at its best when it speaks to life as a Black woman. Never has A Black Lady Sketch Show been more authentic than with “Wigzard of Oz.”
For Black women, their hair is a source of pain, anger, frustration, and love. Much of the anger and frustration comes from the salon. Some stylists are known for being criminally late, damaging hair and skin, then not even giving the customer what they want.
The show tackles that with every Black woman’s dream salon Wigzard of Oz, run by Gigi, perfectly portrayed by guest Elise Neal. Every reveal and joke is brilliantly spot on.
Its authenticity makes it even funnier, as the jumbo conditioner, curling irons that don’t burn, and wigs that never tangle are hilariously accurate.
This sketch is the highlight of the season, proving the importance of Black women having a space in comedy that’s 100 percent by them, for them.
From one episode to the next, we never know what to expect from A Black Lady Sketch Show, and it’s one of the reasons we like it so much. A lot of what we watch nowadays is predictable, so to have a truly unpredictable comedy to look forward to is such a rare treat.
What did you think of this episode of A Black Lady Sketch Show? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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A Black Lady Sketch Show airs Fridays at 11 p.m. on HBO.
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Stephanie Holland
Stephanie Holland is a nerdy lover of Star Wars, Disney, Doctor Who, Arrowverse, Star Trek and WWE. Is living the dream of turning a lifelong obsession with TV into an actual job. Still waiting for a reboot of the '80s classic Small Wonder.