After studying acting at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, her list of television and theatre credits began to grow, and she made her comedy debut as the troublesome Kadean in comedian Dane Baptiste’s show Sunny D in 2015.

The star is on Twitter and … Already familiar to international audiences after an appearance in Netflix’s Sex Education, she’s also working on Amazon’s reimagining of A League of Their Own, alongside Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson. All rights reserved. Ikumelo’s newfound funny side made enough of an impression on the BBC that they asked her to come on board for Famalam – a new sketch show headed up by black creatives – not just as an actor, but as a writer, too. I hope other people do, and if they don’t – OK … this is awkward!’”, Luckily, it seems that other people do relate to Brain in Gear, which scooped the Bafta for best short form programme and has been commissioned for a full series on BBC Two. Brain in Gear debuted as one of the BBC’s critically acclaimed Comedy Shorts in 2019 and received a BAFTA nomination for best short form programme.Written by and starring Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam, The Last Tree) Brain in Gear is a flat-share comedy where the …

So in some ways there's the creative part of me that feels that it's been a gift, but you know, there's also the part that wants freedom.". He was not treated the way he deserved, Federico Chiesa: I hope to leave my mark in Juve.

The two act like an angel and a devil on Remi’s shoulder, weighing in on everything from how to confront her neighbour to whether to go for a poo before leaving the house in the morning. But just as it looks as if things are about to kick off, they rejoice: “Love wins!” Later in the conversation, though, the nephew makes another disclosure: he has gone vegan.

I also have snatches of those boss bitch moments where I’m like: ‘Yeah, I’m fabulous!’ And then, random Dark Remi moments – weird thoughts, where I’m like: ‘Where did that come from?’”, Ikumelo says this makes the writing process therapeutic. ), Beyond Famalam, Ikumelo has been focusing on her own writing projects, and her most recent, Brain in Gear, is based round the experience of being trapped with your own thoughts.

"I write very serious dramas, but I'd never actually looked and dissected what makes something a comedy," she tells me over the phone. You wonder if you really deserved it. We all battle with our thoughts and the different versions of ourselves that we put out there.”, Yet, imposter syndrome still lurks in the background. I had a lot of that during the nomination, and caught myself thinking: ‘It was all so white before, so maybe now they’re overcompensating.’”, But Ikumelo may have to get more comfortable with being recognised.
Famalam is an anomaly in the television industry, which more frequently puts black people in front of the camera than behind it.

Although many of Famalam’s writers are black, culturally sensitive issues do still crop up – and there are sketches in which black audiences have felt writers missed the mark.
It’s something she’s already put time into as leader of east London non-profit organisation Faith Drama Productions. The show subverts the traditions of the tired, often racially insensitive sketch shows British millennials grew up on, poking fun at baseless TV tropes about black people.

n the day I speak to Gbemisola Ikumelo, it’s in the midst of the biggest fortnight of her career so far. As Ikumelo points out, when making jokes about specific communities, authenticity (and self-deprecation rather than external ridicule) is key. I love my Caribbeans but they can get bantered too. “The show is totally me – I live alone and talk to myself incessantly. Brain in Gear sees Ikumelo play Remi, a single woman in her late twenties trying to navigate all the conflicting advice coming from her inner thoughts (all of whom manifests as other, physcial Remis).

2020 Bustle Digital Group. It’s also one of the hottest days of the year, so as her Zoom window pops up, she’s cheerfully licking a rocket lolly.

It features Ikumelo as one of long-running characters the “warring aunties” – this time the Nigerian duo are having a nephew round for dinner when he makes an announcement: he is coming out as gay. Conceptualised well before the coronavirus crisis, the short has ended up being even more relatable given the circumstances, which Ikumelo is pretty chuffed about.

When celebrities (virtually) hang out with Bustle writers, we want to give them the chance to leave their mark. "For me, it's really forced me to just be a lot more productive in terms of work. "I always sort of genre-bend ideas in terms of story anyway, but I've noticed with comedy you slowly become aware when something's not working.

“I can look at things in my life as a black person, as an African person, and make fun of that,” she says, referencing her love for jollof rice, and the fact that she took eight tubs of it home after the staple food appeared in a sketch. “Gay?” the aunties ominously respond.

"There's something lovely about waking up to great news, especially now.". Considering she's just been nominated for the 2020 Best Female Performance in … “I think it’s part and parcel of when you’re marginalised or have had to hustle in any industry; when you do finally get a break, you’re sort of like – what’s the catch?

On the day I speak to Gbemisola Ikumelo, it’s in the midst of the biggest fortnight of her career so far. “There is a kind of validation in seeing that we’re all similar in this thing, right?

She has just won a TV Bafta for her short Brain in Gear, had a comedy series based on said short commissioned by the BBC, and has been cast in a big US series, too. The process was very natural, Ikumelo explains, because she finds laughter and pain blend easily together in her work. So perhaps a lesson from the recent backlash is that creators must acknowledge nuances across the diaspora; after all, black communities are not a homogeneous block. ", "I'd say comedy is something that's happened in the last five years for me, Famalam was the first time I was looking at being a comedy writer, and it felt really natural," she tells me, adding: "I just love going to work and laughing every day.". “I’m always thinking, overthinking often, about the future. She has just won a TV Bafta for her short Brain in Gear, had a comedy series based on said short commissioned by the BBC, and has been cast in a big US series, too. She has just won a TV Bafta for her short Brain in Gear, had a comedy series based on said short commissioned by the BBC, and has been cast in a big US series, too. So we hand them a pen, a piece of paper, a few questions, and ask them to get creative. “On the day of the Bafta, I was sitting in my PJs eating Domino’s Pizza watching it, and then I saw my face come up on screen as the winner, and I mean, yeah, I screamed,” she says. Get a grip.”, While all the actors involved in the sketch were black, most weren’t Caribbean, which many saw as intrinsic to its problems. Now the best Messi, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/aug/28/gbemisola-ikumelo-on-the-day-i-won-the-bafta-i-was-in-my-pjs-eating-dominos-pizza. He’s quickly chased out of the house. Tom Moutchi, one of Ikumelo’s castmates, responded to criticisms, tweeting: “if you actually did watch the show you’d know there’s a healthy balance of sketches that banter every part of society … I love my Africans. “When a joke is actually authored by the people who are coming from that experience, the authenticity and the nuance brought by that is so important.”, “When people want to make a joke about people from a certain background, but have never really spent any time with those people, they often tell this copy of a copy of a copy of a joke about people they think they know.”, Instead, Ikumelo thinks you get a far better joke when you can go authentic, and go specific. "It was quite crazy [being nominated twice]," she tells me. It’s also one of the hottest days of the year, so as her Zoom window pops up, she’s cheerfully licking a rocket lolly. It's the show that gained her a second BAFTA nod this year for Best Short Form Programme. This time, actor and Famalam star Gbemisola Ikumelo is leaving her mark in the Bustle Booth. Literally. “You have to make the soil fertile for others to do things, because everyone benefits.”, She admits that her next steps are as daunting as they are exciting. "The thoughts in her head force her to engage a bit more, and those are the kinds of decisions I'm literally having with myself [in lockdown]. Gbemisola Ikumelo is an actor, writer and director who is known for her roles in Brain in Gear, Sunny D and The Last Tree.

No one is safe.

‘I will have my own kingdom’: Meet Famalam’s Gbemisola Ikumelo, Hans-Dieter flick: I Hope Alaba will sign a contract with Bayern. This time, actor and Famalam star Gbemisola Ikumelo is leaving her mark in the Bustle Booth. “There is always a nervousness about taking source material that is beloved, and making it into something else, but in the realm of women’s rights and identity, there’s going to be a lot of things that pack a punch in this show.”, For Ikumelo, the near-future is set – but she resists complacency at all costs. With Gbemisola Ikumelo, Samson Kayo, John Macmillan, Akemnji Ndifornyen. All this hard work and analysis paid off in Ikumelo's comedy short Brain in Gear, which she wrote, directed, and starred in.

What the hell are you gonna do, Gbemi?”, Series three of Famalam is out now on BBC Three. I hope to stay here, Fabinho will not play with West ham due to injury, Ronald Koeman: Maradona was the best in his time. ‘I will have my own kingdom’: Meet Famalam’s Gbemisola Ikumelo O n the day I speak to Gbemisola Ikumelo, it’s in the midst of the biggest fortnight of her career so far. There are beats and rhythm to writing something funny, and it's really fun to dissect and delve into what that is," she says. We will achieve great results, The Coach Of Benfica: I don't want us to look like the current Barcelona, it has nothing, Guardiola on returning to Barca: I'm happy at Manchester City. ", And while working in lockdown had been frustrating for Ikumelo at times, "the reality is the life of a creative has never been a straight line, it's always full of the unknown," she says.

"This person is sort of isolate and a bit of a recluse," she says.

Hopefully, viewers will have had similar ones, if not it'll be really awkward for me! The 1992 film, a fictionalised account of a second world war all-female baseball team, provides a commentary on gender that Ikumelo thinks has more mileage for a series in 2020. “It’s weird … you spend so long hustling, then, in the course of a week, you’re handed a bunch of your dreams.”, Ikumelo didn’t always want to be in comedy: “I wanted to be a very serious actor, treading the boards, doing RSC.” She had tried her hand at school plays and found she had a knack for it, joining the National Youth Theatre at 15. Just over a week after we speak, a clip from the new series of Famalam, titled “Jamaican Countdown”, attracted widespread criticism on Twitter for its stereotypical portrayal of Jamaican people. “You’ve taken away all my flippin’ barriers – now I just have to fly.

The sketch included jokes about weed-smoking, dialect and penis size. A zany, new comedy sketch show featuring an array of oddball characters and off-the-wall situations ranging from a misunderstood superhero to Croydon's leading witch-doctor. But it turns out I’m all right at it.”.

But they can get bantered either way. Yes, there’s a lot happening now – but I’m still going: ‘OK, but what about after that?’ Because this moment, well, I don’t want it to just be a moment.”, In the spirit of Boss Bitch Remi, her plans are ambitious: “I will have my own kingdom!” By this, she means she wants to change the existing structures of the industry, or create new ones, to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds.

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