Amanda Seales brings one-of-a-kind show, ‘Smart, Funny and Black’ to Center Stage

Get ready for some edu-tainment brought to you by comedian herself, Amanda Seales!

Seales is getting ready to hit the Center Stage Saturday, Oct. 15, along with a few friends for a unique experience. Seales’ “Smart, Funny and Black” show educated you about Black culture while being entertaining and culturally uplifting. “I point blank decided to create ‘Smart, Funny and Black’ because I got tired of all the negative imagery that we are seeing about Black people and we need a space to celebrate and release,” Seales told Access Atlanta. “The best compliment people tell me when they leave a Smart, Funny and Black show is that they have never felt more proud to be a black person and that show gave it to them.”

While Seales is known for being her authentic self and consistently speaking up on a variety of issues, everyone hasn’t always been open to her blurring the lines of comedy and social justice. “People were telling me, ‘well if you’re trying to come up, then you need to not talk about issues of race, not talk about politics and not talk about social justice.’ and I was like dang but that’s like my thing! I care about this stuff,” Seales said. “It really was comedy and finding comedy that let me be in a space where I can be my complete self … and educate folks and it’s all under the heading of being a comedian and having this voice where I use humor to match up with my authenticity.”

“Smart, Funny and Black” can be described as a variety show of sorts where Seales, along with two “Black-sperts” tackle topics of the past, present and future that affect Black people. “Our show is a game show on the surface but at its root, it’s using comedy to uplift culture and community. We play games, we have a sing-along, we have a live band,” Seales said.

Seales’ show is truly a passion of hers, but that doesn’t come without hard work. “Even with this tour, I’ve had to become like a marketing exec … I’m doing the graphics, I’m doing the videos, I’m writing the copy, I’m making the radio spots,” Seales said. In addition to her hard work, Seales also stresses the importance of collaboration. During her Atlanta stop, she got to team up with Slutty Vegan founder, Pinky Cole. “She’s incredible … we reached out and she was like girl, what do you want to do, and it’s done,” Seales said. “That’s what I mean by us showing up for each other. She didn’t even know me. She just loves what I was doing with this work, and I love what she’s doing with her work, so we put our work together and that’s what we all need to be doing.”