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Follow These Funny Ladies:

Stephanie McRae:

Watch Stephanie’s comedy on YouTube.

Nichelle Stephens:

Follow Nichelle on Twitter @niche, where she’s sure to be live tweeting your favorite shows and follow her other blog @CupcakeBlog Also, check out Chicks & Giggles!

Hadiyah Robinson:

She’s going on the road with the fabulously funny Erica Watson this summer across the U.S. hitting every clubs, bars and baby showers. Please follow them on @ThatRoadLife on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Maryssa Smith:

Check out Maryssa’s shows. She produces two monthly shows, Fashionably Funny at Broadway Comedy Club and Merriment and Mortification at Otto’s Shrunken Head.

Phoebe Robinson:

Catch Phoebe on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and follow her on Twitter @PRobinsonComedy.

Yamaneika Saunders:

Watch Yamaneika on Oxygen’s new show, “Funny Girls,” premiering April 7th. Also, follow her on Twitter @Yamaneika!

Chloe Hilliard:

Follow Chloe on Instagram & Twitter @Chloe_Hilliard and go see her headline live at Caroline’s on April 28th!

Akilah Hughes:

Check out Akilah on YouTube & follow her on social media!

Loni Love:

Catch her on “The Real” or on her stand up comedy tour!

Del Harrison:

Follow Del on Twitter and catch her on a new TV show that she can’t tell us about quite yet!

 

1. Phoebe Robinson: “My number one goal is funny first, and then you can have a lesson or a message that you want to get across.”

Phoebe Robinson Source:Getty

“Being a woman of color in comedy has been an issue, but I just roll with it and know that my career is going to make it just a skosh easier for the next W.O.C. that comes along. W.O.C. should be represented more and that will require more people of color to be in positions of power. But what interests me most is creating my own vehicle. I don’t want to try and fit into someone else’s mold.”

2. Loni Love: “People like women to be pretty. If women aren’t pretty, there needs to be something (audience members) can look at or joke about.”

Loni Love Source:Getty

Women may be featured, but I can’t count how many times guys walk up and say, “I’ve never seen a woman close the show,” Loni says. “Everybody thinks my audiences are going to be Black. I do so many mainstream shows. Once the club owner sees that, he’s like, ‘Oh, she’s not only drawing from the African American community, she’s drawing from everybody,'” Love says of proving herself as a comedienne.

3. Del Harrison: “My voice is very honest and even a little racist.”

Del Harrison Source:Getty

“That’s the advantage we have as Black women: we can speak our racist thoughts aloud and if there’s enough Black people in the audience, it’s funny,” Del said. Ever heard of Black privilege? Well, Del gets it. And she doesn’t think that being a woman or being Black hinders her. “Being Black or a woman has not hindered me from doing anything. If anything, it’s helped because my perspective is fresh and different.”

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.