38 You see Yamaneika Saunders all over the place these days. Last year she filmed a prestigious Comedy Central Half-Hour Special, she’s a correspondent on the Tonight Show, you’ll see her on HBO’s “Crashing,” at clubs all over New York, and she’s cooking up a new hour-long set. In her Comedy Central Special, she loudly and honestly joked about personal topics that are awkward for most of us -- sex and religion -- and did so with her own very unique take (she’s a Christian who didn’t lose her virginity until 27). Recently, her life has become heavier and darker, and her comedy is showing it. Ahead of her performance in Westchester at Yonkers Comedy Club on April 7, we talked about how her comedy is evolving, and why. Over a decade ago, you were booed off stage Showtime at the Apollo. What was that like? I always tell people: the worst part is the booing. I walked off on the wrong side of the stage after I got booed, just out of shock. And they made me walk back across that stage, so they booed me as a walked back across. And then I didn’t want to sit in the bullpen with the other contestants, so I asked them if I could go to the holding area upstairs, so that meant I got booed as a walked through the theatre. A couple people recognized me on the train and they booed me on the train. I went from 125th Street all the way to 68th Street, Hunter College with people booing me. How did it change your career? I kept replaying it over and over. But I wouldn’t say that was my turning point. After that, I was so conscious again of having to be the smart, intelligent, black woman that I am that I was not being funny. I was more concerned with you having the takeaway that I am a worthy, smart black woman who should not be seen as a sassy black bitch, that I was not having fun. Having that moment took me to a place where I said, “I don’t give a (expletive) what you think about me. When I am on stage, I am doing what the (expletive) I want to do.” Prior to that, I was not having fun. My grandma used to say, “Listen, people are just gonna assume when they see you: Black people are from the ghetto, they ain’t got shit. Let people know you’re smart, you went a good school, you came from a good family.” So that’s how my comedy sounded. I wasn’t saying what I really wanted to say because there was a guard up. Now there’s no guard. You grew up in Maryland. What was your childhood like? I grew up an only child. My family doted on me and loved me and did everything for me. And I had to learn at 21, 22, when I was first getting to New York City, how to take care of myself. But now I have to be an adult. The people that were always there to make me feel safe are dying. I’m in a different space; I’m learning to be more powerful, but it’s also depressing. I’m very insulated in myself right now, trying to figure out who I am. Now that my grandma died, my mom has to be the matriarch and I have to go play mom. We all have to step up in our new roles. That really is a reflection of my comedy right now, just trying to figure it all out. Often times it’s harsh, and I lose people. The Q & A: The Evolution of Yamaneika Saunders By Keenan Steiner WESTCHESTER GUEST MAGAZINE SPRING 2018