Leslie F*cking Jones

by Leslie Jones

SNL knows where to find funny white people because they have things called institutions. You can find funny white people at Harvard, The Groundlings, The Second City… Funny Black people are usually working at your local DMV.

A lot of stuff needs to be fixed between generations. Every generation thinks they have a new set of issues to deal with, when actually it’s just a different scene, different clothes, different mechanisms, but the same damage getting passed down. And when no one talks about it—when people “forget”—nothing gets fixed.

Comedy is talking about life, and telling stories. You have to be able to really connect to whatever it is your material is about.

and I thought a lot, and spent time inside my mind. You have to go through journeys in life, in-between times when you develop things like talent. Four hours a day I was on that bus making the most of it. It wasn’t the hardest part of my life; it was just a time of my life. You get to be many things in life, even when you are in between.

You’ve got to have your own shit; you have to have a purpose, something to do. This is with anybody, anytime—any relationship, friendship, love, family, whatever—there has to be a purpose. When you’ve got too much time on your hands you end up obsessing on little bullshit.

There’s a difference between fighting and defending yourself, and I’ve learned both: if you can carry yourself properly and show the world that you won’t be fucked with, you probably won’t ever have to fight.

It felt like so many things were happening back then. I felt like I was on the cusp of something big, a kind of birth or something. I knew for sure, though, that I wasn’t happy with who I was. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing; I didn’t know where the fuck I was going. And I was angry.

the only way to like yourself and truly know yourself is, I believe, through something bigger than you. For me, it was God. I believe God knows you as you, and loves everything about you, imperfections and all. He is not surprised at who you are. And if I can know this love for myself through God, I’d be fine—better than fine. That type of love is bigger than you. You have to go into your body and literally switch that positive shit on. No one can do it but you.

It’s amazing when you finally realize that God is not surprised at who you are.

I remember hearing Diana Ross once say, “Know who you are because if you don’t, they will make you what they want.”

You have to respect the craft; you are not better than the craft—it will go on after you are dead; you have to pay your dues; you have to learn from those who’ve gone before and who have experience.