A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: Actor Bresha Webb fits the classic description of, you know that woman in that show? You might not know her name, but you might recognize the face. She played Kevin Hart's sister in the movie "Night School."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NIGHT SCHOOL")
KEVIN HART: (As Teddy) Pops, those standardized tests are culturally biased.
BRESHA WEBB: (As Denise) You do know how to spell your name, don't you? T-H-E...
HART: (As Teddy, imitating buzzer).
WEBB: (As Denise) What?
HART: (As Teddy, imitating buzzer) You're wrong.
MARTÍNEZ: Webb was also in the sitcoms "Run The World," and "Marlon." She was in "Hacks" and she played Dr. Laverne St. John on "ER."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ER")
WEBB: (As Dr. Laverne St. John) Well, what the hell was last night, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Boring.
WEBB: (As Dr. Laverne St. John) You don't want to see me? Fine. But you still have to teach me.
MARTÍNEZ: Bresha Webb is also a comedian. Her latest stand-up special streams on Hulu and Disney+ as part of the "LOL Live" comedy series.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOL LIVE")
WEBB: My other girlfriend, she had a baby, and she didn't have a nanny.
(LAUGHTER)
WEBB: She was over there just taking motherhood to the face, poor thing, walking around looking like Gollum from "Lord Of The Rings."
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you've had your heart set on being a performer since you were a little girl. I heard you once say that when you were a kid, you wanted to be inside of the television. What's it about performing that makes it something that you need to do, seemingly?
WEBB: I mean, it's just a part of my nature. If I hear a song, I want to sing it full-out, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
WEBB: If I see something, I want to do it all, you know? I used to watch music videos all the time. And I would get up and start learning the, you know, the dances. That's just a natural thing for me. And then I wanted to do it in front of people. And so my parents just paid attention to that, and they just nurtured it.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOL LIVE")
WEBB: When I was about seven or 8 years old, I was really obsessed with "Annie." (Singing) Tomorrow, tomorrow. Like, I really loved "Annie," you know?
(CHEERING)
WEBB: And it was crazy because they were bringing "Annie" back to Broadway. I was like, Mom, I really want to go. And they surprised me. And they said, we're going to get in the car and we're going to go all the way to New York for your "Annie" audition. I was like, really? I walk in. And it was then where I realized that Annie's white.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: Most parents might say, OK, well, let's give this a shot. And if it doesn't work, then all of - you know, then you go, you know, do something more realistic. That's what maybe more parents would probably say.
WEBB: Of course. But my parents were artists at heart. You know, we went to church every Sunday. My dad was a gospel singer at church. My mom was a dancer. She toured Europe before she had me, you know? So they realized, this is - of course we birthed this. Of course we would birth a creative being, so let's nurture it.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOL LIVE")
WEBB: I was like, Mom, you don't - look, we should call 911 or call the doctor or something. So I run over to my phone. I call 911. And I'm like, 911, you need to get over here stat. My mother's having a stroke. Then finally, the paramedics run in. And they're like, ma'am, how did you know your mother was having a stroke? And I was like, I played a doctor on "ER" for two seasons.
(LAUGHTER)
WEBB: I was like, would you like to see a clip? I got it on my Instagram. They were like, no, ma'am, we got to get your mom to the hospital. She's having a stroke. I was like, yes, exactly. Call the CDC on the CRT.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: That might be one of the most Hollywood stories I've ever heard (laughter), you know, in a comedy special. That is so Hollywood.
WEBB: That's really what happened. And so in that moment, you know, of chaos and, you know, anxiety and fear, I can look back and find the levity and find a joke there and make it real and hopefully help someone else to know, like, if you're going through some stuff, maybe there's some things you can laugh about after.
MARTÍNEZ: I've always wondered, Bresha, for an actor who plays, like, you know, a doctor or a lawyer on TV, how much of the character skill set rubs off into real life?
WEBB: Well, it does. I remember seeing sometimes. I remember - (laughter). I remember things in the oddest times, you know, and it does rub off. You know, I put on the thing, and I talk the talk, and sometimes it sticks with you. And it did in the right time, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: One of the things you get into in your comedy showcase is being a mom. You got married three years ago. Your husband was a single dad, which made you an instant mom. Then a year later, you gave birth to a daughter. One of the things that really made me just bust out laughing is when you told your stepdaughter to call you Bresha, but then your other daughter, the one you gave birth to, started calling you Bresha before she even called you mama.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LOL LIVE")
WEBB: You know, one time, she came in my room. And she looked up at me, and her eyes were so beautiful. And I was, like, looking at her. And she went, mm. I said, ooh, are you about to say it? You can say it - ma, ma. And she said, Bresha.
(LAUGHTER)
WEBB: Isn't that a whoopsie? You know, I thought I was being progressive.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
WEBB: And this thing just slapped me in the face. I was quite embarrassed in the moment. And she's up there going, Bresha, can you pass me this? Bresha, go get me this. I'm like, girl, no.
MARTÍNEZ: Called you mama since?
WEBB: Oh, now I'm mama.
MARTÍNEZ: Now you're mama? OK, good.
WEBB: Yeah, but thanks to my bonus daughter. Thanks to her. We had to have a conversation. I was like, I'm going to need you to help me out.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
WEBB: And she did.
MARTÍNEZ: What's the biggest difference, would you say, between doing stand-up and getting up on - in front of a camera and doing some acting?
WEBB: I mean, well, stand-up is full of surprises, you know? You never know what you're going to get. It's a box of chocolates.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) Yeah.
WEBB: You know? You get up onstage. You don't know how the audience is going to be. It keeps you on your toes, you know? With acting, there's a blueprint. There's a set. There's a stage. You know, there's the script, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: Other actors.
WEBB: There's the actors that you - yeah, you know? So you kind of know where you're going. With stand-up, you could be in the middle of a set and change directions. You might come up with a plan and then something happens and it inspires you to go another direction. It's like you're using all of your senses at one time. You know, it's kind of an outer body experience, you know?
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Yeah.
WEBB: Because you have to be looking at the audience and making sure they're tuned in. It definitely gives you what you give it, you know? And acting is equally as difficult because it can surprise you in the same way, but at least you have somebody driving the car. In stand-up, you driving the car. And you got a whole bunch of things you got to get out the way. Like, you know, you got stop lights, you got green lights, you got the crazy person, the passenger walking down the street.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
WEBB: You know, you got all kinds of stuff going on.
MARTÍNEZ: Bresha Webb's comedy showcase on "LOL Live" is streaming on Hulu. Bresha, thank you very much.
WEBB: Thank you. This was so fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF RILO KILEY SONG, "PORTIONS FOR FOXES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
