Production designers Cindy Chao and Michele Yu reveal the magic recipe behind HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.”
It should go without saying that any variety series with an episode (ahem, Emmy-nominated episode) entitled “Peek-a-Boob Your Titty’s Out” is not here to play. But HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show” has been riotously rooting in irreverence for four seasons (very sadly, the recently aired fourth season was to be its last), and production designers Cindy Chao and Michele Yu have been there for the whole wild ride.
“The way Michele and I work is very organic,” said Chao, who is enjoying her second consecutive Emmy nomination along with her work partner. “Sometimes with a time crunch we will have to separate, but overall, we are designing together, scouting together, and coming up with great brainstorming ideas and concepts together.”
And this season alone involves designing dozens of scenes and backdrops for a six-episode go-round, including a large array of builds and location finds, something showrunner and star Robin Thede wanted from the start.
“We usually start with at least 50 to 60 sketches on page,” Yu added. “And from there we prep all of them as much as we can. And then sometimes for unforeseen reasons, a few sketches get cut. So, for Season 4, I want to say we actually shot 46, maybe a little bit over.”
“Robin didn’t want to be constrained by a genre or by any particular expectation of what the show was supposed to be.
