The characters that Black comedy troupe Pencils of Color writes for its sketches are drawn from distinct and recognizable New York archetypes. For example: Connor, a white dancehall and reggae enthusiast, who's dating Aster, who's Ethiopian but pretending to be Jamaican. Eventually they break up, but only after some unsuccessful therapy.
"That was an idea that I came up with just by living in Bed Stuy," Mahalet Tegenu, one of the group's founders, told Hell Gate. Originally written as a sketch by Pencils members Jasiah Washington and Myles Madden, Connor began as the head of a DEI initiative at a Ben and Jerry's storefront, but soon evolved into the co-star of his own series, frequently seen bussing a wine with his fake-Jamaican girlfriend Aster, played by Tegenu.
"I called up Journee [Nia Brown, who plays Connor], and I was like, 'Oh, my God, please do this,'" Tegenu said. "We get specific character inspirations from just living in Brooklyn, and also from the work that we've created previously. I think the group does a really good job with creating really out-of-the box, kooky, but also hyper-specific characters."
Their sketches, which the seven-person group posts on TikTok and Instagram and performs live, also feature characters like Eric Adams, people two months behind on rent but vibing through it, their fellow New York City content creators, and Amish girls at the farmer's market who find "love" with some rappers from Canarsie.
Ayana Francois, who plays one of the Amish girls, explained that specificity in comedy is always funny. "We ask ourselves how we can make this the most specific type of person and get our audience to recognize them. 'Where does this person live?' This person lives in Fort Greene. They live in a brownstone. Like, DeMarcus [who plays one of the rappers] is from Canarsie, because that's the first thing I could think of when we were there. And the rest of the character has been built around a lot of family members I have that live in Canarsie."
The group met as NYU students, but in the last couple of years have graduated to performances in local venues, particularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade and Black comedy spaces in the city—like the Caveat on the Lower East Side where, last year, they first tested the Ben and Jerry's sketch at a Juneteenth show hosted by comedian Sydney Duncan.
I asked Pencils of Color what their favorite spaces in the city are, and where readers should go in the next few weeks to see New York's best up-and-coming comedians: