Being a special ed teacher taught Chinedu Unaka his biggest lesson in stand-up

Los Angeles Times

4 days ago

There are some aspects of comedy you just can't teach. But for comedian Chinedu Unaka, plenty was learned while giving lessons in a classroom. As a kid growing up in South L.A., it wasn't planned that he would find his way to comedy by stepping up to the chalkboard to teach mild to moderate special education students how to do algebra. But looking back on it, he says, there was really no better training ground for practicing the basics of his future craft — keeping eye contact, learning crowd work, making entertainment out of boring subjects.
For over a decade, his passion-driven work that he fell into in college at UC Santa Barabara would become the day job that both funded his dream and gave him the tools to achieve it as he held the attention of kids with ADHD while making them learn while laughing. Coming at comedy from the lens of a charismatic instructor with a Nigerian American background, Unaka's quick wit and dry humor about life, relationships and his immigrant parents is on full display in his latest special, 'LOL Live With Chinedu Unaka,' which premiered last month on Hulu. Unaka talked to The Times recently about his unique path into stand-up that also led to acting on shows like 'Insecure' and 'Abbott Elementary.'
Your background as a special education teacher comes up a lot in your new special. What inspired you to take that career path before comedy?
I think something like that has to be in you a little bit. I was always that kid in school who was trying to help my friends understand the material better or help my teammates try to pass classes and stuff like that. So I knew that part was always in me. I've always been a person that had a desire to help and share what I know. When I was in college, I started stand-up comedy, and I knew I liked this art form, but I didn't necessarily know how to make money. Randomly, I saw a Teach for America group promoting in the quad at school. And so that's when I approached them. I figured 'Oh, I could be a teacher. I'm probably done by 3:30-4 o'clock, and still have my nights and do what I need to do while figuring out stand-up.' I applied to Teach for America and that's kind of how I got into education. I was pretty good at it, just because I think A) having a heart for it. And then, B) I think humor plays a big part in helping teachers become great. Teaching helped me become a better comedian as well. Teaching mild to moderate special education students algebra and trying to make that entertaining was a lot harder than performing at a comedy club.
Kids can definitely be a tough crowd.
Especially when you're trying to teach them something they are not necessarily in the mood to learn. So watching how students would relate to different lessons and why this lesson went well versus this lesson, etc., when it comes to a lot of those small things, I kind of applied it to doing stand-up. That included getting better at maintaining eye contact on stage with certain people, or moving across the stage a certain way, or knowing when is it time to actually go into a crowd and do some crowd work, to bring the energy back into the room.
You grew up in South L.A. and Harbor City, and then you went to college in UC Santa Barbara; definitely a culture shock in terms of diversity. What was your first experience with stand-up in college? How did that help you find your voice later as a comedian?
It definitely helped. Because being from Harbor City or the Carson area, it's super diverse. So my high school, Narbonne High, we had everybody there. … And so I was used to white folks, but I never met white folks that had never met Black folks until I got to UC Santa Barbara. I think that's kind of what helps my comedy too, because I have friends from different places, and because I'm genuinely interested and curious about people's stories and their background. I think when I write to tell my own story it is easily digestible by everyone just because I have an understanding of many different types of people. And so when I started comedy in college, it was definitely something random that my friend Dion was constantly trying to get me to do because you thought I was just a little bit funnier than average, but it was something that I loved watching. It wouldn't necessarily be anything I wanted to do until I dared to try it, and the bug bit me. I was like, 'Oh, my funny off-stage kind of translates onstage,' and then the joke writing came quicker than usual, because I was writing a lot of poetry and music in high school, and so I was used to playing with words. So I was able to survive onstage because of that background of writing and then the performance came later.
What areas of the L.A. scene helped you tighten your craft and what aspects of it are unique?
There were two comedy clubs that are now closed — the J Spot and the Comedy Union. Those were huge for me, because when I moved back to L.A., they were the first places to let me onstage. And it was historically, more of like a Black entertainment spot.
Have any of your former students ever come see you perform material about them?
A lot of my co-workers came to see me while I was working. A lot of them still come to see me after I left teaching [in 2015]. I had students being in the audience, like they're grown people. I'll be like walking down the street sometimes and I'll hear, 'Mr. Unaka!'
What's been the best gig that you've had so far as an actor?
Either 'Abbott Elementary' or 'Insecure.' I think just as an educator, to be on that show was really cool. I didn't play an educator on the show. I was a parent. But I know Quinta [Brunson] as well, and then director Justin [Halpern] as well, got to meet Janelle James on that set, and everybody's just super nice. So I do remember that being a really cool moment, being on that show as someone that cares so much about education. Then also 'Insecure' was dope as well, because my good friend Yvonne Orji was one of the stars of that show. And so finally getting to be on that show was really cool.
With Yvonne being a fellow Nigerian American, did you guys ever talk about how your path in comedy might be different than other Black comics?
Oftentimes you're going to be the only person within your immediate family that kind of went that route [of doing comedy]. I have four other siblings. They're all service workers — have a sister who is a doctor. My little brother is a doctor. My older brother worked at probation services. So as a comic you're doing something, yeah, so different than what your parents might necessarily want. And so when you find someone of Nigerian descent, also kind of like taking a risk or just walking their own path that's like, true to their souls. It is cool and it is comforting to have that camaraderie and to kind of keep that energy around you. That way you could focus on what needs to be done versus on the thought of, 'Did I make a mistake?' or something. Comedy definitely found me. I wasn't searching for it, but when it did find me, it felt like home. And, yeah, it's just something that I just genuinely enjoy doing and it has nothing to do with, like, anything that could necessarily come from it. I just genuinely always love making people laugh and then to get paid for that still feels crazy to me.
To get your own special on Hulu through Kevin Hart's LOL Network and Hartbeat must feel like a big moment for you. How did that come about?
First, shout-out to Kevin for even putting vehicles like this out there, because he doesn't have to. And it's not the first time he's done something like this before. I worked with him when he was booking comedians for his LOL Network to go to tape for Just for Laughs. And at that point, I never did Just for Laughs, only auditioned for the 'New Faces' showcase and stuff like that. But this was a thing that I didn't have to audition for. His people reached out to my people, like 'we love Chinedu to do this for us.' They paid us, they put us up, they flew us out. And it was during the festival, and it was an incredible feeling. So to work with him again on something similar but on a bigger scale was definitely like a dream come true; especially respect who Kevin is as an artist, but then also just his work ethic and how he goes about his business and how he's just very forthcoming and helping the younger generation get more eyes on them. So doing that, and then doing with the people at Hartbeat as well and seeing how much attention to detail they took to it, versus it being a rush job. It felt dope, just like the way it looked. They filled the room. Everything about it felt actually special. So to have an opportunity to be one of these comedians selected was incredible. And I'm happy that I was ready for it, and that it went well. We basically had one shot to tape it too. I think I got it right.
What do you think is next for you in your career?
I think what's next for me is to definitely, you know, produce some TV show ideas that I have. I would love to get those out to people then definitely start having this podcast me and my boy, James Davis, are doing named after my first album, 'Mostly Kidding,' and so I'll be releasing that soon. And that's really just to give the audience another vehicle to understand my humor, understand more of who I am, what I've been through. Then outside of that, just hoping to make comedy with friends.
Chinedu Unaka performs at 9:45 p.m. Thursday at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.