Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoshee Sodiq.
Yoshee, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started taking improv classes as a present from my wife about eight years ago and after the first couple of classes, I knew I needed to do this as often as possible. After years of diving headfirst into improv, I along with 6 others co-founded an improv troupe with a mission of bringing improv to diverse crowds. The group is called the Red Pill Players and we became a festival attending, barrier-breaking and lovable improv troupe performing at every major threat in the city. We were also the only improv troupe to run for two years at Relapse theater after its reopening. Those years of performing and watching some of Atlanta’s hardest working stand-up comedians (Rob Haze, Clayton English, Mia Jackson) took me into trying standup. I took a comedy class because I wanted structure. I started doing the open mic circuit and haven’t looked back. That was four and a half years ago. In the last two years, I began to produce and host shows starting at the Relapse and eventually into other locations as an avenue to bring comedy to more diverse audiences.
Comedy Wit Productions was born out of addressing a void that I saw which was there’s not a lot of comedy in the suburbs and we have problems that we want to escape from just like city folks. Comedy wit attempts to solve that. We also attempt to solve having a diverse lineup that you likely haven’t seen in the past as a fan of Atlanta comedy. We want to provide an alternative to going into Atlanta proper to watch comedy and also only seeing the same talent week in and week out at the same venues. The objective of producing these shows is to highlight the many talents across the city that may or may not have an Atlanta zip code. The shows on the roster that I currently produce include Cranks & Comics (standup + solo sketch + improv, Atlanta), 8-spot comedy (standup, John’s Creek), AT’L in the Nash (improv + standup, Nashville), and Comedy on the Clay (standup, Duluth).
The goal is to have more shows and more venues seeking to improve their night experience with comedy. We all need it especially… especially those in the suburbs.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth would be an understatement. What I have learned in this process is that there’s not always great people who are looking out for you. You need to seek out the good ones and ask a lot of questions when you can. Having shows where 1-2 people show up at a show that you put blood sweat and tears into can drain you. I ran some bad shows before I started to run smooth ones. I booked some bad comics before I started to book consistently funny comics. I listened to countless podcast on producing shows by local producers and national producers and also hung around comics who are doing this type of work… but that’s just a part of the journey that I’m enjoying.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Comedy Wit Productions – what should we know?
Comedy wit Productions provides funny forms of entertainment to your venue, meeting space, local bar and/or living room. We provide you a memory to remember.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Networking, Humility, and Luck. Pure, unadulterated luck. Most shows I’ve been fortunate to be a part of have been a result of being funny and also being cool with other comics, restaurants, club owners, wait staff, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: Comedywit.com
- Phone: 404-236-9674
- Instagram: @comedywit
- Facebook: fb.com/comedywits
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