The Magic of Human Connection: Insights from Comedy Writer Kanisha Williams

Photo courtesy of Kanisha Williams.

Kanisha Williams, a comedy writer from Alabama and a Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program alum, shares her journey and insights into her creative process. She writes about women, the supernatural, and the magic of human connection. Her experience in the training program has been pivotal in her career as it has provided her with connections and a deeper understanding of the industry. Most recently, she worked as the script coordinator on A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey as a writer? 

I’m from Alabama and I love comedy. I went to the University of Chicago and majored in sociology because the thing I love most about storytelling is relating to real people’s lives. I felt like if I was going to study seriously that it was better to learn a little bit about the world and how to tell real stories before I started telling fictional ones. During the pandemic, I was doing a bit of soul searching and asking myself if I should be doing more and creating things in my day-to-day work. So, I left my job at a nonprofit to work at the Chicago Humanities Festival. Then I got into the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program.

What do you write about?  

I write about women and the supernatural. I love magical realism, rom-coms, and stories about friendship. I think what’s special to me are stories about people from different backgrounds connecting and learning more about the world through each other. These past few years, I’ve left small places to go on and live in so many different big places. Doing that, you’ll find yourself feeling like a fish out of water, and adapting to new water is what I’m really interested in.

How do you think your own personal life experiences have impacted your writing?

For a lot of people, writing is an outlet. For me, when I’m having trouble processing or communicating anything, it helps to make a story out of it. I can ask certain questions and come up with answers that would be impossible in the real world. It helps me figure out what I’m really interested in and what’s on my mind.

Also, I have a younger brother, and he’s so much funnier than I am. He’s always been able to joke himself out of any situation. Growing up, I was his straight man. It’s trained me to be funnier, both intentionally and unintentionally. It’s also made me perceptive. When I’m around people, it’s easy for me to throw a line in and realize after that it was a joke.

Is there any TV show or movie that, looking back, made you want to become a writer? 

Oh, this is an easy question. It was Coraline. I was eleven or so when I first saw it on HBO. It was the first film where I sat down and watched it all the way to the very end of the credits. I was so moved by what I saw. I was bewitched by it. [The film] was a feat of commitment—so many different positions and hundreds of names made this thing I loved. I figured there had to be at least one thing I could get good enough at so that I can be a part of [filmmaking]. As a kid, I was always writing poems and songs, but Coraline made me commit to television and screenwriting.

If you could be in the room and work on any TV show, past or present, what would it be? 

I have a bouquet of answers. The Girlfriends room would have been so fun, especially for where I am in my life now. I want to write about black women who are friends; they love each other, they’re sometimes horrible to each other, and they’re all different from each other. I feel like that room had to have been so much fun.

I feel like I wouldn’t fit in the Cheers room, but Cheers is so cool to me. It would have been cool to see. Abbott Elementary, obviously. You’re the Worst from FX—I loved that show.

Pen15 because I think it’s so weird and amazingly punchy. It has a high bar to climb to get into it, but once you do, you’re like, “OH, I get it”. When I turned 25 or 26, I started going through a weird second adolescence. Watching them do it again on that show was even more, if not reaffirming, then reassuring. It would have been insane to contribute to that.

What was your most recent job in entertainment?

I was the script coordinator on A Black Lady Sketch Show. My responsibilities were to track every draft of every sketch and to proof them. We would have waves of ten to fifteen sketches that would get approved at a time. I would then compile them into a huge packet.

Final Draft, constantly open. Scenechronize, constantly open. We also used Trello for a Kanban board. Each sketch was a card, and we’d move them around to different categories.

Also, my job during production was to make adjustments to this 250-page document to track character names, locations, costumes, hair, make-up, and wardrobe. I had to make sure the script reflected any of those changes before I distributed it out to the cast, crew, and producers.

How did the Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program prepare you for that position? 

It gave me an understanding of the process that I, in no way, would have had otherwise. It prepared me for how the different writers in the room at different levels work together. [We learned] what to do, what to expect moving forward into production, what elements are important, and how to support the process not only from knowing how to do your job, but how to be emotionally intelligent in the room.

How does your view of your career look different before and after the program? 

I wouldn’t have even been noticed if I had not done this program. It would not be possible without the opportunity this program provided. I feel a lot more optimistic. This dream that I had of working in TV is now a reality. I have connections and great people that I share a community with. I had the [work] experience so now I think having access to that group of people, the training program alumni, has made it feel more real.

So, you’re still in touch with a lot of people you did the program with?

Yeah, they have been amazing. They have connected me with different people. The [Writers’ Access Support Staff Training] program is very helpful in helping people further their career as well as keeping the alumni engaged. The writers’ assistant that I worked with on A Black Lady Sketch Show [Gia King] and I were in the same cohort of the training program. Getting to work with her was so cool, but we have also stayed in touch and hung out. I’ve made friends too from [the program]. It was fifteen times more fun to work on that show because I got to do that with someone I knew who had gone through the same process as me. That was really nice.

Last question: when working in entertainment there’s always talk of “getting your foot in the door” and breaking in. Do you think you’ve broken in yet? 

No, I don’t think so. There are so many more people to meet, but I think the opportunity this program gave me and the fact that I have been able to do it feels like a big accomplishment. I have connected with so many writers who have actually been [staffed] in rooms and people who have reps. Those are all connections that, a year ago, I didn’t have. So I guess the overall answer is yes, but it’s because I feel really motivated. I feel like there’s so much more to do before I can feel like, “Ah, yes, I’ve broken in for sure”. But I have to say, my situation is completely different after doing the program.

Is there anything else you’d like to add before I let you go? 

I feel so much gratitude. Any time I get to do anything connected to the Writers Guild Foundation is really nice.

This interview has been edited and condensed by Kera McKeon.