Hit ‘Em on the Blackside

About This Event

In 2014, Congo Square’s late Artistic Director Samuel G. Roberson asked fellow ensemble members, “How do we challenge ourselves artistically, offer our audience a new brand of content, all while upholding our mission and core values?” Ensemble Member Anthony Irons responded with Tales from the Blackside, a live sketch comedy show that was the first show in the company’s history created by a collective group of its ensemble members. With high energy and bold satire, no subject was off limits as the cast addressed topics such as the Black Lives Matter protest in Ferguson, Black Elitism, and the complexities of Common Core Math.

This fall, Congo Square pivots to a new digital platform with a reboot of this concept, directed by Anthony Irons and entitled Hit ‘Em on the Blackside. The new online series features Congo Square’s award-winning African American ensemble in bi-weekly, sketch comedy webisodes posted for free viewing on the company’s social media platforms. Hit ‘Em on the Blackside webisodes will be compiled into a full show on Congo Square’s with part one airing on the website in December, available for free public viewing. Then from March-June 2021 the new bi-weekly webisodes will resume, with part two of the show posted to the company’s website in June.