[It almost sounds like the set up to a bad joke...] How do two Harvard educated Comedy writers vanquish financial doom after walking out on the security of steady checks to pursue writing comedy? They upload a spoof to youtube….
As writers for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle create funny sketches for Fallon and his celebrity guests, mostly with the musical backing of The Legendary Roots Crew.While their day at the office seemsmuch more interesting than ours, their circuitous path to National TV began less auspiciously.
After leaving their jobs to make comedy their full time occupation, the financially strapped duo and their comedy troupe, Cleo’s Apartment, filmed a spoof of the HBO documentary Hookers at the Point and uploaded it to youtube. That video, Pimps up Bears Down, caught the attention of a friend at HBO. One thing led to another and they ended up writing and producing a series of spoofs and a web series called The Message for HBO.com
Fast forward a few years– Armed with network experience and proven sketches like Hubble Got You, Slow Jam the News, and the instant classic History of Hip-Hop, they have no plans on stopping now. Through their production company, Paper Planes, the duo teamed up with Felicia Gordon, a fellow Harvard classmate, and filmed their first film, a 20 minute short titled All Access. We recently sat down with them to discuss the film, their work, and why a good ass job is not enough.