Local Legend: Shalewa Sharpe Is 'Just Out Here' In Bushwick

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Shalewa Sharpe is just out here.

Comedy mavens know Sharpe as the sly and savvy mind behind "Stay Eating Cookies" and "So You Just Out Here," two albums that find funniness in the nuances and complexities within the way people speak.

Late night television fans know her as the person who almost broke Jimmy Fallon.

Since making her television debut (during which she thanked "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman for giving kids the courage to ask her, "Hey, are you Killmonger's mama?") Sharpe has told her jokes on HBO's 2 Dope Queens and Comedy Central's The New Negroes.

Sharpe also hosts the comedy show "Laying it Down" with Carolyn Castiglia and the podcast “Thug Passion Presents,” a celebration of classic Black movies.

Patch spoke with Sharpe for our Local Legends series, where people who make New York City great discuss the neighborhoods they call home. Last week we explored wild apartment botany with Instagram celeb Alessia Resta and next week "Diner Man" Michael Perlman will discuss saving some of the city's favorite late night joints.

(Does your neighborhood have a Local Legend we should feature? Nominate them here.)

Here's what Sharpe had to say about her home neighborhood:

Describe Bushwick in three words:

Families. Hydrants. Bodegas

What's life like on your block?

Where I am in Bushwick, there are still a lot of families. It’s past where people are wearing bunny sacks fashionably. I’m where children are playing in the street wildly.

What's your quintessential Bushwick moment?

On my block, there is a club that opened up at the end of it. I saw a woman walking by in the day time. Her toddler looked up at the building: “Momma is that the club?” I loved that. How did he know?

Here’s your obligatory food question. What local food do you crave and where do you find it?

I usually end up attempting to cook. Going to grocery stores and attempting to cook and seeing what can be sliced up and placed over heat. Usually I’m only cooking for me and I don’t know what I’m doing. Not even my roommates should try this.

There is a Thai place, Klom Klorm that is real good. And Father Knows Best. They are a coffee house by the day and then a chill night spot and it’s all really good.

Where are your favorite spots for local comedy?

The beauty of Bushwick is that there are bars and watering holes and they all seem to have a back room or a basement and it's, "We'll put up a flashlight and a microphone and you guys can talk your hearts out back there."

Walk into any bar and ask when is your comedy night and they will give you three different ones. Cobra Club has a great weekly show on Friday night. I’ve done it, and it’s always good people. That’s one of my favorites. Also Archie’s Bar and Pizza.

Who are the Bushwick comedians we should go see?

Courtney Fearrington. He’s a comedy beast. And there's Rufat Agayev. He is Bushwick-based and he’s also gonna come up and do great stuff.

Describe your perfect day in your neighborhood.

I like walking through it. Probably a fall day. Walking through neighborhoods and discovering the things that are tucked away. Normally when I’m walking, it’s at night and I’m going to a show. Just walking through and seeing the more neighborhood-y parts of Bushwick. I’m big on people watching. Just moving.

Tell us about your new album, "So You're Just Out Here?
It’s a line from the joke from the album and also a thing that I tell myself a lot. It’s easy to get yourself lost, I just have to remember whatever it is, I’m doing it. It’s easy not to be doing the thing and you love and I’m doing it. I’m out here. It’s about change a lot. Moving through it instead of letting things break me.

You joke about passive aggressive conversations over bagels and tone-deaf usage of the word “girl." That seems super Brooklyn. Is that how Bushwick shows up in your comedy?

My day job, I’m around a good deal of wealth. There’s a background of wealth and I don’t understand it and I never will. But I get back to Bushwick and I feel like it’s more emotional, more of an emotional wealth. It’s kind of a joy to get back to it when I get back to Bushwick.

Want to read up on past Local Legends? Here's where to look:

• Instagrammer Alessia Resta's Garden Grows On The UWS
• Susan Heyward Flies Broomsticks On Broadway
• Colin 'The Piano Guy' Plays Washington Square Park
• Culinary Writer Joe DiStefano's Food Haven Is Forest Hills
• Attorney General Tish James Was An Impromptu Blackout Traffic Cop
• Music Producer Martin Bisi Says Gowanus Made Him a Mutant
• Broadway Star Liz Larsen Says The UWS Is Family
• Gastor Almonte Says Great Comedy Starts In East NY