Tiffany Haddish backs sitcom project from former Minnesota comic Tracey Ashley

April 23, 2021 at 3:07PM
Tracey Ashley has a new sitcom in development for Fox. (Adam Rose, Netflix file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Former Twin Cities comic Tracey Ashley has a new sitcom in development for Fox with support from some genuine heavyweights.

The producers for the series, tentatively titled "Tracey's Life Matters," include Wanda Sykes and Tiffany Haddish.

According to Variety, the quasi-autobiographical show will be about a Black woman who re-locates with her white husband to rural Indiana.

Ashley, who grew up in Georgia, moved to Minnesota in the late 1990s to live with a boyfriend. When the relationship ended, she stuck around, testing the comedic waters through open mics at Acme Comedy Co. Much of that early material was about being a stranger in a strange land.

"I talked a lot about how a Southerner saw Minnesota," she told the Star Tribune in a 2019 interview. "I was shocked about how everyone talked about the weather all the time. Then after living there a while, I got it."

Since getting her stand-up start in the Twin Cities, Ashley has written for TBS's "The Last OG" and CBS's "The Neighborhood." She was also featured in the first season of Haddish's stand-up series "They Ready."

"If you didn't know Tracey Ashley already, you're gonna know her now," Haddish declared on the first episode.

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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