The World According to Ms. Pat

Ms. Pat is back. 

Season Four of her grown-ass, twice-Emmy-nominated The Ms. Pat Show kicks in tonight on BET +. She also just wrapped production on the second season of Ms. Pat Settles It, the court show where she hilariously rules alongside a handpicked jury of friends, family members and celebrity guests. Somehow, she’s also found the time to go on a stand-up tour. 

Along the way, Ms. Pat recently took a breath to tell Cracked everything there is to know about her comedy world. 

“As a non comedian, I’ve always been shoot from the hip, just straightforward. And people would laugh. So people have literally been telling me I was funny my whole life.”

“My mother was very funny. I can see a lot of me in my mother. Not being scared to say what was on her mind. Everything that was on her mind was so funny. I say all the time, if I knew what a comedian was back in those days and my mom was in a wheelchair, I’d have pushed her straight to the comedy club.”

“My first time doing stand-up, I played a place called The Pub. It wasn’t bad actually; I did pretty good. I went home and told my husband, ‘I'm a comedian.’ He said, ‘Pat, please just get a job.’”

“I remember the first story I told was about my brother. He used to break into homes as a kid and just steal stuff. That was one of the first jokes I told because he was fat. I used to always tell him he looked like Garfield breaking into somebody’s house.” 

“The first night I went up, I said my name was Ms. Pat. I went to the comedy club for about five or six months just to watch people do it. When I got the courage to do it, I had researched comedians’ names — you know, how they changed their names to stage names. And I said, ‘Well, my name is Patricia, and all these kids running with my kids call me Ms. Pat. So it’s gonna be my stage name.”

“Bernie Mac, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby were influences. Because I learned very early on that I’m a storyteller. I’m always telling stories. When I was sitting on the back porch with my next-door neighbors, they was like, ‘You tell stories like Richard Pryor.’ So I just started to study Richard Pryor to learn how to tell the story. So you could paint the picture so that people can see it.”

“I didn't know who Richard Pryor was, not as a kid. When I got older, I did. I dug more and more into his life. My mom listened to a lot of blues music. She didn’t ever play comedy albums.”

“Oh, comedy has changed a lot. These people are so sensitive in this world. You say you saw a doughnut kissing the apple, everybody is like, ‘Oh my god, don’t let doughnuts kiss apples!’” 

“But my comedy has not changed. I’m from the inner city of Atlanta. I’m a little Black girl out of the ghetto. My comedy can’t change because I talk about my life. You can’t be sensitive listening to what I’m saying. I talk about being poor, molested, abused, everything. I try to find the funny in everything so if you’re sensitive, I’m not the show for you. You need to go to church, child. God got more time for you.”

“The Ms. Pat Show’s new season is crazy. It’s gonna be jaw-dropping. It’s some touching moments and some serious moments. There’s an episode we did based off of my real life where I can still hear my mom saying negative things to me. We have this wonderful lady that plays like she’s a ghost. Me and my sister can see her. She says all of these things to me, and I get to say things to her that I never had the chance to say as a kid.”

“We also have an episode about a resort where white people are slaves, which is hilarious but also a very teaching moment.”

“We just finished taping the second season of Ms. Pat Settles It. More crazy cases, but this year it’s even funnier. If you rocked with it last year and thought it was funny and touching, oh my God, it’s so funny this year.

“If you're going to buy tickets to see me, don't be sensitive. We’re gonna laugh. I always tell people I’m gonna take you on a Negro field trip. And we’re gonna come back here, we’re gonna hug each other, and go home.”

Want to buy tickets to see Ms. Pat? Check out her website for all the details.