Two Episodes In, Is Shade Corner Worth Watching?

So, Shade Corner. Where do I start? To put it simply: I tried to, but I don’t like it. For a week after it premiered, that was all I could say about the show because the first episode didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Granted, I should admit that I may be biased because it’s not the sort of viewing I’m typically inclined towards. I’m wearied of media that only consist of people sitting around being mean: 1) just for the sake of it, to others who: 2) don’t necessarily deserve it and 3) aren’t there to defend themselves. The negativity messes with my feng shui. I don’t like the fake “razz” Don’t Jealous Me accents either.

That said, it shouldn’t have been too difficult for Shade Corner to win me over. I’ve listened to Camille on the WJGB Podcast, I enjoy Makida’s tweets whenever they’re retweeted unto my timeline and I have been following Bayo’s career for years. The point I am trying to make is that I watched the show wanting to like it. As you may have been able to tell, I was thoroughly disappointed. I was asked to write this review after the first episode but I waited because I wanted to give them another chance and watch the second one. Sadly, I’m not optimistic about the chance I’ll be watching a third.

I have no interest in writing a ruthless critique so instead I’ll suggest ways I think they could improve. I don’t consume Shade Room, Media Take Out, Fashion Police, etc. content so my comments won’t be genre-specific.

• Akah described Shade Corner as a space where they “talk about everything from pop culture to religion”. I believe they may be more successful if they considered settling on a more specific trope.
• The topics they choose for each episode need to be more interesting. So far they have only brought up hackneyed social media discussions and that inevitably comes off as boring and unoriginal. I think even they were bored by that second episode.
• This isn’t a podcast so I wish it would be more polished. They should prepare their jokes and comments beforehand and wait to be called on to present them. That way they don’t keep interrupting each other and having to retell their jokes. A lot of Akah’s comedy falls flat and I have no idea why those aren’t edited out. It would probably be a good idea to tape 40 minutes – 1 hour for each episode then have an editor cut it down to the best 20 minutes.
• They’re desperate for better structure. There should be clearly defined segments otherwise they’ll continue to have instances of people jumping between segments and losing track of what they were talking about.
• I recommend they hire interior designers, better cameramen, comedy writers and stylists. I don’t think they dress badly individually but they could probably be better coordinated. The shoes especially, lend themselves to ambiguity in the show’s tone. It could be that they’re trying to be approachable but I get the feeling they’re just pococurante. Maybe this is a pedantic point.
• Lastly, I need them to have permanent seats, please. The musical chairs is disorientating.

I read the Native Mag review and I disagree with at least one point. For me, one of the highlights of the first episode was when Makida wore her sunglasses. I thought it was funny. The show has plenty room for improvement and they could possibly achieve that if they worked hard at it. They seem to have a good rapport going on and Bayo is fantastic.

A