Local writer and SB Independent columnist Starshine Rochell began her UCSB Arts & Lectures interview of fiery comic Samantha Bee by asking about Bee’s passion for blazers, and it kind of set the tone for the evening as a sort of get-to-know-the-real-person-behind-the-star affair. The relaxed chat was a real contrast to her late night show “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” filled as it is with shock-hilarious monologues about contemporary life in the era of Trump. There were glimpses of her trademark cutting wit, and a few places she didn’t want to go (why she wasn’t chosen to succeed as host of “The Daily Show”) but she did reveal that she overcame being a very shy person. Who’d a thunk it?? So if you came expecting some outrageousness, you may have been a little disappointed, but you still got plenty of humor and witnessed a cozier version of an extremely important lady, only one of whose accomplishments is becoming the first woman to host a late-nite satire show. There’s a good reason Time magazine chose her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world… she is.
