The Fix: Kenya Barris Is Taking Black Joy and Funny To Mainstream
Kenya Barris Is Taking Black Joy and Funny To Mainstream
If you’re looking for something funny, familiar, and very much grown folks vibe, let me put you on. Kenya Barris, the mind behind Black-ish, just teamed up with Audible for a brand-new audio comedy called Big Age, and it dropped yesterday. And listen the cast alone tells you this is about to be a TIME.
We’re talking Jenifer Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, and Niecy Nash-Betts. Legends. The kind of names that instantly let you know this isn’t background noise, this is intentional, funny, and rooted in real Black life.
Big Age follows a retired couple who move into a Florida retirement community thinking they’re about to live a quiet, slow, peaceful life. You know rest, relaxation, minding their business. But instead, they quickly realize this new chapter is serving mess, mayhem, reinvention, and a whole lot of “we still got it.” This is not bingo at 6 p.m. and bedtime at 8. This is Black grown folks energy in full effect.
Kenya Barris basically said, he’s giving the people something they can laugh at while minding their own business. And honestly, that’s the sweet spot. It’s funny without being forced, relatable without trying too hard, and smart in that way only Kenya Barris projects tend to be. It celebrates aging without making it feel like an ending. If anything, it reminds you that life keeps life-ing at every stage.
This Audible is perfect for the car, the kitchen, folding clothes, or just sitting still for a minute and laughing out loud. Because sometimes, joy doesn’t need visuals it just needs good storytelling, familiar voices, and a reminder that getting older doesn’t mean getting boring.
