Sylvia Traymore with Boyd and Lucinda

Sylvia Traymore with Boyd and Lucinda
December 4,2013 .8:30 PT/ 9:30
MT/ 10:30 CT/ 11:30 est Location: GLOBAL
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thestreetsdontloveyouback Phone:
347-826-7273 My name is Sylvia Traymore Morrison. I wanted to share my personal Saturday Night Live experience, considering there is so much controversy and conversation taking place regarding the Black Women issue.

I am America’s first renowned Black Female Impressionist. I did my first professional show in 1969 at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. At that time I was singing and doing impressions. Shortly after that, in the early 70s, I entered the Miss Black America pageant (Black women at that time had no chance whatsoever of even thinking of becoming Miss America so a Black pageant was created by J. Morris Anderson. I missed Oprah Winfrey by one year, who was Miss Black Tennessee the year before). I ended up placing as 2nd Runner-up and going to Europe to entertain the American troops. The reception was magnificent. Apparently, they had never seen a Black Woman who did impressions. The day I returned to the states from Europe I got a call from a guy named Charles Brown, who was the manager for the group A Taste of Honey (known for their Grammy winning song, Boogie, Oogie, Oogie). He said that Redd Foxx wanted to meet me based on all he heard about my performances while overseas. They flew me to Los Angeles and long story short, his company signed me. He was my very first manager and is the only person I ever signed a long term contract with…to this day.

While living in Los Angeles waiting on my “break”, I was trying to work open mics with people like Jay Leno, David Letterman, Robyn Williams and a host of others. We were all on a mission to make it. While there never seemed to be a problem with the men getting time on stage, it was always a problem for me, especially since I was the lone Black Woman hoping to get a shot. Call it what you want. I called it racism and sexism but at that time, I could have cared less. I wanted to perform. Period.

Back home in DC, my father got sick. I headed back east to be with my family. My father died. I did not go back to Los Angeles because I wanted to be near my mother. I was back and forth to New York. She died 5 months later. I grieved for a long time and decided to move to New York to continue pursuing my career. I tried open mics, but it was basically the same story as the West Coast. A Black Woman in those days, and there were very few, did not have it so easy as their White Male counterparts. I remember a guy by the name of Jerry Seinfeld, who was hosting at a place called Catch A Rising Star, did not mind me getting on stage for 3 or so minutes every once in a while. By the way, Jerry had not ”made it” at that time. I did that whole New York scene for quite a while, trudging up and down, most times on foot, going from club to club hoping for a break or a microphone to perform on in front of an audience.

In April of 1979, they were roasting the great Muhammad Ali at the Apollo Theatre. Richard Pryor was suppose to host. I decided I had to be on that Roast, so my idea was to dress up like a Black Ruth Bussey from the hit show Laugh In and crash the Roast. Unfortunately, Mr. Pryor was unable to go forward as the host so they asked Dick Gregory. He did not want the hosting job. He actually wanted to be one of the celebrity roasters. The woman who was Ms. Black America the year I was her runner-up and who I traveled to Europe with suggested me as a potential host. I could not believe it actually trickled down to me.

www.sylviatraymore.com.