Photo:2024 Bronson Farr
2024 Bronson Farr
She’s a successful stand-up comedian, aDaily Showcorrespondent and now, an author. But there’s still nothing Dulcé Sloan wants more than to be a Klingon onStar Trek.“I did get to do a voice of a Klingon on [Star Trek: Lower Decks], so now I’m closer to it than I was,” Sloan, 40, tells PEOPLE. “But it’s not me, though. It’s not me in the costume. It’s not me sitting in makeup at four in the morning where they put peanut butter on my forehead…that’s my dream job.”Sloan, who has served as a correspondent on Comedy Central’sThe Daily Showsince 2017, and whoVarietycalls “a comic to watch,” reflects on more of her aspirations in a new book,Hello, Friends!, which publishes Feb. 6 from Andscape Books.
Random House
“I wanted to call the book,Don’t Call It A Memoir, I’m Only 39,” Sloan says. She looks atHello, Friends!as “a book of stories” that details her origins as a performer, starting in her hometown of Atlanta. Sloan would find her place in high school theater, playing roles like the Fairy Godmother inCinderellaand Diva in a production of ‘80s musicalStarmites.
Sloan’s comedy career took off in 2015 when she was named the winner of the Standup NBC Showcase.She would go on to make her television comedy debut onConanbefore joiningThe Daily Showin 2017, where she appeared in sketches like“9-1-1 for White People Emergencies”andbroke down current eventswith hostTrevor Noah.
Hello, Friends!tells of the long road toward becoming a full-time performer. Sloan reflects on being a Black, female comedian in the industry and looks back on the many odd jobs she took in order to build her career. She once spent time “learning way too much” about Minecraft andHarry Potterwhile working at children’s birthday parties, for one.
Dulcé Sloan.Gabe Botten
Gabe Botten
“If you are going to be in the arts, especially a performer, you are going to need to make money," she says. “Because when you’re first starting out, people are going to put you in [opportunities] or exposure and you can’t put exposure in a gas tank.“While the book features much of her signature humor, Sloan says it was an emotional writing process. She includes more emotional moments from her life, including “not so great” memories from school.
“It’s interesting as a child to know that an adult doesn’t like you merely just because of who you are,” Sloan says. “It’s a wild thing. It’s interesting as a child of color to know that white adults are taking opportunities away from you and mistreating you…then going to my mother and finding out that she had to do the same thing.”
While working on the book, Sloan says that, “I had to find a way to not be mad at 25-year-old me for decisions that I made based on the information that I had and who I was at the time.”
Dulcé Sloan.2024 Bronson Farr
“I know there were a lot of decisions that I would’ve made differently, but to make certain decisions, you have to feel a certain way about yourself and have different goals for yourself or really listen to somebody,” she continues.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.As for herHello, Friends!, Sloan hopes readers get even more out of it than laughs.“The longest relationship you’ll ever have in your life is with yourself,” she says. “So you have to learn how to give yourself grace, see where you want to improve and not beat yourself up.”
source: people.com
