Day 5: Kalup Linzy

Classic daytime TV soap operas such as All My Children and The Days of Our Lives have fueled many of Kalup Linzy’s hilarious video vignettes. He lampoons the stilted acting performances and risible plots while subversively making pointed commentaries about race, class, and sexual identity. Perhaps part of the appeal of Linzy’s videos is the way he flips the casting script. Soap operas have long been popular in the African American community, but the actors are mostly white.

Oftentimes, Linzy provides the voiceovers for all of the characters and does the post-production editing, taking the absurdity of TV soap operas to an even more outlandish level. Last year, Linzy even made his way as a performer on a bona fide soap opera classic, General Hospital.

Watch this 2003 vignette, All My Churen, which stars Linzy as all of the characters in the Braswell family. Then take the quiz below to test your knowledge of black roles in some of the most popular soap operas.

Pop Quiz