Tichina Arnold knows what it takes to make a living from flexing her funny bone.
She's been in showbiz since she was 11 and she's had multiple starring roles on American comedy shows.
She's brought her humour to Survivor's Remorse, Everybody Hates Chris, One on One and Martin and most recently she found herself behind bars as Pauletta on Mzansi Magic's Lockdown.
While she was in South Africa filming her episodes, I asked her to share her no. 1 tip for successfully acting comedy.
She shared two. One about comedy and the other about surviving the cut-throat business of acting.
This is what she had to say:
On acting comedy:
Tichina: Don't second guess yourself. Trust the work, trust what comes out and if it makes you uncomfortable - that means it's funny.
On the industry:
Tichina: Unfortunately, show business isn't good to a lot of people. Sh*t, it hasn't been good to me in a lot of years. My main advice for anyone getting into the industry is you better LOVE it because when it doesn't love you back, what are you gonna do?