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Purgatory Soul Food

A Black Lady Sketch Show
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.

The setup

Two friends set on supporting a new Black-owned soul food spot find that its terrible service is more than a run of bad luck.

Community rating

– / 10

The premise

Here’s the bit.

Two friends arrive at a newly opened Black-owned soul food restaurant promising a big tip and a glowing online review. The lone waitress announces that half the menu is unavailable, the counter lady will only pour warm sweet tea or hot tea, the restroom charges admission in both directions, cutlery is bring-your-own, and a man posing as the manager makes off with their boxed leftovers before the bill arrives with a cash-only minimum. When the exasperated pair announce they will run the place better themselves, every door leads back to the dining room, the counter lady's eyes glow, and the two walk in again repeating their first lines — the neon sign revealing that the restaurant is called Purgatory Soul Food.

The funny people

Meet the cast. 4

Say it with us

Highly quotable.

Only got warm sweet tea.

Cost a quarter to get in, quarter to get out.

Just hold it for the culture.

Behind the scenes

The people who made it.

A little extra

Notes from the archive.

The episode featuring this sketch, "Born at Night, But Not Last Night," earned director Dime Davis a 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series. By the end of the series it was among the show's most-viewed sketches on YouTube.

The rabbit hole continues

One more couldn’t hurt.

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