Patricia Ms. Pat Williams doesnt have on her lashes when she joins our Zoom call from her iPad. Her camera is off, so I only hear her.

Hold on, let me get my glasses, she calls out in a voice that could carry an equal amount of depth whether shes telling you some real shit or a yo mama joke. She turns the camera on and I inform her this interview is only for a written piece and the video wont be used.

Oh, Ill take my damn glasses off then. Its not funny, but its funny.

Ms. Pats honest reactions with the perfect cusses peppered in here and there sometimes everywhere are part of what makes her one of the funniest comedians of today. Her story, and willingness to tell it, make up the rest of it.

The 50-year-old is gearing up for the Season 3 premiere of The Ms. Pat Show, the BET+ comedy loosely based on Pats own story. Its a story, on its head, that many wouldnt find humor in. Born and raised in Atlanta, Ms. Pat doesnt hold any bars when it comes to detailing the traumas of her life before she found comedy. But her experiences of poverty, teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse, violence and prison not only found a way into her stand-up, her resilience through comedy has become a crucial part of her brand. She calls her fan base her crack babies, a humorous ode to the drug she once sold outside of her daughters school.

But the road to The Ms. Pat Show was one that the comedian made sure she didnt put all her bets on. After five years of dead ends and three attempts to sell the show, executive producer Lee Daniels recruited showrunner Jordan E. Cooper to find a home for Ms. Pat to play the raunchy TV mom navigating new life in the suburbs as she pursues a comedy career.

I just think Im a voice that a lot of people in the industry overlooked, she said. Theres always been an audience there for the type of mom that I am on TV and in real life, but people were like, We couldnt dare have a woman saying those words or acting like that, but when you see Black mamas portrayed and you at the house, like, That aint my damn mama. When they gonna put a mama on TV that look like me or sound like my mama? Finally we got one, which was me.

Along with Ms. Pat herself, the show stars Tami Roman, J. Bernard Calloway, Theodore Barnes, Briyana Guadalupe, Brittany Inge and Vince Shawn. Debbie Allen directed the shows pilot and has come back to direct an episode each season. Last year, the show earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, BETs first major Emmy nomination for a scripted series.

For I Run This, Ms. Pat talks about how her authenticity makes The Ms. Pat Show what it is, the power of never giving up and the fact that she doesnt have to steal any more.