Tisha Campbell makes the work of a comic partner count. We like the steadiness she brings to sitcom ensembles, but her singing in Little Shop of Horrors is a useful reminder that she can set the pace herself.
Fi1m perspective
A doorway or a fire escape is enough for Tisha Campbell to help Little Shop of Horrors (1986) get moving again. As Chiffon, alongside Tichina Arnold and Michelle Weeks, she sings the things the other characters would prefer to leave unsaid. Frank Oz's film can grow slack between its numbers, but the three girls give their scenes an immediate lift without needing much of the story to themselves. We were relieved whenever they returned, because their outspoken commentary supplied the energy missing from Rick Moranis's gentler Seymour.
Her early films included Spike Lee's School Daze (1988) and House Party (1990), before television made the grounded comic partner her familiar assignment. Martin (1992–97) cast her as Gina Waters-Payne opposite Martin Lawrence, with Arnold again among her colleagues. My Wife and Kids (2001–05) followed, with Campbell as Jay Kyle opposite Damon Wayans. These parts put her steadiness to work against high-energy comedians, giving the scenes someone who can keep them from becoming nothing but commotion.
That is an effective use of Campbell, though repeating the assignment has its limitations. The supportive partner can end up being valued chiefly for making somebody else's comedy work, and we would welcome more opportunities for Campbell to determine the pace. Her later dramatic work includes Mama Liz in Blindspotting (2018), so the sitcom description does not cover everything she does. There is no need to treat drama as a promotion, either: keeping an ensemble funny is demanding work already.
In Little Shop of Horrors, we would resist picking a winner out of Campbell, Arnold and Weeks. Their job is to narrate from the kerb and say what everyone else avoids, and much of the pleasure comes from hearing them do it together. Campbell helps make those appearances lively enough that we notice how long the film spends without them. Start there for the singing, with some patience for the stretches when Oz leaves the trio off screen.
Biography
Tisha Campbell is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut as Chiffon in the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors. Raised in Newark, New Jersey, she attended Newark Arts High School and began appearing in television as a child, including an episode of The Big Blue Marble in 1974.
She is known for her roles as Gina Waters-Payne in the Fox sitcom Martin (1992–1997) and as Janet "Jay" Marie Johnson-Kyle in the ABC series My Wife and Kids (2001–2005), for which she received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. She has also appeared in films including School Daze (1988), Rooftops (1989), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Boomerang (1992) and the House Party series.
Campbell has worked in voice roles, including in the animated series Harley Quinn, and released a self-titled album in 1993. She was married to actor Duane Martin from 1996 until their divorce in 2020.
