Jessi Ruth Klein (born August 18, 1975) is an American writer, actress and stand-up comedian from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Klein has regularly appeared on shows such as ''

The Showbiz Show with David Spade ''The Showbiz Show with David Spade'' was a weekly television program on Comedy Central that starred comedian David Spade. It is a comedic parody of celebrity news programs such as ''Entertainment Tonight'' and ''Access Hollywood''. The show was d ...

'' and VH1's ''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 20 ...

'' and has performed stand-up on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's ''

Premium Blend ''Premium Blend'' was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005 the show was changed, and now known as "Live at Gotham". The show w ...

''. She provided commentary for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

in the debates of the 2004 presidential election. A self-proclaimed "

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

", Klein has appeared on the

television specials A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

for ''My Coolest Years: Geeks'' on VH1 and ''Rise of the Geeks'' on E!. Klein also provided the voice of Lucy in the animated pilot for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

's ''

Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil ''Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil'' is an American adult computer-animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim. It was created and directed by Loren Bouchard (who later made the Fox show ' ...

''. Klein previously worked as a director of development for

. Some of the shows she helped develop for the network were ''

Chappelle's Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were th ...

'' and '' Stella''. She was the head writer and executive producer of ''

Inside Amy Schumer ''Inside Amy Schumer'' is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by Amy Schumer. The series aired on Comedy Central from April 30, 2013 to June 16, 2016 and was revived in 2022 for a new season on Paramount+. Schumer and ...

''.

Career

In 2004, Klein appears twice in the Season 2 "Wayne Brady Show" episode of

: first, in the boardroom to inform Dave of how replaceable he is on the show, and later she along with

Neal Brennan Neal Brennan (born October 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his ...

are gassed by

Chappelle Chappelle is a surname of French origin, a variant of the word ''chapelle'' meaning "chapel". Notable people with the name include: * Bill Chappelle, American baseball player * Charles W. Chappelle (1872–1941), African-American aviation pioneer ...

" in the wings" just before Chappelle confronts

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...

to take his show back. In 2009, she wrote and co-starred in ''

Michael and Michael Have Issues ''Michael & Michael Have Issues'' (sometimes abbreviated ''MMHI'') is a cable television comedy series starring comedians and actors Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, who created the series. Both comedians appeared together in several TV co ...

'' on

. She also worked as a writer on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' during the 2009-2010 season. Klein's ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'' special aired on March 4, 2011. Klein made her first-time appearance as a panelist on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's comedy-news quiz show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' on June 25, 2011. She was the first female guest host of the program on March 11, 2017. She has been an executive producer and writer for ''Inside Amy Schumer'' on Comedy Central since its debut, and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in 2015 for her work on the show. She was also a consulting producer on the series "Transparent" in 2016. Klein released her debut book in July 2016, ''You'll Grow Out of It,'' which became a New York Times best seller. Klein's second book, ''I'll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood'', was released in April 2022. Klein has served as a consulting producer for the Netflix series

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animation, animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', ''South Park'', and ...

'' Big Mouth'' since 2017, and provides the voice for one of the series' main characters, Jessi Glaser.

Selected works

Books

* *

Essays and reporting

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Jessi 1975 births Living people American stand-up comedians American television actresses Television producers from New York City American women television producers American television writers Actresses from New York City Stuyvesant High School alumni American women comedians American women television writers 21st-century American actresses Vassar College alumni Jewish American writers Jewish American female comedians Comedians from New York City The New Yorker people Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American Jews