Yamaneika Saunders: Bio, TV Shows, WGA Award, SiriusXM & Where to Watch

Yamaneika Saunders is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and WGA Award-winning writer born and raised in Maryland. She’s known for her high-energy, improvisational comedy and writing credits on Inside Amy Schumer and HBO’s That Damn Michael Che. Her TV acting credits include Hulu’s Life & Beth, Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, HBO’s Crashing, Netflix’s The Degenerates, and Adult Swim’s Teenage Euthanasia. She hosts Off Topic with Yamaneika on SiriusXM / Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio and is a Comedy Cellar regular.

Yamaneika Saunders Quick Facts

• Full Name: Yamaneika Saunders
• Born: Maryland (per multiple sources, November 3, 1978, in Aberdeen, Maryland)
• Raised In: Maryland, then Los Angeles at age 15
• Education: Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (theater)
• Nationality: American
• Known For: WGA Award-winning writer (Inside Amy Schumer), co-star on Oxygen’s Funny Girls, recurring roles on Hulu’s Life & Beth and Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, host of SiriusXM’s Off Topic with Yamaneika
• Based: New York City (splits time with LA)
• Current Radio Show: Off Topic with Yamaneika on SiriusXM / Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 3 PM ET)
• Podcast: Rantin’ and Ravin’

Who Is Yamaneika Saunders?

Yamaneika Saunders is one of the hardest-working voices in modern American comedy — a stand-up, actress, writer, and now SiriusXM radio host whose presence in any room is unmistakable. She’s built her career on high-energy improvisational observations, unapologetic perspective, and an ability to hold any stage she walks onto. She’s a Comedy Cellar regular, a recurring correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, a WGA Award winner, and a veteran of more than a decade of working the New York and LA comedy scenes simultaneously.

Her writing credits include Inside Amy Schumer — which won a WGA Award for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series — and HBO’s That Damn Michael Che. As an actress, she’s appeared in Hulu’s Life & Beth, Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, HBO’s Crashing, Netflix’s The Degenerates, and more. In 2024, she launched her own SiriusXM pop culture show, Off Topic with Yamaneika, through Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat / Laugh Out Loud Radio.

For deeper editorial on her work, see Mint Comedy’s Yamaneika Saunders: The Queen of Unfiltered Truth. She’s also featured in Female Comedians of the Comedy Cellar and the complete Mint Comedy roster guide.

Yamaneika Saunders’ Early Life and Path to Comedy

Yamaneika Saunders was born and raised in Maryland. She comes from a family with a spiritual background — her grandparents were church ministers, and her mother was an audiovisual engineer for radio and television broadcasts, which is how Saunders first got introduced to the infrastructure of broadcast comedy.

At age 15, Saunders moved to Los Angeles and attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studied theater. That early theatrical grounding — as opposed to a pure stand-up background — is part of what gives her stage presence its specific quality: she knows how to play to a room the way a trained actress plays to an audience, while keeping the improvisational looseness of a stand-up. She’s been working in comedy for over a decade.

Yamaneika Saunders’ TV and Film Credits

The “tv shows with yamaneika saunders” query is one of the most common searches about her — here’s the full rundown of her on-camera work across networks and streamers:

Acting / Guest Star Credits

• Life & Beth (Hulu) — recurring role
• Flatbush Misdemeanors (Showtime)
• Crashing (HBO)
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
• Broad City (Comedy Central)
• The Jim Gaffigan Show (TV Land)
• The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (Comedy Central)
• This Is Not Happening (Comedy Central)
• Comedy Knockout (truTV)
• Friends of the People (truTV)
• The Black and White (A&E)
• Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks

Stand-Up Specials and Showcases

• The Degenerates (Netflix) — stand-up showcase
• Last Comic Standing (NBC)
• Gotham Comedy Live (AXS TV)
• This Week at the Comedy Cellar (Comedy Central)
• Comedy in Color Season 2 (Hartbeat)

Docu-Series and Reality

• Funny Girls (Oxygen, 2015) — co-star; docu-series following six female comedians
• Kandi Koated Nights — guest
• Hall of Flame: Top 100 Roast Moments

Voiceover and Animation

• Inside Amy Schumer — voiceover work
• Teenage Euthanasia (Adult Swim) — voice role
• In Security (Comedy Central, animated online series) — series regular
• Hot Carl & Durp (Adult Swim, animated pilot) — series regular

Late Night / Talk Show Appearances

• The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon — recurring correspondent
• The Meredith Vieira Show — former panelist

Yamaneika Saunders’ Writing Credits

• Inside Amy Schumer — WGA Award winner for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
• That Damn Michael Che (HBO)

Off Topic with Yamaneika (SiriusXM)

In 2024, Hartbeat (Kevin Hart’s multi-platform entertainment company) and SiriusXM launched Off Topic with Yamaneika, a three-times-weekly pop culture show hosted by Saunders on Laugh Out Loud Radio. New episodes air Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT. The show gives her a dedicated platform for bold takes on pop culture, trending topics, and whatever she decides to go off topic about.

She previously hosted the podcast Rantin’ and Ravin’, which shares her personal commentary and observations in a long-form audio format.

Yamaneika Saunders’ Comedy Style

Saunders’ comedy is built on high-energy improvisation and theatrical confidence. Her theater training surfaces in her stage presence — she works the room with the control of a trained performer while keeping the loose, reactive quality that makes stand-up feel alive. Her material draws from personal stories, cultural observation, and the specific absurdities of life as a Black woman navigating the American comedy industry, but it’s never didactic or pitched as a message.

What makes her specifically valuable at rooms like the Comedy Cellar is stage command. In a room where headliners cycle every fifteen minutes, audiences notice who owns the room immediately and who earns it. Saunders owns it from the walk-on.

Where to Watch Yamaneika Saunders

Catch Saunders’ live stand-up from the Comedy Cellar on Mint Comedy at watch.mintcomedy.com. Stream her acting work on Hulu (Life & Beth), Showtime (Flatbush Misdemeanors), HBO Max (Crashing, That Damn Michael Che), and Netflix (The Degenerates). Listen to Off Topic with Yamaneika on SiriusXM Laugh Out Loud Radio (Tues/Wed/Thurs at 3 PM ET).

For more context on her career, read The Queen of Unfiltered Truth. She has performed at Skankfest — see our complete Skankfest guide for context.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Yamaneika Saunders?
Yamaneika Saunders is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and WGA Award-winning writer from Maryland. She’s a Comedy Cellar regular, writer on Inside Amy Schumer and HBO’s That Damn Michael Che, and host of SiriusXM’s Off Topic with Yamaneika. Her acting credits include Hulu’s Life & Beth, Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, HBO’s Crashing, and Netflix’s The Degenerates.

How old is Yamaneika Saunders?
Multiple sources report Yamaneika Saunders was born on November 3, 1978, in Aberdeen, Maryland, which would make her 47 years old in 2026. This date has not been confirmed by Saunders herself or by a primary source like Wikipedia.

Where is Yamaneika Saunders from?
Yamaneika Saunders was born and raised in Maryland. She moved to Los Angeles at age 15 to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studied theater. She now splits her time between New York City and LA.

What TV shows has Yamaneika Saunders been in?
Yamaneika Saunders has appeared in Hulu’s Life & Beth, Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, HBO’s Crashing and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Comedy Central’s Broad City, TV Land’s The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Adult Swim’s Teenage Euthanasia. She was a co-star on Oxygen’s Funny Girls (2015) and a series regular on Comedy Central’s In Security. She’s also a recurring correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Is Yamaneika Saunders on Netflix?
Yes. Yamaneika Saunders appeared in Netflix’s stand-up showcase The Degenerates.

Did Yamaneika Saunders win a WGA Award?
Yes. Yamaneika Saunders is a WGA Award-winning writer — Inside Amy Schumer, which she wrote on, won a WGA Award for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series.

What radio show does Yamaneika Saunders host?
Yamaneika Saunders hosts Off Topic with Yamaneika, a three-times-weekly pop culture show on SiriusXM’s Laugh Out Loud Radio (Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat network). New episodes air Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT.

What are Yamaneika Saunders’ writing credits?
Yamaneika Saunders has written on Inside Amy Schumer (WGA Award winner) and HBO’s That Damn Michael Che.

Where did Yamaneika Saunders go to school?
Yamaneika Saunders attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studied theater after moving to LA at age 15.

Where can I watch Yamaneika Saunders live?
Yamaneika Saunders performs regularly at the Comedy Cellar in New York City. Mint Comedy streams the Cellar live — subscribers can catch her sets when she’s in the rotation at watch.mintcomedy.com.