Yvonne Orji's Autopay

This week, host Jesse David Fox calls up comedian and actor Yvonne Orji. Yvonne appears on the HBO series Insecure as Molly, Issa Dee’s best friend, but this week Yvonne is on to talk about her new hour special, “Momma, I Made It!”

Born in Nigeria and raised in Maryland, Yvonne took an unusual path to comedy. She was attending graduate school in Washington, D.C. for a master’s degree in public health when she decided to compete in a local beauty pageant. When it came to the talent portion of the competition, she couldn’t think of a talent, so she decided to try telling jokes. That led to a career change and years on the comedy club circuit, culminating in Yvonne opening for Chris Rock on his 2017 Total Blackout tour. 

With her new special, Yvonne is ready to show people who she really is. Beyond her standup, which is so good - joyous and filled with hyper-specific, richly drawn characters - the special includes documentary footage of Yvonne returning to Nigeria to visit her family. Yvonne’s impressions of her family members are so funny, but it’s another level to meet those people and see how spot on she is.

The clip of Yvonne’s joke from “Momma, I Made It!” courtesy HBO. You can follow Yvonne on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram.

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