Gina Yashere

**Gina Obedapo Iyashere** is a British comedian who has made many appearances on British and American television.

## Early life

Yashere was born and raised in London, to Nigerian parents. Before becoming a comedian, she worked as a lift maintenance technician and engineer (all of which she mentions in her stand-up routine).

She uses the surname "Yashere" due to encountering common mispronunciation of her original surname.

## Career

Yashere was a finalist in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1996. She has appeared in a number of television programmes, including in the comedy series _The Lenny Henry Show_, where she played Tanya and Mrs Omokorede, the pushy Mum. She voiced Keisha on the animated series _Bromwell High_. In 2005, she appeared in the reality television series _Comic Relief does Fame Academy_, in aid of Comic Relief, and she co-hosted the 2006 and 2007 MOBO Awards alongside 2Baba and Coolio. She has made numerous appearances on _Mock the Week_, and appears on the CBBC show _Gina's Laughing Gear_.

In 2007, Yashere was featured on the reality show _Last Comic Standing_, auditioning in Sydney. She was among the ten finalists, but on 1 August 2007, she and Dante were the first two finalists eliminated.

In 2008, she became the first Briton to perform on _Def Comedy Jam_. On 3 September 2009, she appeared on _The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien_ and performed a stand-up comedy routine. On 24 December, she appeared on _Live at the Apollo_. She appeared twice on the short-lived primetime show _The Jay Leno Show_: on 21 October 2009, a video of Yashere showed her giving free fortune-telling readings to passers-by, and on 25 November 2009, she operated a walk-in psychic booth. Since 2010, she has appeared semi-regularly on _The Tonight Show with Jay Leno_, in a sketch comedy series called _Madame Yashere: The Surly Psychic_. In the sketches, she continues to give fake psychic readings to unsuspecting people on the street.

In 2010, Yashere appeared as Flo in several episodes of the ITV drama _Married Single Other_. In April 2010, Yashere's one-hour comedy special, _Skinny B*tch_, premiered on Showtime, a US cable channel. She appeared on Watch TV show _Scream If You Know the Answer_ with contestant Emily Green from Portsmouth. She helped Emily win the show with a prize fund of £2,000. In 2013, Yashere appeared in an advert for Tesco Mobile. In 2015, Yashere was featured as a selected comic on _Gotham Comedy Live_, which airs on AXS TV (season 4-Judah Friedlander). On 8 January 2016, she appeared on _The Nasty Show with Artie Lange_, which aired on Showtime.

Starting on 16 March 2017, Yashere became the newest British Correspondent for _The Daily Show_.

In September 2019, Yashere appears in a supporting role on the 2019 Chuck Lorre CBS sitcom, _Bob Hearts Abishola_, which Lorre created with Yashere. Yashere writes for the show and plays Folake Olowofoyeku's character Abishola's best friend, Kemi. _Bob Hearts Abishola_ is the first American sitcom to feature a Nigerian family.

## Personal life

Yashere is a lesbian. She currently lives in North Hollywood, California, with her partner.

## Filmography

Below is an incomplete filmography:

### Movie

|Year|Title|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"|2001|_Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)_|Polythene Pam||
|_Mr In-Between_|Dancing Woman||||
|2008|_The Time of the End_|The Messiah|Short film||
|2016|_The Comedian's Guide to Survival_|Herself|||
|2018|_Early Man_|Gravelle|Voice||

### Television

|Year|Title|Role|Notes||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1996–2000|_Blouse and Skirt_|Herself|21 episodes||
|1999|_The Richard Blackwood Show_|—|Writer||
|2000|_Lenny Henry in Pieces_|—|||
|2005–2015|_The Wright Stuff_|Herself / Guest Panelist|4 episodes||
|rowspan="2"|2005|_The Crouches_|Mrs. Ubakema|Episode: "No Place Like Home"|
|_Bromwell High_|Keisha Marie (voice)|13 episodes|||
|rowspan="3"|2008|_Brits Abroad: Gina's Got the Ticket_|Host|TV movie|
|_Def Comedy Jam_|Writer|Episode: "Episode #8.1"|||
|_Gina Yashere: Skinny B*tch_|Herself|Stand-up special, Showtime|||
|rowspan="2"|2009|_Just for Laughs_|Writer|Episode: "Martin Short"|
|_Live at the Apollo_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #5.5"|||
|rowspan="2"|2010|_Married Single Other_|Flo|4 episodes|
|_1st Amendment Stand Up_|Writer|Episode: "Darren Carter/Gina Yashere/Damon Williams"|||
|2013–14|_Gotham Comedy Live_|Herself|2 episodes||
|rowspan="2"|2014|_Gina Yashere: Laughing To America_|Herself|Stand-up special, Starz|
|_Comics Unleashed_|Herself|2 episodes|||
|2015–2017|_@midnight_|Herself|5 episodes; representing the United Kingdom||
|rowspan="3"|2015|_The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore_|Herself / Panelist|2 episodes|
|_Just for Laughs: All-Access_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #3.9"|||
|_The Nasty Show Hosted by Artie Lange_|Herself||||
|rowspan="5"|2016|_Sir Patrick Stewart: A Knight of Comedy_|Herself||
|_Go 8 Bit_|Herself|Episode: "Episode #1.2"|||
|_Debate Wars_|Herself|Episode: "Babies Vs. Old People"|||
|_Black Is the New Black_|Herself||||
|_Live at the Apollo_|Herself / Host|Episode: "Episode #12.3"|||
|2017–18|_The Daily Show with Trevor Noah_|Commentator|4 episodes||
|rowspan="3"|2017|_Crashing_|Gina|Episode: "Artie Lange"|
|_Celebrity Chase_|Contestant|Episode: "Episode #7.7"|||
|_What's Your F@#King Deal?!_|Herself|Episode: "Dante Nero, Gina Yashere and Eddie Pepitone"|||
|rowspan="2"|2018|_The Standups with Gina Yashere_|Herself|Stand-up special, Netflix|
|_West:Word_|Herself|Episode: "Vanishing Point"|||
|2019–present|_Bob Hearts Abishola_|Kemi|38 episodes; Also co-creator, executive producer and writer||
|2021–present|_The Barbarian and the Troll_|Axe|12 episodes||

## Related pages

- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people: W–Z

## Infobox (comedian)

- **name**: Gina Yashere
- **image**: Gina Yashere (82006).jpg
- **caption**: Yashere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018
- **birth name**: Gina Obedapo Iyashere
- **birth place**: London, England
- **active**: 1996–present