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 
### Television 
## Related pages 
* List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people: W–Z

## References 
## Other websites 
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