This week’s “Women to Watch Out For” are actress and comedian Melissa Villaseñor and writer and comedian Phoebe Robinson. Last week, Hamilton’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) announced that Villaseñor and Robinson will be featured performers alongside comedians Mike Birbiglia and Gary Gulman in their
Stand Up & Vote
comedy show on Friday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 PM in Wellin Hall.
Villaseñor is perhaps best known for her role as a cast member on
Saturday Night Live
(
SNL
). Villaseñor started on
SNL
in 2016 as the show’s first Latina cast member and is still with the show today. One of her greatest strengths is her celebrity impressions, which she performs on many platforms, including
SNL
and her YouTube channel. Highlights include her impressions of Sarah Silverman, Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwen Stefani.
Prior to joining the cast of
SNL
, Villaseñor worked as a voice-over actress on
Adventure Time
,
Family Guy
, and
TripTank
. She was also a semifinalist on season 6 of
America’s Got Talent
and competed on
First Impressions
, a game show for comedians, in 2016.
Today, in addition to performing on
SNL
, Villaseñor appears both as herself and other characters on a wide variety of television shows and tours around the United States and Canada.
Our next woman to watch out for, Phoebe Robinson, is the creator and co-host of the
2 Dope Queens
podcast. During each episode, Robinson and co-host Jessica Williams, comedian and former senior correspondent on
The Daily Show
, sit down with three guest comedians. The podcast features female comedians, LGBT comedians, and comedians of color.
2 Dope Queens
, which debuted in 2016 at number one on the iTunes podcast chart, is a two-hour live comedy show in Brooklyn that is condensed into an hour-long podcast. HBO picked up
2 Dope Queens
for a four-part special comedy show following its massive success.
In June of 2016, Robinson launched her solo podcast, a spin-off of
2 Dope Queens
, called
Sooo Many White Guys
. In
Sooo Many White Guys
, Robinson addresses the predominance of white males in comedy and interviews one non white male comedian, musician, actor, or writer per episode. Both
2 Dope Queens
and
Sooo Many White Guys
still air episodes weekly.
Robinson has appeared as a comedian on many television shows, including
Last Comic Standing
,
Late Night with Seth Meyers
,
Broad City
, and
Last Call with Carson Daly
. She also acted in a supporting role on Netflix’s summer comedy,
Ibiza
. Moreover, a wide array of magazines and news sites, such as
Vulture
,
Essence
,
Esquire
, and
Brooklyn Magazine
, have named Robinson an up-and-coming comedian to watch.
Not only does Robinson have a robust career as a comedian, but she is also a successful writer. She was a staff writer for MTV’s
Girl Code
and the final season of the hit television show Portlandia. Robinson has contributed articles to
The New York Times
,
The Huffington Post
,
Vanity Fair
, and more. Additionally, she is a
New York Times
best-selling author for her book,
You Can’t Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain
. Her sophomore book,
Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay
, is set to be published in October 2018.
Overall, both Villaseñor and Robinson are doing significant work by inspiring more women of color to pursue careers in comedy. Watch out for Villaseñor and Robinson as they come to the Hill and continue to take the world of comedy by storm!
