Episode #407: Yvonne Orji

Yvonne Orji first came to our attention as Molly, Issa’s best friend on Issa Rae’s HBO series, Insecure.

The Nigerian-born actress and comedian hasn’t let the end of Insecure keep her down, though. Since the series wrapped at the end of 2021, Orji has put out her first book, “Bamboozled by Jesus,” hosted the Yearly Departed comedy special for Amazon Prime Video, hosted the International Emmy Awards, and hosted a reality dating show for HBO Max, My Mom, Your Dad. Orji sat down with Decider to talk about her second HBO stand-up comedy special, Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me, what’s changed in her life in the two years since her first special, Momma, I Made It!, how she’s able to separate her work from her worth, and how casting other actresses in her special is good for everyone.

If you like this conversation, please consider subscribing to my Substack called Piffany at Piffany.Substack.com so you can read bonus commentary on this episode as well as more comedy news and insights. Thanks in advance, and now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to it!

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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