Amber Ruffin

Comedian and actress Amber Ruffin made headlines in 2014 when she joined the writing staff of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (NBC 2014-) and the public caught wind that Ruffin was the first African-American woman to write for a major late-night talk show. The Omaha, Nebraska native was far from a newcomer to comedy, however, having studied and performed at iO Theater in Chicago extensively. Ruffin had also joined Boom! Chicago in Amsterdam, touring Europe with the famed comedy troupe. After returning to the United States, she became a performer on the Second City Mainstage, where she stood out in shows like "No Country for Old White Men" and "Between Barack and a Hard Place." Ruffin also began branching into on-screen comedy, writing, producing, and appearing in the web series "RobotDown" (Youtube, 2012-13) in 2012. After a memorable appearance on "Drunk History" (Comedy Central, 2013-) narrating the story of Civil Rights activist Claudette Colvin, Ruffin began writing at "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in 2014, joining much of the show's staff additionally in writing for that year's "The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards" (2014), which Meyers hosted. Along with other members of the writing staff, Ruffin also acted in comedy sketches on the show, portraying characters such as Meyers' enthusiastic hype man Scoot and appearing as herself alongside fellow writer Jenny Hagel in the recurring segment "Jokes Seth Can't Tell." Ruffin's contributions would become integral to "Late Night," but that didn't stop her from making another appearance on "Drunk History" in 2016, this time telling the inebriated tale of radical temperance activist Carrie Nation.