Jessica McKenna is an American actress and comedian.[1] McKenna trained with The Groundlings and at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where she regularly performs. McKenna was one of the stars of Fox's Party Over Here, alongside Nicole Byer and Alison Rich, and currently hosts the podcast Off Book: The Improvised Musical.
Jessica McKenna | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2012–present |
McKenna was born in Yorba Linda, California.[2] She received a bachelor's degree in theater from Northwestern University.[2]
McKenna began training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre after college, and became a regular performer in 2012.[3][4] She regularly performs with the musical improv house teams, Magic to Do and Baby Wants Candy.[5] McKenna is also a frequent performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre's long-running improv show, ASSSSCAT.[6][5] McKenna has performed improv comedy at festivals including South by Southwest, SF Sketchfest, Edinburgh Fringe, the Del Close Marathon, Bumbershoot, and Chicago Sketch Fest.[1][2][7][8]
In 2014, McKenna was a regular cast member on Fox's improv-based game show, Riot, until its cancellation. In 2016, McKenna starred alongside fellow Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) alumnae Nicole Byer and Alison Rich in Fox's sketch comedy show, Party Over Here, which was produced by The Lonely Island and Paul Scheer.[9] Party Over Here was cancelled after one season.[10] McKenna has appeared in episodes of Modern Family and The Goldbergs.
McKenna often collaborates with UCB alumnus Zach Reino. McKenna and Reino have worked together on musical sketches for Funny or Die, BuzzFeed, and Nickelodeon.[11] In 2016, McKenna and Reino wrote and starred together in ABC's web series, Serious Music.[12] Along with Zeke Nicholson, the pair also featured in an episode of Dropout series Game Changer titled "The Official Cast Recording", in which they improvised a short musical based on host Sam Reich's prompts.[13] This was later adapted into a full series on Dropout titled Play It By Ear.[14]
McKenna also works as a voice actress. McKenna voices the lead character, Lennon, on Amazon's Little Big Awesome.[2] It was originally announced that McKenna would voice the lead character on Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer, however, creator Aaron Springer[15][16] ultimately was cast in that role.
In 2022, McKenna, along with Neil Casey, Zach Reino, and Niccole Thurman, won the Writers Guild of America Award in the category "Quiz and Audience Participation" for her work on the series Baking It.[17]
Since 2017, McKenna and Reino have hosted the musical comedy podcast Off Book: The Improvised Musical, which was initially on the Earwolf network.[18] McKenna is also a regular guest on the podcast version of Comedy Bang! Bang!, where she is known for characters such as Beth, the Power Wheels–obsessed eight-year-old, and This Is Your Boy Troy.[19] McKenna has also appeared on Improv4Humans, Doughboys, The JV Club, and Hollywood Handbook.[4]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Beta | Lauren | Short film |
| 2017 | Gleep-Glorp & Lasertag | Gleep-Glorp | Voice Short film |
| Lane Woods Finds Love | |||
| 2018 | Song of Back and Neck | Dawn |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Various | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | The Goldbergs | Waiter | Episode: "The Age of Darkness" |
| 2015 | The Hotwives | Mackenzie | 2 episodes |
| Adam Ruins Everything | Jess | Episode: "Adam Ruins Restaurants" | |
| Filthy Preppy Teen$ | Macauley | Episode: "The Return of the Prodigal Teens" | |
| 2016 | Party Over Here | Various | 10 episodes |
| American Dad! | (voice) | Episode: "Gifted Me Liberty" | |
| Legendary Dudas | Employee | Episode: "King Sam/Karate Kids" | |
| 2016–2017 | The UCB Show | Various | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Voltron: Legendary Defender | Various voices | 2 episodes |
| 2018–2021 | Craig of the Creek | Handlebarb / Jake (voice) | 13 episodes |
| 2018 | Little Big Awesome | Lennon / various voices | 13 episodes |
| Modern Family | Nurse Tami | Episode: "The Escape" | |
| 2018–2020 | Big City Greens | Various voices | 3 episodes |
| 2019–present | DC Super Hero Girls | Aqualad (voice) | 18 episodes |
| 2019 | HarmonQuest | Flairence Sparrow | Episode: "Ad Quod Damnum" |
| Sunnyside | Andromeda Burrff | Episode: "Pants Full of Sandwiches" | |
| 2020 | Space Force | Participant #2 | Episode: "Proportionate Response" |
| Trick Moon | Trickshot (voice) | TV pilot | |
| 2020–2021 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Ensign Barnes / various voices | 11 episodes |
| 2020–present | The Mighty Ones | Rocksy (voice) | 20 episodes |
| 2021 | Ten Year Old Tom | Mrs. Band / various voices | 7 episodes |
| Amphibia | Gabby (voice) | Episode: "Hop 'Til You Drop/Turning Point" | |
| Curb Your Enthusiasm | Waiter | Episode: "Irma Kostroski" | |
| 2022 | The Loud House | Boy Jordan / Students (voice) | Episode: "Appetite for Destruction/Frame on You" |
| Duncanville | Various voices | Episode: "Clothes and Dagger" |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Style Savvy: Styling Star | Additional Voices |
| 2020 | Fallout 76: Steel Dawn | Maximo Leone |