27 Funniest Women in America

27 Impressive Female Comedians

Since the mid-1800s, American women have performed comedy in the theater, then radio, television, films, videos, records, CDs, records, and on the internet. This list suggests which women are the best in American comedy. But it doesn’t include women who have passed away or have retired from performing.

Now let’s begin the countdown!

27. Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo began her entertainment career by doing stand-up comedy in the 1980s, and then in the early 1990s she began appearing in movies such as Reality Bites (1994) and the Truth about Cats and Dogs (1996).

She also appeared on TV in The Ben Stiller Show (1992) and The Larry Sanders Show (1992–98), the latter show earning her two Primetime Emmy Awards for acting. She performed on SNL for the 1994–95 season, but didn’t like the sketches, calling them “juvenile and homophobic.” In fact, she hated the experience of being on the show!

In 2001, Garofalo’s career “tanked,” as she called it, and she quit drinking. Nevertheless, well into the 2020s, she’s landed many movies roles and TV appearances and continues to hit the comedy scene in the Big Apple.

I guess I prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth!

— Janeane Garofalo

26. Sarah Sherman

Sarah Sherman, aka Sarah Squirm, grew up in Long Island, New York. Sherman’s career in comedy began when she didn’t make the improv team at Northwestern University! But she graduated with a degree in theatre nevertheless. In 2018, her break in TV began when she appeared in an Adult Swim infomercial titled “Flayaway.”

Eventually developing a comedic style she’s called “extremely visual, body-focused, and frankly, disgusting,” Sherman is also a comedy writer, having contributed material for The Andre Show, Three Busy Debras and Magic for Humans. She also got screenwriter credit on the movie Jackass Forever (2022). And, in 2023, Sherman starred with Adam Sandler in the film You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.

In 2023, Sherman became a featured player on Saturday Night Live, even though the producers thought her unconventional approach might seem offensive to audiences. Critic Luka Katic wrote, “Sherman finds inventive alternative ways to channel her deranged sensibilities into the show.” At any rate, Sherman’s offbeat antics seem to be getting lots of play on SNL.

My whole life I was taught that women are either sexualized or vulgarized. I’m talking about my own body politics, so I own that shame, guilt, pain, and embarrassment by performing the act of torture on myself.

— Sarah Sherman

25. Ego Nwodim

Ego Nwodim is a Nigerian-American comedian, actress and writer who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southern California. But, hoping for a more exciting career, she pursued comedy by joining the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in L.A., at which she performed her one-woman show Nice Black Girls...and Then There's Me.

Since 2012, Nwodim has appeared in numerous movies, including Singularity (2017), Magic Camp (2020) and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022). She’s acted or appeared in many TV shows as well: K.C. Undercover (2016), 2 Broke Girls (2017), Living Biblically (2018), The Real Bros of Simi Valley (2019) and Love Life (2021).

Nwodim got a major advance in her comedy career by joining SNL in 2018, soon advancing to repertory player in 2020. Nwodim has portrayed many characters on the show—Dionne Warwick and Black Ariel the Mermaid; she's also played the recurring character of Lisa from Temecula, who hilariously makes a mess of trying to cut her steak.

I grew up watching “Martin” and “In Living Color.” I didn’t know they were called comedies because they weren’t introduced to me that way. I didn’t really even know that was a career option until 15 years ago.

—Ego Nwodim

24. Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford has her share of mental issues: bipolar II disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and something called unwanted thoughts syndrome; she’s also suffered from at least three nervous breakdowns.

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Bamford uses her experiences to produce a zany, surreal comedy, which she accentuates with her talent for impersonations and voice characterizations.

She began her career in comedy in 1998, doing stand up and appearing in numerous TV shows, movies and internet series, highlighted by her joining the cast of Arrested Development prior to Season 4 (2013).

She then starred in Lady Dynamite (2016–17), a Netflix series in which Bamford played the leading role of—Maria Bamford.

My dad has some depressive issues, and he’s really tough on himself. So sometimes he can say things that are not super supportive. Like once I did a set, and he says, ‘Sheesh, no wonder you’re still single,’ and I was like, ‘eight ball corner pocket, dad.’

— Maria Bamford

23. Ali Wong

Can Asian women be funny? If Ali Wong’s comedy is any judge of that, they sure can! Wong, a comedian, actress, and writer, began her stand-up career at 23; she moved to NYC and performed as many as nine times a night.

In the 2010s, she began acting on TV shows like The Tonight Show, Dave Attell’s Comedy Underground Show, Are You There, Chelsea? and was a writer/consultant for the first three seasons of Fresh Off the Boat (2015–17). From 2016 to 2021, Wong starred as Doris on the sitcom, American Housewife.

She's also acted in movies, appearing in Savages (2012), Dealin’ with Idiots (2013) and Always Be My Maybe (2019), in which she not only co-starred with Randall Park, but served as a writer and producer.

Wong has done three stand-up comedy specials for Netflix, two of which while obviously pregnant. She cracked jokes about being pregnant and having C-sections!

To be a trophy wife, you have to be a trophy. I’m more of a commemorative plaque.

— Ali Wong

22. Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes began her comedy career in the late 1980s, doing stand-up in Washington D.C. She moved to NYC in the early 1990s, appearing on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam.

In 1997, Sykes joined HBO’s The Chris Rock Show as a writer and to make occasional appearances. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for her writing on the show in 1999.

Sykes co-starred on the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine from 2006–10, and has been a recurring character on Black-ish since 2015. Of course, since 2001 Sykes has appeared on the Larry David series, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Notably, Wanda did the voice of Granny in two Ice Age movies. In 2018, she was the head writer for the final season of Roseanne, and in 2021 she played Rita in the movie, Breaking News in Yuba County.

I’m a black gay woman. I think the only way the GOP would hate me more is if I sent them a video of me rolling around on a pile of welfare checks.

— Wanda Sykes

21. Aidy Bryant

Aidy Bryant has been studying improvisational comedy since she was in middle school. After graduating from Columbia College in Chicago, she performed with the comedy group, Baby Wants Candy. She also acted with Chicago’s Second City and the Annoyance Theatre.

In 2012, Bryant joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, and which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018. She played many recurring characters, including former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Senator Ted Cruz. Anybody who’s performed on the show for ten years deserves to be on this list! Sadly, Bryant left SNL in 2022.

She’s also performed on other TV shows, including Shrill, Girls, Shrink, Danger & Eggs and Broad City. She’s also appeared movies like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Brother Nature (2016), the Big Sick (2017), The Star (2017) and I Feel Pretty (2018).

I want to feel like I can dance or party all night and not be worried about people stepping on my dress.

— Aidy Bryant

20. Heidi Gardner

In 2001, when Gardner was a senior in high school, she was voted “the most likely to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live.” Seemingly destined for comedic stardom— though it didn’t come quickly—Gardner worked as a hair stylist for nine years before she enrolled in community workshops and then took improvisation acting classes at the Groundlings Theatre in L.A.

Then, in 2014, she became a voice actress on animated TV shows such as Bratz and Mike Tyson Mysteries; after which, in 2017, she joined the cast of SNL as a featured player.

On SNL, Gardner has played many recurring characters, including Angel, Every Boxer’s Girlfriend; Bailey Gismert, a teen film critic who gives funny reviews; Brie Bacardi, one half of a couple that can’t seem to stop arguing; and Deirdre, part of another couple that describes their vacation to friends, making them seem much more fun than they actually were.

Gardner has appeared in many films such as Life of the Party (2018), Making Babies (2018), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) and Leo (2023). She’s also acted in many TV shows, including Veep, Alien News Desk, American Dad! Superstore, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Crank Yankers, Is It Cake? and Shrinking.

In addition, Gardner played the part of Brooke Ashton in the theatre production of Noises Off (2018), at the Cape Playhouse.

In my own life, I think I've always been a bit of a people pleaser. Maybe the world around me was a little chaotic, so I had to keep my cool. And so I really like playing characters that don't care and just let loose in public with no shame, like cry, yell, roll their eyes.

— Heidi Gardner

19. Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr is famous for being outspoken, audacious and hypercritical, which often gets her into trouble. She started her comedy career doing stand up in parts of Colorado.

In 1988, she starred in Roseanne, a sitcom based on what Barr calls the life of a “fierce, working-class, domestic goddess"—as she often refers to herself and other women like her.

Roseanne won many awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes. The show lasted for ten seasons, was revived in 2018, but cancelled because of Barr's controversial Twitter comments. The show was then brought back, but Roseanne was fired.

Barr has written three books, including Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm (2011). Famously, Barr ran for the US presidency in 2012, garnering 70,000 votes, and in 2016 made a documentary about this campaign.

As a housewife, if the kids are still alive when my husband gets home from work, then I’ve done my job.

— Roseanne Barr

18. Nikki Glaser

Known primarily as a stand-up comedian, Nikki Glaser performed her first stand-up routine at 18. While in college, she liked to study people in the dorm cafeteria and write jokes.

In an interview with Revue magazine, Glaser said, “I tried to think ‘What would Sarah Silverman say about these people?’” She has done her stand-up routine on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Conan and The Last Comic Standing.

From 2011 to 2014, Glaser hosted a podcast with Sarah Schaefer titled You Had to be There. In 2016, she starred in the sex comedy talk show, Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, on Comedy Central. Around this time she also had roles in two films starring Amy Schumer, Trainwreck (2015) and I Feel Pretty (2018).

In 2018, she hosted You Up? With Nikki Glaser, a daily show on Sirius XM. That was followed the next year by Bangin’, Glaser's first stand-up special, which appeared on Netflix.

All my relatives and friends have been pretty aware of my brand of humor for a while, so none of them have been shocked.

— Nikki Glaser

17. Whoopi Goldberg

Not known primarily as a comedian, though the stage name “Whoopi” would seem to indicate otherwise, Whoopi Goldberg is also an actress of great renown. Astonishingly, Goldberg is one of only a few actors who’ve won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar and a Tony Award—the fabled EGOT.

In Goldberg’s first big career break, she co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple in 1985, while at the same time also appearing in the Broadway production of Whoopi Goldberg.

In 1986, the Comic Relief charity was started in the U.S., and Whoopi served as one of the three co-hosts for HBO's televised fundraiser, along with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.

Goldberg really hit her stride in the 1990s, appearing in numerous hit movies such as Ghost (1990), Sister Act (1992), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), and How Stella Got Her Grove Back (1998). Incredibly, Whoopi has appeared in over 150 motion pictures.

“Normal” is just a cycle on the washing machine.

— Whoopi Goldberg

16. Cecily Strong

Cecily Strong grew up watching sketches and commercials on SNL; she particularly enjoyed the comedy of Phil Hartman. Strong studied acting at the California Institute of Arts, majoring in theatre and earning a BFA. Then she performed at the Second City in Chicago and later joined Virgin Daiquiri, an all-female improvisational troupe.

Strong debuted on SNL in 2012, eventually appearing as recurring characters such as “The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party” and played Kyra on “The Girlfriends Talk Show.” She also impersonated scores of people—Stormy Daniels, Dianne Feinstein, Tulsi Gabbard, Khole Kardashian, Ivana Trump, Kate Middleton, Liza Minnelli and Melania Trump. She appeared on SNL for 11 seasons, longer than any other female cast member!

Strong had major acting roles in the movies Ghost Busters (2016) and The Female Brain (2018), and also stars as Melissa Gimble on the Apple+ musical comedy, Schmigadoon!

I went to Hobby Lobby this morning and bought the cutest little wicker basket to hold all my morning-after pills.

— Cecily Strong

15. Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph began her comedy career in the late 1990s when she joined The Groundlings Improv Troupe. In 2000, she became a featured player on Saturday Night Live, doing impressions of numerous celebrities: Barbra Streisand, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Diana Ross, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, and many more.

Rudolph left SNL in 2007, but appeared in numerous TV shows, including Up All Night, The Awesomes, Maya & Marty, Big Hero 6: The Series and Bless the Harts. She’s also acted in or provided voices in many movies, such as Shrek the Third (2007), Grown Ups (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), Chips (2017), The Lego Movie 2 (2019) and Hubie Halloween (2020).

In 2020, Rudolph won two Primetime Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, and the other for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.

I like being a funny lady. I think there’s nothing sexier than a funny lady.

— Maya Rudolph

14. Samantha Bee

Having joint citizenship in Canada and the U.S., Samantha Bee began her performing career at the age of 26 by playing the title role in a stage production of Sailor Moon.

From there she progressed quickly, joining the cast of The Daily Show with John Stewart in 2003, appearing for 12 years as a female correspondent, one of the first such performers on the program.

In 2016, she earned her own show, TBS’s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, a satirical late-night, news and talk show, the first hosted by a female comedian. She’s also appeared on TV shows like Sesame Street, Bob’s Burgers, Game On, Creative Galaxy and Good God.

Bee has also appeared in numerous movies: Ham and Cheese (2004), Furry Vengeance (2010) and Sisters (2015). And in 2010, she published the book, I Know What I Am, But What Are You?

Kids do have to learn that life is a humiliating charade of endless disappointment and tragedy ultimately culminating in pain, decay, and death. My parents used to sing me to sleep with that one.

— Samantha Bee

13. Leslie Jones

Leslie Jones’ comedy career has been long and rocky. She did stand-up during her college days in the 1980s, and then moved to Los Angeles, where she appeared at various comedy clubs.

One night she opened for Jamie Foxx and was badly booed by the audience, so she quit performing for three years. But in 2013, Jones auditioned for Saturday Night Live and snagged a job as a writer. She soon began appearing in sketches, though her material was occasionally controversial. Jones left SNL in 2019.

Since then, Jones’ career has grown to a stellar degree; she’s appeared in numerous TV shows, as well as movies such as Christmas in Compton, Trainwreck, Ghostbusters, Masterminds and Coming 2 America (2021).

Unfortunately, Jones’ "pain-in-the-butt factor" has been high in her show biz career. In 2016, she had to quit X because of racially charged attacks, and her personal website was hacked, after which she had it removed. And there’s nothing funny about that!

I had all the intention of being the next Eddie Murphy.

— Leslie Jones

12. Aubrey Plaza

It would be hard to imagine a busier actress/comedian/director than Aubrey Plaza. Since 2009, Plaza has performed improv and sketch comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and did stand-up comedy at the Laugh Factory.

She also co-starred as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation (2009–15), one of the best sitcoms in the last ten years, and also appeared in 30 Rock, one of the greatest sitcoms ever. Let’s also give her credit for co-starring in the second season of The White Lotus, an award-winning HBO anthology series.

In 2012, Plaza starred in Safety Not Guaranteed, her first starring role in a film. She’s appeared or starred in many other films as well: Life After Beth (2014), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Ingrid Goes West (2017), Child’s Play (2019), Black Bear (2020), Emily the Criminal (2022) and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023).

Plaza has also won six awards, including an ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actress in the flick, Safety Not Guaranteed.

Time is money. Money is power. Power is pizza. Pizza is knowledge. Let’s go!

— Aubrey Plaza

11. Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer claims she isn’t an observational comedian. “I like tackling the stuff nobody else talks about,” she says, “Like the darkest, most serious thing about yourself. I talk about life and sex and personal stories everybody can relate to, and some can't."

Schumer began her comedy career by appearing Off-Off Broadway in Keeping Abreast in 2003. She then did stand-up at the Gotham Comedy Club. In the following years, Schumer appeared on many TV shows, including NBC’s The Last Comic Standing in 2011.

Schumer starred in her own sketch series on Comedy Central, Inside Amy Schumer (2013–16). Notably, Schumer starred in Trainwreck (2015), a film she wrote and which the Film Critics Association nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

In 2016, Schumer published her memoir entitled The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo.

I went home with this French guy because he said something adorable like, ‘I have an apartment.’

— Amy Schumer

10. Kate McKinnon

Kate McKinnon’s professional comedy career began in 2007 when she appeared for three seasons on the The Big Gay Sketch Show, which featured humor relevant to the LGBT community.

In 2012, McKinnon debuted on Saturday Night Live, soon becoming the most popular female comedian on the show. She’s particularly talented doing impersonations of people such as Hillary Clinton, Kellyanne Conway, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Sessions, Justin Bieber, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and numerous others.

McKinnon starred in the films Ghostbusters (2016) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), but she's also worked on countless TV shows, voicing characters on Family Guy, The Simpsons and Moonbeam City.

In 2016 and 2017 she won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. On a tearful note, McKinnon left SNL in 2022.

I've been a big astrophysics nut since I was 12. I have always had a real soft spot for the bizarreness of quantum mechanics.

— Kate McKinnon

9. Jean Smart

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Jean Smart began her acting career in 1981; she played Marlene Dietrich in the Broadway play Piaf. Her career in TV comedy began when she starred in Designing Women (1986–91) and then in Frasier (2000– 01).

Smart has also starred in movies such as The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), Forever Fabulous (2000), Sweet Home Alabama (2002) and Senior Moment (2021).

In the HBO Max TV series Hacks (2021), Smart stars as a jaded comedy diva who tries to revive her career by hiring a young head writer played by Hannah Einbinder. The part for Smart seems written just for her, a veteran comedy legend in the ilk of Lucille Ball, who never wants to retire and is willing to change in order to succeed.

Notably, Smart has won seven awards for acting, five of which are Primetime Emmy Awards.

I quit smoking the day I found out I was pregnant. But I still smoke in a movie. I have other vices, you know, like potato chips and chardonnay—but not together.

— Jean Smart

8. Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler began her professional comedy career in the 1990s, helping form the Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational comedy group, which eventually became a sketch-based comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998.

Poehler joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2001. Like many other comedians on SNL, Poehler excelled at impersonations of such notables as Hillary Clinton, Kelly Ripa, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Kim-Jong-il, Dolly Parton, Madonna and Sharon Stone.

Poehler then starred in Parks and Recreation (2009–15), a sitcom that tried to show the positive side of American politics (she was also a writer on six episodes of the show). She was good enough that in 2013, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy.

She has since appeared in many other TV shows, as well as movies such as Sisters (2015), The House (2017) and Wine Country (2019).

There's power in looking silly and not caring that you do.

— Amy Poehler

7. Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman’s sarcastic, deadpan comedic style rubs some people the wrong way. She began her comedy career doing stand-up at 17, which she described as “awful.”

She joined Saturday Night Live in 1993, working as a writer and featured player. Unfortunately, SNL aired none of her sketches and fired her after one season. Silverman was devastated but came back a much tougher performer—as controversial and smart alecky as ever.

Silverman starred in her own sitcom, The Sarah Silverman Program, which aired on Comedy Central from 2007 to 2010, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She even she wore a fake moustache to the Emmy ceremonies.

It seems safe to suggest Sarah Silverman is truly one-of-a-kind in the realm of contemporary American comedy.

(Speaking of Britney Spears’ comeback performances), Wow, she is amazing. I mean, she is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life.

— Sarah Silverman

6. Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wigg didn’t always want to be a performer. But while in college she took an acting class and her teacher told her she should continue acting. So she moved to Los Angeles, of course, and joined the Empty Stage Comedy Theatre and then The Groundlings, a comedy group.

Feeling improvisational comedy would hone her skills the best, she appeared on Spike TV’s The Joe Schmo Show in 2003. Brimming with confidence, she auditioned for Saturday Night Live and joined the show in 2005, staying on until 2012

Wiig has also appeared in (or voiced characters for) numerous movies, including Unaccompanied Minors (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Despicable Me (2010), Bridesmaids (2011), The Martian (2015), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Ghostbusters (2016), Masterminds (2016) and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021), for which she was also writer and producer.

Interestingly, in 2011, Wiig and Annie Mumolo from The Groundlings co-wrote the screenplay for Bridesmaids, for which they received an Academy Award nomination.

I used to carry my dad's empty guitar case around the neighborhood because I wanted people to think I played the guitar. I would put Flintstones vitamins in it in case I got tired, so I could pop some and keep walking.

— Kristen Wiig

5. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Born in New York City, Julia Louis-Dreyfus began her comedy career by joining The Second City, a famous, Chicago-based improvisational group. Then, in 1982, she joined Saturday Night Live at the age of 21, one of the youngest cast members in SNL history.

Louis-Dreyfus had bit parts in movies like Hannah and Her Sisters, Soul Man and National Lampoon’s Vacation. In the early 1990s, she joined the cast of Seinfeld, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. Afterward, she starred in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine from 2005 to 2010.

She then signed on for HBO’s Veep, playing the Vice President of the U.S. who eventually runs for the presidency. It's a role for which she won a succession of Primetime Emmy Awards. In fact, Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most award-winning actresses in the history of American TV. She also won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2018.

I dropped out of college my junior year of college to do Saturday Night Live, and I didn’t even consult my parents. They were supportive because they had no choice.

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus