Yamaneika Saunders is an American stand-up comedian, actress and television writer. She is best known for her stand-up specials on Netflix and Comedy Central as well as her roles on Life & Beth and Flatbush Misdemeanors. Saunders is a WGA Award-winning writer for her work on the writing staff of Inside Amy Schumer.
Early life Saunders is from Aberdeen, Maryland. At the age of 15 she moved to Los Angeles to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studied theater, and she began performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles.
Career Stand-up Saunders has performed at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal and is a regular at the Comedy Cellar in New York City and Las Vegas.
In 2014, Saunders competed on the eighth season of Last Comic Standing on NBC, appearing in the semi-final round. Her half-hour Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents premiered in 2017. She was featured in the first season of the Netflix stand-up showcase The Degenerates. Reviewing the series for Paste, Garrett Martin called Saunders a "New York-based powerhouse" whose "enthusiastic and aggressive cadence" carried material that other performers could not have landed. She recently released a stand-up special, White Shenanigans.
Television In 2015, Saunders was a cast member of Funny Girls, an Oxygen docu-series following six female comedians in Los Angeles.
As an actress, Saunders played Maya on Amy Schumer's Hulu series Life & Beth. Discussing the role, Saunders said Schumer encouraged her to "bring your humor to whatever is happening" and incorporated her improvised material into the show.
Saunders also had a prominent role as the therapist Dr. Flowers on the Showtime comedy Flatbush Misdemeanors.
Saunders has guested on sitcoms Broad City, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Survival of the Thickest, and Hacks. She has also appeared on talk shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Meredith Vieira Show, and recurring correspondent segments on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Saunders wrote for Inside Amy Schumer which won a Writers Guild of America Award. She has also written for That Damn Michael Che and The Eric Andre Show.
Podcasting In 2024, Off Topic with Yamaneika premiered on Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud Radio on SiriusXM, airing Tuesdays through Thursdays.
In July 2026, Chelsea Handler and iHeartPodcasts launched the Dear Chelsea Network with You're the Problem … with Yamaneika, a weekly show hosted by Saunders executive produced by Handler.
Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2014 Last Comic Standing Herself Contestant, season 8 2015 Funny Girls Herself Main cast 2017 Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents Herself Stand-up special; season 1, episode 3 2018 The Degenerates Herself Stand-up special; season 1 2021-2022 Flatbush Misdemeanors Dr. Flowers Season 1-2 2022 Inside Amy Schumer Writer 2022 That Damn Michael Che Writer, season 2 2022–2024 Life & Beth Maya Season 1-2
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2023 Writers Guild of America Award Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series Inside Amy Schumer
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