Karen Chee (born February 22, 1995) is an American comedian and writer. She has been a writer for ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'', ''

Pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Gambling in Japan, Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of l ...

'', and ''

A Man on the Inside ''A Man on the Inside'' is an American comedy television series created by Michael Schur and starring Ted Danson as a retiree-turned-amateur private investigator. It is based on the 2020 documentary film '' The Mole Agent'' by Maite Alberdi. T ...

''.

Early life and career

Chee was born on February 22, 1995. Her parents emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Chee originally wanted to become a speechwriter, but became interested in pursuing professional comedy by the time she enrolled at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. During college, she was president of The Immediate Gratification Players, an

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

troupe, and founded a sketch comedy show. Chee interned at ''

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee ''Full Frontal with Samantha Bee'' is an American late-night talk and news satire television program that aired on TBS from 2016 to 2022. The show was hosted by comedian Samantha Bee, a former correspondent on ''The Daily Show''. In July 2 ...

'' and ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

'', where she appeared on air alongside

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...

. She contributed to publications including

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American nonprofit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. The executive director is Amanda Uhle. McSweeney's first publication was the literary journal'' Timothy McSw ...

, ''

Reductress ''Reductress'' is an American satire website that parodies the style, tone, and perspective of media targeted towards women, especially women's magazines. Founded in 2013 by comedians Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo, the site has received prais ...

'', and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. She also wrote for the 2019 Golden Globes for hosts

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, musician, writer and producer. He is a member of the comedy music group the Lonely Island, along with childhood friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. ...

and

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Rita Wu in ''Arliss (TV series), Arliss'' (1996–2002), Cristina Yang in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–14), and Eve Polastri in ''Kill ...

. Chee is a regular panelist and occasional guest host on the NPR radio show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!''. In early 2019, Chee joined ''

''. She has appeared on air for a recurring segment called ''What Does Karen Know?'', in which Meyers and Chee quiz each other about cultural touchstones which their respective generations take for granted.

Personal life

Chee lives in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. In 2020, she temporarily relocated to South Korea to help take care of her grandparents. She continued to write remotely for ''Late Night''.

References

External links

* * 1995 births Living people 21st-century American comedians American comedy writers American women comedians American people of South Korean descent American television writers Harvard College alumni Late Night with Seth Meyers American women television writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women non-fiction writers Writers from Brooklyn 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers {{US-comedian-stub