Mike Yard is an American stand-up comedian. Yard was a contributor for ''

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' is a 2015–16 American late-night panel talk show hosted by Larry Wilmore that aired for two seasons on Comedy Central. The show was a spin-off of ''The Daily Show'', which featured Wilmore as a recurr ...

''. Yard was previously the winner of Comedy Central's ''Get Up, Stand Up'' comedy competition. He has also appeared on ''

Inside Amy Schumer ''Inside Amy Schumer'' is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by Amy Schumer. The series aired on Comedy Central from April 30, 2013 to June 16, 2016 and was revived in 2022 for a new season on Paramount+. Schumer and ...

'' and ''

The Break with Michelle Wolf ''The Break with Michelle Wolf'' is an American streaming television variety show starring Michelle Wolf that premiered on May 27, 2018 on Netflix. The series is executive produced by Wolf, Dan Powell, Christine Nangle, and Daniel Bodansky. Powell ...

''.

Career

Yard was born on

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an Territories of the United States, uninco ...

and raised in

Frederiksted Frederiksted is both the town and one of the two administrative districts of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a grid-planned city, designed by surveyor Jens Beckfor, originally to 14x14 blocks but built 7x7 to enhance the island commerce in ...

. When he was 13 he moved with his family to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough l ...

neighborhood. He studied computer programming at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also adm ...

, and later worked briefly as a

union representative A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

, involved in organizing a strike at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

, before first trying

standup comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories ...

when he was 24. He became a well-known presence in the New York comedy circuit,Matthew Kassel
"Comedian Mike Yard Is Ready to Swing for the Fences"
''

New York Observer New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

'', May 17, 2016. touring actively and appearing on ''

ComicView ''ComicView'' is an American stand-up comedy show that aired on BET on Tuesdays and Fridays from September 1992 to December 2008. In May 2014, BET announced the return of ''ComicView''. The show has been the launching pad for such comedians as D ...

'', ''

Def Comedy Jam ''Def Comedy Jam'' is an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons. The series had its original run from March 7, 1992 to May 2, 1997. Simmons was inspired to make Def Comedy Jam by The Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem, New York and Jerry L ...

'' and ''Comedy at the

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

''. On ''The Nightly Show'', he became known as one of the show's leading contributors, serving as a comic "foil" to host

Larry Wilmore Elister Larry WilmoreThe name Elister L. Wilmore is given at This matches the birth date and birthplace for "Larry Wilmore" at (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspo ...

, and for his role in political skits such as his portrayal of a talking gun named "Hand Gun" and his recurring "Y Files" segments parodying

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a neg ...

. He also has his own podcast called ''Yard Talk''. In 2018, Yard joined the cast of American Public Media's radio program ''

Live From Here ''Live from Here'', formerly known as ''A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile'', is an American variety radio show known for its musical guests, tongue-in-cheek radio drama, and relaxed humor. Hosted by Chris Thile, it aired live on Saturda ...

''.

Personal life

In 2008 he married

plus-size model A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in Model (person), modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either Big & Tall or Tall or Overw ...

and actress Mia Amber Davis, who died of a blood clot after knee surgery in 2011.

References

External links

*
Official website
Living people People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands American stand-up comedians African-American television personalities 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub