Sydnee Washington is an American comedian, actress, model, and podcaster. She appeared on Comedy Central's Up Next showcase in 2018. Washington co-hosted the comedy podcast ''The Unofficial Expert'' with Marie Faustin. Their latest podcast ''Mess'' premiered in 2024. Her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, Time Out, New York Post, and W.

Career

Washington pursued comedy based on a friend's recommendation. Working at a high-end cocktail lounge she would frequently banter with customers. Her friend filmed several of the bits and edited them into a reel to convince Washington to pursue comedy. She first performed stand-up in 2013. She gained wider prominence after she appeared in

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's 2018 ''Up Next'' showcase. That year she also hosted ''Death of a Bottle Girl'', a one-woman show that was called "hilarious" by ''Time Out''. With Marie Faustin and Aminah Imani, she co-hosted the Sunday night

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...

comedy showcase originally started by comedian

Hannibal Burress Hannibal Amir Buress ( ; born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's ''The Eric Andre Show'' from 201 ...

. She also co-hosted the comedy podcast ''The Unofficial Expert'' with Faustin, where the two interviewed experts from various fields and shared their own life experience. The podcast was recommended by

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

. In 2020, due to

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

requirements related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, Washington no longer had the option of performing live stand-up. She began hosting a weekly

Instagram Live Instagram is an American photo and short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via ...

show called ''Syd Can Cook'' to have a consistent platform to perform for an audience. She is assisted in person by her friend Karolena Greenidge, and they go live with various comedians who attempt to assist Washington follow a recipe, like chicken tikka masala and shrimp scampi. Washington is also a model. In 2021 she started the podcast ''Hobby Hunter'', featuring guests including Caleb Hearon and Shelby Wolstein, who discuss "the hobbies that have brought them joy over the years." It has since ended. In 2024, Sydnee and Marie reunited for the podcast ''Mess'' on the Big Money Players Network.

Personal life

Washington was born in

Brooklyn 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 ...

, where she currently resides. She spent her childhood in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

and moved back to Brooklyn when she was 13. Washington graduated from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

. Washington is a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and began to identify as such during adulthood. She remarked that many people are skeptical of her sexuality due to her

femme ''Femme'' (; , literally meaning ) is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian woman who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation. While commonly viewed as a lesbian term, alternate meanings of the word also exist with some ...

presentation. About Hollywood she told ''Paper'': "At least they know what a gay male actor is supposed to be...For somebody like me, they're like, 'Gay isn't believable, you have rhinestones on.'"

Awards and nominations

* 2022 – Nominee,

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. These awards, like the guest acting awards, are not presented at the Primetime Emmy Awards show, but, rather, at the ...

(for ''Bridesman'') * 2023 – Winner,

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

for Television: Comedy/Variety Sketch Series (for ''

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 fifth season on Paramount+. Schumer ...

'')

References

External links

*
Sydnee Washington
on Instagram
Sydnee Washington
on YouTube, Comedy Central's ''Up Next'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Sydnee Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American actresses American lesbian actresses African-American LGBTQ people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people African-American female models Lesbian comedians Actresses from Brooklyn Comedians from Brooklyn African-American female comedians African-American comedians American women comedians American women podcasters American interview podcasters Writers Guild of America Award winners American LGBTQ comedians