American comedian and writer
Jena Friedman is an American comedian and writer. She is the host of the comedic true-crime series Indefensible [ 1] on AMC+ . She has been a field producer[ 2] at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has written for Late Show with David Letterman .[ 3] She is the creator of Soft Focus with Jena Friedman for Adult Swim , the first installment of which premiered in February 2018.[ 4]
Early life
Friedman was born in Haddonfield, New Jersey . She studied anthropology at Northwestern University . After graduation, she worked as a healthcare consultant for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton .[ 5]
Career
She has appeared in 2020 movie Palm Springs , and on TV shows including Conan , The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , and others.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9] She has also been a contributing writer to The New Yorker .[ 10]
In 2007, she wrote The Refugee Girls Revue , a satire inspired by American Girl dolls. The play earned critical acclaim in the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival [ 11] and had a successful run Off-Broadway . In 2010, she received a cease-and-desist letter from The New York Times for parodying their wedding videos. The parody, titled Ted and Gracie , has since become a popular web series.
In 2015, Friedman's solo show American Cunt premiered in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to critical acclaim.[ 12] [ 13] [ 14] The magazine Paste named American Cunt one of the 10 Best Stand Up Comedy Specials of 2016.[ 15] She created Soft Focus with Jena Friedman , a series of Adult Swim specials that she also co-executive produces, directs, and hosts. The specials include interviews with John McAfee , the American software entrepreneur and Presidential hopeful,[ 16] [ 17] as well as Gilberto Valle , a New York City police officer who was convicted of a conspiracy to kidnap, cook, and eat women, known as the "Cannibal Cop".[ 18] [ 19] The second installment premiered in January 2019.
In 2020, Friedman contributed to the screenplay of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm , earning her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay .[ 20] [ 21] She directed and starred in True Crime Story: Indefensible on Sundance TV in 2021.[ 22] [ 23] Her latest comedy special, Ladykiller , premiered on Peacock in September of 2022.[ 24] [ 25]
On a May 2023 episode ("EP. 813 — Winkers and Blinkers") of the comedy podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! , Friedman recalled how she was asked to write for the revival of the TV show Roseanne in 2018 after Roseanne Barr had enjoyed a stand-up set by Friedman.[ 26] [ 27] On the day she was scheduled to start her new job, Barr went on a racist Twitter rant that resulted in the show being swiftly cancelled.[ 26]
Bibliography
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Notes
^ Title in the online table of contents is "A pandemic horoscope for December".
References
^ "Jena Friedman's True Crime Story: Indefensible is a jaw-dropping twist on the true crime formula" . The Pitch . October 29, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2021 .
^ Irvin, Zuri. "Writing Jokes with Jena Friedman" . Medium . Medium.com. Retrieved August 8, 2015 .
^ McGlynn, Katla (July 18, 2011). "David Letterman Hires Jena Friedman, 'The Late Show' Gains Second Female Writer" . HuffPost . Retrieved September 1, 2011 .
^ Kozell, Isaac (February 16, 2018). "Taking a 'Soft Focus' with Jena Friedman" . Vulture . Retrieved October 20, 2021 .
^ Loughrey, Clarisse (March 15, 2016). "Jena Friedman: The star of 'The Daily Show' on abortion jokes, her Ebola comedy film, and her serial-killer spoof" . The Independent . Retrieved February 7, 2017 .
^ Bradley, Laura (November 9, 2016). "The Moment Election Night Stopped Being Funny" . Vanity Fair . Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^ "Panel - What's Driving the Hillary Clinton Haters? - The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" . Comedy Central . Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^ Outsourced With Jena Friedman , March 8, 2017, archived from the original on May 19, 2017, retrieved December 12, 2017
^ "Comedy in the age of Trump" . MSNBC . March 5, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^ Friedman, Jena (January 2, 2017). "A Recipe" . The New Yorker . ISSN 0028-792X . Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^ Otto, Emily (August 17, 2008). "The Refugee Girls Revue: A Musical Parody" . Nytheatre.com. Retrieved September 1, 2011 .
^ "Comedy review: Jena Friedman – American C*** (From Herald Scotland)" . Heraldscotland.com. August 23, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016 .
^ Arsenault, Bridget (September 3, 2015). "7 Comedians from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival You Need to Know About Now" . Vanity Fair . Retrieved February 14, 2016 .
^ "Jena Friedman - American C*nt - Edinburgh Festival 2015" . Edinburghfestival.org. August 30, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2016 .
^ "The 10 Best Stand-up Comedy Specials of 2016" . Paste . December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^ Leah, Rachel (January 25, 2019). "Jena Friedman's 'Soft Focus': Dark feminist comedy, aimed at young men" . Salon .
^ "Jena Friedman Talks Her Adult Swim Special, 'Soft Focus with Jena Friedman 2' " . www.msn.com .
^ Larimer, Sarah (July 1, 2014). "New York's 'cannibal cop' released after judge overturns 2013 conviction" . The Washington Post . Retrieved October 20, 2021 .
^ Yang, Linda (March 1, 2018). "Jena Friedman Helps the 'Cannibal Cop' Find Love in Her New Show" . Vice.com . Retrieved March 3, 2019 . ...The show's second segment ... focus on finding love for ... the 'Cannibal Cop.' ... she helps Valle select a lady by asking them questions like, 'How fast do you run?'....
^ Vilas-Boas, Eric (October 21, 2020). " 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' Is a Targeted Takedown of America's Worst" . observer.com . Retrieved October 27, 2020 .
^ Tudor, Jim (October 23, 2020). "Review: BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM Ambushes Amazon" . ScreenAnarchy.com . Retrieved October 27, 2020 .
^ "SundanceTV Launches True Crime Story Franchise w/Hilarie Burton Morgan, Jena Friedman" . AMC Networks . August 5, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2022 .
^ " 'True Crime Story: Indefensible' Host Jena Friedman Is Not Trying To Make True Crime Murderporn" . Decider . October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2022 .
^ "Jena Friedman Sharpens Her Jokes in Ladykiller" . Paste . September 28, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022 .
^ "The Three Questions with Andy Richter #167: Jena Friedman" . Earwolf . October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022 .
^ a b "Winkers and Blinkers" . Earwolf . Retrieved October 27, 2023 .
^ Goldberg, Lesley (May 18, 2018). " 'Roseanne' Co-Showrunner Whitney Cummings Exits" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 27, 2023 .
External links
Adapted Drama (1969–1983) Adapted Comedy (1969–1983) Adapted Screenplay (1984–present)