Bayer was born on November 14, 1981,[1] in Orange, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and raised in nearby Moreland Hills.[2][3] She is the daughter of Carolyn and Todd Bayer.[4] Bayer's family is Jewish, and she has stated that her Jewish upbringing "influenced [her] life and comedy".[5] She has a brother, Jonah, who is a music journalist and the guitarist of the punk supergroup United Nations.[6][7]
At age 15, Bayer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). She stated that while battling the disease, she discovered the meaning of comic relief. "I don't know if it made me funnier, but it was so amazing, how it made everything be O.K.", she said.[8]
While attending college, she interned on the television shows Sesame Street and Late Night with Conan O'Brien and participated in the cast of Bloomers, an all-female musical and sketch comedy troupe.[12]
Career
As of 2012[update], Bayer was collaborating with her brother Jonah on the web seriesSound Advice for Above Average, where she stars as Janessa Slater, a media coach who helps famous musicians change their images.[13][14][15] She was part of the all-Jewish cast of The Second City's stage show Jewsical: The Musical, a musical that presented a comedic take on Jewish life and culture.[16] She played Kate Clark in the Chicago-based feature comedy Off the Cuff.[citation needed] She performed improvisational comedy at Chicago's ImprovOlympic, where she trained with SNL castmate Paul Brittain,[3] and at the Annoyance Theatre and The Second City.[17]
Miss Meadows, an unrealistically perky poetry teacher trying to connect with her delinquent students
An unnamed director of talk show Mornin' Miami
Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy, who appears on Weekend Update to perform a rehearsed speech with forced jokes about a given subject
One of three workshop elves who perform their jobs poorly in the hope that their master will "punish" them (with Kenan Thompson)
Dawn Lazarus, an inept meteorologist who appears on Weekend Update and struggles to discuss the weather
A housewife who cooks for her husband and his friends in a series of increasingly absurd Totino's commercials
One of two Weekend Update guests who claim to be "best friends" with various world dictators, and gossip about petty drama in their social circle (with Fred Armisen)
Bayer appeared on ABC's Single Parents in 2019 in a recurring role as Mia Cooper, the ex-wife of Taran Killam's character.
Starting in 2018, she had a recurring role on NBC's Will & Grace as Amy, a former baker who loses her job because of Karen and subsequently works for Karen's baseball team.
Bayer is the co-creator, co-executive producer and star of the Showtime comedy I Love That for You, which premiered on May 1, 2022, and is loosely based on her life as a survivor of childhood leukemia.[21][22][23]
Bayer appeared in two episodes of What We Do in the Shadows as Evie Summers, a vampire who drains energy from humans by resorting to passive aggressive and wholly fabricated stories of various horrible things that supposedly happened to her. She has a rivalry with energy Vampire Colin Robinson, played by Mark Proksch, who uses boring long-winded explanations to get the same result. [24]
Philanthropy
After Bayer was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted her wish to send her family on vacation to Hawaii. In gratitude and recognition, Bayer is involved with the foundation. In 2015, she hosted its Evening of Wishes Dinner to help raise funds for wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.[25]
In June 2019, Bayer published the children's book How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear?, which teaches children how to support friends with long-term illnesses.[26]
^"Thank you to my bro and everyone for the birthday wishes!!". Twitter: Vanessa Bayer (official account). November 14, 2021. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022. Happy 40th birthday to my little sister, podcasting partner and favorite comedian @vanessabayer!
^Bayer, Vanessa; Bayer, Jonah. "Remember VHS Tapes? (With Michelle Zauner)". How Did We Get Weird with Vanessa Bayer and Jonah Bayer. Big Money Players Network and iHeartPodcasts. Archived from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
^ abMoynihan, Rob. "SNL's Fab Four", TV Guide, March 7, 2011, Pages 44-45
^ abcde"Vanessa Bayer (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved November 14, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
