Name: SAM JAY @ TEMPE IMPROV
Start: 2026-02-05T19:30:00-07:00
Location: 930 East University Drive, Tempe, AZ, United States, Arizona 85281

Stand-up comic and Emmy-nominated writer SAM JAY is best known as the Host and Executive Producer of HBO’s weekly late-night series Pause with Sam Jay. She also co-created and co-starred on the Peacock series Bust Down, with Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd. She is a two-time Emmy nominee and WGA award nominee for her writing on Saturday Night Live. Sam’s first HBO special, Sam Jay: Salute Me Or Shoot Me, is now available to stream. Sam’s solo show We The People, just wrapped a hugely successful run at Edinburgh Fringe Fest in which the show was nominated for Best Comedy Show, and won The Uprise Award, which recognizes shows that dare to provoke, disrupt and reframe discussions.
Sam was a standout on the dais at Netflix’s The Roast of Tom Brady. In 2018, she wrote for The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards and the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and in 2020 she wrote for the BET Awards. Sam was recently featured both on and off camera as the “Voice of God” announcer at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC. In 2023, Sam recorded a set as part of Netflix’s Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration, along with Margaret Cho, Sandra Bernhard, Billy Eichner, and Eddie Izzard—now streaming on Netflix. Sam was named as one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch in 2018, and a Comedy Central Comic to Watch in 2015, and in 2017 was selected for Just For Laughs: New Faces Showcase. She has performed on Netflix’s The Comedy Lineup, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!; and released her Comedy Central Presents half hour to rave reviews. Sam has performed internationally at comedy clubs and festivals including the Vodafone Dublin Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot Festival, 208 Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, Portland’s Bridgetown Festival, The Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival, Boston’s Women In Comedy Festival, among others. Sam’s 2020 special, Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning, is now available to stream on Netflix.
Sam can currently be seen opposite Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the Kenya Barris-directed feature film, You People, now on Netflix. Sam’s other TV credits include her hosting role on Ricking Morty, the Rick and Morty post-show on Adult Swim. Additional TV credits include The Eric Andre Show; HBO Max’s That Damn Michael Che; MTV’s SafeWord; a recurring role on TV Land’s Nobodies; Starz’s Take My Wife, Comedy Central’s White Flight, Crank Yankers, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, and Broad City; and Viceland’s Party Legends and Flophouse.