Jessica McKenna (sometimes credited as Jess McKenna) is an American actress, comedian and singer. McKenna trained with The Groundlings and at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where she regularly performs. McKenna was one of the stars of Fox's Party Over Here, alongside Nicole Byer and Alison Rich, and hosts the podcast Off Book: The Improvised Musical.

Early life McKenna was born in Yorba Linda, California. She received a bachelor's degree in theater from Northwestern University.

Career

Theater McKenna began training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre after college, and became a regular performer in 2012. She regularly performs with the musical improv house teams, Magic to Do and Baby Wants Candy. McKenna is also a frequent performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre's long-running improv show, ASSSSCAT. McKenna has performed improv comedy at festivals including South by Southwest, SF Sketchfest, Edinburgh Fringe, the Del Close Marathon, Bumbershoot, and Chicago Sketch Fest.

Television, film, and web series In 2014, McKenna was a regular cast member on Fox's improv-based game show, Riot, until its cancellation. In 2016, McKenna starred alongside fellow Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) alumnae Nicole Byer and Alison Rich in Fox's sketch comedy show, Party Over Here, which was produced by The Lonely Island and Paul Scheer. Party Over Here was cancelled after one season. McKenna has appeared in episodes of Modern Family and The Goldbergs.

McKenna often collaborates with UCB alumnus Zach Reino. McKenna and Reino have worked together on musical sketches for Funny or Die, BuzzFeed, and Nickelodeon. In 2016, McKenna and Reino wrote and starred together in ABC's web series, Serious Music. Along with Zeke Nicholson, the pair also featured in a 2021 episode of Dropout series Game Changer titled "The Official Cast Recording", in which they improvised a short musical based on host Sam Reich's prompts. This was later adapted into a full series on Dropout titled Play It By Ear the following year.

McKenna also works as a voice actress. McKenna voices the lead character, Lennon, on Amazon's Little Big Awesome. It was originally announced that McKenna would voice the lead character on Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer; however, creator Aaron Springer ultimately was cast in that role.

In 2022, McKenna, along with Neil Casey, Zach Reino, and Niccole Thurman, won the Writers Guild of America Award in the category "Quiz and Audience Participation" for her work on the series Baking It. In 2023, she was nominated again for the same award together with the other writers of Baking It.

Podcasts Since 2017, McKenna and Reino have hosted the musical comedy podcast Off Book: The Improvised Musical, which was initially on the Earwolf network. In 2023, she appeared as one of the main characters in the children's podcast Sound Detectives. McKenna is also a regular guest on the podcast version of Comedy Bang! Bang!, where she is known for characters such as Beth, the Power Wheels–obsessed eight-year-old, This Is Your Boy Troy, and Park Ranger Margery Kershaw. McKenna has also appeared on Improv4Humans, Doughboys, The JV Club, and Hollywood Handbook.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2015 Beta Lauren Short film 2017 Gleep-Glorp & Lasertag Gleep-Glorp VoiceShort film Lane Woods Finds Love 2018 Song of Back and Neck Dawn 2023 Craig Before the Creek Handlebarb Voice 2026 Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Actress playing Flight Attendant

Television Year Title Role Notes 2013–2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! Various 3 episodes 2014 The Goldbergs Waiter Episode: "The Age of Darkness" 2015 The Hotwives Mackenzie 2 episodes Adam Ruins Everything Jess Episode: "Adam Ruins Restaurants" Filthy Preppy Teen$ Macauley Episode: "The Return of the Prodigal Teens" 2016 Party Over Here Various 10 episodes American Dad! Various voices Episode: "Gifted Me Liberty" Legendary Dudas Employee Episode: "King Sam/Karate Kids" 2016–2017 The UCB Show Various 2 episodes 2017 Voltron: Legendary Defender Various voices 2 episodes2018 Little Big Awesome Lennon / various voices 13 episodes Modern Family Nurse Tami Episode: "The Escape" 2018–2025 Big City Greens Various voices 4 episodes 2018–2023 Craig of the Creek Handlebarb / Jake (voice) 14 episodes 2019 HarmonQuest Flairence Sparrow Episode: "Ad Quod Damnum" Sunnyside Andromeda Burrff Episode: "Pants Full of Sandwiches" 2019–2021 DC Super Hero Girls Aqualad (voice) 18 episodes 2020 Space Force Participant #2 Episode: "Proportionate Response" Trick Moon Trickshot (voice) TV pilot 2020–2024 Star Trek: Lower Decks Ensign Barnes, various voices 19 episodes 2020–2022 The Mighty Ones Rocksy (voice) 40 episodes 2021 Amphibia Gabby (voice) Episode: "Hop 'Til You Drop/Turning Point" Curb Your Enthusiasm Waiter Episode: "Irma Kostroski" 2021, 2025–2026 Game Changer Herself Episodes: "The Official Cast Recording", "Samalamadingdong", "Earwigs" 2021–2023 Ten Year Old Tom Mrs. Band / various voices 14 episodes 2022 We Baby Bears Baby Panda (singing voice) Episode: "High Baby Fashion" Duncanville Various voices Recurring role 2022–2026 The Loud House Boy Jordan, various voices 3 episodes Make Some Noise Herself 5 episodes 2022–2023 Play It by Ear Various 16 episodes 2023 Strange Planet Blanket Cape / Being #4 (voice)Episode: "Greyscale Finger Bandit" Frasier KikiEpisode: "Blind Date" 2025 Goldie Goldie (voice) Main role Universal Basic Guys Envy (voice) Episode: "Down the Shore" 2026 Strip Law (voice) Episode: "Crypt Law Presents: Fearacle on 31st Day"

Video games Year Title Role 2020 Fallout 76: Steel Dawn Maximo Leone

References

External links