Michael Che
Che in 2015
Born	Michael Che Campbell (1983-05-19)May 19, 1983 (age 42) New York City, U.S.
Comedy career
Years active	2009–present
Medium	Stand-up television film
Genres	Political/news satire observational comedy sketch comedy blue comedy insult comedy racial humor
Subjects	Mass media/news media/media criticism American politics African American culture current events pop culture
Website	michaelche.com

Michael Che Campbell (/ˈtʃeɪ/; born May 19,^[1] 1983)^[2] is an Americanstand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Che is best known for his work on theNBCsketch comedy seriesSaturday Night Live, where he has served as co-anchor onWeekend Update alongsideColin Jost since 2014. Che and Jost were co-head writers at SNL from 2017 until 2022.^[3] The duo also co-hosted the70th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018.^[4]

Che was briefly a correspondent forThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart and has previously worked as a writer forSaturday Night Live. At the end of September 2014, he became aWeekend Update co-anchor for the40th season ofSaturday Night Live alongside Colin Jost, replacingCecily Strong.^[5]

Michael Che Campbell was born inManhattan,New York City,New York, the youngest of seven children of Rose and Nathaniel Campbell.^[6] His father gave him his middle name after the revolutionaryChe Guevara.^[7] He has four older brothers and two older sisters.^[8] One of his older brothers is a detective with theNew York Police Department, and another retired from law enforcement.^[8][9]

Che was raised on theLower East Side of Manhattan.^[10] He graduated from theFiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.^[11][12]

Che worked in customer service for aToyotacar dealership for two years. He also created acrylic portraits of celebrities, printed the portraits on T-shirts, and sold them inSoHo.Tommy Hilfiger noticed his work and offered Che freelance work, but he did not turn in any designs.^[13]

Che started performing stand-up comedy in 2009, regularly working several sets per night.^[14] In 2012, Che appeared on theLate Show with David Letterman.^[14][15] In 2013,Variety called Che one of "10 Comics to Watch",^[16] whileRolling Stone named him one of "The 50 Funniest People".^[11]

Che joinedSaturday Night Live as a writer in 2013, at first as a guest writer and soon after as staff writer.^[14] On April 28, 2014, it was announced that Che would joinThe Daily Show in June as a correspondent.^[15][17] Che made his onscreen debut as aDaily Show correspondent on June 4. Although he appeared in only nine segments during his brief tenure on the show, he was lauded byTV Guide for his work. His signature piece for theDaily Show was "Race/Off: Live From Somewhere", a satirical commentary on the 2014Ferguson protests. In this segment, Che "reported" from various locations (with frequent background changes accomplished viachroma key), looking for a place where a black man would not be harassed by police officers. The sketch ended with Che floating in outer space.^[18]

On September 11, 2014, it was announced that Che would take overCecily Strong's position as aWeekend Update co-anchor for the40th season ofSNL, co-anchoring the segment withColin Jost.^[5] Che is the first African-American co-anchor in the history ofWeekend Update.^[19] During his first two seasons, Che primarily hostedWeekend Update and rarely appeared in any sketches. During histhird season, Che was promoted to the main cast. In December 2017, Che was named co-head writer ofSaturday Night Live.^[20]Vulture's Megh Wright complimented theWeekend Update joke-swapping segment where Che writes shockingly race bating and humiliating jokes for Jost to deliver.^[21] Che, along with Jost, resigned as head writer ahead of the show's48th season in 2022.^[3]

At astand-up show on March 26, 2022, Che announced that he was leaving the desk after the current season, although he did not state when or why he was leaving.^[22] After initially denying in anInstagram post he would leave, he later toldTony Dokoupil on the May 15, 2022 edition ofCBS News Sunday Morning that he was uncertain about his future onSNL.^[23][24]

In 2014, Che appeared in the movieTop Five, appearing as one ofChris Rock's character's friends.^[25]

On September 17, 2018, Che co-hosted theEmmy Awards withColin Jost.^[26] Che and Jost also appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode ofWWE'sMonday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents forWrestleMania 35. The pair got involved in a storyline with wrestlerBraun Strowman, which eventually resulted in Che and Jost becoming participants in theAndré the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.^[27]

Wikiquote has quotations related toMichael Che.

• Official website
• Michael Che atIMDb

• 1983 births
• Living people
• 21st-century African-American writers
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• 21st-century American actors
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