Amber Ruffin is an American comedian and writer; she is a writer of the comedy show, Late Night with Seth Meyers. This feat has made her the first black woman to ever make it as a writer on a late-night comedy show. She started working on the show in 2014. Ruffin has appeared on TV comedy series such as Key & Peele and Wish It Inc. She earned a Writers Guild of America awards nomination for Best Comedy/Variety series during the 2017 awards event and was made the host of the same event the following year.
Who is Amber Ruffin and How Old is She?
Amber Ruffin (Amber Mildred Ruffin) was born on the 9th of January 1979 in Omaha, Nebraska. She was a student at Omaha Benson High School. Ruffin loved the world of comedy from a young age, though she only cut her teeth on stage in 2001 when she started to perform at theatres around her hometown of Omaha.
After some time performing for audiences in Omaha, she decided it was time to turn things up a notch in order to gain more skills and professionalism. This line of thought informed her move to Chicago and joining the iO Theater in a bid to learn and develop her improv skills. In 2008, she joined a renowned Chicago comedy troupe known as Boom Chicago on a tour of Amsterdam. While there she performed in theatres and various stages as well as wrote a lot for the troupe.
Upon returning to the United States, she joined long-standing improv comedy troupe, The Second City and made several performances in Chicago and many more in Denver. It was while with The Second City that she became friends with Jenny Hagel who also turned out to be a fellow writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Ruffin relocated to Los Angeles, California in search of greater opportunities in the field Comedy writing and performance. She wound up joining the Comedy crew RobotDown, that specializes in performing sketches on YouTube. She soon appeared in an episode of the Peabody Award and multiple Primetime Emmy Award-winning sketch comedy TV series, Key & Peele.
Her thirst for even further professional growth led her to audition for a role on the famous television comedy show, Saturday Night Live in 2014. She did not get the part she vied for, however, she was offered a job to become a writer for the Late Night with Seth Meyers show by . She accepted the offer and has been writing for the show ever since.
Being a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers has opened doors to several opportunities for Amber Ruffin. She is a writer for Detroiters, a Comedy Central show. She also narrates very frequently for another Comedy Central show known as Drunk History. In 2017, Ruffin earned a Writer Guild of America award nomination for best the Comedy/Variety Series category.
Meet Her Husband
Amber Ruffin is married to Jan Schiltmeijer. They have been married since 2010. Ruffin had met Jan Schiltmeijer while she worked with the Boom Chicago troupe in Amsterdam. A love affair started brewing not long after they met and it ultimately culminated in the couple tying the knot in 2010.
Jan Schiltmeijer is an art director turned painter. He was born in Haarlem, Netherlands. He trained in and practised art direction for a few years and made a career pivot into painting and has continued to paint ever since. The bulk of his paintings are portraits. After they got married, he moved to the United States with Amber Ruffin and has been living in New York.
Other Interesting Facts You Need to Know
1. Amber Ruffin has said many times in the media that she does not intend to have children.
2. She has a news recap segment on the Late Night with Seth Meyers show called Ambers Says What as well as another segment known as Jokes Seth Can’t Tell and a skit called Amber’s Late-Night Safe Space.
3. Her husband, Jan Schiltmeijer, only came to understand racism and discrimination after he moved with her to the United States.
4. In 2017, she created the comedy show, Going Dutch but it never saw the light of day as no one ordered it.
5. She was co-writer of Village Gazette, a single-camera comedy series, a pilot of which was ordered by NBC in 2019.
6. In 2014, Amber Ruffin played the role of Shari in 14 episodes of the comedy TV series, Wish It Inc.