In the wake of SNL’s recent hiring of LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones as writers, Late Night with Seth Meyers has also added a black female writer to its staff with Amber Ruffin, the Chicago Tribune reports. Ruffin has appeared on Key and Peele, is a graduate of iO and Second City, former performer at Amsterdam’s Boom Chicago (where Meyers also did a stint), and is currently part of the video sketch comedy troupe RobotDown. She auditioned for SNL during its diversity push back in early December and was reportedly a finalist for the gig before losing out to UCB’s Sasheer Zamata. She will be the first black woman to write for a late night talk show on a major network.
In other Late Night hiring news, UCB’s Andrew Law has also been hired to Late Night’s writing staff. Law was the winner of the 2011 NBC/UCB Diversity Showcase and has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 30 Rock, and The Jeselnik Offensive, where he also worked as a writer. He also worked as a creative consultant on Billy on the Street, created the hit Tumblr “Halloween or Williamsburg,†and won the IFC “Out of the Box Award†for his web series Incognito at last year’s New York Television Festival.
Most of Late Night’s writing staff was announced last month via Instagram photos posted by producer Michael Shoemaker and head writer Alex Baze. While those photos still reflect late night’s traditional white dude dominance, Ruffin and Law’s hiring is a promising sign that the fallout after SNL’s all-white, almost all-male hiring back in August will continue to ring in the ears of late night comedy producers everywhere – or at least those who report to Lorne Michaels. Check out some of Ruffin and Law’s best web videos below:
UPDATE: Standup, popular Twitterer, and Someecards writer Michelle Wolf announced today that she’s also been hired as a Late Night writer.