Sara Benincasa

Sara Benincasa is a comedian, actress, college speaker on mental health awareness, and the author of REAL ARTISTS HAVE DAY JOBS, D.C. TRIP, GREAT, AGORAFABULOUS!: DISPATCHES FROM MY BEDROOM, and the forthcoming presidential biography ABRAHAM F***ING LINCOLN (Grand Central Publishing). Most importantly, she was born and raised in New Jersey.

Sara wrote for the 13th season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. She adapted DC TRIP as a screenplay, and AGORAFABULOUS! as a pilot for TV with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. GREAT has been optioned for television multiple times. She's also written for various gala events as well as comedians and other public speakers.

A sample of roles: criminal defense attorney Timmy Gianpaolo on Law & Order: SVU, a comedic campaign for the NY Times with Art Class Content, Corporate on Comedy Central, Bill Nye Saves The World on Netflix, The Jim Gaffigan Show on TVLand, and the critically acclaimed short film The Focus Group, which she also wrote.

A former talk radio host and producer, she’s been heard on various programs on BBC World Service and NPR. She's appeared as a talking head on CNBC, CNN, and other networks. She’s guested on Chris Gethard's New Jersey is the World, WTF with Marc Maron, Bad with Money with Gabe Dunn, The Mental Illness Happy Hour, Throwing Shade, and several other podcasts.

Sara is a longtime contributor to Wonkette. She's written cover stories for BUST and Women's Health and has contributed to Playboy, CNN, Glamour, InStyle, Buzzfeed, Bitch, Pipewrench, Bustle, Glamour, the Guardian, Longreads, the Sunday Longread and more.

Sara serves on the Creative Council for Emily’s List, one of the largest financial resources for women seeking elected office. She is also active on behalf of Miry's List, a small nonprofit that provides assistance to newly resettled refugee families in Southern California and beyond.

Sara has performed and/or taught workshops around the U.S. as well as in Canada, Germany and Norway. She's spoken to dozens of colleges, universities, comedy festivals, writers’ conferences and nonprofit groups about creative writing, storytelling, comedy and mental health awareness.

Sara attended Emerson College and has a degree in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. She has an M.A. in Secondary School Education from Teachers College at Columbia University and still teaches writing to individuals and groups. She's based in Chicago and spends a lot of time in NYC, Philly, and Los Angeles.