Jessica St. Clair

Whether she was doing improvisational theater and television series with her best friend Lennon Parham or acting in hit comedy films like ″She's Out of My League″ (2010), Jessica St. Clair worked hard at making funny look easy. After graduating from Middlebury College, she joined the legendary comedy troupe The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), which both honed her comedic skills and brought her into contact with fellow comedian Lennon Parham, who was the only other woman in her first improv class. The two would go on become best friends and creative partners. St. Clair also joined the improv group ″Mother″ before breaking into television on Lorne Michael's half hour sketch show ″The Colin Quinn Show″ (Comedy Central 2002) which unfortunately only lasted one abbreviated season. The next few years saw Jessica tackle small roles in a few films, including ″Terrorists″ (2004) and ″College Road Trip″ (2008), but television stayed her main focus. She had a recurring role on the landmark series ″United States of Tara″ (HBO 2009-11), created by screenwriter Diablo Cody, and played a supporting role on the sitcom ″Worst Week″ (CBS 2008-09), a U.S. adaptation of the British comedy series "The Worst Week of My Life" (BBC 2004-06). Another attempt at a U.K. import was an American pilot for the cult hit "The IT Crowd" (Channel 4 2006-2013) which co-starred St. Clair as Jen (Katharine Parkinson's role in the original), the clueless new director of a company IT department. Despite the presence of Joel McHale in Chris O'Dowd's role as the sardonic slacker Roy and Richard Ayoade reprising his role as the socially maladroit Moss, the pilot did not make it to air, though it subsequently turned up online. In 2012, St. Clair and Parham turned their real-life friendship into the sitcom ″Best Friends Forever″ (NBC 2012), which the pair created, produced and starred in as two best friends supporting each other through difficult and changing times in their lives. Although the series only lasted one season, the concept resonated with audiences. The pair returned with ″Playing House″ (USA 2014-), another series that took adult female bonding as its comedic focus.