Long before she rose to mainstream fame as the self-absorbed grade school principal Ava Coleman on the Emmy-winning mockumentary series “Abbott Elementary,” Janelle James was working behind the scenes in Hollywood.
After getting her start in comedy in 2009, when she started attending open mics in Illinois, she slowly built a following. She opened for Chris Rock on his 2017 Total Blackout Tour and went on to appear on a handful of other comedy shows and podcasts, eventually finding herself in the writer’s room of “The Rundown With Robin Thede” talk show, the dark comedy series “Black Monday” and musical animated sitcom “Central Park,” among other projects.
But James reached new levels of success with her role on “Abbott Elementary,” which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination among other honors.
The ABC sitcom, which premiered in 2021, has already been renewed for a sixth season, set to premiere later this year.
Roughly a week before the current fifth season is set to conclude, James plans to return to her stand-up roots to perform four shows Monday-Wednesday, April 13-15, at San Francisco’s Cobb’s Comedy Club.