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Shakira Ja'nai Paye is an American actress, writer, producer, and comedian. She is a co-founder of the sketch troupe Obama's Other Daughters. She has acted in productions including All Day and a Night, the House Party, and the sc-ifi series Demascus .
Paye was born and raised in Baltimore. [1] She began acting at the Arena Players at age 10 and was a theatre major in high school. [1] [2] She later trained at American Musical Dramatic Academy. [2]
Paye is a co-founder of the sketch troupe Obama’s Other Daughters alongside Ashley Holston, Maame-Yaa Aforo, and Yazmin Monet Watkins. [3] The group, all Black women comedians who met on UCB's diversity Facebook group, formed in 2016. [1] [4] They hosted a monthly show, Black Girl Magic, at UCB Sunset in Los Angeles. [5] The group had a digital series on Comedy Central that was produced by Hacks co-creators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello. [4] They also hosted the culture podcast You Down? through Shondaland Audio. [6]
Paye appeared in The Gambler , Modern Family , Black-ish , Grand Crew , and Sydney to the Max . [4] [7] She starred in the film All Day and a Night (2020) on Netflix. [8] She also appeared in the House Party (2023) reboot. [9]
Paye is a main cast member in the sci-fi comedy series Demascus (2025– ), which was initially picked up AMC and cancelled, but later revived by Tubi. [2] She portrays Naomi, a love interest to the lead who embodies "the dark feminine: Cleopatra-esque, Lilith, Kali… all of my favorite ladies, but grounded and human." [10]
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