Vanessa Bayer is  a graduate of The Second City Training Center Conservatory Program and an alum of The Second City Touring Company ensemble, where she performed in a variety of roles as understudy for The Second City Touring Company and The Second City Mainstage. Additionally, Vanessa performed in the Second City Theatricals cast of Jewsical: The Musical, a show that was originally directed by Sheldon Patinkin, and toured with Second City’s Girls’ Night Out: Uncensored.

Bayer is best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She first joined as a featured player for the 2010 season and was promoted to the core repertory cast beginning in 2012. She quickly became a popular and prominent fixture on the show, due in part to her broad stable of memorable impersonations and characters, ranging from Miley Cyrus to Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah boy.

In 2014, she was nominated for an American Comedy Award for her SNL performances. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017, the year she departed the cast. Bayer has gone on to supporting roles in films Trainwreck, Office Christmas Party and Carrie Pilby.

A survivor of leukemia as a teenager, Bayer actively works with Make-A-Wish to help support  the organization.