Duke’s comedic style is unapologetically scathing -- whether she is roasting herself, her husband, or the diet industrial complex. As a feminist comic, Duke’s jokes are socially relevant, trying first and foremost to make people laugh, and then to make people think a little bit more critically about the world around them. In a cesspool of straight, white male comedians who genuinely think apolitical humor is the only form of “pure” comedy, Duke is incredibly refreshing - and gloriously funny. - Bust Magazine

Emily Duke is a writer, comedian, fat activist and born and raised, holier-than-thou New Yorker. She is currently an MFA candidate at USC School of Cinematic Arts in the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television where her original short Tootsie was a 546 Finalist.

In 2022, she was a writer for an original comedy pilot presented by Sony to Peacock, and consulted with the development team at Embassy Row on comedy projects for Disney+, Amazon, and NBCU. She was also selected as a participant for the Orchard Project Episodic Lab, and wrote for a VR Variety Show pilot for Double Eye Productions. She is an official script reader for the Austin Film Festival in both TV and Feature categories, and her satirical writing has been published by Points in Case, Slackjaw and others. She also co-created, co-writes and costars in the WebFest selection Garbage People with Season Two premiering on Bust, as well as Cooking with Messy Bitches produced by Rizzle Studios.

In the 2023-2024 season, her original pilot Dean’s List is a quarterfinalist in the The Script Lab Free Screenplay Contest, the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition, the Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition, and a Second Round selection in Launchpad’s Pilot Competition. Her Yellowjackets spec script is a Second Round selection for the Austin Film Festival, and her feature, a farce inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, is a Quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft True Story & Public Domain Competition.

In previous years, her original pilot Middle Gentry was in the top 25 of Launchpad’s Pilot Competition and selected as a Quarterfinalist in both the Stage 32 TV Comedy Screenwriting Contest and the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition. Her comedy feature Friends and Lovers was also a Quarterfinalist in the Stage 32 Romantic Comedy Screenwriting Contest.

Emily’s personal essay regarding obesity and vaccine eligibility was one of the “most read” in Slate and she has been featured in The NYTimes, NewNowNext and Bust Magazine. She has appeared on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and Game Breakers on Amazon Prime. She writes and hosts the podcast Melodramatic Teen Universe with Embassy Row (Sony), and has also been a featured guest on podcasts produced by ForeverDog, WhoHaha, MaximumFun and others. She is also a nationally touring stand-up comic, seen at Comedy Cellar,  NY Comedy Club, The Stand, Caroline’s, Gotham Comedy Club, The Comedy Store, Ice House, Flappers and UCB.

Emily loves carbohydrates and feels cosmically connected to Bette Midler. She is passionate about queer representation and fat acceptance.