‘Jeopardy!’ Star Amy Schneider Reveals She’s Embarking on Very Different Career
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Despite the seriousness of Jeopardy!, seasoned player Amy Schneider has ventured into a fun career change. The game show contestant revealed the move on the most recent episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.
After reflecting on her time on the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament and what the Ohio native did to prepare for it, Schneider revealed that she is a budding standup comedian.
“I know that you’ve had so many things going on in your life over the years. I’m just curious how you are able to prepare for these types of tournaments like you did for this one?” Jeopardy! executive producer and podcast host Sarah Whitcomb Foss asked.
“I am sort of, to an extent, preparing in the background like I have been my whole life, just by watching the show and learning things all the time,” Schneider said. “This time, it just so happened to come after San Francisco Sketchfest, which is a big comedy festival that I was a lot more involved in than I expected.” Sketchfest took place from January 16 to February 2.
“So, that meant I wasn’t cramming in the same way that I’ve necessarily have before. That was a trade-off I was consciously making, but I didn’t really think it would make a difference because I’ve always been under the philosophy of those things you do in the last few days before taping; they never really end up making a difference.”
“But, I think there is some level of sharpness that I was sort of surprised to not quite feel or I thought I could turn on,” Schneider shared. ” I didn’t realize how much focusing in the week or two in advance, that I still needed that.”
“Some of the games in the Masters felt deflating, whereas this one didn’t. I played well, and Luigi [de Guzman] played better.”
Of course, Schneider is talking about de Guzman beating her in the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament quarterfinals.
Sam Buttrey, a Jeopardy! contestant, who filled in for EP Michael Davies, said, “Fans should know that you’re a budding standup comedian because you were nice enough to send me 10 minutes of your routine.”
He wondered, with her new career move, how she sets aside time to study for Jeopardy!. Schneider shared that she always tries to take quizzes and assesses the difficulty level for each tournament. “I did set aside some time. And if things had been different, I would have set aside slightly more,” she said.
Aside from being a budding comedian, Schneider is also a writer and is coming out with a children’s version of her book, Who is Amy Schneider?, which was released on March 4.
Before making her first appearance on Jeopardy! in 2021, in which she would go on to win 40 consecutive games, the second most in the show’s history, trailing only Ken Jennings, Schneider was a software engineering manager.
In February 2022, she announced that she quit her day job after her historic run on the game show.
“Some of you may have heard, but I quit my day job yesterday! It’s a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to… public figure, I guess. But regardless of the outcome, I’m so excited to spend the next couple years at least tackling this new challenge!” she tweeted.
She became the most successful female contender in Jeopardy!’s history and the first woman to surpass $1 million in earnings. Schneider is also the first transgender contestant to compete on Jeopardy!‘s Tournament of Champions.
Schneider currently lives with her wife and two cats in Oakland, California.
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