Who is Retta, and what is a papertarian?

What the heck is a papertarian?

If the name Retta is not familiar, you are not alone. I had not heard of this entertainer before, but I know a lot about her now. She is the woman in the two slightly irritating yet funny “Papertatian commercials that have been airing recently.

I only noticed these ads during the past few weeks. If, like me, you assumed that papertarian was a made-up word to promote the commercial, we were both wrong.

A papertarian is someone who practices proper recycling and actively chooses to use and rely on paper-based products for their daily activities, like shopping, working, and living.

The paper and packaging industry uses this term to show that choosing paper products can help support sustainable forestry, since paper is made from renewable resources.

Hilarious papertarian commercials

The papertarian commercials are about paper recycling and are quite hilarious. In one of them, the actress talks about being a celebrity and receiving fan mail. Initially, I thought she was only saying her lines because I did not recognize her as anyone in the entertainment business.

Each time she said "So sue me" or asked, "What, you don't get fan mail?" I laughed, but did not realize she probably does receive fan mail. As the commercials continued to air several times a day, I became curious and decided to learn about this woman. I found out that she is an actress and stand-up comedian,

Who is Retta?

The entertainer was born Marietta Sangai Sirleaf on April 12, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey. She has shared that a boyfriend from Georgia nicknamed her Retta because her first name sounded like his hometown. She is a stand-up comedian and actress who is of Libyan descent.

Sirleaf is best known for her roles as Donna Meagle on NBC's Parks and Recreation and Ruby Hill on NBC's Good Girls. She has performed stand-up on Comedy Central's Premium Blend.

Although Retta's career began with standup in 1996, she says that she did not start "earning money" until 1998, when she began touring on the college circuit.

She has admitted that she used to get "really nauseated" before performances, but as she gained experience, this subsided. She also shared that her stand-up material is somewhat embellished from stories from her regular everyday life, family, and friends.

She is not married, keeps her dating life private, and has no children, but has mentioned two nephews.

Faith played a role in her career

Retta was raised as a member of the New Apostolic Church, where her youth group noticed her ability to make others laugh. When she competed in her first television comedy contest, worldwide members of the New Apostolic Church voted for her, which contributed to her winning the contest and also her career.

Retta graduated from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1992. She was pre-med and graduated with a degree in sociology. After graduation, she worked as a chemist while performing stand-up at Charlie Goodnights Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her IMDb image and the one on Wikipedia look nothing like the person in the commercials.

Addition work

She received a "Best Supporting Actress (Comedy)" nomination at the 3rd Indie Soap Awards for the indie web series Vampire Mob in 2o11. In 2022, the comedian hosted seasons 1-5 of HGTV's Ugliest House in America.

Her films include Alvin and the Chipmunks, Road Chip, Where's the Money, Slackers, and Good Boys. Her voice work includes Ringmaster, The Lego Ninja Movie, Bubble Guppies, Where's Waldo, Duck Tales, and Pinky Mainky.

Her additional work on television includes Moesha, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce. The charismatic actress/comedian has also done other commercials that you can check out at this link.