Tea Dakic was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia, in 1987 to Darko and Marina Dakic Going by the name of Tea, Ms. Dakic considered herself a "supernerd" during her high school and college years. She studied drama at the University of Virginia, and after graduating in 2003, she headed to Chicago, the ancestral home of American comedy. While working at a YMCA to support herself, she started Second City's first set of courses.