Comedians You Should and Will Know

An annual survey of dozens of industry insiders on the comedians who are about to be household names.

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Meet 2023’s Comedians You Should Know of Los Angeles

Jay Jurden talked shop with this year’s honorees on the West Coast. By Anne Victoria Clark

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The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2023

25 comics who industry insiders predict will be tomorrow’s superstars.

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Get to Know 2023’s Comedians You Should Know of New York*

Jay Jurden talked shop with this year’s honorees on the East Coast — *and also Chicago. By Anne Victoria Clark

2023 Comedians

Nimesh Patel Wants You to Shut Up, Be Funny, and Be Nice “I learned to keep my writing secrets secret.”
Opey Olagbaju Can Take You Higher “For me, the best jokes take a long time to develop.”
Edy Modica Lets It Rip “‘Be yourself’ is the best advice, and anything that isn’t that is the worst … ”
You Don’t Know Rachel Kaly? No Problem. “I challenge every man over 45 to come for me.”
Andrea Jin Has Peed So Many Pants “I’d rather have dinner with friends who I love than do a show with two people in the audience.”
Jordan Jensen Has Muffins for Brains “What was I just saying?”
Meet Rob “Mr. Comedy Man” Haze “There are times when everyone is in agreement, and there are times when the room is divided. I get to dictate that chemistry in real time.”
Stavros Halkias Has No System “Writing stand-up sucks, and every moment I’m doing it I’d rather scrape my nuts across broken glass.”
Katrina Davis Finds Beauty in Closed Doors “It’s nice to get messages from people who relate to my jokes or accidentally woke up the person next to them on a red-eye flight laughing at me.”
Curtis Cook Wants This in Every Possible Dimension “My hands are stained with blood, and I will never see the light of heaven, but why bow to a god when you can become one?”
Sophie Buddle Will Blow Ya Mind “Because that’s always the mission.”
One, Two, Three, Eyes on Natalie Rotter-Laitman and Charlie Bardey “I love doing our show so much!!!!! I feel so lucky for it.”
Ralph Barbosa’s Ass Won’t Last “’Cause if you really think about it, no ass will really last. Unless it’s an immortal ass.”
Brian Bahe Wants the Nepo Babies to Pay It Forward “Honestly, even if just five nepo babies did this, it would be a step in the right direction and probably end climate change.”
Fumi Abe Will Not Be Handing Out Business Cards “Getting into stand-up was the first time I asked myself how I honestly felt about stuff going on in my life and the world.”

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The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2022

2022 Comedians

Celeste Yim Wants to Make You Feel Big Feelings “A lot of my comedy comes from feeling guilty.”
Sheng Wang Refuses to Die on a Hill “I’m trying to connect audiences with their humanity. I’m trying to convince audiences to see me as a worthy whole human being just like they are.”
Devon Walker Thinks More Comedians Should Be Pilots “I think the airlines should start recruiting at open mics. It would make the world a better place.”
Ike Ufomadu Has Johnny Carson on Tap “We’re all different people after all — different little jokesters joking in our different little ways.”
Get That Fame Carrot Away From Yedoye Travis’s Face “I’m most proud of all the work I haven’t done over the years.”
Vinny Thomas Will Host a Nature Show One Day “I want to command an air of grand, ominous power. That’s very important.”
Someone Let Julia Shiplett Wear a Corset in a Period Piece “I will play a noble, serf, town wench, anything. I’m not good at accents and I do have vocal fry, but I’m staying hopeful.”
Yamaneika Saunders Has Been Forged in the Fire of the Apollo “I rode those boos all the way to 68th Street.”
Pat Regan Talks Too Fast (for Michigan Lesbians) “As someone who can’t sing, dance, or act, I was left with the unenviable option of pursuing stand-up comedy.”
Frankie Quiñones Is Living His Toilet Paper Dreams “No more chaffed booty hole, my boy.”
Laura Peek Prioritizes Silly “Don’t let other people’s failures and insecurities stop you from trying. Unless you really suck at comedy! Then I dunno what to tell you.”
Clare O’Kane Wants to Own a House With a Pool She Can Skate In “This weird shit shouldn’t be taken too seriously. We’re not doctors here.”
Amy Miller Will Be Your Comedy Angel “Audience members, please wear a whole shoe. I do not want to see your man sandal resting on my stage.”
Jaye McBride, Future Marvel Villain “That’s not so much embarrassing as unattainable. A trans villain is a little too on the nose for Middle America.”
Ever Mainard, the Proud Onstage Idiot “You think you know bleak, but then you perform at a small casino in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the middle of winter.”
Andrew Lopez Is Sorry for Doing Comedy Rap “I ruined everyone’s night.”
The Undeniable Uniqueness of Alison Leiby “It does feel good to have something I’ve worked so hard on be a part of an important political conversation.”
Holmes Holmes Is a Comedian Because of Cool Ranch Doritos “No spoilers, but expect something very funny, queer, and midwestern.”
Lisa Gilroy Is Gonna Have the Most Fun “We’re all just gorgeous little clowns floating around in hell.”
Alex English Has a Backup Plan: Pole-Dancing “The best comedy advice I’ve ever received is ‘Never take advice,’ and the worst advice I’ve ever received is advice.”
Nore Davis Will Be Your Stand-up Superhero “There are a combination of stories that lead to me becoming a stand-up comedian, but they all have the same common denominator: control.”
Brittany Carney Wants to Take Her Mom to an Awards Show “I’d run a bit by some dude comics, and sometimes they’d say, ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘Are you on drugs?’ (I was not.)”
Dylan Adler Is More Than a Theme-Park Backflip “If someone asks you how long you’ve been doing comedy, say ‘60 years’ and then spit in their mouth.”
Someone Order Niles Abston’s Pilot Stat “I’m having an existential crisis from being unemployed.”

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The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2021

2021 Comedians

Jeff Wright Is Always Going to Shoot His Shot “Having a vision in my head, making it, then putting it out into the world makes me proud.”
Not to Humblebrag, But Robin Tran Knows She’s a Genius “I was mocked for putting up TikTok videos of my stand-up. And then COVID happened! Whoops!”
Jes Tom: Twitter’s Favorite (Unintentional) Public-Facing Pervert “If you want to be an ally so bad, give me a comedy special.”
Sam Taggart Just Wants a Casual Hang With Steve Martin It would be super chill and normal, no big deal at all.
Brian Simpson Is the Life of the Goddamn Party “Best comedy advice: ‘There’s no wrong in writing, so always write.’”
Rachel Sennott Dreams of Her Spaghetti-Covered Playboy Moment “I think instead of tweeting rude shit about you people should have to write you a letter.”
Nori Reed Yearns for More Ugly People on Television “I want to see rashes, bald spots, giant moles, weird feet, psychotic elbows.”
Please Don’t Destroy: Just a House Full o’ Boys “Logline: ‘Hijinks and hilarity ensue when three roomies become unlikely housemates.’”
Hannah Pilkes the Joyful, Ridiculous Muppet “The less I tried to fit in everywhere, the more I found community and the more I made my own imprint.”
She’s Bubbly, She’s Spicy, She’s Danielle Perez “I think the wildest thing I did during COVID is get just a little bit of self-respect.”
All Hail the Scam Goddess Laci Mosley “Robbery really resonates with people, and it’s taken me to some dope places and introduced me to some amazing people pretty fast.”
Kenice Mobley Wants to Create More Spaces for Comedy Weirdos “But for increasingly larger audiences and paychecks.”
Everybody’s Saying Grace Kuhlenschmidt Should Star in a Movie “I think that would be really cool and I actually think I would be really, reallllly good at it.”
Josh Johnson Wants to Become the Kanye of Comedy “I truly believe some of the best comedians we’ve ever seen are still on the way.”
James Austin Johnson’s Trump Brings All the Boys to the Yard Wait until they get a load of his Ed Begley Jr.
Jamel Johnson the Effortless Crusher “I didn’t think I was going to make it at all, but I knew I couldn’t stop.”
Jared Goldstein Smartly Followed Joan Rivers’s Advice “Growing up, I thought I just liked comedians. I also thought I just liked my friend Daniel.”
Chris Estrada Doesn’t Think Stand-Up Has to Be Profound He does think you should wipe before doing it, though.
Rosebud Baker Just Wants a Karaoke Date With Justin Bieber “Like a boys’ hang but with a grown woman.”

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The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2020

2020 Comedians

Jenny Yang Cares a Lot About Social Justice and Also Food The self-described “gamer comedian” talks virtual comedy shows and highlighting the issues she cares about.
Ricky Velez Will Be Undeniable The stand-up talks touring with big-name comedians and getting heckled by a cow.
Taylor Tomlinson Just Wants to Get Onstage Again “I got my period early and now I’m a comedian; those things are probably connected.”
Blair Socci Is an All-Powerful Witch The comedian talks quarantine and her dream to be the next Bill Murray.
Christina Catherine Martinez Prods the Bog of Consciousness The part-comedian, part-critic talks starting out in comedy and her earliest childhood memory.
All of Alyssa Limperis’s Characters Are Losing Their Minds The comedian talks processing loss through her work and the best advice she ever got.
Jeremy Levick and Rajat Suresh Are Comedy’s Cutest Couple “I love seeing Rajat every day. When quarantine ends, I hope I continue to see Rajat every day.”
Yassir Lester Never Needed Your Validation “I think that performers are finally waking up to the idea that they are in control of how they reach their audience.”
If You Can’t Write a Good Joke, Jay Jurden Isn’t Listening “I say that both to be silly and catty.”
Joyelle Nicole Johnson Is an Abortion Rights Stan The stand-up talks quarantine and comedy’s role in her activism.
Robby Hoffman Gives the Best Advice “Before you go off that I’m completely unqualified, I have a business degree from McGill University, it’s not nothing!”
Caleb Hearon No Longer Has a Backup Plan The comedian talks online versus live comedy and his alternate life as a youth pastor.
Ziwe Fumudoh’s Comedy Is Iconic, Folks The comedian talks Instagram, quarantine, and the worst advice she ever got.
For Chris Fleming, No Good Idea Is Too Absurd “I’m still very much alone making things, terrified that people won’t relate to them.”
Jordan Firstman Is Chasing the Light “I’d like to see more positivity, more depth, more joy, more fun. More things that connect people.”
Sarah Cooper Knows How to Turn a Dream Into a Business The comedian talks writing, TikTok, and her upcoming Netflix special.
Karen Chee’s Favorite Quarantine Comedian Is Her Mom The comedian talks writing for Late Night and finding joy during times of terror.
You Can’t Put Quinta Brunson in a Box “I’m proud of myself and happy with myself and not a lunatic stuck in one phase.”
Mary Beth Barone Is Looking Forward to (Metaphorically) Showering Again The stand-up talks comedy, quarantine, and livestreaming from her bathtub.

comics to watch The Comedians You Should and Will Know of 2019 23 comics that industry insiders are watching closely.
comics to watch 38 Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2018 Here are the comedians, duos, and groups you’ll want to keep an eye on next year.
comics to watch 20 Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2017 From Julio Torres to Joel Kim Booster to Sam Jay: Here are the next big things in comedy.
comics to watch The 50 Comedians You Should Know in 2015 A comedy boom is in full swing right now, and doesn’t show signs of slowing down anytime soon.
comics to watch The 50 Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2013 These are the next Aziz Ansaris, Kristen Schaals, and Bobby Moynihans: stand-ups and performers destined to pop up in prime time soon.

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Comedians You Should and Will Know

Meet 2023’s Comedians You Should Know of Los Angeles

The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2023

Get to Know 2023’s Comedians You Should Know of New York*

2023 Comedians

The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2022

2022 Comedians

The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2021

2021 Comedians

The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2020

2020 Comedians