Trebor Finnegan has been doing stand-up in Buffalo since 2023. He was a funny, shy kid in Dallas before moving to Buffalo when he was 14. He's only 28 now, but he's established himself as one of the scene's top rising comics. He just took secon...

Josh Martier has been writing jokes since he was a teenager, but he didn't take the stage until he was 27. In just four years, he's climbed the steps to become the 2025 winner of the Philly's Phunniest Person contest in August. He moved to Broo...

Serena Thiel is has been letting life take her where she feels comfortable -- and it's working out for her. She started doing stand-up in Bozeman, Mont., in 2020 with her friend, Alex Kaufman. After a couple years off, she opted not to go to Me...

David Kopp started doing stand-up in British Columbia, Canada, when he was 30 years old. In the 18 years since, he's become one of the premier producers in the province, written a book, "Kill Dave," and runs the successful Kelowna Comedy Club i...

Jacob Parnell grew up in Seattle and played the drums and bass in punk bands. His band, Aria Decline, opened for Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate and Switchfoot. He decided to study theology at Pepperdine University and is now a past...

AJ Foster is one of the best stand-ups to come out of upstate New York over the last two decades. He grew up in the Bronx, but started stand-up in 2010 while going to college in Utica. He was a big piece of the upstate scenes before moving to N...

Manny Gacet started doing stand-up in Tampa, Fla., back in 2023. He's been sober for 13 years, and after getting laughs at AA and NA meetings, he decided to try it on a more formal stage. He's a big Marvel guy and has plans to start a YouTube c...

Dave Sheehan has been doing stand-up yin New Haven, Conn., for more than two decades. He started with improv and made some friends and then dipped into stand-up. He's also been studying martial arts for the last 15 years and has a black belt. H...

Reese Samuels is the mama bear of the comedy scene in Boise, Idaho., and is really putting that psychology background to work. She started doing stand-up on Christmas in 2014 after a rough break-up in an uncomfortable situation. She's doing way...

Micahel Agunbiade started doing stand-up at the very old age of 24. It's been three years and he's already one of the most-traveled comedians in upstate New York. Based out of Liberty, he became part of the Albany scene and is moving to the Bro...

Cindy Arena has been doing stand-up in Rochester since the spring of 2018. She made her first big splash by winning the Rochester's Funniest Person contest that July. She's spent the last seven years trying to prove she was deserving of it. She...

Kaiser Leib won 3 percent of the vote for Montana's governor. Instead of running the state, he's settling for a comedy festival. He started doing stand-up in San Francisco in 2017 and moved back home during the pandemic. He's doing everything h...

Ryan Manzo started doing stand-up two years ago in Scranton, Pa. He tried it once in college, but it didn't stick. It only took two traumatic moments to convince him to give it another shot. He's part of a younger group of comedians to give a b...

Hunter Roberts is a stand-up comic, former wrestler and Disney enthusiast in Gate City, Va. He wrestled for a few years -- becoming a champion -- before making his second attempt at stand-up stick in 2012. Based out of Johnson City, Tenn., he t...

Elizabeth Becz is a comedian in Brooklyn. She grew up in Rutherford, N.J., and picked up playing the piano in middle school. Her teacher, Doug, introduced her to stand-up and would later ignite a passion. After working in upstate New York for o...

Matt Vita grew up playing in punk bands. He got a taste for comedy while doing humorous raps between bands at shows. Then about 10 years ago, he found an open mic. Since then, he's traveled all over the country telling jokes and founded the Ver...

Mike DiAlto started doing stand-up about 16 years ago after taking a class at the Comedy Cellar in New York City. He kept doing it in Philadelphia and has been running the mixed mic and comedy shows at John and Peter's in New Hope, Pa., for the...

Eric Basile started doing stand-up in Jamestown, N.Y., back in 2011. He moved to Buffalo in 2014 and has been there since. A film student at the University of Buffalo, Basile grew up on Saturday Night Live and sitcoms from the '70s, '80s and '9...

Matt Dundas started doing stand-up in a San Francisco laundromat in 2002 and then stopped. He started up again in Seattle, but stopped. It wasn't until he was in Washington, D.C., in 2013 that it stuck. He and his family are in Portland, Maine,...

Sari Beliak is a really talented writer and comedian in Phoenix, Ariz. She took sketch classes at Second City in Los Angeles and began writing for The Hard Times and the Reductress before transitioning her comedy chops onto the stage. She's bee...

Alice Duhon has a background in musical theater, but she transitioned to stand-up in Detroit at 29. She was taking a stand-up class and going through a divorce around the same time. She's spent the last two years working out material from Detro...

Myles Weber started doing stand-up in Vallejo, Calif., right out of high school. He convinced 30 of his friends from school and the gym to watch his first open mic and he's been at it ever since. Over the last seven years, he's recorded two Dry...

Josephine Rivera started doing stand-up about 2 1/2 years ago when she was 29. She moved from New York to Pensacola, Fla., for college and stayed put. She produces shows with Carson Tucker under Whippersnapper Comedy and they're working all ove...

Luke Thayer started doing stand-up in Indianapolis about 21 years ago. A year in, he and his wife, Abi Crutchfield, moved to New York City together, where they still live. He's been on Gotham Comedy Live, Fox, TruTV and The Food Network. He rel...

Jeremy Pryal started doing stand-up in Scranton when he was 17. He opted to stay out of the Marines and chase success in comedy. He spent eight years in Philadelphia before a bad set and the personal issues took him off course. Now married with...