Rollin Atkinson spent three years doing improv in Boston before the world shut down in 2020. When it opened up, he started doing stand-up. He met Josh Mandl at a mic and they'd been working together since. They launched the Boston Comedy Club, ...

Mike Stewart started doing stand-up in Ithaca in 2021. Fresh out of the pandemic and going through a divorce, he began writing jokes and took to the stage. He's got an interesting backstory that he's only just started to dive into for material....

Greg Owens started doing stand-up 14 years ago in Rochester, N.Y. He only did a contest each of his first two years, then a couple of showcases before really diving into it. Since the pandemic, he's performed all over New York and Pennsylvania....

Luca Spinoso started doing stand-up a couple years ago in Harford County, Md., a little bit north of Baltimore. He moved to Florida as a kid and came back to Maryland when he was 19. He and his buddies went to an open mic one night and they sig...

Danny Pee has been doing stand-up in Manchester, N.H., for about five years. He got the taste for it during a best man's speech at his brother's wedding. Once the pandemic came to a close, he decided to give it a go. He began hosting the open m...

Rachel Ware is one of the funniest comedians in the Omaha, Neb., scene. She started doing improv and then picked up stand-up in 2012. She spent three years in Los Angeles before moving back home in 2020. She's married to another comedian, Tyrel...

Josh Prygon started doing stand-up in Buffalo about three years ago. The first two tries didn't stick, but this one has. He's part of the newer class of comedians in a very experienced scene. He's got the confidence now to tackle new topics and...

Chris Scopo grew up in Queens as the son of a Mets fan. He really had no choice. He started rooting for the Mets a couple years after they won the World Series in 1986 and is still waiting to celebrate. They are ruining his life. But he's makin...

Dan Danzy moved started doing stand-up in Dallas when he was in high school. He worked his way all over the state over the next 15 years before deciding to move to Scranton with his wife in 2022. He took a little bit of time off, but decided to...

Julia Colasanti grew up playing volleyball in Michigan before going to college at St. Michael's in Vermont. Loud and confident on the court, she made a speech at a banquet that pushed her toward stand-up 10 years ago while she was still in high...

Lauren Festa is a very funny comedian on Long Island. She's been doing stand-up all over New York City for about 10 years, but has been pushing hard for the last six -- pretty much living out her dad's dream for her. She works in publishing and...

Jethro Trogo started doing stand-up in the Philippines in 2013 and moved to St. Paul, Minn., near the end of 2019 for his job as a software engineer. Quite the shift in culture and weather. He's been able to work himself into the comedy scene a...

Shawn Barnes did his first set while going to SUNY Oneonta back in the early 2010s and occasionally came back to stand-up. It wasn't until an established comedian moved upstairs that he decided to give it a real go. Now he's working all over Ne...

Matt Drufke has been doing stand-up in and around Chicago for about 20 years. He's one of a nine-person team behind the Still Not Friday show in Aurora, Ill., that just celebrated its 10th anniversary. He was able to book Kyle Kinane for that s...

Isaac Kozell started doing stand-up in Pittsburgh about 14 years ago. He was living in Wheeling, W. Va., but had to chase the stage elsewhere. He worked in marketing and fixed up houses on the side, something he'd learned as a kid. Once his nei...

Tommy Cook started doing stand-up outside of Detroit about 2 1/2 years ago. He grew up on a steady diet of musicals, thanks to his grandparents. He played in the marching and concert bands in high school and became the lead singer of Granola Ad...

Conor McCann only started doing stand-up in July of 2024. He entered the Rochester's Funniest Person contest two weeks after his first open mic and took second place. He came back this year and won the title. A former musician from the Cold Spr...

Alex Nicolas has been a fixture of the Jersey City, N.J., comedy scene since 2014. He started doing stand-up under the recommendation of a former boss combined with his mom telling him he wasn't funny. He spent a couple years working at the Str...

Chris Weir has been doing stand-up in Cincinnati since 2011. He started while he was at North Kentucky University, but really jumped into the scene after graduating. He's a huge Reds fan and hosts a podcast dedicated to them called The New Nast...

Frank Corbiserie had an incredibly strong showing this summer in his second year in the Buffalo comedy scene. He moved to Batavia, N.Y., from New Jersey in 2024 and became Buffalo's Funniest Person in July of 2025. A couple weeks later, he plac...

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...