The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Ralphie May, a larger than life stand-up comedian who won the hearts of America if not also their votes in the very first season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, has died. May was 45. Though battling pneumonia for the past week, May continued to show up for his 2017 residency …
The last time I spoke at length with Felipe Esparza, he was enjoying the fruits of his success as a winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, headlining a theater tour with his fellow finalists that came through New York City’s Times Square in 2010. Esparza quickly capitalized on that with …
Episode #5 of my exclusive Laughly podcast miniseries, On Second Thought, is out now with Roy Wood, Jr. On Second Thought asks: If tragedy plus time equals comedy, then comedy plus time equals what now? We all know and love Wood now as a star correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor …
Gina Yashere first came to the attention of Americans in 2007 when she appeared on season five of Last Comic Standing (the first international season, which also featured finalists Amy Schumer, Doug Benson, Lavell Crawford and winner Jon Reep). But Yashere already had plenty of successful experience with comedy contests …
Laurie Kilmartin produced one of the best stand-up specials of 2016, “45 Jokes About My Dead Dad,” streaming exclusively on Seeso.com. Kilmartin is a writer on Conan, a former finalist on Last Comic Standing, and the New York Times best-selling author of “Sh*tty Mom.” You can hear her on the …
Lavell Crawford joked about his weight and his battle with “the sugar” over the course of finishing runner-up on Last Comic Standing, panels on Chelsea Lately and his own hour-long stand-up comedy specials, and shined playing Better Call Saul‘s bodyguard/assistant on Breaking Bad. But since filming a supporting role in …
Gary Gulman is the tallest funniest Jew I know, and I’ve known him personally since 2004, when he competed on seasons two and three of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Gulman went to Boston College on a football scholarship but found his goal line in stand-up comedy a few months after …
Tiffany Haddish ended up in foster care after a serious car accident left her mother with even more serious complications. Getting into trouble herself, Tiffany found refuge and more as a teenager at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp. It hasn’t all been easy since then, but after appearing on several …
Nikki Glaser stars in her own weekly Comedy Central series about sex and comedy, Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, and will release her first hour stand-up special this weekend on the network: Perfect. Glaser started stand-up young enough to land on both Last Comic Standing and The Tonight Show by the …
Bonnie McFarlane is a comedian and writer who grew up on a farm in northern Canada. She has appeared on two seasons of Last Comic Standing, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman and has an HBO comedy special to her credit. She wrote and directed the documentary, Women Aren’t …
