Amy Sohn

For three years Amy Sohn wrote the autobiographical dating diary, "Female Trouble," in New York Press, which elicited loads of bitter invective from readers and shamed her parents at cocktail parties. After six years as a contributing editor at New York magazine, where she wrote about sex, relationships, and parenting, she is now at work on her third novel for Simon & Schuster, to be published...

Anita Renfroe

She has been described as "a triple shot of espresso in a decaf world," but there isn't a latte cup big enough to hold the party that Anita Renfroe brings. Her inventive blend of musical comedy and inspiration leave audiences with cheeks that hurt and hearts infused with humor and hope. The moment she takes the mic, you can be sure truth will arrive in Technicolor-as different as Kansas is to Oz.

Bill Maher

Whether skewering Republicans, Democrats, the mass media or Hollywood, Bill Maher is one of the most perceptive and hilarious satirists at work today. From the podium he delivers his trademark blend of devastating social commentary and politically incorrect humor that always leaves audiences begging for more.

Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal is a Golden Globe Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. Originally, Crystal studied film and television direction under Martin Scorsese at New York University before he starred in his first prominent role as “Jodie Dallas,” one of the first gay characters portrayed on American television on the hit series Soap.

Capitol Steps

Twenty five years ago the Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom (Don't quit your day job!), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a...

Carol Leifer

Comedian Carol Leifer is an internationally acclaimed comic, comedy writer and producer. She spent three years writing for Seinfeld eventually going on to produce, which earned her both Writers Guild and Emmy Award nominations. Carol was the real-life inspiration for the Elaine character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Her most notable episodes of Seinfeld include "The Rye," "The Beard" and...

Cedric 'The Entertainer'

Cedric ‘The Entertainer’ is best known for his crowd-pleasing roles in the recent hit films Barbershop with Ice Cube, Be Cool with John Travolta, Madagascar (animated feature), Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney, and The Original Kings of Comedy, MTV’S documentary feature directed by Spike Lee. Additionally, in April 2004, Cedric was star and producer of the box office hit Johnson Family...

Dan Aykroyd

Daniel Edward Aykroyd is an Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning actor, comedian, screenwriter, and most recently business entrepreneur. He attended Carleton University in Canada, but dropped out before receiving his degree. He veered away from his study of criminology in college in order to pursue his interest in acting. He began as a comedian in various Canadian nightclubs and went...

David Feherty

David Feherty was born in the seaside town of Bangor in Northern Ireland. He grew up with aspirations to become an opera singer, until he discovered he had the knack for hitting a golf ball. He jokes about his career change, "I was always interested in music from a very early age. But when I turned pro at age 17, I haven't sung a note since. Now, I only sing to punish my children."

David Javerbaum

David Javerbaum is the Executive Producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central's Emmy Award-winning mock newscast which, according to a 2004 Pew Research Center poll, is a primary news source for over 20 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds.

David Steinberg

Emmy award winning director, writer, producer, actor and comedian David Steinberg has been called "a cross between Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce" by The New York Times and "a credit to his people, actually to all people" by Robin Williams. He has worked in movies and television and on Broadway, and has launched the careers of many successful comedians. Now in his fifth decade as a major...

Ed Helms

Ed Helms was born and raised in Atlanta. After attending Oberlin College in scenic Ohio, he headed for New York City to pursue comedy. For years, Helms worked in the comedy trenches as a stand-up comedian which led to regular spots at NYC's top comedy clubs. His television credits include Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, numerous national voice-overs and a 2002 Super Bowl Budweiser...

Eve Ensler

Award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler has just completed a 20 North American cities tour from October 2005-April 2006 with her newest play The Good Body, following engagements on Broadway in NYC, at ACT in San Francisco. The Good Body addresses why women of all cultures and backgrounds - whether undergoing Botox injections or living beneath burkhas - feel compelled to change...

Frank Caliendo

Born at the age of three in northern Illinois, Frank was already ahead of his time. Even on the day of his birth, Frank's two younger brothers knew something was funny.

George Lopez

Time Magazine has called him one of “The 25 Most Influential Hispanics In America;” a Gallup Poll recently named him one of America’s top-ten television personalities. In 2004 Harvard University presented him with their Artist of the Year and Humanitarian Award. His own charity, The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation, provides significant community and arts resources for...

Greg Schwem

Chicago Magazine call Greg Schwem “America’s favorite corporate funnyman.” The Chicago Tribune proclaimed Greg “king of the hill” in the growing world of corporate comedy. Indeed, Greg’s client list included such corporate heavyweights as McDonald’s, Microsoft, Motorola, IBM, Verizon Wireless, United Airlines and Cisco Systems. If your company or association wants to laugh at today’s fast-paced...

Hollis Gillespie

Writer and former flight attendant Hollis Gillespie is a syndicated columnist and top-selling author. Her column "Moodswing" appears in the alternative weekly Creative Loafing. She is the travel columnist at Paste Magazine and writes a humorous financial column for BeE WOMAN magazine. Hollis has appeared on the cover of numerous publications including Atlanta magazine, Creative Loafing...

Jewtopia: Bryan Fogel & Sam Wolfson

Audiences across the country have been entertained by the comic energy of Fogel and Wolfson, who are now taking their hilarious theatrical antics and fame onto the speaking circuit. Their brainchild, Jewtopia, is one of the most successful off-Broadway comedies of all-time prompting the New York Times to hail it as “Unstoppable! One of the biggest and most improbable hits!”

Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan has proven himself a major talent beloved to a wide range of audiences after achieving milestones in stand-up, acting and writing. As approachable as he is edgy, Jim is responsible for some of the funniest and most memorable moments in recent television (primetime, cable and the late-night circuit) and film.

Jim Morris

Like no other political satirist Jim Morris brings the real West Wing to comedic life recreating our political scene Washington D.C. and the Beltway, caricaturing our nation's leaders utilizing his uncanny ability to vocally and physically impersonate the newsmakers with flair, wit and intelligence, creating a hilarious living political cartoon.

John Cleese

Best known for his brilliant humor and classic TV and film performances, John Cleese is also an extraordinarily popular lecturer who enthralls packed audiences worldwide. Often named the funniest man alive, John Cleese is both a versatile comedic actor and a leading business motivator.

John Leguizamo

A multi-faceted performer and Emmy Award winner, John Leguizamo has established a career that defies categorization. With boundless energy and creativity, his work in film, theatre, television, and literature covers a variety of genres, continually threatening to create a few of its own.

John Lithgow

John Lithgow is a two time Tony Award winner and was most recently nominated for his starring performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Previous credits on Broadway include: Mrs. Farnsworth, The Retreat From Moscow and Sweet Smell of Success.

John Oliver

John Oliver was born and raised in England, Great Britain, in the Year of Punk 1977. His passport lists his occupation as "comedian" and as we all know, passports never lie. He has worked as a stand-up comedian around the UK entertaining and irritating audiences in equal measure for the last seven years, and has regularly taken shows to the Edinburgh Festival.

John Pinette

Fresh off his starring role on Broadway as Edna Turnblad in the hit musical, Hairspray, John Pinette returns to the Montreal Comedy Festival. When asked to describe his stand-up, John Pinette says, “I talk about my life, it is the funniest thing I can think of. For some reason, people enjoy seeing me lose my cherub like demeanor.”

Johnathan Katz

Author, producer, actor, comedian and musician, Jonathan Katz is one of the entertainment industry’s most original and versatile creative personalities. Katz co-created and starred in the hit animated series Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, which, during the six seasons it aired on Comedy Central, was credited with branding that network as the home for sophisticated, smartly stupid...

Kathleen Madigan

Who did Jay Leno call one of America's funniest female comics on The Howard Stern Show? Who did Gary Shandling ask to be a contributing writer for the Emmy Awards? Who did Bob Costas say was one of his favorite comedians? Who was the only comic on NBC's Last Comic Standing to go unchallenged by her peers? Who was the only 5'2'', Mid-Missouri Hoop Shoot Champion - St. Louis native comedienne...

Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson is in his fourth season on Saturday Night Live. He has made numerous contributions to the show including impressions of Bill Cosby, Rev. Al Sharpton and Star Jones, and entertained us as DJ Dynasty Handbag, the scathingly fierce co-host of Club Traxxx. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Thompson made his television debut as a member of Nickelodeon’s all-kid sketch comedy series...

Loretta Laroche

Loretta is an international stress management and humor consultant whose wit, and irreverent humor, has, for over 30 years raised the humor potential in all of us. She is on the Mass General advisory council for anxiety and depression and was recently awarded the National Humor Treasure Award. Loretta writes a weekly newspaper column called, 'Get a Life. She is also featured as a stress...

Matt Harding

Recently named as TIME magazine’s “#1 Viral Video of 2008,” Matt Harding’s inspiring, universally appealing videos have reached over 30 Million viewers around the globe. At 26, Matt Harding quit his job as a videogame designer and spent his life savings on a trip around the world. He took a friend’s suggestion to perform his terrible dancing techniques in the various exotic settings he...

Nathan Lane

Award-winning actor, singer, and librettist, and star of such blockbusters as The Birdcage and The Producers, Nathan Lane brings his gigantic talent center stage in regaling audiences with the stories behind his spectacular Broadway and Hollywood triumphs. Nathan also enjoys imparting to fellow actors the secrets to success on stage, screen and television, as he inspires them to reach for the...

Rick Cleveland

Rick Cleveland was a writer and Executive Producer for all five seasons of HBO's award-winning Six Feet Under. In 2000, he won an Emmy Award, a Writer's Guild Award, and The Humanitas Prize for his writing on The West Wing. He was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America for his screen adaptation of John Grisham's Runaway Jury. His play Jerry and Tom was adapted as a...

Rick Reilly

RICK REILLY, 50, has been voted National Sportswriter of the Year 11 times. He is the new back-page columnist for ESPN The Magazine, and a featured columnist for ESPN.com, as well an essayist for ESPN SportsCenter and ABC Sports...

Rob Riggle

Rob Riggle is currently a Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Prior to becoming a Correspondent, he was a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He has also appeared on The Office on NBC and Arrested Development on FOX. Rob has also appeared in several feature films to include Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell and Unaccompanied Minors with Lewis Black.

Roseanne Barr

After 9 years, 224 episodes, 4 Emmy awards, and countless other accolades, you couldn't blame Roseanne if she wanted to quietly slip away, able to take solace in the fact the single-handedly relandscaped the medium of situational comedy forever. Instead, Roseanne continues to remain actively involved in performance, production, charity, politics and raising a family.

Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones is a Tony Award winning playwright and performer. Her multi-character solo show Bridge & Tunnel was originally produced Off-Broadway by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, and went on to become a critically acclaimed, long running hit on Broadway.

Sarah Silverman

From stand-up comedy to film and television, Sarah Silverman has seen her share of success. Last year, the actress made an impressive splash when the feature length film version of her one-woman show opened in theaters to rave reviews. The film, "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic," directed by Liam Lynch and filmed before a live crowd in Los Angeles in 2004 garnered major attention

Seth Meyers

The New Hampshire-born Seth Meyers graduated from Northwestern University and soon joined the improv/sketch comedy group Boom Chicago, which performed in Chicago, London, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Singapore. Meyers also performed with Chicago's Improv Olympic, which has been used as a springboard by many other SNL cast members and writers.

Sherri Shepherd

Whether on stage or screen, Emmy® award-winning talk show host, comedienne/actress Sherri Shepherd never fails to delight audiences with her magnetic personality and hilarious sense of humor, which is showcased in her position as co-host of ABC’s The View. Sherri will star and executive produce her new Lifetime series, SHERRI. The show is loosely based on her life and stand-up comedy, and...

Spike Feresten

Spike Feresten was raised in West Bridgewater, MA, where he attended public school and got his first job as a bag boy at the local supermarket. With a dream to be the next Jimi Hendrix, Feresten attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert stars in and executive produces the hit latenight series on Comedy Central, The Colbert Report. Touted by the New York Times as “one of the best television shows of the year” and praised as “a must watch show” by Entertainment Weekly, The Colbert Report has already garnered ratings and critical success as one of the top new entries on the television landscape.

Steve Bodow

Steve Bodow is Head Writer for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the acclaimed Comedy Central news parody. Since joining TDS in 2002, Steve has won four Emmys, two Television Critics Awards, and a Peabody. He was also a writer for the Daily Show's #1 best-selling America: The Book. As a journalist, Steve has written both humor and "straight" pieces on politics, media, business and culture...

Steven Wright

Academy Award Winner Steven Wright is a prototype comedian that many others continually try to follow. One of four children, Wright was raised in Burlington, MA. Upon graduating from Emerson College and holding a bevy of odd jobs, Steven attended an “open mike” audition and became a regular performer at Ding Ho’s Comedy Club and Chinese Restaurant in Cambridge, MA.

Tommy Chong

Beloved stoner comedian Tommy Chong is now older, wiser, and officially an EX-CON! On the morning of February 24, 2003, agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration launched a sting called Operation Pipe Dreams and forced themselves through the door of Tommy's California home, with automatic weapons drawn. As a result of the raid on his home; the simultaneous ransacking of his son's...