Best of the Store XL - Ron Funches, Marc Maron, Erik Griffin, Craig Conant, Lara Beitz +more!

Upon discovering stand-up comedy, Lara Beitz proved to be a natural, winning Milwaukee's Funniest Comic in 2012. Earlier this year, she made her national TV debut on Fox's Laughs. She has performed at every comedy club in Chicago, is a regular at The Comedy Bar, and has performed sketch comedy with world famous The Second City. She has participated in SketchFest, The Milwaukee Comedy Festival, the Memphis Comedy Festival, and The Chicago Women's Funny Festival, and will be featured in the Laughing Devil Comedy Festival in New York City this May and Midwest Fest in June. Lara is also a producer of Stand Up Stand Up and her stand-up is featured on RooftopComedy.com, Pandora, Spotify, and Amazon.

Meet the funniest topical comedian in America, the man Robin Williams once called “the Will Rogers of the Baby Boom.” Argus Hamilton’s daily column of jokes on the news, now carried in over 100 newspapers across the United States, is also read and heard by millions on the Internet and on radio stations across the country. Argus James Hamilton III is the son, grandson and great-grandson of Methodist ministers in the South. A proud graduate of the University of Oklahoma and now based in Los Angeles, Argus brings an unusual perspective to the news from Washington and around the country. “I’m an English Monarchist and a Southern secessionist,” Argus says. “Let’s see Rush Limbaugh get to the right of that.” Argus performs at corporate, political and charity events around the country. He is regularly quoted by daily newspapers including The San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times, by weekly business papers including the Orange County Business Journal, by Time magazine and by radio personalities including Paul Harvey. Argus was honored by Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry as the official comedian of the Oklahoma Centennial and appeared with the governor in the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Ron Funches is a triple threat. He is an excellent stand up comedian, actor and writer. nRon has built an impressive acting resume. Whether it’s lending his voice to projects like Trolls, Bob’s Burgers, and Adventure Time. Or his memorable acting roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Black•ish, New Girl, Transparent, Powerless, and Undateable. He even made being a gang member likable in the film Get Hard.nnHis personal appearances include Conan, The Tonight Show, @midnight, Chopped, Cupcake Wars and many more.nnRon is a great writer too. His writing credits include The Eric Andre Show, Kroll Show and several television pilots.nnRon is also a pretty solid dad and friend. He lives in Southern California with his son.

Best known as the Senior Latino Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Al Madrigal has made a name for himself in stand-up comedy, acting and as a writer. He stars in the movie Night School with Kevin Hart, The Way Back with Ben Affleck and the upcoming Morbius for SONY with Jared Leto. On the TV side, Al was a series regular and writer on Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here and most recently worked as a writer, actor and producer on the CBS sitcom Broke. His critically acclaimed hour special, “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy” premiered on Showtime in 2017. He is also the co-founder of the All Things Comedy network, alongside fellow comic Bill Burr.

For over thirty years, Marc Maron has been writing and performing comedy for print, stage, radio, online and television. With his landmark podcast WTF with Marc Maron, which achieves more than 55 million listens per year, he’s interviewed icons such as Robin Williams, Keith Richards, Nicole Kidman, and former US president Barack Obama.nMarc starred in the Netflix series “GLOW and his scripted series, MARON, aired for four seasons on IFC. He’s had recent roles in the films JOKER, SPENCER CONFIDENTIAL, SWORD OF TRUST, STARDUST, the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic, RESPECT, alongside Jennifer Hudson and Dreamworks animated feature THE BAD GUYS co-starring Sam Rockwell.nnMarc’s stand-up special “MORE LATER” (2015) aired on Epix and his specials “THINKY PAIN” (2013), “TOO REAL (2017) and 2020’s “END TIMES FUN, which was nominated for a 2021 Critics’ Choice Award, are currently streaming on Netflix. Marc is the author of The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life as a Reluctant Messiah and Attempting Normal.

A towering force of comedy, Erik Griffin is most recognizable as the mustachioed Montez Walker on the hit Comedy Central series WORKAHOLICS, which recently wrapped its seventh and final season. Griffin will next starred as a series regular in Showtime’s dark-comedy series I’M DYING UP HERE . Based on the book by former L.A. Times writer William Knoedelseder, the fictionalized series is set in the celebrated yet infamous L.A. stand-up comedy scene of the '70s, and co-stars Melissa Leo, Al Madrigal and Ari Graynor, under executive producer Jim Carrey. Griffin’s first hour-long comedy special, THE UGLY TRUTH, also air on Showtime. Previous television credits include a recurring role on the Starz! comedy BLUNT TALK with Patrick Stewart, Netflix’s ONE DAY AT A TIME, FX’s YOU’RE THE WORST, Fox’s BOB’S BURGERS, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and Nickelodeon’s HARVEY BREAKS.nn On the big screen, Griffin can be seen in Jake Szymanski’s MIKE & DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES and Kerem Sanga’s FIRST GIRL I LOVED.nn Distinguished as a nationally touring comedian who headlines comedy clubs and colleges nearly every weekend, Griffin’s comedy is immortalized on his debut comedy album, Technical Foul: Volume One, and his Comedy Central Presents half-hour stand-up special. Griffin started his career in comedy after making the decision in 2003 to quit his job and pursue comedy full-time. He first gained national exposure in Comedy Central’s LIVE AT GOTHAM, NBC’s LAST COMIC DRIVING, Showtime’s COMICS WITHOUT BORDERS, nationally syndicated COMICS UNLEASHED and performing on the ALMA Award-nominated PAYASO COMEDY SLAM on Showtime and Comedy Central networks.

https://thecomedystore.com/comedians/craig-conant/

Rick Ingraham, originally from Kansas, has been a stand-up comedian and actor for over 20 years. Onstage, he specializes in crowd work and insult comedy. nnHe can be seen performing several nights a week at the Comedy Store and other Hollywood clubs and also co-hosts the Comedy Store podcast. Early in his career, Rick toured with Pauly Shore and Andrew Dice Clay. nnRick is also a commercial actor and has appeared in many national campaigns.

Amy Miller was one of Comedy Central’s “Up Next” comics, and has a Half Hour Special called Ham Mouth on Comedy Central. She is a paid regular at both the World Famous Comedy Store and The Comedy Cellar. As a brand new comic she was a breakout favorite in the final season of Last Comic Standing. She has a half hour comedy special on Epix’s Unprotected Sets and her Comedy Central Presents set has been viewed over 4 million times on Youtube and Facebook. Amy regularly opens for Tom Segura, Wanda Sykes, and several more of her comedy idols! She was also a featured comic on Viceland’s Flophouse. On Last Comic Standing, Keenen Ivory Wayans said she had one of the “fiercest jokes he had ever heard.” Originally from the East Bay, Amy found her comedy chops in Oakland. Her material is personal, political, and 100% authentic. The Laugh Button says “She found a wildly creative way to find empowerment while simultaneously sparking laughter” and Courting Comedy says “Miller juxtaposes an unassuming demeanor with unflinching assurance.”nnAmy’s debut album Solid Gold is available on Kill Rock Stars, and was named one of the top 10 comedy albums of 2016 by The Interrobang. Her sophomore album California King is available on Blonde Medicine Records. You may have also seen Amy on Viceland or heard her on Sirius XM, NPR, Doug Loves Movies, The Adam Carolla Show, The Bennington Show, Put Your Hands Together, All Fantasy Everything, Keith and the Girl, or her own podcast “Who’s Your God?.”

Dean Delray is a case study of turning passion into a labor of love, merging his affinity with music and comedy into a thriving career on stage and a growing podcast network. When he’s not talking to musicians on his podcast, Let There Be Talk, chances are he is headed to his next stand up comedy gig, having performed almost 5,500 times over the past 13 years.nnDelray has been a fan of comedy from his early years, taking in work of the greats like Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Cheech & Chong and the early Saturday Night Live gang. Delray’s path to the comedy stage started at open mic nights, honing his no-holds-barred and hard-livin’ perspective that has earned him feature spots on The Joe Rogan Experience, WTF with Marc Maron, You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes and recently opening for Metallica at their 40th Anniversary concert.

Comedian, producer, podcaster, future Bond girl. My Ding Dong Show is the longest running show in the history of The Comedy Store. As seen in Windy City Heat and Showtime's Comedy Store Documentary.