Best of the Store XL - Erik Griffin, Bobby Lee, Ron Funches, Esther Povitsky, Drew Lynch +more!

Esther Lauren Povitsky, also known as Little Esther, is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer living in Los Angeles, California. She is the co-creator and star of the comedy series Alone Together. Povitsky moved to Los Angeles to pursue stand-up comedy and acting full-time after attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She studied comedy at iO Chicago, The Second City, and The Groundlings. She frequently performs stand-up comedy at venues throughout Los Angeles, California, including The Comedy Store, The Ice House, and The Improv. She plays Maya on the critically acclaimed series Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Other recent television appearances include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Love, and Parks and Recreation. Povitsky also survived several rounds of 2015's Last Comic Standing (season 9), drawing praise from judge Roseanne Barr in particular. Povitsky was the first female guest to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience, after which she began podcasting with DEATHSQUAD regularly. She hosted Little Esther's Piecast and co-hosts Brode & Esther with fellow comedian Brody Stevens as well as Weird Adults with Little Esther and Glowing Up with Esther and Caroline. She often appears as a guest on the network's Ice House Chronicles. In 2012, Povitsky turned down an offer from MTV to do a reality show based on her life as a comedian because she felt the series would be too invasive. In 2015, Povitsky wrote, starred in, and self-produced the short film Alone Together. The short was later adapted into a pilot for Freeform, produced by The Lonely Island. In December 2016, the pilot was picked up to series. In October, 2017, Freeform renewed the series for a second season ahead of its January 2018 debut.

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.

Bobby is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. From 2001 to 2009, Lee was a cast member on MADtv, and he co-starred in the ABC single-camera sitcom series Splitting Up Together alongside Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson between 2018 and 2019. Lee has also appeared in the films Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), Pineapple Express (2008), and The Dictator (2012). He had a guest appearance as the cynical, burned-out Dr. Kang on FX on Hulu’s TV comedy series Reservation Dogs. Lee co-hosts the podcast TigerBelly with Khalyla Kuhn; he is also co-host of the podcast Bad Friends with Andrew Santino.

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.

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.

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.

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.