Horribly Funny - Jay Leno, Nikki Glaser, Russell Peters, Tiffany Haddish, Iliza Shlesinger, Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Margaret Cho, Pauly Shore, Frankie Quiñones, Orny Adams, Nicky Paris, Nicole Tran and More!

In comedian Russell Peters’ case, “success” may be a drastic understatement. From a solidly working-class family, Russell Peters learned the value of levity from his father and his own observations on the family’s struggles with racism and multicultural differences. Peters started doing stand-up at the age of nineteen and spent the next fifteen years honing his craft.nPeters gained critical and global recognition for his CTV Comedy Now! special, which wound up on YouTube. That upload launched a new level of fame and unforeseen success. It also led to larger and larger shows in arenas across the United States, the UK, Australia, South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and his native Canada.nSince that time Peters has released five stand-up specials on Showtime, Comedy Central and Netflix; Outsourced (2006); Red, White and Brown (2008); The Green Card Tour Live from the O2 Arena (2010); Notorious (2013); Almost Famous (2016) and a documentary series Russell Peters Vs The World (2013). Peters has appeared on the CBS hit show Life in Pieces and has starred in several features including The Clapper, Ripped, The Jungle Book, Source Code, Breakaway, and Girl In Progress. Peters lent his voice to Family Guy, Bojack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, and Ribbit. He has also appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Lopez Tonight, The Queen Latifah Show, and Def Comedy Jam.

Iliza Shlesinger is an award-winning comedian, actor, writer, producer and author, selling out theaters around the globe with a devoted fan base who are known for creating their own Iliza-inspired swag to wear to her shows. Her Hard Feelings world tour, featuring all new material, kicks off Summer 2023.nnIn 2022, Iliza released her 6th Netflix stand-up special Hot Forever and her second book All Things Aside. She coined the term “Elder Millennial” in her eponymous stand up special Elder Millennial (2018), which is also the subject of Iliza Shlesinger: Over & Over, her “fan-u-mentary” which took audiences behind-the-scenes of her life on tour. Her other stand-up specials are Unveiled (2019), Confirmed Kills (2016), Freezing Hot (2015) and War Paint (2013).nnHer podcast, AIA: Ask Iliza Anything (Earwolf), is a fan favorite and features Iliza giving out her barefaced life advice to fan submitted questions. She recently launched Iliza’s Locals, a three-episode series highlighting 18 of her favorite L.A. comedians. The series is currently streaming on YouTube.nnIliza wrote and starred in the Netflix comedy Good On Paper and played opposite Mark Wahlberg in the #1 Netflix film Spenser Confidential. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed indie drama Pieces of a Woman with Vanessa Kirby. Other credits include, Instant Family, starring Wahlberg and Rose Byrne, and The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show, a comedy series she created and starred in for Netflix.nnIn March 2020, in response to the pandemic, she and her husband, Chef/James Beard Award nominated author Noah Galuten, launched Don’t Panic Pantry as a way to encourage people to stay at home and flatten the curve. The fun, follow-along at-home cooking show streamed live via Iliza’s Instagram and Facebook page with more than 250 episodes. It has been featured TODAY Show, The Talk, and has been sponsored by companies like Le Creuset, Dansk and Bob’s Red Mill. The Don’t Panic Pantry Cookbook published in January of 2023.nnIliza’s first book, Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity (Hachette Book Group) was a subversively funny collection of essays offering her unique perspective on women’s behavior. She’s guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! as well as appearing regularly as a guest, and previously hosted her own limited run late night talk show Truth & Iliza on Freeform. She is the only female and youngest comedian to hold the title of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.nnIliza appears regularly on game shows including To Tell The Truth, $100,000 Pyramid, Family Game Night where she raises money for various charities. She recently was a semi-finalist on Celebrity Jeopardy where she raised $50,000 for Cystic Fibrosis. Iliza also really enjoys traveling abroad to perform with the USOnnShe lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Noah, their newborn daughter Sierra Mae and their Chinese rescue dog, Tian Fu.

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.

Just a few of the adjectives that describes Margaret Cho, a jack of all trades, master of many. When hasn’t Margaret and her voice been a part of our consciousness? It seems like she’s always been here, lighting the path for other women, other members of underrepresented groups, other performers, to follow.nMargaret was born and raised in San Francisco, an experience that she can say with all sincerity helped to shape her world-view. “There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts, drag queens, and Chinese people. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time.”nRight as she was starting her stand-up career at age 14, Margaret won a comedy contest to open for Jerry Seinfeld in the early ’90s. She soon moved to Los Angeles and, still in her twenties, hit the college circuit, where she became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for “Campus Comedian of The Year.” She performed over 300 concerts within two years. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a household name.nHer groundbreaking, controversial ABC sitcom, All-American Girl (1994) soon followed. Oddly, while ABC courted her because she was a nonconformist Korean American woman with liberal views, the powers-that-be decided Margaret should “tone it down” for the show. Although she was an Executive Producer, this would be a battle she could not win. The experience was a traumatic one, bringing up unresolved feelings left over from childhood; Despite all of her successes, feeling left out and alienated are subjects still near to Margaret’s heart. She has gladly become the “Patron Saint of Outsiders,” speaking for those who are not able to speak for themselves, and encouraging people to use their voice to promote change.nnIn 1999, her groundbreaking Off-Broadway one-woman show, I’m The One That I Want, toured to national acclaim and was made into both a best-selling book and feature film of the same name. After her earlier experiences, she made sure she would control the distribution and sales of her film, an unusual move at the time. I’m The One That I Want received incredible reviews. In 2001, Margaret launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O., hailed by the New York Times as “Brilliant,” was released as a feature film and aired on Showtime.nIn March of 2003, Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution. It was heralded by the Chicago Sun Times as “Her strongest show yet” and the CD recording was nominated for a Grammy forComedy Album of the Year. In 2005 she released Assassin, with The Chicago Tribune stating “(Assassin) packs passion in to each punch.”nnIn 2007, Margaret hit the road with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Erasure to host the True Colors tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. An entertainment pioneer, she also created and starred in The Sensuous Woman, a live variety show featuring vaudevillian burlesque and comedy, which she took for an extended Off-Broadway run.nMargaret returned to television in 2008 with the VH1 series, The Cho Show. Describing it as a ‘reality sitcom,’ Margaret said at the time, “It’s the closest I’ve been able to come to what I do as a comic on TV.”nThe aptly titled Beautiful tour came next, exploring the good, bad and ugly in beauty and the marketers who try to shape our world-view. The concert premiered in Australia at The Sydney Theater, marking the first time Margaret debuted a tour abroad.nnIn 2009, Margaret nabbed a starring role in the comedy/drama series Drop Dead Diva, which aired for six seasons on Lifetime.nNever one to shy away from a challenge, Margaret participated in Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars in 2010. Memorably, Margaret performed wearing a gay-pride-supporting rainbow dress during a time when the issue of suicides among gay youth was on the rise due to bullying. “I was very proud to have been able to wear a gay pride dress on a show that is so conservative”n2010 culminated with another high honor, a second Grammy Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year for Cho Dependent, her incredibly funny music album. Featuring collaborations with Fiona Apple, Andrew Bird, Grant Lee Phillips, Tegan & Sara, Ben Lee and more, the album received critical acclaim, not only for the topics she tackled, but also for her musicianship.nIn 2011, Margaret released the live concert film of Cho Dependent, which also had its cable network debut on Showtime. Shot at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA, the performance was characteristically no-holds-barred.nnIn 2012, Margaret spent whatever free time she had crafting her all new stand-up show, the uproarious MOTHER, which kicked off with both a US and European tour. According to Margaret, “MOTHER offered an untraditional look at motherhood and how we view maternal figures and strong women in queer culture.”nMargaret’s creative side moved full speed ahead with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress on 30 Rock,where she played Kim Jong II. 2015 also brought Margaret back to the stand-up stage withPSYCHO. Called “wildly kinetic” by the New York Times, PSYCHO ended up being a sad prediction of our future. Said Cho at the time, “It’s about the insanity, the anger I feel about everything happening in the world, from police brutality to racism to the rising tide of violence against women.”nThe five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee released her second studio album, American Myth, earning her another Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics, calling her “the sort of funny, sex-positive feminist and LGBT activist younger comics continue to look up to.”nnHer 2018 Fresh off the Bloat tour is still going, even if Covid shuttered it down in 2020. When asked to describe how the show will evolve, she said, “When we go back out into a semblance of normal life, the show will take on everything that has happened while we were social distancing. It was a deep period of reflection where all comedians had to figure out how to live life without hearing laughter. It felt suffocating but also uplifting. I learned so much about myself and the world by staying still. I want to share the things I laughed at, alone, with the world.”n2019 and 2020 saw Margaret jump back in to acting roles. She kicked off ’19 as the Poodle on the first Season of the wildly successful show The Masked Singer on FOX, appeared in a 2019 episode of Law & Order: SVU and an episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed series High Maintenance. In 2020, Margaret appeared in three films – she played a ruthless Hollywood movie studio exec in Faith Based, “Fairy Gay Mother 1” in Friendsgiving, starring Kat Dennings and Malin Akerman, and “Auntie Ling” in Netflix’s first major animated film, Over the Moon, which Vulture called “one of the most gorgeous animated films ever made.” As if she wasn’t exercising that artistic muscle enough, she launched her own podcast, “The Margaret Cho,” where the first part is a chat with a celebrity friend you already know and the second part is with an up-and-coming artist you may not know yet.nWith so much success in her creative life, Margaret still finds time to support the causes that are important to her. She is incredibly active in anti-racism, anti-bullying, and gay rights campaigns. She was the recipient of the Victory Fund’s Leadership Award, the first-ever Best Comedy Performance Award at the Asian Excellence Awards, the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW). Margaret has been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), PFLAG and LA Pride, who gave Margaret a Lifetime Achievement Award for leaving a lasting imprint on the LGBT community.nMargaret will also be honored by the She Rocks Awards in January, 2021.  The award credits women who display unique talent and leadership within the music industry. Previous award recipients include Melissa Etheridge, Pat Benatar, Suzi Quattro, Chaka Khan, Ronnie Spector and more. It seems only fitting that Margaret should start the new year alongside some other bad ass women.