{"id":444133,"date":"2026-08-26T15:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/444133\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:22:19","slug":"15-l-a-comics-you-need-to-know-now-according-to-club-bookers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/444133\/","title":{"rendered":"15 L.A. comics you need to know now, according to club bookers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"comedy-dropcap-c.jpg\" <\/p>\n

Charting the trajectory of a comedy career is about more than just seeing a comic crush in front of a few crowds or glibly scrolling through their TikTok clips. Like the career of comedy itself, it\u2019s all about identifying the energy they bring into the room when they hit the stage night over night for weeks, months, years while they hone their craft. There\u2019s a skill to picking out which up-and-coming talent is really poised to make a mark on the stand-up world, whether they\u2019re performing on a dead night for a handful of drunks or taking a bow in front of a roaring theater crowd. To help you figure out which comics in L.A. you\u2019ll want to keep an eye on, we\u2019ve tapped the expertise of some of the city\u2019s most seasoned bookers from major comedy clubs to alt shows to bring us this list of 15 up-and-coming comics to watch. (Some of whom you may see working the door, not just the stage.)<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Tacarra Williams
IG: @tacarracomedy<\/p>\n

Tacarra Williams is one of the most genuinely likable comedians out right now. Every woman wants to hang out and have brunch with her, and every man wants to date her. Even the younger generation of girls love her hilarious impressions of her teenage daughter. She makes her family come alive in her jokes and reminds us all that we\u2019re living the same life dealing with kids, dating and everyday struggles. \u2014 Lani Crooks, booker of \u201cChocolate Sundaes Comedy Show\u201d at Hollywood Laugh Factory<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Ron G
IG: @comedianrong<\/p>\n

Ron G is one of the greatest entertainers in the world. If you\u2019ve seen him host \u201cChocolate Sundaes,\u201d you know exactly what I mean. He can get a 22-year-old Black dude from Compton to rock out, and he can get an 80-year-old grandma to twerk on stage. But most importantly, he makes sure that every single person leaving the show has a positive, memorable experience. \u2014 L.C.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Steve Furey
IG: @scubastevefurey<\/p>\n

Ex-door guy at the [Comedy] Store and now a paid regular. . Incredible writer. Very consistent. Very polished. Hilarious. Got very far on Netflix\u2019s \u201cFunny AF,\u201d a stand-up comedy competition created and hosted by Kevin Hart, and has now got some well-deserved fans and followers. \u2014 Roze Lleshi, booker for the Comedy Store<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Willie Simon
IG: @williesimoncomedy<\/p>\n

Ex-door guy and now another paid regular at the Store. Originally from Hawaii. He flew through the door program we have at the club and got passed as a regular a few years ago. I\u2019d consider him a prodigy. So funny, goofy but no corn. He also has great writing skills. Part of a fun online sketch group \u201cAlmost Friday\u201d and also doing a pod with Steve Furey. \u2014 R.L.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Joe Marrese
IG: @joemarrese<\/p>\n

The captain of the door guys at the Store who recently became a paid regular. He\u2019s so unique and has such a fun style of comedy. From Chicago. Obsessed with his video clip series \u201cJoe Eats\u201d online. I always make sure to watch his sets. He\u2019s one of those guys that everyone will have an impression of by the end of his performance. \u2014 R.L.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Taylor Bos
IG: @taylorbos<\/p>\n

So funny, original and hard-hitting. He rings every bell when he\u2019s on stage. He was a door guy at the Store who recently became a paid regular. He was a hit on \u201cKill Tony\u201d Episode No. 746. An incredible visual artist, he\u2019s known for his painting of the late Mitzi Shore that sits in the \u201cJoe Rogan Experience\u201d podcast studio. \u2014 R.L. <\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Angie Stroud
IG: @angiestro<\/p>\n

Door girl at the Store who is an incredible writer. Very young and only a few years in, but consistently funny and writing new jokes. Destroys on stage during our weekly \u201cRoast Battle\u201d competition on Tuesdays in the Belly Room where comedians face off in a brutally funny one-on-one insult slug fest. She\u2019s opened for David Spade, Iliza Shlesinger and the \u201cBad Friends\u201d podcast. Her stand-up has also been featured on Netflix is a Joke Radio and livestreaming event platform Veeps. \u2014 R.L.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Kat Bird
IG: @katbirdcomedy<\/p>\n

Former door girl at the Store and an L.A. native. She is a joke-writing machine already even though she\u2019s only been doing stand-up for three years. The energy at her shows is always upbeat and positive with some surprise darkness woven into her jokes. She\u2019s a hit on Bobby Lee\u2019s podcast \u201cTigerBelly.\u201d Right now Kat is headlining on her own and also opens for Lee, Andrew Santino, Marc Maron and Iliza Shlesinger. Her Don\u2019t Tell Comedy special came out earlier this year. \u2014 R.L.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Dvontre Coleman
IG:@dvontrecoleman<\/p>\n

Great deadpan style and execution, comes across like a very seasoned prodigy even though he\u2019s only three years in. Dvontre is also a door guy at the Store. He was just recently on Netflix\u2019s \u201cFunny AF\u201d and opens for Santino and Nick Kroll. He was also on New Faces\u2019 Just For Laughs 2025 and has performed at festivals across North America, including Moontower, SF Sketchfest and the Flyover Comedy Festival. Outside of L.A., he\u2019s garnered attention in New York City, San Francisco. \u2014 R.L.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Maddi Mays
IG: @maddimays<\/p>\n

Maddi is a complete crowd favorite who\u2019s fearless up there \u2014 she owns her truth, weaves in her background and delivers every time. I\u2019ve booked her since she first landed in L.A. from Houston and watching her explode into a star has been incredible. Before becoming a stand-up comic, she worked as a former TV costume designer\/illustrator (\u201cDollface,\u201d Peacock\u2019s \u201cBust Down,\u201d HBO\u2019s \u201cPause With Sam Jay\u201d). She\u2019s featured at Netflix Is A Joke Festival and New York Comedy Festival and performs all over the country and opened for Marlon Wayans, Ralph Barbosa, Kam Patterson and the late great Ken Flores. With millions of online views across sketches and stand-up. Fan-favorite recurring guest host on \u201cThe FatFish Podcast.\u201d \u2014 Nichelle Murdock, booker for \u201cCrack \u2019Em Up Thursdays\u201d at the Comedy Store<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Macey Isaacs
IG: @maceyisaacs<\/p>\n

Originally from Austin, Texas, Macey came to Malibu for college in 2010. After college, she jumped into stand-up comedy. She\u2019s an effortlessly dry, say-it-like-it-is comic with an impeccable ability to twist the way we see the world. She was on Netflix\u2019s \u201cFunny AF\u201d with Kevin Hart and was plucked to open for Chelsea Handler. Her home club is the Crow in Santa Monica, where she ran her \u201cPicture Day\u201d show for four years and regularly hosts and headlines. She makes deeply unhinged topics feel completely universal. Her jokes about emotionally tough topics like miscarriage feel like your story, yet you never see the twist at the end of her joke coming. Macey is both a comic\u2019s comic and an audience favorite. \u2014 Nicole Blaine, owner\/booker at the Crow<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Ainsley Bailey
IG: @ainsley.xo<\/p>\n

Ainsley turns the darkest personal experiences (like having too many daily meds and diagnoses, including being allergic to bananas) into the most perfect and surprisingly relatable jokes. She offers fresh takes on subjects most comics won\u2019t even dare to tackle. Ainsley has a reputation for being a festival darling. She hit the comedy festival scene in 2024 as a standout comic at the Bergamot Comedy Fest at the Crow, which is known for discovering up-and-coming talent. She\u2019s continued to develop her chops at the Crow, the Comedy Store and the Improv. She earned a coveted spot as a new face for Just For Laughs this summer. Earlier this month, she made her late-night TV debut on \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.\u201d \u2014 N.B.<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Curtis Cook
IG: @curtiscookcomedy<\/p>\n

Curtis is a big, loud, disarming presence. Which also makes him a Trojan horse for some pretty subversive ideas. His writing is so creative and original that it borders on poetic. And if you put him anywhere on any lineup, he\u2019s probably going to have the best set of the night. And he\u2019s not just funny on stage; he\u2019s also a WGA Award-nominated writer who has written for the recent reboot of \u201cCrank Yankers,\u201d the critically acclaimed \u201cThis Fool\u201d on Hulu and the GLAAD-nominated series \u201cAmerican Dad\u201d on TBS. \u2014 Mike Bridenstine, booker of Microdose Comedy<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Ray Lau
IG: @rayjlau<\/p>\n

When I started booking the Ice House in May 2024, Ray didn\u2019t have a home club, so I started booking him as much as possible. As he started building his name, I loved seeing big headliners watch him and realize they had to follow an absolute crusher. Ray is on his way to becoming a big theater act. I just booked his biggest show yet for Just For Laughs Toronto in September, where he sold out Bluma Appel Theatre, a 900-seat venue, in less than a day. His fan base is building quickly because he takes on relatable everyday occurrences, frustrations and interactions. That ability to connect with an audience makes everyone else on a lineup step up their game. \u2014 Josh Sandoval, booker at the Ice House and Just For Laughs\u2019 New Faces showcase<\/p>\n

\"Comics <\/p>\n

Jackson Banks
IG @campyjacky2<\/p>\n

Jackson won \u201cSet of the Night\u201d on a Sunday at the Comedy Store, giving him a guaranteed spot on the \u201cPotluck\u201d open mic the next night, which led to him being hired as a door guy. And in less than two years after that, he became a paid regular at the club. I selected him as a 2026 Just For Laughs new face this year, which yielded every major agency and management company wanting to work with him. He\u2019s a menace on stage in the best way possible, almost defying an audience to like him. There\u2019s a \u201970s rock star element to his appearance, but his rhythm on stage is that of a jazz musician never knowing what note is coming next. \u2014 J.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charting the trajectory of a comedy career is about more than just seeing a comic crush in front…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[78880,176020,2241,106580,3747,176021,29933,48,52,51,176019,47,50,49,9233,6221,28709,1860,176018,826,72],"class_list":["post-444133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-booker","tag-club-booker","tag-comedy","tag-crow","tag-door","tag-funny-af","tag-joke","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-laughs","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-netflix","tag-podcast","tag-regular","tag-show","tag-stage-night","tag-store","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}