6 Stand-Up Comedians That Go Under The Radar When They Really Shouldn’t
The more stand-up comedians you watch the better, I mean who doesn’t love a good laugh. But why does it always have to be Jimmy Carr, Michael McIntyre and Kevin Hart, there are so many more out there that deserve our attention. Here are 6 comedians that I think deserve to be noticed more often, to be given more limelight and a place at ‘Live At The Apollo’. Check them out and see if you agree.
1. Phil Wang
I had no idea that this guy existed until he appeared on a later season of Task Master, hosted by Greg Davis and he was utterly hilarious. He appeared in a yellow jumpsuit that revealed a lot of his body and set up a lot of jokes for throughout the show, but the confidence in which he rocked it was just amazing. Who would think you could look good in a bright yellow jumpsuit?
He puts a new perspective on racist jokes, putting a lot more emphasis on himself than other comedians who go for a general. A lot of his jokes focus around his name because there is always comedy in a name like Wang. He’s also appeared on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown where he showed off his intelligence and also tried chatting up Rachel Riley with a math’s joke. A move we are jealous off because everyone wants to date Rachel Riley.
2. Iliza Shlesinger
I’ve just recently found Iliza Shlesinger and my god am I happy that I’ve found her. She is the part of my life that I was missing, she relates hard truths to you in a way that gets you laughing. She has a show called ‘Truth and Iliza’ where she talks about controversial topics, one of the shows within this that I loved was ‘Your Vagina Is Normal’. She takes topics that we all need to hear and makes it comedic.
Schlesinger is a powerful feminist comedian that isn’t scared to take the mic’ out of herself. Or women in general, she performed on James Corden’s show where she jokes about the secret to finding a man, and how us girls are just not good at handling rejection. Watch her sketch and see if you agree, perhaps you are a rare breed of female.
3. Joel Kim Booster
Another amazing comedian that needs more recognition, Joel Kim Booster, he is a fresh voice on the scene. He is gay, Asian and was adopted, meaning he has plenty of material to work with and boy does he.
One of his hilarious sketches is called ‘Knowing you’re gay before you’re Asian’ where he talks about his Christian family who adopted him from South Korea and his brother who both turned out to be gay. He goes on to say that it would appear to be a case of nurture rather than nature if a white boy and an Asian are both gay from the family. Obviously, I can’t do his jokes justice, so you’re just going to have to go check him out and watch more of his work.
4. Ali Wong
I didn’t realise Ali Wong was a woman on the rise until I watched her performance in the Netflix movie ‘Always Be My Maybe’ where she starred alongside Randall Park and Keanu Reeves. The film was great, hilarious even, and with Keanu Reeves making an appearance it was obviously going to be a hit.
The popularity of this movie has contributed somewhat to bringing her name more into the spotlight. She has had 2 Netflix specials showcasing her stand-up which have been quite popular: Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Life, in both, she performed pregnant. It is impressive that she can still be performing at 7 months pregnant, and the jokes she is able to make about her family life are amazing.
Her jokes are quite vulgar, but relatable which makes her comedy so great. Many of her jokes focus on how her goal in life is to let her husband bring in all the money so she can stay at home and relax. Wong is a relaxed type of feminist, demonstrating that you are a feminist even if you stick to the ideology that hard feminists are fighting against. Feminism is about choice, and Ali Wong has chosen to joke about wanting to lie down rather than work.
Another joke of hers, which shows the great type of comedian she is, is about the secret to raising a child, which is a nanny. Wong is fully comfortable in admitting that life is hard, being a woman is hard, being Asian is hard. And it’s great listening to her and relating as she goes on.
5. Trevor Noah
Honestly, part of me just watches his sketches to listen to his beautiful South African accent but his work is hilarious as well. Best of both worlds really. Trevor Noah has had a quite successful career, even appearing in Marvel’s Black Panther, but for all the shows he’s done it still doesn’t seem like his name is fully out there. He is a recurring contributor to The Daily Show, an American satirical news program, so his work is more politically orientated than the others on the list; even having commented on the mass shootings in America saying you can solve them by playing a game. But even though he can be more serious then most, his work is still great. And you’ll still be laughing loads through his sketches. If not, just happily listen to his voice.
6. Yamaneika Saunders
Saunders is probably the least acclaimed on the list but from the acts that I’ve seen of her’s, she shouldn’t be. On Youtube, she has some clips from her appearance on Comedy Central, a truly fabulous performance, which you should definitely check out. One of the tag lines includes ‘Seeing A Penis For The First Time’ which is truly relatable as she goes on about no one actually enjoys the sight of penises which is why women rush to cover them with their hands or mouths. Crude jokes but ones that will get you laughing.
Also as a large black woman, she focuses a lot of jokes on this making the performance truly marvellous. She jiggles on stage making jokes about trying to get into her leather catsuit, something we can all relate to. And if not, you just have to remember Ross Gueller’s struggle to get into his leather trousers and you’ll be chuckling. Yamaneika Saunders is a woman comedian on the rise and you should watch out for her name getting bigger in the future.
