The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival has unveiled its list of top up-and-coming comedians in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, who are set to participate in the New Faces of Comedy showcase later this week. The event is a traditional launch pad for major Hollywood talent like Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Kumail Nanjiani and Jimmy Fallon.
The success of their careers makes New Faces the industry’s biggest coming-out party for rising stand-up talent serious business. Young hopefuls eyeing Hollywood development deals grab the microphone at Just For Laughs in Montreal to draw laughter from a club audience as Los Angeles talent scouts, comedy agents and managers, TV execs and club bookers look on.
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No pressure there. Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson, who will receive the best comedy person award at the Just For Laughs ComedyPro conference later this week, was part of the New Faces comic discovery program in 2017.
Over three days, seven New Faces categories will be showcased in Montreal with shows hosted by Langston Kerman, Chris Redd, Mark Forward, Nath Valvo, Darcy Michael and Jeremy Baer.
Other New Faces alum to go onto Hollywood fame includes Mike Birbiglia, Ali Wong, Tom Segura, Iliza Shlesinger, W. Kamau Bell, K. Trevor Wilson, Fortune Feimster, Pete Davidson and Ramy Youssef.
“New Faces continues to be an iconic milestone for comics breaking into the industry. With the massive impact of virtual entertainment, the unique opportunity for everyone from undiscovered talent to industry decision-makers to be in the same room is quite remarkable,” Bruce Hills, Just For Laughs president, said in a statement.
The full list of New Faces showcase talent for 2023 follows, with bios available on the JFL website.
1. The New Faces of Comedy 1 & 2
Fumi Abe
Darius Bennett
Troy Bond
Zach Brazão
Tommy Brennan
Nico Carney
Morgan Jay
Dan LaMorte
Leslie Liao
Sam Morrison
Chike Robinson
Kelly Ryan
Brittany Schmitt
Anna Seregina
Sahib Singh
Sahana Srinivasan
Derrick Stroup
Audrey Stewart
Saul Trujillo
Asha Ward
Maggie Winters
2. New Faces: Characters (Improvisation)
Chris Cafero
Parker Callahan
Carl Foreman Jr.
Chris Kleckner
Evan Mills
Hannah Pilkes
Laura Ramoso
Susan Song
Chloe Troast
3. New Faces: Unrepped
Clara Blackstone
Liz Blanc
Aldo Campana
Aminah Imani
Ibhan Kulkarni
Neill Lynskey
Max Manticof
Lukas McCrary
Wellington Ojukwu
Bianca Parato
4. New Faces: Canada
Spencer Adamus
Brendan D’Souza
Michelle Forrester
Dakota Ray Hebert
Faris Hytiaa
Moe Ismail
Maddy Kelly
Natasha Lyn Myles
Henry Sir
Ryan Williams
5. New Faces: International
Ceyla AB
Brennan Reece
Katie Boyle
Abhay NadkKarni
Sarah Keyworth
Glenn Moore
James Roque
Amy Gledhill
Emmanuel Sonubi
Tom Walker
6. New Faces: Creators
Caroline Baniewicz
Cliff Benfield
Heather Chelan
Devin Gant
Leo González
Hayley Morris
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