Comedian Sam Jaye
NEW YORK, March 20, 2017 – Previously known as The Half Hour, Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents… is introducing the sharpest, most distinct voices in comedy with a brand new season of half hour stand-up specials. This season will feature performances from Adam Cayton-Holland, Anthony Devito, Jo Firestone, Solomon Georgio, Casey James Salengo, Sam Jay, Josh Johnson, Joel Kim Booster, Lashonda Lester, Chris Redd, Yamaneika Saunders, Julio Torres, Shane Torres, and Jenny Zigrino.
Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents… is set to film 14 episodes at The Civic Theatre located at 510 O’Keefe Avenue in New Orleans from Wednesday, April 19 through Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are free and may be requested at tblus.com/ccsup.
Comedy Central has previously filmed stand-up at The Civic Theatre including Neal Brennan: Women and Black Dudes, Chris D’Elia: White Male. Black Comic., Steve Rannazzisi: Manchild, and season five of The Half Hour.
The series is scheduled to premiere fall 2017 on Comedy Central and is executive produced by John Bravakis and Neil Sheridan from Triage Entertainment. Anne Harris is the Executive in Charge for Comedy Central.
- Adam Cayton-Holland is a national touring comic who has appeared on Conan, @midnight with Chris Hardwick, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, The Pete Holmes Show, Happy Endings, Deadbeat, Flophouse, Hidden America and was named one of Esquire’s “25 Comics to Watch” as well as one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch.” Along with his cohorts in The Grawlix, he is one of the creators and stars of the truTV show Those Who Can’t, in which Adam plays Spanish teacher and bon vivant Loren Payton. His website is (www.adamisfreakingoutrightnow.com).
- Anthony Devito is an NYC-based comedian originally from New Jersey. He recently made his network-television debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and has also appeared on Comedy Central’s Adam Devine’s House Party, AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live and Seeso’s New York’s Funniest. He has been chosen as one of the “New Faces” at the prestigious Just For Laughs festival in Montreal and was the 2015 winner of Caroline’s March Madness. He can be seen on TV Land’s The Jim Gaffigan Show and in regular appearances on Fox News Channel’s Red Eye. He can be heard on NPR’s This American Life, Sirius XM’s Bennington and on his weekly podcast the Rad Dude Cast.
- Jo Firestone is a comedian based in Brooklyn, NY who recently joined The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as a staff writer. She hosts several alt comedy shows around the city, including Punderdome 3000, The Unexpectashow, and Friends of Single People. Jo was named one of Brooklyn Magazine‘s “50 Funniest People” and “30 Under 30,” and one of the “Top Up and Coming Comedians” by Splitsider. She was a regular contributor to The Chris Gethard Show on Fusion, and a co-host and writer of the Refinery29 digital series “Womanhood.” You can catch Jo on WNYC’s 2 Dope Queens, HBO’s High Maintenance, and in the critically acclaimed film Don’t Think Twice.
- Solomon Georgio burst out of the Seattle comedy scene with his own brand of irreverence, flawlessly intertwining biting social commentary with stories of his life as an openly gay African immigrant. Solomon was a finalist on NBC’s Stand-Up for Diversity showcase and has been a regular performer at several festivals, including Seattle’s Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival and Portland’s Bridgetown Comedy Festival. In 2014, Solomon made his television debut as the featured comedian on Conan and has since appeared on Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening, Viceland’s Flophouse, and Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. He has most recently worked as a writer on SpongeBob SquarePants and just wrapped up work as a staff writer on TruTv’s Adam Ruins Everything.
- Casey James Salengo is a New York City-based comedian originally hailing from the Adirondack Mountains. He has been featured in the Bridgetown, Brooklyn, and Red Clay comedy festivals and is one of the Just For Laughs 2016 “New Faces” in Montreal. He can be seen on the upcoming season of Uproarious on Fuse.
- Sam Jay is originally from Boston and most recently made her late-night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2015, she was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch” and was invited to perform at the renowned New York Comedy Festival. She has also performed at festivals across the US, including Portland’s Bridgetown Festival, The Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival and Boston’s Women In Comedy Festival. Opening for powerhouse acts like Hannibal Buress and Dave Attell, she has established herself as a rising star in the national comedy scene. Her credits include Comedy Central’s White Flight and The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, and Viceland’s Party Legends. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
- Josh Johnson was most recently was featured on Kevin Hart’s Hart of the City on Comedy Central, and was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch” in 2015 and one of the Just For Laughs festival’s “New Faces” in 2016. He is a former writer/performer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he also made his late-night stand-up debut earlier this year. As a stand-up, Josh has performed at clubs, colleges and festivals across the country, such as Just For Laughs, Moontower, SF Sketchfest, Bridgetown, RIOT LA, Brooklyn Comedy Festival, Out of Bounds, and the New York Comedy Festival, and has appeared on @midnight with Chris Hardwick on Comedy Central. You can follow him on Twitter @JoshJohnson.
- Joel Kim Booster is a Chicago-bred, Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and playwright. Born in Jeju, South Korea, Joel was adopted at a young age and moved to the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Both homeschooled and evangelical, Joel has read the bible literally dozens of times, but has no idea where the state of Oregon is on a map. As a comedian he has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, Logo’s Comedy Cabaret and truTV’s Comedy Knockout. His writing credits include Billy on the Street and the pilot for Comedy Central’s Problematic with Moshe Kasher. Esquire recently listed Joel as one of their “10 Comedians to Watch” in 2017.
- Lashonda Lester is an Austin-based comedian and producer who has appeared on Nickelodeon’s NickMom Night Out, Fox’s Laughs and was selected as one of the top 100 for season 9 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. In addition she’s opened for Grammy Award-winning band Earth, Wind & Fire, Finesse Mitchell, Donnell Rawlings, Godfrey, and Earthquake. Lashonda is the 2016 winner of the “Funniest Person in Austin” competition. She was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch” for 2016. When not performing stand-up, she’s the creator and executive producer of the biography lecture series Weird True Hollywood Tales, now in its fifth season.
- Chris Redd is a stand-up comedian/writer/actor from Chicago. Chris stars as “Dank” on the upcoming Netflix comedy Disjointed. His film credits include the role of “Hunter The Hungry” in the Lonely Island film Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (produced by Judd Apatow), A Stupid And Futile Gesture, The House, and Handsome. Chris’s television credits include series regular roles on the Tina Fey/Fortune Feimster pilot Family Fortune (NBC) and The Untitled Sketch Comedy pilot (NBC), as well as recurring roles on Wet Hot American Summer (Netflix, season 2), and Love (Netflix, season 2).
- Yamaneika Saunders is a former panelist on The Meredith Vieira Show and can be heard weekly on her podcast Rantin’ and Ravin’ with Yamaneika and Chloe. She has performed at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal and has been seen in lead roles for Oxygen’s Funny Girls and Comedy Central’s In Security. Yamaneika (@yamaneika) has also been featured in The Jim Gaffigan Show on TV Land, Comedy Knockout on truTV, Black and White on A&E, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central, What’s Your F@#Cking Deal?!?! on Seeso, and Last Comic Standing on NBC.
- Julio Torres is a Brooklyn-based comedian who moved to NYC from El Salvador to study literature at the New School. In 2013, Julio (@juliothesquare) was a finalist in the NBC Stand-Up for Diversity showcase, and then was named one of Comedy Central’s 2014 “Comics to Watch.” In 2015, Julio was honored as one of the “New Faces” at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival. Julio has developed original content for Broadway Video’s Mas Mejor network, including his series Diego + Valentina. After writing for The Chris Gethard Show and Billy on the Street, Julio went on to guest write for the 41st season of Saturday Night Live and is now full-time staff for season 42. Julio can also be seen on Louis CK’s Horace & Pete as well as High Maintenance on HBO.
- Shane Torres is a New York-based stand-up, writer, host, and actor from Texas via Portland. He can be seen performing stand-up on both Night Train and The Guest List for Seeso, in addition to AXS’ Gotham Comedy Live. He made his late-night debut on Conan in 2016 and made an appearance on Uproarious for Fuse. He has also been seen on Last Comic Standing (NBC), Ron White’s Comedy Salute to the Troops (CMT), and as a “New Face” at Just For Laughs in Montreal in 2013. He’s also performed at comedy festivals such as Bridgetown Comedy Festival, RIOT LA, High Plains Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, and many more. Shane has appeared on popular podcasts such as Savage Love and Comedy Bang! Bang! and is the creator of the podcast radio show Help Wanted.
- Jenny Zigrino made her late-night debut on Conan and was a recent guest on the hit shows @midnight with Chris Hardwick and Adam Devine’s House Party on Comedy Central. She’s been featured on TBS, Oxygen, TruTV, MTV Fox, and IFC. A rising star in Hollywood, her first film appearance was a leading role in the film 50 Shades of Black with Marlon Wayans, and she also stars in the film Bad Santa 2 with Billy Bob Thornton. She appeared in the Just For Laugh’s “New Faces” Showcase in 2016 and has been featured in many festivals across the country. She has performed at The New York Comedy Festival, Women in Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Moontower Comedy Festival, and many more. She recently released an IFC Web series with her friend and comedian Jen Saunderson, The Filling is Mutual, available on IFC Digital.
Comedy Central is the home for stand-up, featuring original one-hour specials from a wide variety of incredibly talented comedians including Amy Schumer, Daniel Tosh, Pete Davidson, Kyle Kinane, Lewis Black, Hannibal Buress, Natasha Leggero, Chris Hardwick, Brian Regan, and more, as well as a diverse slate of original series ranging from the part-stand-up/part-travelogue Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City, to long-form storytelling series This Is Not Happening, to super-sized stand-up exhibition Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents, to comedy and music hybrid series The Comedy Jam.
