TBS has unveiled the 10 talented comedians slated to compete against one another in Funniest Wins, a new series set to premiere Friday, June 20, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).
Funniest Wins comes to TBS from comedy heavyweight and WhatTheFunny.com founder Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, A Haunted House, The Wayans Bros.) and Eyeworks USA. In the series, Wayans, along with some of his comic friends and family, will put the comics through the ringer to find the funniest multi-talented comedian working today.
The new series will open with 10 comedic competitors of various types, who range in age from 25 to 40. Each week, guided by Marlon Wayans and a rotating crew of guests, they will learn the ins and outs of a particular comedy style, and then put that knowledge to the test in that week’s main competition. At the end of each round, one comic will be sent packing. At the conclusion of the season the winner will receive a $100,00 cash prize, and the chance to star in an online series for Wayans’ WhatTheFunny.com.
A complete rundown of the 10 competitors is included below.
Funniest Wins is produced for TBS by Workaholic and Eyeworks USA. Serving as executive producers are Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez and Lisa Blum for Workaholic/Marlon, and JD Roth, Todd A. Nelson, Brant Pinvidic and Adam Kaloustian for Eyeworks USA. Steve Harris serves as producer.
Funniest Wins Season 1 Competitors
Billy Sorrells
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Age: 31
Genres: Stand-up, YouTube, pranks, impressionist, comedic actor
A stand-up comedian for over a decade, Billy embraced social media in its early stages to advance his career. His video Sh*t Black Girls Say started an online craze and spawned thousands of video memes. He started his career in comedy by pranking unsuspecting people. Billy views the show as a personal challenge to see if mainstream America finds him funny.
Christina Pazsitzky
Location: Redondo Beach, Calif.
Age: 37
Genre: Stand-up
Christina has 11 years as a stand-up comedian under her belt, three as a professional headlining comedian. She started her career as a sketch performer with the Groundlings. Currently, Christina hosts a podcast with her stand-up husband, Tom Segura, called Your Mom’s House, and was a roundtable regular and writer for Chelsea Lately.
Jason Nash
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Born: Boston, Mass.
Age: 40
Genres: Comedy writer, Vine, stand-up, comedic actor
Jason has been doing comedy for 17 years. He started as Norm MacDonald’s assistant at Saturday Night Live, before moving on to write for MTV. Jason started using Vine to promote his movie Jason Nash is Married and now posts Vine videos daily to his 713,000 followers. Jason specializes in dark comedy inspired by his life as a husband, father and struggling comedian.
Jenny Zigrino
Location: New York, N.Y.
Age: 27
Genre: Stand-Up
A six-year comedy veteran, Jenny jokes about sex, family and her weight. She’s also a self-described “weird girl” who used to work at a Renaissance Faire and was a Paul Revere tour guide in Boston. She likes dressing up in Medieval-era clothing.
Key Lewis
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Age: 40
Genres: Stand-up, sketch, improv
Key is a high-energy, animated, improvisational, storytelling nutcase who, in his day job, works as an equipment superintendent supporting electricity for public transportation. Key derives the multiple characters featured in his act from his childhood?experiences. He likes to focus on drawing in his audience and teaching them as they laugh.
Manon Matthews
Location: Studio City, Calif.
Born: Calabasas, Calif.
Age: 25
Genres: Vine, improv, sketch, impressionist, stand-up, comedic actress
Manon discovered comedy at the young age of 10. She studied her craft at the University of California at Berkley, Second City and the Groundlings. She has nearly a million followers on Vine, which has become her platform for getting her comedy out to the world. She plans to continue being a jack-of-all-trades.
Matt McManus
Location: West Hollywood, CA
Age: 33
Genres: YouTube, impressionist, pranks, improv, sketch
Matt has two years of comedy experience, positioning himself as “odd and specific.” He sticks to his morals and turns down work that promotes mean-spirited humor. Matt grew up playing in the streets of New York, which inspire his “man on the street” bits.
Ryan “Rydoon” Muldoon
Location: Boston, Mass.
Age: 29
Genre: Vine
Rydoon has two million Vine followers, along with 49,000 followers on Twitter and 88,000 followers on Instagram. He works as a dog walker while trying to transition to comedy full time. As a kid, Rydoon used comedy as a way to entertain his terminally ill mother. He is a former amateur musician and singer, and would be in nursing school if he wasn’t trying to make it in comedy.
Sydney Castillo
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Born: Fort Worth, Texas
Age: 32
Genres: Stand-up, pranks, writer, comedic actor, sketch
Sydney moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling and quickly turned to comedy when his mantra, “Team Regular Body” wouldn’t cut it in the modeling world. Because he is 6’4″, his mom always wanted him to be an NBA Basketball player. She hates the fact he does comedy.
Tiffany Haddish
Location: Culver City, Calif.
Born: South Central LA, Calif.
Age: 34
Genres: Stand-up, comedic actress, sketch, writer
Tiffany grew up in foster care and took up comedy when her social worker enrolled her in comedy camp instead of therapy. The class clown in school, she’s been performing stand-up for 13 years. Tiffany sees herself as a cross between Jim Carrey and Halle Berry, a physical performer with the looks.
Source: Shadow & Act
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