Making a list like this is EXTREMELY difficult, as I quickly discovered. The list that I decided to create was a TOP TEN COMICS To Watch for 2013, and in doing so, I discovered that there are many comedians who have something going on, and there are some with nothing going on that are going to explode on the scene next year. SO after several discussions with many folks in the comedy industry, the following list was compiled, and after taking some names off and adding others on, it is what it is.
It seemed to be like a roller coaster, but after many nights of pondering the following list is what I came up with. Now please note some of the names below may be recognizable, but they are on the list because at the end of 2013 they will all be household names with the projects that they have on tap. SO, check out who made OUR Top Ten Comics To Watch for 2013!
Hannibal Buress– Certainly one of the comedians who really came out of nowhere on our radar the last couple of months, and who had Hollywood talking several months ago-especially when pilot season kicked off, has to be comedian Hannibal Buress. Hannibal, who began as a stand up back in 2001 and found a niche in writing, took his writing skills to television for such shows as Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock (which he starred in several episodes as a homeless character). He then created that Hollywood buzz with his stand up at several festivals which then became a special that had many of those same execs taking notice. Now, Hannibal has turned his writing into more acting, as he is one of the very few comedians who has landed a gig at a major network such as ABC as he will be in a starring role in a cop comedy. Plus there is a supposed partnership that he has with actor Jonah Hill for several upcoming films for next year that are to be announced soon. Will those kind of relationships, and a networks behind you such as ABC and NBC, how can he NOT be a household name by this time next year?
Spoken Reasons– When it comes to truly coming out of nowhere, that description fits comedian John A Baker Jr. perfectly! The comedian, known to his YouTube followers as Spoken Reasons, took his popularity on YouTube to a whole new level. Spoken Reason started out as one of the quickest editing comics in the genre and seems to have started out doing poetry with a comedy spin, and now has completed a social media empire. With over 800,000 YouTube subscribers and 330,000 Twitter followers SR is making Hollywood take notice! With a new film titled The Heat with Sandra Bullock on tap, a comedy mix tape just released in the past year, and another new film project quickly on the horizon, Spoken Reason will make the jump from social media to Hollywood and not miss a beat in 2013!
Tone Bell– Another comedian who seemed to virtually come out of nowhere and land on television has to be comedian Tone Bell. Bell, hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, took the most out of an opportunity to land on television. After moving from Texas after starting his comedy career in Dallas and eventually moving to Los Angeles, Bell hit the stages relentlessly, and then he decided to enter the 2011 NBC Stand Up for Diversity competition, and he won. The grand prize was a talent holding deal from the network which landed him a role in the NBC multi-camera comedy titled Whitney, where he plays as RJ, the effortlessly cool bartender at Whitney and Alex’s new local spot. He also was able to land a re-occurring role on VH-1′s Single Ladies and was featured on the Spike TV special Eddie Murphy: One Night Only. But it won’t end there for Bell; in 2013, he has a network developing a show around him as the lead character, and a feature film being developed with him in one of the lead roles. There is also talk of a new tour that he will be featured in, and his new show that just aired several weeks ago with actress Whitney Cummings titled I Love You, Mean It should be the icing on the cake for becoming a household name.
Gary Owen– At the end of 2012 comedian Gary Owen started to pick up some serious heat as he has been hosting the Shaq Comedy All Star Jam all across the country for the past year in over 20 cities. Not quite a household name just yet, Owen, who has also been on every comedy stand up show from Martin Lawrence’s First Amendment, to BET’s Comic View, he has a face that everyone recognizes when they see him. If you recall, he has been in some great comedy films over the years; in such films like Daddy Day Care, Little Man and the most recent film Think Like A Man. There has alos been some television with his recurring role on Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne. With his hilarious stand up comedy special titled True Story, one would have expected his status in households to launch him into superstardom. But as of this writing, people STILL don’t know his name yet; folks still think his name is OwenS with an “S” and not just Owen. But in 2013 that all will change, as Owen has the new film Ride Along with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart coming, plus a larger role in the new upcoming film Think Like A Man 2. But we think his new role as the co-host of the new Shaq show on TruTV titled Upload With Shaquille O’Neal will be the memorable one because he will interact with Shaq and with the viewing audience. Either way, by the end of 2013, no one will be misspelling his name.
Affion Crockett– One of the only comedians who jumped on the social media band wagon years ago and turned the tide of his career to his benefit has to be comedian Affion Crockett. Known early on as a stand up and comedic actor, Crockett decided to focus on his comedic acting. This led to many roles in such films as Dance Flick, Never Back Down and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins just to name a few. It also landed him several television gigs, as he was a cast member of Nick Cannon’s Wild’N Out on MTV, and after many appearances in many other television shows he eventually landed his own show on FOX on a sketch variety comedy show titled In The Flow With Affion Crockett. The show didn’t last long on the air at all, but Crockett didn’t even flinch; he kept on with his impersonations on his YouTube channel and he came back to the stage over a year ago to do stand up. His musical comedy sketches have been a huge success as he has impersonated everyone from Barak Obama, Russell Simmons to Drake. He recently dropped a comedy album titled Watch The Clone with said musical comedy impersonations, and his album quickly climbed on Itunes and became one of the fastest comedy albums charted. With all of that in his past, 2013 will be Crockett’s break out year for sure; he starts out the year with a small role in the film A Haunted House with Marlon Wayans and he quickly follows that up in the David E. Talbert film titled Baggage Claim starring Paula Patton. But his performance in the upcoming Nick Cannon directed comedy film titled School Dance with Kevin Hart, Mike Epps, Katt Williams, and Lil Duval should be the film that has lasting memories for many of his fans. We can’t forget to mention his other projects that Crockett has; a sitcom in development, a comedy stand up tour he is prepping, and a one man comedy show that he is producing all of which will be released by year’s end. For those who didn’t know who Crockett was, they will definitely find out next year!
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