Hannah Berner grew up dreaming of being a professional tennis player before becoming a viral sensation with comedy bits like “Han on the Street.” Nimesh Patel turned his experience with being diagnosed with testicular cancer into a heralded comedy special, “Lucky Lefty.” And Kurtis Conner was working at Starbucks when a frequent customer encouraged him to get into comedy.
These were among the hilarious, surprising and touching revelations that emerged when Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch for 2023 were celebrated with a panel discussion and cocktail reception sponsored by Cohen Gardner LLP at last week’s Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival. The comedians also performed in a packed showcase at the festival. Variety has been presenting the 10 Comics at Just for Laughs since 2000 and over the years the list has included such luminaries as Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Taylor Tomlinson and Quinta Brunson.
Nine of the 10 selected comics were present at the festival and attended the panel discussion. Later in the day, they were feted at the cocktail party that was also attended by such comedy luminaries as Eddie Izzard, Bert Kresicher and 10 Comics to Watch alumni Ronny Chieng and Dulcé Sloan.
Bert Kreischer and UTA’s Nick Nuciforo pose with Variety’s cover story on Jim Gaffigan.
Susan Moss
During the panel, the comics discussed how they found their way into the world of comedy. Irish comedian Joanne McNally, known for her shows “Wine Tamer” and “Prosecco Express,” admitted, “I started comedy to impress a man that I fancied who suggested I give it a go. And then he invited me on tour, so I went just to hang out with him.” While she noted it was “obviously an incredibly toxic relationship,” she also said she was grateful that he helped give her career a start.
Ian Lara also credits a relationship for his beginning. “A girlfriend in high school took me to see the film of ‘Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger,’” said Lara, whose comedy specials include “Growing Shame” and “Romantic Comedy.” He added, “I was like, ‘This is so cool.’ Then I went and just Googled, ‘How do you become a stand-up comedian?’” He learned about open mics and showcases – adding that he was particularly interested in the festival’s New Faces of Comedy line-up. “Then you just audition for New Faces for about 10 years and then you finally get it,” he noted to laughter and applause.
Brian Simpson, who hosts the podcast “BS With Brian Simpson,” revealed his unusual path into comedy via the Marines. “The commander had just been ousted for being racist and so everyone was afraid to offend me,” Simpson noted. “So I got away with just saying whatever I wanted. So I would be the person to say the thing that everybody else wouldn’t say.” Others started encouraging him to do stand-up and years later, he got the courage to try.
Hannah Berner, Brian Simpson, Kurtis Conner, Nimesh Patel and Ian Lara on Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch Panel
Susan Moss
Both Leanne Morgan and Zarna Garg were raising children when they decided to take the leap into stand-up comedy. Morgan, fresh off her successful “Big Panty Tour,” discussed how it all began when she would go to women’s’ homes to sell jewelry in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Her customers would always comment on her humor and when the family moved to Texas, she got up the nerve to try an open mic. “That was twenty-something years ago,” Morgan noted. Asked how her kids have felt about seeing their mom become a performer, Morgan replied, “They always just grew up in it and were fine with it, but I was able to raise them, and they’ve said, ‘She was always our mom first.’”
Following Morgan, Garg joked of her similar path, noting, “I was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years when I realized I’m not really into it.” She also got big laughs by noting, “I’m Indian. Fun is not really our thing.” It was actually her children who were constantly encouraging her to try stand-up comedy. “I finally said, ‘Fine, let me just do it so I can say I did it and you were wrong,’” Garg revealed. She ended up being so successful it led to her recent Amazon special “One in a Billion” and her popular social media accounts, where her children frequently appear. In fact, they attended the festival with her – though not the panel because they had math worksheets to finish.
There were some touching moments among the laughter, as well. Berner became emotional talking about her choice to leave a budding tennis career behind, even though she was achieving success as a nationally ranked junior player. She began experiencing bad performance anxiety. “I was so nervous on game days. But I was winning. So everyone just kept saying, ‘This is what you should do,’” she recalled. “And it took balls to say, ‘This doesn’t make me happy.’” Berner noted that she started to rediscover “that little girl who was silly and funny and goofy” and fell in love with comedy. “Just because you’re really good at something doesn’t mean it’s what you were meant to do,” she noted. “And I found success in another industry, just when I thought my dream was dead. And it’s one that makes me so happy.”
The panel closed out with a discussion about comics opening themselves up to criticism – sometimes in the form of live hecklers or anonymous online commenters. Sabrina Wu, currently stealing scenes in the film “Joy Ride,” admitted to sometimes checking out the profiles of people who leave horrible comments online, which gives them empathy for the trolls. “I will fully stalk their page and see the content they’re making and it’s, like, bad,” Wu said to cheers and laughter. “It’s like a guy with a kid singing indie folk songs to no one and you realize, I don’t care what he thinks – and I’m really worried about this kid!”
Wu also noted a particular irony about some of the cruelest commenters. “They’ll say things like, ‘You should kill yourself’ and then their bio reads, ‘Motivational life coach.’”