On the Mic with Mike Peters

Send us Fan Mail Luca Spinoso started doing stand-up a couple years ago in Harford County, Md., a little bit north of Baltimore. He moved to Florida as a kid and came back to Maryland when he was 19. He and his buddies went to an open mic one night and they signed him up. Since then, he's joined a group of comedians called The Barrel Boys and they've been pushing each other. He's pa...

Send us Fan Mail Danny Pee has been doing stand-up in Manchester, N.H., for about five years. He got the taste for it during a best man's speech at his brother's wedding. Once the pandemic came to a close, he decided to give it a go. He began hosting the open mic at Strange Brew Tavern less than three years in and is helping to produce shows with the Laugh Attic. Between raising two kids...

Send us Fan Mail Rachel Ware is one of the funniest comedians in the Omaha, Neb., scene. She started doing improv and then picked up stand-up in 2012. She spent three years in Los Angeles before moving back home in 2020. She's married to another comedian, Tyrel Frazer, so the competition is right inside the house. She was also the voice of Angel Cake in the Strawberry Shortcake remakes. She&a...

Send us Fan Mail Josh Prygon started doing stand-up in Buffalo about three years ago. The first two tries didn't stick, but this one has. He's part of the newer class of comedians in a very experienced scene. He's got the confidence now to tackle new topics and is working enough to keep developing at a strong pace. Plus he has his driver's license and a car, which comes in hand...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Scopo grew up in Queens as the son of a Mets fan. He really had no choice. He started rooting for the Mets a couple years after they won the World Series in 1986 and is still waiting to celebrate. They are ruining his life. But he's making the most of it. He's been doing stand-up in New York City since 2010 and works with Robert Kelly and Andrew Shultz, among other...

Send us Fan Mail Dan Danzy moved started doing stand-up in Dallas when he was in high school. He worked his way all over the state over the next 15 years before deciding to move to Scranton with his wife in 2022. He took a little bit of time off, but decided to join the comedy scene by taking over the Keystone Stage -- right before the roof collapsed. He's loving the move, though, and is part...

Send us Fan Mail Julia Colasanti grew up playing volleyball in Michigan before going to college at St. Michael's in Vermont. Loud and confident on the court, she made a speech at a banquet that pushed her toward stand-up 10 years ago while she was still in high school. She moved to Chicago after graduating, but came back to Burlington, Vt., where she's made a home for herself. She ran a...

Send us Fan Mail Lauren Festa is a very funny comedian on Long Island. She's been doing stand-up all over New York City for about 10 years, but has been pushing hard for the last six -- pretty much living out her dad's dream for her. She works in publishing and just wrote her first rom-com novel that she hopes will be out in 2026. She'll be back at the Vermont Comedy Festival from D...

Send us Fan Mail Jethro Trogo started doing stand-up in the Philippines in 2013 and moved to St. Paul, Minn., near the end of 2019 for his job as a software engineer. Quite the shift in culture and weather. He's been able to work himself into the comedy scene and he won the Funniest Person in St. Paul, despite almost having a heart attack the morning of the final. He's finding success, e...

Send us Fan Mail Shawn Barnes did his first set while going to SUNY Oneonta back in the early 2010s and occasionally came back to stand-up. It wasn't until an established comedian moved upstairs that he decided to give it a real go. Now he's working all over New York and just won the Capital Region's Funniest Comic competition. He's getting work at the Albany Funny Bone and the...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Drufke has been doing stand-up in and around Chicago for about 20 years. He's one of a nine-person team behind the Still Not Friday show in Aurora, Ill., that just celebrated its 10th anniversary. He was able to book Kyle Kinane for that show and they're hoping to get comedians of a similar status for future shows. He's been able to watch some of the best comic...

Send us Fan Mail Isaac Kozell started doing stand-up in Pittsburgh about 14 years ago. He was living in Wheeling, W. Va., but had to chase the stage elsewhere. He worked in marketing and fixed up houses on the side, something he'd learned as a kid. Once his neighbors spread the word, he started fixing houses full-time. He produces four shows in New Orleans and has southern living about figure...

Send us Fan Mail Tommy Cook started doing stand-up outside of Detroit about 2 1/2 years ago. He grew up on a steady diet of musicals, thanks to his grandparents. He played in the marching and concert bands in high school and became the lead singer of Granola Add Bacon, a ska band, as a senior. He works with Depot Town Comedy and is constantly trying not to embarrass his mom -- again. Follow Tommy...

Send us Fan Mail Conor McCann only started doing stand-up in July of 2024. He entered the Rochester's Funniest Person contest two weeks after his first open mic and took second place. He came back this year and won the title. A former musician from the Cold Spring, N.Y., he's got a dry, dark sense of humor and it's paying off. He's working regularly across New York and has his...

Send us Fan Mail Alex Nicolas has been a fixture of the Jersey City, N.J., comedy scene since 2014. He started doing stand-up under the recommendation of a former boss combined with his mom telling him he wasn't funny. He spent a couple years working at the Stress Factory in New Jersey and plans on working the road as much as possible in the next few years. Alex recorded a special at the end...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Weir has been doing stand-up in Cincinnati since 2011. He started while he was at North Kentucky University, but really jumped into the scene after graduating. He's a huge Reds fan and hosts a podcast dedicated to them called The New Nasty Boys, an homage to Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers. He won Cincinnati's Funniest Person and works all over the Midwes...

Send us Fan Mail Frank Corbiserie had an incredibly strong showing this summer in his second year in the Buffalo comedy scene. He moved to Batavia, N.Y., from New Jersey in 2024 and became Buffalo's Funniest Person in July of 2025. A couple weeks later, he placed second in Rochester's Funniest Person contest. He started doing stand-up in 2009, but took a break in 2012, picking it back up...

Send us Fan Mail Trebor Finnegan has been doing stand-up in Buffalo since 2023. He was a funny, shy kid in Dallas before moving to Buffalo when he was 14. He's only 28 now, but he's established himself as one of the scene's top rising comics. He just took second place at Buffalo's Funniest Person contest at Helium Comedy Club. Not bad for a dude with a fake first name. Follow T...

Send us Fan Mail Josh Martier has been writing jokes since he was a teenager, but he didn't take the stage until he was 27. In just four years, he's climbed the steps to become the 2025 winner of the Philly's Phunniest Person contest in August. He moved to Brooklyn and is ready to start at the bottom again. His old days as an athlete have given him a competitive edge and he's b...

Send us Fan Mail Serena Thiel is has been letting life take her where she feels comfortable -- and it's working out for her. She started doing stand-up in Bozeman, Mont., in 2020 with her friend, Alex Kaufman. After a couple years off, she opted not to go to Mexico while traveling and stayed in Austin, Texas. She got back on stage and found herself doing really well on Kill Tony in March. The...

Send us Fan Mail David Kopp started doing stand-up in British Columbia, Canada, when he was 30 years old. In the 18 years since, he's become one of the premier producers in the province, written a book, "Kill Dave," and runs the successful Kelowna Comedy Club in Kelowna. He does about 270 shows a year at the club, so he's constantly in promotion mode, just trying not to fall be...

Send us Fan Mail Jacob Parnell grew up in Seattle and played the drums and bass in punk bands. His band, Aria Decline, opened for Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate and Switchfoot. He decided to study theology at Pepperdine University and is now a pastor in Livermore, Calif. He started doing stand-up in 2018 and got serious about it after the pandemic. A father of five daughters and a hus...

Send us Fan Mail AJ Foster is one of the best stand-ups to come out of upstate New York over the last two decades. He grew up in the Bronx, but started stand-up in 2010 while going to college in Utica. He was a big piece of the upstate scenes before moving to New York City in 2016. One weekend at the Helium Comedy Club in Buffalo in 2015 led to that decision along with a friendship and opening spo...

Send us Fan Mail Dave Sheehan has been doing stand-up yin New Haven, Conn., for more than two decades. He started with improv and made some friends and then dipped into stand-up. He's also been studying martial arts for the last 15 years and has a black belt. He works all over the Northeast, using his mix of one-liners and observations to help make a name for himself.  Follow Dave Sheehan:  I...

Send us Fan Mail Reese Samuels is the mama bear of the comedy scene in Boise, Idaho., and is really putting that psychology background to work. She started doing stand-up on Christmas in 2014 after a rough break-up in an uncomfortable situation. She's doing way better now. She runs ... Cause We Can Comedy with LJ Sullivan. They produce shows and run an open mic together. If she can keep her d...