On the Mic with Mike Peters

Send us Fan Mail Micahel Agunbiade started doing stand-up at the very old age of 24. It's been three years and he's already one of the most-traveled comedians in upstate New York. Based out of Liberty, he became part of the Albany scene and is moving to the Bronx at the end of August. The son of two Nigerian immigrants, he's determined to make a career in comedy. If not, he's g...

Send us Fan Mail Cindy Arena has been doing stand-up in Rochester since the spring of 2018. She made her first big splash by winning the Rochester's Funniest Person contest that July. She's spent the last seven years trying to prove she was deserving of it. She runs the Don't Tell Comedy shows in Rochester with Kai VonDoom and is a regular at the Syracuse Funny Bone. And she owes a...

Send us Fan Mail Kaiser Leib won 3 percent of the vote for Montana's governor. Instead of running the state, he's settling for a comedy festival. He started doing stand-up in San Francisco in 2017 and moved back home during the pandemic. He's doing everything he can to build a scene in Helena. The Helena Comedy Festival in making its debut on Oct. 9 to Oct. 12. The headliners are in...

Send us Fan Mail Ryan Manzo started doing stand-up two years ago in Scranton, Pa. He tried it once in college, but it didn't stick. It only took two traumatic moments to convince him to give it another shot. He's part of a younger group of comedians to give a boost to Scranton's growing comedy scene. He just started producing shows. He's got a monthly at Gino's Bistro in T...

Send us Fan Mail Hunter Roberts is a stand-up comic, former wrestler and Disney enthusiast in Gate City, Va. He wrestled for a few years -- becoming a champion -- before making his second attempt at stand-up stick in 2012. Based out of Johnson City, Tenn., he travels all over the Midwest and has a hate-hate relationship with Cleveland. He's be at the Rubber City Comedy Festival in Akron, Ohio...

Send us Fan Mail Elizabeth Becz is a comedian in Brooklyn. She grew up in Rutherford, N.J., and picked up playing the piano in middle school. Her teacher, Doug, introduced her to stand-up and would later ignite a passion. After working in upstate New York for only about a year -- she started doing stand-up in the spring of 2024 -- her calendar is full. She's an excellent writer and is determi...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Vita grew up playing in punk bands. He got a taste for comedy while doing humorous raps between bands at shows. Then about 10 years ago, he found an open mic. Since then, he's traveled all over the country telling jokes and founded the Vermont Comedy Festival with Collen Doyle. Vita splits his time between Brooklyn and Vermont, where he has a house. He's a full-time...

Send us Fan Mail Mike DiAlto started doing stand-up about 16 years ago after taking a class at the Comedy Cellar in New York City. He kept doing it in Philadelphia and has been running the mixed mic and comedy shows at John and Peter's in New Hope, Pa., for the last 14 years. He's bringing in Rich Vos for a show on Friday, June 13. He's got two kids -- that's enough for him --...

Send us Fan Mail Eric Basile started doing stand-up in Jamestown, N.Y., back in 2011. He moved to Buffalo in 2014 and has been there since. A film student at the University of Buffalo, Basile grew up on Saturday Night Live and sitcoms from the '70s, '80s and '90s. He's excellent joke writer and a very good joke teller. He works all over New York. Follow Eric Basile:  Instagram:...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Dundas started doing stand-up in a San Francisco laundromat in 2002 and then stopped. He started up again in Seattle, but stopped. It wasn't until he was in Washington, D.C., in 2013 that it stuck. He and his family are in Portland, Maine, now and he's loving it. He's getting plenty of stage time and a lot of work and released his first album, "From Away,&...

Send us Fan Mail Sari Beliak is a really talented writer and comedian in Phoenix, Ariz. She took sketch classes at Second City in Los Angeles and began writing for The Hard Times and the Reductress before transitioning her comedy chops onto the stage. She's been doing stand-up for about nine years -- on top of writing for The Onion -- and just released her debut album, "Dead Dog Mom,&quo...

Send us Fan Mail Alice Duhon has a background in musical theater, but she transitioned to stand-up in Detroit at 29. She was taking a stand-up class and going through a divorce around the same time. She's spent the last two years working out material from Detroit to Denver. She'll be in Rochester, N.Y., on May 8 and May 10, doing a roast battle and a Don't Tell Comedy show. For the...

Send us Fan Mail Myles Weber started doing stand-up in Vallejo, Calif., right out of high school. He convinced 30 of his friends from school and the gym to watch his first open mic and he's been at it ever since. Over the last seven years, he's recorded two Dry Bar Comedy half-hours and two albums, and Comedy Dynamics bought his first special, Mr. Brightside. He's waiting for a stre...

Send us Fan Mail Josephine Rivera started doing stand-up about 2 1/2 years ago when she was 29. She moved from New York to Pensacola, Fla., for college and stayed put. She produces shows with Carson Tucker under Whippersnapper Comedy and they're working all over the Florida-Alabama border. She's trying to build a comedy career while protecting her cat from several potential murder charge...

Send us Fan Mail Luke Thayer started doing stand-up in Indianapolis about 21 years ago. A year in, he and his wife, Abi Crutchfield, moved to New York City together, where they still live. He's been on Gotham Comedy Live, Fox, TruTV and The Food Network. He released his debut album, "Hopes + Dreams," in 2018 and his Dry Bar special came out in 2023. Go see him live. Even Mark Norman...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy Pryal started doing stand-up in Scranton when he was 17. He opted to stay out of the Marines and chase success in comedy. He spent eight years in Philadelphia before a bad set and the personal issues took him off course. Now married with a son and back in Scranton, he's back on stage and making people laugh again.  Follow Jeremy Pryal:  Instagram: https://www.instagram...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Dolan started doing stand-up at a comedy class at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia when he was 46. He's been writing ever since. It's all thanks to his wife, who pushed him in the right direction. He's been able to find a home in the scene -- even it's as some comedians' "dad." He's been producing shows with Subourbon Comedy for...

Send us Fan Mail Bill Squire is one of Cleveland's best comedians and if he has his way, he always will be. He started doing stand-up in 2004 after leaving the Mormon religion. He spent 12 years working on The Alan Cox Show on WMMS in Cleveland. His latest special, "We're Getting Famous," is streaming on Amazon Prime now. He opens for Chad Daniels and headlines all over the cou...

Send us Fan Mail Dana Charitonchick studied biology at West Chester University and had a career as a scientist before jumping into stand-up when she was 30. She's four years in and has her footing in the Philadelphia scene. She's been able to keep those worlds separate, though it has played a role in her comedic style. She's been keeping busy on the sketch side, too. She's been...

Send us Fan Mail Kevin Andrews started doing stand-up in Buffalo when he was 33 years old. He's about two years in, but he's already produced shows and works pretty consistently. It's a good thing his mom said she'd be disappointed if he didn't give it a shot. He grew up watching sitcoms and wanted to create the laughs himself. Follow Kevin Andrews:  Instagram: https://www...

Send us Fan Mail Dan Turco started doing stand-up about 11 years ago when he was 25. He moved around a lot as a kid, but went to Eastern Michigan for college and settled in Detroit, where he's made his home in the comedy community. He's in his third year working with the Motor City Comedy Festival, which goes from Sept. 17 to Sept. 21. They're taking submissions now. He runs shows a...

Send us Fan Mail David Britton started doing stand-up at the Comedy Attic in Bloomington, Ind., about 13 years ago. He's in Schenectady, N.Y., now, where he's also acting, writing and directing. He produces comedy shows and gets on stage as much as he can. He wrotes for The Hard Times and works with Murder Cafe, a comedic-murder theater company in Rosendale, N.Y. He's got two albums...

Send us Fan Mail Gerrit Elzinga fell in love with stand-up early and got onto his first stage at 15 years old. He's been telling jokes for almost 19 years, despite being only 33. He's the house emcee at Dr. Grin's Comedy Club in Grand Rapids, Mich., and is hoping to have his fourth album out this summer. He only spent a year in New York City, but it was long enough to grab an awkwar...

Send us Fan Mail Zach Russell started doing stand-up when he was 21 and a student at Boston College. He moved to New York City after school and has been working all over the city and the East Coast. He grew up in Annapolis, Md., where I interviewed his friends after lacrosse, baseball and soccer games. Zach co-hosts Overshadowed, a podcast that tells stories over siblings and spouses of famous peo...

Send us Fan Mail Zach Peterson has been doing stand-up for the last 17 years. He started in Omaha, Neb., and spent nine years in Chicago and one in Los Angeles before coming back home. He's 43 years old, but he can still play basketball and tell jokes, so he's happy. He's working on his third album. His special and second album, "A List of Wet Celebrities," came out in 202...