On the Mic with Mike Peters

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Brown started doing stand-up in Binghamton on April 8, 2021 at 40 years old as a birthday present. Since then, he's performed all over New York and dipped into Pennsylvania, taking the material his three kids have given him. He grew up promoting punk bands in Binghamton and found a similar feel within the comedy community. We've known of each other for more than...

Send us Fan Mail Ron Caine has been working all over the Harrisburg, Pa., comedy scene since 2017. He produces shows under 2CS Productions, including one at Fratelli's in New Cumberland, Pa., that celebrated its first anniversary in July. Caine performs all over Pennsylvania and Maryland and is a co-host of the DNR Podcast with Damien Robinson and he hosts two open mics -- the Mr. Tongue Open...

Send us Fan Mail Raghu Adibhatla grew up in the Corning area in Upstate New York, but got his start in stand-up in Chicago back in 2010. A father of two with a career in marketing, he's got big plans for the future -- a late-night spot and eventually, a finished book about his life as a comedian. And if they don't happen, at least his daughter is talented. Adibhatla put in 12 years of wo...

Send us Fan Mail Isaac Novak is a Seattle comedian and one of the founders of the Upper Left Comedy Festival, which had a successful first year in 2022. Novak started doing stand-up in 2012 and got tired of hearing people say, "Why isn't there a festival in Seattle?" He's a graphic designer, too. Novak runs a monthly show at Central Cinema, so if you're in Seattle, check i...

Send us Fan Mail Rebecca Kaplan started doing stand-up back in 2014 when she was going to SUNY Purchase. A New York City native, Kaplan moved back to Brooklyn after school and has been able to carve a path in the scene. She was one of the Best of Fest winners at the Rubber City Comedy Festival in Akron, Ohio, and is going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August. She also produces a...

Send us Fan Mail Becky Wiggins started doing stand-up in Utica in early 2020, right before the world shut down. She kept busy during the pandemic and came out with a purpose -- to get on stage and stay there. Wiggins has worked at the Syracuse Funny Bone and Fat Katz Comedy Club and runs an open mic at Chris' Grub and Pub in Rome, her hometown. She's been able to find a job she loves as...

Send us Fan Mail Yale Hollander did his first stand-up set in 1985 and his second in 2016. Things changed a bit between them. Hollander became a lawyer, which has served him well in the St. Louis comedy scene. He books shows in the area, including at the Gaslight Theater and works at the Helium Comedy Club. He also regularly submits to the New Yorker's caption contest -- much to the delight a...

Send us Fan Mail Manny Santiago got his start in performance by juggling because, well, duh. He decided to step away from the juggling to dive into stand-up with his best friend, roommate and co-host of the A Boy and His Fridge podcast, Mike O'Donnell, and has become one of the best comedians in Harrisburg, Pa. Santiago also co-hosts The Falls Count Anywhere Podcast with Brandon Youngblood. F...

Send us Fan Mail James Nghiem started doing stand-up in Oklahoma City, Okla., way back in 2007. Over the last 15 years, he's calmed down as a comedian and is able to find the joy in what he's doing. He's released two albums -- "That Lonely Beast" and "Lonelier Beast" -- on his label, Robot Saves City. He's also the drummer in The Nghiems, a band he started w...

Send us Fan Mail Jim Bryan grew up in Long Island and started doing stand-up in 2002 and moved to Las Vegas. He met his wife there and they moved to Hanover, Pa., to raise their kids, but he put stand-up to the side for a few years. He got back into it in 2015, then started the Den of Satire in 2017 and formally opened the Church of Satire -- in the same room -- a couple years later. It's now...

Send us Fan Mail Avery Quinn started doing stand-up while he was a senior at Shippensburg University and found a good home in the Lancaster and Harrisburg comedy scenes. He ran the White Swan show in Lititz, Pa., before moving to Hartford, Conn., in late 2021. Quinn wrestled and played football in high school and does commercial acting. He's been drenched in Bud Light and cast as two serial k...

Send us Fan Mail Lisa Rossi was doing a journalism fellowship at Stanford University when an improv comedian caught her attention and inspired her to get on stage. A journalism professor at the University of Maryland, Rossi did her first open mic in 2019 and has been doing stand-up and improv in Des Moines, Iowa, ever since. She began working through The Groundlings’ courses during the pandemic an...

Send us Fan Mail Spencer Thomas is a really funny comedian traveling around North Dakota. After spending a few years in Los Angeles, working in post production, Thomas returned him to help take care of his mother. He quit drinking, got a college degree, met his wife and has established himself as a go-to comedian for hire. Following the pandemic, he dropped Dobson and switched to performing under...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Wrigley started doing stand-up when he was 17 years old as a way to impress high school girls. He traveled all over New Zealand, working his way onto TV and into a good living before coming to the United States in 2014. Now married with two kids, Wrigley is settled in Alfred, N.Y., and works all over the state -- wherever he can get in front of a microphone. He's got bi...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Vincent Jackson is one of the most talented comedians in Delaware. An adjunct professor at the University of Delaware, teaching English as a second language, Jackson started doing stand-up in Philadelphia in the winter of 2013-2014. He spent time in New York City before the pandemic and moved home to wait it out. Jackson found a new way to approach stand-up and turned it i...

Send us Fan Mail Ashley Pontius is a super funny comedian who grew up near Hagerstown, Md., and performs all over the DMV area. She got her start in stand-up by lying about how she knew Myq Kaplan and then worked semi-illegally for Stephen Colbert’s Campaign for Truthiness. Over the last decade, she’s established herself as one of the best up-and-coming comedians in the Mid-Atlantic. She’s a regul...

Send us Fan Mail Raised in  thenBrooklyn, N.Y., Darryl Charles went to school for engineering before starting his comedy career in Philadelphia. He realized he was kind of good at that and moved down I-95 to Baltimore. His debut album, Black Gentrifier, debuted at No. 3 on iTunes at the beginning of 2020 and he's almost got another hour done.  Darryl co-hosts the podcast: DTF: The Darryl and...

Send us Fan Mail Helen Keaney is a comedian in Florida and host at the Home Shopping Network. She started doing stand-up in New York City after moving there at 19. She picked up momentum quickly, taking over for Dave Attell at a show at the Boston Comedy Club and working her way onto Comedy Central, VH1 and A&E's Evening at the Improv. Keaney toured as a member of the "3 Blonde Moms&...

Send us Fan Mail Mark Riccadonna grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, but got his start in stand-up while working the door in a New York City club. His comedian friends bet him he couldn't get on stage in 2002 and he hasn't gotten off. He went to school to become and actor and he's doing that, too, along with directing. Riccadonna moved to Ambler, Pa., but he's staying just as busy. He...

Send us Fan Mail Karen Rontowski wanted to get out of Massachusetts, so she took a job as a cigarette girl in Las Vegas and it changed her life. She's been doing stand-up for the last 30 years, performing on The Late Show with David Letterman, Comics Unleashed, Live at Gotham, Comedy Central and Mysteries of the Unexplained and has a Dry Bar Comedy special. She left Los Angeles to visit her p...

Send us Fan Mail Robin Phoenix is relatively new to the comedy scene in Charlston, S.C., but she’s far from inexperienced. After 26 years in the military, she decided to help her fellow veterans and the surrounding community by starting the Best Medicine Brigade, which books those with ties to the service on comedy shows. A talented stand-up, Phoenix produces shows in South Carolina and is working...

Send us Fan Mail R Purpura is one of the best comedians in Rochester, N.Y. He got his start in 2011 while still a SUNY Oswego, writing for a TV show and taking the material to a music mic on campus. He was Rochester's Funniest Person in 2017 and moved to New York City shortly after opening for Dave Attell and Big Jay Oakerson. He moved back in 2019 and is working all over the state, entertain...

Send us Fan Mail Damon Sumner's life changed completely in 2010 when he became a father, a teacher and a comedian all in just a few months. One of the bright spots in the Atlanta scene, Sumner released his debut album, "I Know Who I Am," on March 25. Tagged a combination of Jim Gaffigan and Kevin Hart by a friend, Sumner spent 18 months in China, teaching and doing stand-up, before...

Send us Fan Mail Kass Smiley started doing stand-up in Anchorage, Alaska, back in 2009. She learned from Greg Chaille, Doug Stanhope's right-hand man, and is the brains and muscle behind the B4UDie Comedy Festival, which runs from April 6 and April 10 and features a collection of comedians all across the "lesser 48." Smiley is full of stories, from being heckled by Stanhope in Los A...

Send us Fan Mail After a couple of false starts, Chris Plumer has been doing stand-up in Buffalo steadily since 2014. He's become a reliable laugh and a regular at the Helium Comedy Club and became Buffalo's Funniest Person in 2019 -- a title he maintained until 2021, making him the longest-running champion of all time. He's also a game show host and is always creating something. He...