Plano Comedy Festival Headliners
2022
Mike E. Winfield's comedy is refreshing & relatable in a way that makes him a comedic genius. Hailing from Baltimore, MD, Mike E. moved to California to pursue comedy & to escape the rough streets of Baltimore, remembering how he found a gun under his Mom’s pillow as a child, & thought, “I CAN’T WAIT FOR MY TEETH TO FALL OUT.”
The comedy scene felt natural to him & he embraced it raking up credits such as The Late Show with David Letterman, a reoccurring role on NBC’s The Office, Brad Paisley’s Comedy Rodeo on Netflix, an Emmy Nomination, & multiple movies in post production, one with the rapper DMX called PIMP. Somehow in the midst of rising to the top, he had to grow up quickly because he fell in love & married an older woman with a child.
Jackie Kashian has been doing standup for over 35 years. Last heard on NPR and seen on HBO's 2DopeQueens, her albums have been #1 on Amazon, iTunes and have over 10 million listens on Spotify and Pandora. She has two podcasts; The Dork Forest (since 2006) where she talks with people about what they love to do, think about and collect. She also has a podcast with Laurie Kilmartin where they talk about the thing they both love to do and think about… standup comedy. It is called The Jackie and Laurie Show.
Born in New Jersey, raised in Atlanta, and, in 2012, winner of Houston's Funniest Person, Matthew Broussard is not exactly sure where he's from. Matthew earned a degree in Applied Mathematics and a job as a financial analyst before moving to West Hollywood to pursue stand-up comedy full time. His brand of playful, witty humor covers topics from physics & grammar to the hardships of looking like an 80s movie villain. Aside from his popular webcomic, mondaypunday.com, he can be seen on The League, The Mindy Project, Conan, Roast Battle, and has his own Half Hour Special on Comedy Central. But his Cajun father and Jewish mother still really want him to take the GMAT.
Dean Lewis has appeared on Last Comic Standing “Season 5”, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and he is the winner of the Wendy’s Clean Comedy Challenge. In 2007, Dean won an Emmy for Writing on the comedy show DFW 10. His career began in 1989 at the Dallas Improv. He has sold material to Jay Leno, and has appeared with Julio Iglesias, The Doobie Brothers, Joan Jett and Willie Nelson.
Dean Lewis is constantly performing at corporate events and headlining comedy clubs across the country, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dean Lewis "has a refreshing point of view that is always a crowd pleaser.”
Angelia Walker has opened up for top comedians such as Kat Williams, John Levitt, Charlie Murphy, Robert Powell and many others. She has hosted and headlined at prestigious comedy clubs all over the country including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, California, Arkansas and the Bahamas!
As a mother of 3 and one of 15 siblings, Angelia credits a lot of her material to experiences that she has had with her mother, children and siblings. For Angelia, every moment on stage is a great moment! Watch her ”No Fear” attitude and witness her push past the limits that have been set. In 2019, she took 3rd place in the Funniest Comic in Texas contest.
Justin Foster is a native Texas comedian now living in Los Angeles. Justin quickly charms the audience and dives into personal stories of sobriety, his depressed dog, and drug dealer Dad. Strange, hilarious, and often unpredictable, Justin travels the country performing at theaters in Seattle, bar basements in North Dakota, and every place in between. Justin has been featured on the Joe Rogan Podcast, SIRIUS/XM, the Burbank Comedy Festival, the Cape Fear Comedy Festival in North Carolina, San Diego Comedy Festival, "Fresh Faces" at the Laugh Factory, and has been voted one of the Top Funniest Comics in Texas by the Improv multiple times. His debut comedy album, 'DANGERLESS', released worldwide 3/2/18 and debuted at Number one on iTunes.
2020
Laurie Kilmartin is an Emmy-nominated writer for CONAN on TBS, and has performed standup on CONAN, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Comedy Central. She was a Top 10 finalist on season 9 of Last Comic Standing. Her first book, Shitty Mom, was a NY Times bestseller. Her Seeso (RIP) special, 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad, was named Vulture 's Top Ten Comedy Specials of 2016.
Her book "Dead People Suck" - a comedic memoir about hospice, cancer, grief and losing a parent, was released by Rodale Press in Feb 2018, and is available in bookstores, or online here at Amazon, B&N, Books a Million, IndieBound.
Kurt Braunohler is a comedian, actor and podcaster who has committed his career to inserting absurdity into stranger’s lives to make the world a better place. He has an album, a half-hour Comedy Central Special, and his first televised hour of comedy, Trust Me is out on Comedy Central. On TV, Kurt can been seen (or heard) on Bob's Burgers, The New Girl, @midnight, Another Period, The Kroll Show, Drunk History, Deadbeat, Comedy Central Presents, Adam Ruins Everything, Chelsea Lately, John Oliver Stand Up, Delocated, and as host of IFC’s comedy game show Bunk!. He has performed stand up sets on CONAN, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with Seth Meyers and Late Late Show with James Corden.
Steve Hofstetter, Author, columnist, and comedian, is often called the hardest working man in show-business. With all due respect to the late James Brown.
Hofstetter's national TV debut came on ESPN's Quite Frankly, where Stephen A. Smith yelled at him for three minutes. Hofstetter has also appeared on CBS' "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson", Showtime's "White Boyz in the Hood", VH1's "Countdown", Sundance's "On the Road in America", and ABC's "Barbara Walter's Special", where he thankfully did not cry. He is the host and executive producer of "Laughs" on Fox networks, where he only cries occasionally.
One of the top booked acts on the college circuit, the original writer for collegehumor.com has also released six albums.
Roxxy Haze, Comedian and YouTube sensation, can only be described as what happens when you blend pseudo intellectualism with a raunchy Walt Disney fantasy. With a background in theatre and film, Haze has foster an innate sense of showmanship. Her high energy, bubbly personality combined with her Amazonian stature makes her a comic book nerd’s dream girl and keeps viewers coming back for more. Through the blend of nerd culture with various light hearted topics such as literature, family and relationships, Roxxy Haze has built a small cult following and become a social media darling.
A Boston Native, you can see Mary E. Kennedy as recurring character “New Fiona” on Shameless. She wrote and stars in her one woman show, Mid Life Mood Swing, about being a roadie for her mom's
wedding band in the 80's. It premiered in Los Angeles and now is touring. You can also see her comedic acting regularly in various sketches for Conan on TBS.
She headlines all over the country and appears regularly at Flappers Comedy Club, The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.
Stand-up comedian, motivational speaker, TV & radio personality, actress, author, blogger and entrepreneur are all titles fitting for Karith Foster. She is one of the hottest comics to come out of New York City according to both The Hollywood Reporter and Backstage Magazine who named her one of the “Top 10 Comics to Watch.”
Foster has appeared on a number of television programs, including Comedy Central's Premium Blend, NBC's Today and Last Comic Standing, and VH1's Best Week Ever, Awesomely Bad, and Black to the Future miniseries. She has also been seen on various programs from BET, Bravo, the Travel Channel, and the Fine Living Network.
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Paul Varghese is an American comedian and actor of Indian descent who appeared on the hit reality show Last Comic Standing. He taped his first full set for national television on March 8, 2007 for Comedy Central's Live at Gotham. He was the first ever winner of the Funniest Comedian in Texas contest.
His album, Paul and Oates, was recorded via Comedy Central Records and hit #1 on iTunes.
2019
Memphis-born comic, Nerd Culture Enthusiast, and Black Nerd Power Podcast Host, Richard Douglas Jones started performing at open mics in Memphis to recover from depression, after a succession of hapless happenings left him more than slightly misanthropic. He found deliverance in comedy and audiences found his wildly inappropriate and caustic wit hilarious. Both a nice guy and a dubious miscreant, his delivery is a mash up of incisive insights on everyday life, Nerd Culture from a Black POV, dating, sex, politics, and race. RDJ is what happens when one guy finds his tribe of weirdos and let’s his Freak Flag proudly fly!
He's frequently opened for Patton Oswalt and he's been featured on Comedy Central and Kevin Hart's LOL Network.
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KeLanna Spiller is a stand-up comedian originally from Pine Bluff, AR who currently lives in Dallas, TX. Within just a few years, Spiller has featured at the Addison and Arlington Improv with national headliners (John Henton and Robert Powell just to name a few) and was a finalist in the Funniest Comic in Texas competition hosted by the Improv Comedy Club. Spiller's high-energy storytelling and observational humor have coined her as one of Dallas’ local favorites; but she made her mark on the world in her Comedy Central television debut on Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City. Since her television debut, Spiller can be seen performing at clubs all of the world.
Martin Urbano is a hip Latino comedian/writer/satirist. He has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central, The CW, and recently taped a set for the stand-up comedy series This Joka with Will Smith and Westbrook Studios. Martin was featured as a cast member on the National Lampoon Radio Hour reboot and was one of Vulture's Comics to Watch in 2019. Martin has also opened for Chris Kattan.
A father of two and disappointment to many, Barry Whitewater is late to the arena of stand-up, but trying to make up for it. His topics cover suburban life, debt, raising kids and the not living up to his wife's very low expectations. Barry has performed in the Dallas Comedy and East Texas Comedy Festivals. He’s done comedy at both Improv and Hyena’s Comedy Clubs. Most weekends he can be found on stage at the Backdoor Comedy club in Dallas.
Jasmine Ellis is a Stand-Up Comedian, Entertainment Journalist, and podcast host from Arlington, Texas. Jasmine tours colleges and clubs nationally and has been featured at over a dozen of the Top comedy festivals including Moontower, 10,000 Laughs, Limestone, and Black Girl Giggles. Her Debut comedy Album Trashbaby went #1 on iTunes and has been featured on the " best comedy album by comedians you haven’t heard of" Playlist on Spotify. Jasmine was honored as a Comedian to watch on the Whohaha Women in comedy forum and her comedy special Nobody’s Queen was awarded NPR's Bullseye Comedy Album of the Year, and is available to watch now on Amazon Prime and the Drybar comedy app.
