Every year around this time the folks at Variety announce their 10 Comics To Watch. It's a list of up-an-coming comedians at the early stages of their career. Some are just starting to get TV credits, some might've just put out a comedy album or half hour special. The point of the list is for the magazine to name 10 comedians they feel are poised to have a pretty great year. The honorees are celebrated at the annual Just For Laughs festival in Montreal at the end of July with a reception for the winners and a stand-up comedy showcase. This year is a good mix of great stand-ups, awesome writers, a correspondent from The Daily Show, two Saturday Night Live writers, and a producer of a documentary that took on the subtle racism of a beloved Simpsons character.
Joel Kim Booster – Booster recently released the comedy album Model Minority and a Comedy Central Half Hour. He’s appeared on Conan and Comedy Knockout and written for Billy on the Street.
Darren Knight – Knight’s character Southern Momma has more than half a 750M views across multiple social media platforms and has played 175 shows and sold over 200K tickets in under two years. A Documentary about his rapid rise to stardom Southern Momma: The Darren Knight Story is currently available on Amazon and iTunes.
Sam Jay – Currently a writer on Saturday Night Live, Jay has been seen in the series Nobodies and on Jimmy Kimmel Live” Last year she released her Comedy Central Half Hour and will star on The Comedy Lineup coming to Netflix next week. Her debut stand-up album Donna’s Daughter will be released on Comedy Central Records this summer.
Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle - Hulu just ordered 10 episodes of PEN15 starring the duo (who also co-created with Sam Zvibleman.) Erskine will next be seen in the films Wine Country with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey and Plus One. As an actress, Konkle has been seen on Shameless and Man Seeking Woman.
Hari Kondabolu – Already winning accolades for his documentary The Problem with Apu, his stand-up special Warn Your Relatives is now on Netflix. He also co-hosts the podcasts The Bugle and The Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Podcast.
Amanda Seales – Seales is the creator and host of the live game show Smart, Funny & Black, which will be going on tour this year. She appears on Insecure and recently appeared on Black-ish and lent her voice to Animals.
Dulcé Sloan – Sloan joined The Daily Show as a correspondent last year and has quickly become a fan favorite. She’s previously appeared on Conan and Comedy Knockout.
Taylor Tomlinson – Tomlinson began performing stand-up at age 16 and has appeared on Last Comic Standing, Conan and Last Call with Carson Daly. She recently sold a show based loosely on her life to ABC and appear on The Comedy Lineup on Netflix next week.
Julio Torres - A writer on Saturday Night Live, Torres is responsible for the "Melania Moments” digital shorts, among others (like "Papyrus"). He’s been seen on The Tonight Show and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Jaboukie Young-White – A writer on Big Mouth and American Vandal, Young-White has been seen on The Tonight Show and in the movies Rough Night and Set It Up.