Variety Names Its 10 Comics to Watch for 2026

Variety has named 10 Comics to Watch for 2026, and the list spans a musical satirist, a slacker-provocateur talk show host and a stand-up built on viral crowd-work clips. Kyle Gordon, dubbed the "Millennial 'Weird Al'", appears alongside "Overcompensating" star Wally Baram and online favorite Lucas Zelnick.

The franchise has run annually since 2000. Its inaugural lineup included Zach Galifianakis, Maria Bamford, Patton Oswalt and Louis C.K. In 2015 it flagged Nate Bargatze and Nikki Glaser, now two of the top-selling stand-ups in the world. Past picks also include Wanda Sykes, Fred Armisen, Dane Cook, Michael Che, Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Einbinder, Caleb Hearon and Julio Torres.

What does the 2026 list signal about comedy's direction? The industry is bigger than ever this year, Variety reports, and the honorees reflect that breadth. Adam Friedland hosts a talk show that嘉宾 Richard Kind compared, loosely, to "The Dick Cavett Show." Gordon works in song comedy. Zelnick built huge followings from crowd-work clips. Baram straddles stage and small screen.

Each comic received an endorsement from an established name, and the quotes carry real voice.

The honorees and their champions

• Wally Baram — endorsed by Benito Skinner, who cast her in "Overcompensating" after a Zoom audition and hired her for the writers' room immediately. Baram once kept a pet boa constrictor named Jersey Mike.
• Olivia Carter — championed by Nikki Glaser, who compared discovering her Instagram clips to first encountering Sarah Silverman in 2002. Carter is six years into stand-up.
• Aaron Chen — endorsed by Ali Wong, who cited his 2019 Melbourne Comedy Festival set and a YouTube special joke: "When people say let's meet for a coffee, what I'm hearing is let's go do a poo poo."
• Adam Friedland — praised by Richard Kind, who asked, repeatedly, "Who the hell is Adam Friedland?"
• Kyle Gordon — endorsed by Thomas Lennon, who cited the foam-bar anthem "Planet of the Bass" and noted Gordon has written some of the darkest comedy songs in years, including "Crawl to Me" and "I'm a Whore."
• Shapel Lacey — endorsed by Joe Dombrowski, who called him "the kindest man in comedy."
• Eilise Patton — championed by Tim Robinson: "Her ideas and characters feel so inspired and brand new."
• Usama Siddiquee — endorsed by Hasan Minhaj, who recalled Kevin Hart crowning him live on stage at the Village Underground during a "Funny AF" taping.
• Josh Ocean Thomas — praised by Morgan Jay, who met him at a Don't Tell Comedy show in Chicago and believes he has "everything it takes to be one of the top performing comics of all time."
• Lucas Zelnick — endorsed by Andrew Schulz, who praised his material on coming from money and joked that Hollywood should call him before his father makes him run the diamond mines in Botswana.

Where to see them live

All 10 will perform at a New York Comedy Festival showcase on Nov. 12 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square. Tickets are available through the New York Comedy Festival website.

The 2026 list arrives with comedy arenas fuller than at any point in the franchise's 26-year history. Whether this class produces a Bargatze-scale breakout will reveal itself on stage, on screen and, more than ever, in the crowd-work clips feeding the algorithm.