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Event Program
THUR, JUN 5
FEATURING
LeClerc Andre, Kunal C. Arora, Ariel Elias,
Mia Jackson, Matt Koff, & Jenny Zigrino
Hosted by Ophira Eisenberg
Tag us on Instagram @symphonyspace to be featured!
LeClerc Andre is a stand-up comedian from New York who is quickly building a name for himself. His quick wit and charm can be seen dazzling clubs and colleges across the country. He was recently featured at Just For Laughs Comedy Festival as one of the New Faces of Comedy, which quickly spring-boarded him into his TV network debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as on NBC’s Bring the Funny. He recorded his first comedy album, I am LeClerc, live at New York Comedy Club, and it was released in January 2023. Make sure to keep an eye out for this hilarious budding star.
LeClerc Andre is a stand-up comedian from New York who is quickly building a name for himself. His quick wit and charm can be seen dazzling clubs and colleges across the country. He was recently featured at Just For Laughs Comedy Festival as one of the New Faces of Comedy, which quickly spring-boarded him into his TV network debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as on NBC’s Bring the Funny. He recorded his first comedy album, I am LeClerc, live at New York Comedy Club, and it was released in January 2023. Make sure to keep an eye out for this hilarious budding star.
Kunal C. Arora is a New York–based comedian. His screen credits include Laughs, New York's Funniest, The Guest List, and he was a semi-finalist for NBC's Standup for Diversity. He was also part of the viral web series and advertisement campaign for Optimum’s The UnMovers, and his first full nationally televised comedy set for Gotham Comedy Live aired on AXS TV in 2017. Arora performs stand-up at comedy clubs and festivals from coast to coast, and his comedy album, Draw 4, debuted in 2020.
Kunal C. Arora is a New York–based comedian. His screen credits include Laughs, New York's Funniest, The Guest List, and he was a semi-finalist for NBC's Standup for Diversity. He was also part of the viral web series and advertisement campaign for Optimum’s The UnMovers, and his first full nationally televised comedy set for Gotham Comedy Live aired on AXS TV in 2017. Arora performs stand-up at comedy clubs and festivals from coast to coast, and his comedy album, Draw 4, debuted in 2020.
Ariel Elias was named a New Face in Comedy at the 2021 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. She made her late-night debut in 2022 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and has also appeared on Good Morning America, Sherri, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, and performs live from coast to coast in the United States and Canada.
Ariel Elias was named a New Face in Comedy at the 2021 Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. She made her late-night debut in 2022 on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and has also appeared on Good Morning America, Sherri, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, and performs live from coast to coast in the United States and Canada.
Mia Jackson was named a New Face in Comedy by the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, and Atlanta's Creative Loafing named her the Critic's Choice Best Stand-Up in the city in 2017. On screen, Jackson has appeared on NickMom Night Out, Viceland, Comedy Central's This Week at the Comedy Cellar, and she was a semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing. Her Comedy Central half hour special debuted in November 2019, and in 2021, she performed voiceover work as the narrator of My Celebrity Dream Wedding on VH1. Jackson has toured nationally with Amy Schumer and is a featured comic at festivals and clubs across the country, and recently served as a writer for Life & Beth and I Love Us.
Mia Jackson was named a New Face in Comedy by the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, and Atlanta's Creative Loafing named her the Critic's Choice Best Stand-Up in the city in 2017. On screen, Jackson has appeared on NickMom Night Out, Viceland, Comedy Central's This Week at the Comedy Cellar, and she was a semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing. Her Comedy Central half hour special debuted in November 2019, and in 2021, she performed voiceover work as the narrator of My Celebrity Dream Wedding on VH1. Jackson has toured nationally with Amy Schumer and is a featured comic at festivals and clubs across the country, and recently served as a writer for Life & Beth and I Love Us.
Matt Koff is an Emmy-winning television writer and stand-up comic. His writing credits include The Daily Show, The Onion News Network, and the 2022 White House Correspondents Association Dinner. As a stand-up, he has appeared on screen in House Party on Comedy Central and I Love the 1880s on The History Channel, and has toured with John Oliver, Michael Ian Black, and Bo Burnham.
Matt Koff is an Emmy-winning television writer and stand-up comic. His writing credits include The Daily Show, The Onion News Network, and the 2022 White House Correspondents Association Dinner. As a stand-up, he has appeared on screen in House Party on Comedy Central and I Love the 1880s on The History Channel, and has toured with John Oliver, Michael Ian Black, and Bo Burnham.
Jenny Zigrino's newest comedy special, Jen-Z, premiered on Comedy Central Digital in 2023. Her screen credits include Bad Santa 2, Too Late, After Midnight, and Don't Tell Comedy, and she has performed stand-up on Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden. In 2016, she was named a New Face in Comedy at the Just for Laughs Festival. Zigrino performs live from coast to coast, and has headlined festivals including the Moontower Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, and High Plains Comedy Festival.
Jenny Zigrino's newest comedy special, Jen-Z, premiered on Comedy Central Digital in 2023. Her screen credits include Bad Santa 2, Too Late, After Midnight, and Don't Tell Comedy, and she has performed stand-up on Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden. In 2016, she was named a New Face in Comedy at the Just for Laughs Festival. Zigrino performs live from coast to coast, and has headlined festivals including the Moontower Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival, and High Plains Comedy Festival.
Ophira Eisenberg is a stand-up comedian, writer, and host of the award-winning comedy podcast Parenting Is a Joke. She also hosted NPR’s Ask Me Another, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Awkwafina, Roxane Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, and more. She’s appeared multiple times on CBS’s The Late Late Show, Sherri! with Sherri Sheppard, Comedy Central, HBO, The New Yorker Festival, and is regular on The Moth Radio Hour. Her stories are included in three of The Moth’s best-selling collections. Her memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, was optioned for a TV series, and her comedy special Plant-Based Jokes is streaming on YouTube. Eisenberg is a regular at The Comedy Cellar and other New York clubs, and her solo show, Leaving a Mark: A Comedy About Scars, made its Off-Broadway debut to rave reviews and won the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts.
Ophira Eisenberg is a stand-up comedian, writer, and host of the award-winning comedy podcast Parenting Is a Joke. She also hosted NPR’s Ask Me Another, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Awkwafina, Roxane Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, and more. She’s appeared multiple times on CBS’s The Late Late Show, Sherri! with Sherri Sheppard, Comedy Central, HBO, The New Yorker Festival, and is regular on The Moth Radio Hour. Her stories are included in three of The Moth’s best-selling collections. Her memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, was optioned for a TV series, and her comedy special Plant-Based Jokes is streaming on YouTube. Eisenberg is a regular at The Comedy Cellar and other New York clubs, and her solo show, Leaving a Mark: A Comedy About Scars, made its Off-Broadway debut to rave reviews and won the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts.
Uptown Showdown is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Seedlings Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Susan Bay Nimoy, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, PECO Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, Michael Tuch Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, and The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Society of North America.
This program is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Artistic Director (1990-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1990)
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Senior Producer of Literary Programs
Mary Shimkin Director of Broadcast & Literary Initiatives
Matthew Love Consultant for Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Program Associate
Leigh Reid Literary Intern
Mia Testa Literary Intern
*in memoriam