Line-Up | planocomedyfestival

Official 2025 Festival Line-Up

We have over 100 comics performing on this year's Plano Comedy Festival! And our talent line-up is bigger and better than ever!

Alfred Kainga is a talented acclaimed Zimbabwean-born comedian based in the United States, celebrated for his engaging stand-up comedy performances. Kainga swiftly ascended in the comedy world, securing a Semi-Finalist position in the 2014 Shaq All-Star Comedy Competition and subsequently achieving Finalist status in the Funniest Comic in Texas Competition in 2014 and 2016. His breakthrough television debut in 2016 on Comedy Central’s “Hart of the City,” hosted by Kevin Hart, served as a pivotal moment in his career. Notably, Kainga graced the Chad Prather Comedy Shootout on RideTv in 2018, solidifying his standing in the entertainment industry.

Kainga has garnered acclaim as the first and only African comic to be featured at the Apollo for three consecutive years. Kainga also won the prestigious 2023 USA Breakout Comedian of the Year award.

Kainga has been celebrated for his remarkable talent in captivating audiences with his wit and charm. He often crafts comedic material from his experiences and keen observations, resonating with a wide array of people. His contributions have made a significant impact on the comedy scene, both in Zimbabwe and on an international scale. This biography provides a detailed overview of Alfred Kainga’s career, awards and personal life.

Most of America knows Andy Huggins from his standout appearance on America’s Got Talent in 2018. We all gasped a little when Howie Mandell recognized him from their days starting out together at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

Andy Huggins is a 45-year veteran of stand-up comedy. He was, along with Bill Hicks, Ron Shock and others, one of the original Texas Outlaw Comics, a group of Houston-based comedians who famously convened at Houston’s Comedy Workshop in the 1980s. Along with Huggins, the cadre included names like Ron Shock, Jimmy Pineapple, Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks. They set their own, individual legacies but as a group they helped put Houston on the comedy map.

Andy Huggins just dropped his first full-length special, Early Bird Special, which he taped at age 73.

Described by The New York Times as a “comedian,” Ashley Gutermuth is a stand-up comedian, podcast host, and actor. She appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where Jerry Seinfeld selected her as the winner of the “Seinfeld Challenge.” Ashley performs globally, with tour stops in Japan, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and even Greenland.

Her award-winning Edinburgh Fringe show, Ashley Gutermuth is Hard to Pronounce, earned a 5-star review in 2024. With over 1.9 million followers, Gutermuth regularly shares content on social media, where her videos about her life as the spouse of a U.S. military service member have amassed over 1 Billion views!

Ashley can be seen in the hit show ‘Office Joe’ on Amazon Prime.

Hailing from the Midwest and proud of it, standup and actor Chloe Radcliffe recently led The New York Times’ recommendations for the 2024 New York Comedy Festival. She was named one of Deadline’s 15 Comedians Ready To Break Out In 2025, and one of Vulture’s Comedians You Should And Will Know. So…get to knowin’ her, for chrissakes!

A daredevil cyclist in NYC, Chloe just launched a brand new interview series called In Tandem with Chloe Radcliffe, where she and another comedian ride a tandem bike together. Think, a low-rent Comedians in Cars.

Chloe sold out her full-month run of her one-woman show CHEAT at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with reviews calling it, “Hilarious and sharply-crafted” (Deadline), “Worthy of the greats like Mike Birbiglia” (Chortle), and “A new take on an old topic, with hard-hitting punchlines” (The New York Times). Chloe is currently developing CHEAT for tv.

Chloe starred in Steven Soderbergh’s COMMAND Z, and was nominated for a 2024 WGA award for her writing on the series. She has been seen on Comedy Central, Don’t Tell Comedy, and After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson. She was a staff writer on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has a comedy feature in development with Sony, and was named a TBS Comic To Watch at the New York Comedy Festival.

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. Paul Varghese's act includes a number of observations about being Indian, providing outsider-looking-in and insider-looking-out commentary, while also exploring an array of topics and issues outside that realm. He was named by the Dallas Observer in 2007 as the "Best Stand-up Comic in Dallas" and then won the 2009 "Funniest Comic in Dallas" competition. Varghese has performed at the HBO Comedy Festival, the Montreal and Toronto's Just For Laughs Festivals and the TBS Comedy Festival. His TV credits include Telemundo 2's "Loco Comedy Jam", NBC's "Last Comic Standing," Comedy Central's "Live At Gotham" and he can be seen on Showtime's "Russell Peters Presents". His latest special "As I Was Saying" is out on YouTube.

His album, Paul and Oates, was recorded via Comedy Central Records and hit #1 on iTunes.

The Magic of Eric Eaton has performed all over the United States and can be seen on the hit TV Show Masters of Illusion. Eric has won a Merlin Award (Oscar’s of Magic) for Outstanding Comedy and Magic. Eric has had the opportunity amaze celebrities such as; George Lopez, Lou Ferrigno, Russell Peters, Desiigner, and many more in which you can find on his social media platforms; @themagicofericeaton. Eric puts on a great show that earns him high praise with his unique blend of magic, charm and comedic wit. People referred to his amazing comedic tendencies and his ability with magic to being the perfect combination for a compelling and entertaining show. All of Eric’s tricks include audience members. From the show’s start to the incredible finish, audience members find themselves on stage trading barbs with Eric and having the time of their lives! The interchange is classic entertainment at its best. Be prepared to sit back and laugh at the hilarious and incredible Comedy and Magic of Eric Eaton!

When you hear Linda Stogner's act on stage, you get the sense that she lives in her own little world where common sense and normalcy don't exist. But as Joel Hodgson once said, "That's OK, they know me there."

The comic and filmmaker was born into a life of absurdity. She was brought into the world by a father who got mixed up in a Chicago crime syndicate when he had an affair with the wife of a local mob boss. When her mother left her with her father and he couldn't take care of her, his partner-in-crime brought her back to Texas where his parents raised her with a set of phony adoption papers. That sounds like the perfect resume for a budding comic but it wouldn't be fair to just call Stogner that. She's also a gifted and heartfelt storyteller.

Her storytelling skills and unique point of view have earned her comedy honors such as Funniest Comic in Texas as well as several Emmys and a Gold Hugo award for short films and documentaries she's made for KERA and the PBS series Life 360.

Karen Morgan was born and raised in Athens, Georgia but now calls Maine home. She has 2 (soon to be 3) Dry Bar Comedy Specials: Rub Some Dirt On It (2023)(Named #4 in Dry Bar Comedy’s Top 10 Clips of 2023) and Go Dawgs! (2020).

Karen was also recently featured on The Talk on CBS. Her latest audio album, Shiny Happy People Laughing, can currently be heard exclusively on Sirius XM Radio (Pure, Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, Raw & She's So Funny) Channels. Still licensed to practice law in Maine and Georgia, she lives in Cumberland, Maine, where she is an avid open water swimmer and is cold most of the year. She enjoys traveling for shows, especially to places that have a Waffle House.

Usama Siddiquee is a Bengali-American stand-up comedian and actor based in New York. He’s the kind of comic you want to follow right now, so you can totally gloat to your friends about how you were totally into him before he got huge. And then they’ll get really jealous of your impeccable foresight and superior taste.

His act is an energetic (bordering on frenetic) and intelligent (bordering on genius) romp through his own life experiences. Family! Friends! Sex! Religion! Sex with religious friends! It’s all there, and Usama slings jokes on these topics and more with rapid-fire charisma and hilarity.

And if you thought that last paragraph was self-serving, here is a shameless list of Usama’s achievements. He is on Netlifx’s Inventing Anna, HBO’s And Just Like that, Comedy Central’s Nora from Queens, and FX’s Better Things. Wow!

He released a full 30 minute special with Don’t Tell this year. He was featured on the 2020 season of America’s Got Talent. He traveled to Montreal as one of the New Faces at Just For Laughs in 2018. Shortly after he was passed at the world famous Comedy Cellar in New York. He made his standup television debut on BET's 50 Central. He has been featured on Showtime’s Desus and Mero, MTV’s News, and Bravo’s Cash Cab.

Brown Noise Comedy is your ticket to a wild mix of absurd and hilarious takes from South Asian, Arab, Persian, and other brown comedians. These comics bring the laughs with stories from their unique cultural mashups, promising a night that’s as diverse as it is ridiculous.

Headlined by Raza Jafri, s a comedian, writer, and producer based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder of East Austin Comedy Club and "Brown Noise. His comedy special "A Few Funny Ideas" was filmed live at the East Austin Comedy Club and features a variety of jokes and he's been featured in the LA Times, Austin Chronicle, and more, and he was a finalist for the 2024 Funniest Person in Austin.

Brought to you by Mind Twist Comedy, Teachers Gone Bad showcases a killer lineup of educators-turned-comedians. Whether they’re moonlighting between grading papers or crushing it full-time on the comedy circuit, these performers bring schoolyard absurdity and adult chaos together on stage. And no, this is not kid-friendly.

Expect brutally funny tales of embarrassing classroom moments, school politics, and staff room drama. But it doesn’t stop there—we go deep into the hilarious truths of family, marriage, parenthood, and life itself. Nearly every Teachers Gone Bad show has been sold out—teachers show up for one reason: to hear the jokes they wish they could say out loud on campus. With former teachers leading the charge, it’s a full-on catharsis, no punches pulled, and absolutely NO FEAR of HR. Because, honestly, what are they going to do? Fire us twice?

If you're ready for a night of unapologetic, unfiltered, and downright wicked comedy, Teachers Gone Bad is the show you didn’t know you needed.

Headlined by Irma Ruiz,