4 on-the-rise Chicago comedians you should know before they blow up

Being alive today can be exhausting, but at least we have Victoria Vincent to make us laugh about it. The Chicago comic and healthcare worker has a knack for shifting a crowd’s energy from quiet and eager to be wowed to giddy with the kind of laughs that rumble around in your belly until the end of the show. Some of her best work revolves around formative experiences like beefing with her boss and growing up as the daughter of a rich surgeon (something she says is her greatest accomplishment). The many white kids around her were surprised to learn that she read and wrote Good Charlotte (yes, the early-2000s band of brothers) fan fiction until the ripe age of 27. Her comical deadpan approach to topics that conjure dread and discomfort offers a refreshing reprieve from life’s unrelenting absurdities. 

What’s the funniest thing about your life right now?

That I keep telling myself I’m going to be a better comedian/writer, or even just a better person, once I declutter my home. I have a joke that’s like, “I have a new version of the TV show Scared Straight: you just bring your kids to my apartment and say, ‘This is what it looks like if you think you’re going to be an artist.’ Very Miss Havisham, very Grey Gardens. Also, Facebook Marketplace selling will be the death of me, but in 2040, when I finally finish the declutter, that’s when people will know my name.

The one joke that always lands: “I’m keto, which is the opposite of Fight Club; you can’t shut the fuck up about it. I was at an appointment the other day, and I was like I’m keto and he was like, ‘Ma’am, this is an oil change’.” I think that lands a lot because everyone has that friend that can’t stop talking about a new diet or exercise regimen they are trying to implement. I don’t stop talking about being keto, my sister doesn’t stop talking about CrossFit, and my brother doesn’t stop talking about anime. It’s a very fun group chat where we annoy one another about our hyperfixations of the year.

Catch the live taping of Victoria Vincent’s debut comedy album at the Hideout in November, and follow her on Instagram.

As a native Coloradan, Chris Higgins fits the part with a scruffy beard and long locks, usually rocking a beanie or flat-brimmed hat, and a very public love of marijuana. These days, the Chicago-based comedian performs stand-up across the country (and sometimes across the pond) with astute bits, like why cops should be required to smoke weed and his fantasy of being treated like a British lord should he ever become a landlord. Offstage, he hosts a podcast called Buddy System with similarly macho Matty Ryan. Despite his tall stature and cool-guy persona, Higgins is, as he recently put it during a show, a golden retriever at heart. After all, he has a cat, whom he believes is the reincarnation of Severus Snape actor Alan Rickman.

What’s the funniest thing about your life right now?

As a comedian? My life? [It’s] only funny. I wake up. Immediately: pratfalls, pranks and high jinks. I’m clowning, slapping stick (don’t be gross) and doing wacky voices. People love to hang out with me. 

The one joke that always lands: Most of my jokes take place on land, yes. I have one that’s about whale watching. So that’s definitely the one that doesn’t land. Oh, and a couple are in the sky. Sheesh, I’d say a bunch aren’t land-based, if you think about it. So, maybe that joke about stoned cops? That one always lands. Except if they were boat cops or in a helicopter. 

Catch Chris Higgins on tour now through early next year, and follow him on Instagram and TikTok.

Hannah Magy kind of does it all. Whether it’s improv at Chicago’s legendary iO Theater, sketch at Second City or uncannily spot-on impressions of Lois Griffin on TikTok, she’s a true powerhouse performer. Oh, and she dances, acts and sings in a comedy duo dubbed Jaffe & Magy with her friend Rebecca Jaffe. Aside from her hilarious takes on navigating life as a redhead and self-deprecating jokes about her parents’ divorce, her popular series of short-form videos personifying obscure inanimate objects—from Chicago streets and restaurant groups to instruments and mashed potatoes—has earned her nearly four million likes on TikTok.

What’s the funniest thing about your life right now?

I’ve developed stupid autoimmune issues because (drumroll) I’m a little bit inbred. I think that’s pretty funny! Like who on earth would EVER want to bang their cousin? Unfortunately, my great-great-grandparents. Sigh. HAHA (please laugh so I don’t cry).

The one joke that always lands: It’s not a joke, but my burlesque character, Lucy Deucy, brings the house down. She’s a frisky dominatrix with a transatlantic accent and a penchant for eating poop. Fake poop, of course, lovingly fashioned out of brownies and Tootsie Rolls by me. During the act, I’m dressed in a corset and fishnet tights. One of my favorite bits is saying, “Now, I bet you’re wondering, ‘How does she shit with the tights on?’ Well, it’s very simple. It just comes out like Play-Doh spaghetti.” It always gets a groan from the audience. The whole act was inspired by someone telling me they didn’t think a poop joke could be funny!

Catch Hannah Magy weekly on Fridays at iO Theater and at The Den in October, and you can follow her on Instagram.

Much of Chicago comedian Sam Rocha’s work centers around saying the quiet part out loud. Her sketches, which have earned her a substantial Instagram following, often depict the anxiety-induced—and in some cases, completely impossible—situations that we’re embarrassed to admit we overthink and worry about anyway, like whether we accidentally packed a bomb in our carry-on or whether the DMV might issue all transgender people IDs with a generic photo of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Rocha is also a cast member at indie venue the Lincoln Lodge and a producer of the recurring (and aptly named) stand-up show Nervous Laughter. On stage, Rocha is instantly able to channel a character and mood that make jokes viscerally evocative and ridiculously funny, like her bit about the stereotypical depiction of the wife of an astronaut in film that we all recognize but never thought to call out.

What’s the funniest thing about your life right now?

How confused people think I am due to my videos where I play very confused characters. It’s hilarious, and I welcome it! The other night, when I walked into the Lincoln Lodge, a new doorperson said to me, “I recognized you as the confused customer… but then you knew where to go!” They were shocked. But much of the time I can be genuinely confused in new places. I had a moment the other night where I was in the green room of a comedy club, and I started exploring the backstage area, and one thing led to another, and I found myself behind their bar. Yet no actual customers thought I worked there; all one of them said was, “Do you need some help?”

The one joke that always lands: “I’m transgender… but you should see the other guy!” It’s a one-liner that really makes no sense at all if you think about it, but it seems to delight both queer and straight audiences. I think because it’s taking a topic that people find so charged and gravely serious right now and making it absolutely silly and nonsensical.

Catch Sam Rocha monthly in the Nervous Laughter Comedy Show at the Lincoln Lodge, and follow her on Instagram and TikTok.