Adam Friedland, Kyle Gordon, Wally Baram, Usama Siddiquee and more honorees will perform at a New York Comedy Festival showcase on Nov. 12.
\n\nSince the turn of the century, Variety has scoped out the next generation of comedy stars through our annual 10 Comics to Watch franchise. The inaugural lineup in 2000 included future industry favorites Zach Galifianakis, Maria Bamford, Patton Oswalt and Louis C.K. And 15 years later, this magazine identified Nate Bargatze and Nikki Glaser as burgeoning comedy titans — now, they are two of the top-selling stand-ups in the world. Over the years, Wanda Sykes, Fred Armisen, Dane Cook and Michael Che have been named Comics to Watch, as well as more recent breakouts Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Einbinder, Caleb Hearon and Julio Torres.
\n\nThe comedy industry is bigger than ever in 2026, and this year’s list represents the bold breadth of those currently making us laugh, from slacker-provocateur talk show host Adam Friedland to the musical satirist Kyle Gordon, who has been dubbed the “Millennial ‘Weird Al.’” Some stand-ups are straddling the stage and the small screen, like “Overcompensating” star Wally Baram, while others like Lucas Zelnick have built huge online followings off viral crowd-work clips.
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Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/