Hop For Pop
Press Kit
Stand-up · Musical comedy · Impressions · Sketch
Leah Knauer
A Philadelphia-born, Los Angeles-based comic who roasts the front row, makes up songs about the audience, and tweeted at Kevin Smith for 278 days until she was in his film.
Based
Los Angeles, from Philadelphia
Stand-up since
Age 19, in Los Angeles
Known for
Musical stand-up and parody songs · celebrity impressions · young Nikki Glaser on Not Safe with Nikki Glaser · Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
Interview
Hop For Pop · 2026
“If I’m having fun, the crowd is having fun.”
Leah Knauer — Hop For Pop
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Biography
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Leah Knauer is a stand-up comedian, impressionist, musical improviser, sketch writer and actor. She grew up in Philadelphia, moved to Los Angeles to act, and started stand-up at 19 so she could perform every night instead of waiting for auditions.
Her first TV booking was playing a college-age Nikki Glaser on Comedy Central’s Not Safe with Nikki Glaser. She tweeted at Kevin Smith for 278 consecutive days and was cast in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. She has opened for Arsenio Hall, performs with Sebastian Maniscalco, writes sketches for Ron Funches in the Funch Bunch, and interned in the talent and monologue departments at Conan.
Her sets mix roast humour, crowd work, impressions, parody songs and songs improvised about the audience. Her celebrity impressions video has around 4 million views. She co-hosted the podcast Basic Witches, sells her own affirmation card decks, and will be a series regular in And Also With You, executive produced by Margaret Cho.
The part other press kits leave out
What you should know before you book her
Leah Knauer is a high-energy, musical, interactive act who wants the whole room in on the show.
She makes the crowd part of the show
She runs into the audience and improvises songs about them. “I want us all to be having fun.”
She roasts, with love
“When you come to a show, I am roasting you.” Joan Rivers is her inspiration.
She brings music to stand-up
Parody songs and musical improv give her sets a different energy. “You can feel the crowd come alive because they’re like, what’s going to happen?”
She is built for big rooms
“I’m a show girl. I love a huge sold out room.” She uses the whole stage and the aisles.
She takes direction
She started as an actor and improviser, so scripted work and notes are no problem. “I love following a storyline or giving a director different takes.”
She has range
Stand-up, impressions, sketch, musical improv and acting, plus a show about consent that she wrote to tour colleges.
For press · cleared for use with attribution
Quotable
01
“If I’m having fun, the crowd is having fun.”02
“When you come to a show, I am roasting you.”03
“I want us all to be having fun.”04
“I’m a show girl. I love a huge sold out room.”05
“It was the worst, best thing to ever happen to me, truly.”06
“You have to just be you and focus on the people that love it and not on the people that don’t.”07
“I wish life was a musical. So that’s my way of turning life into a musical.”08
“Go to live comedy, go to shows.”
Attribution: Leah Knauer, speaking to Hop For Pop, 2026.
Career
Selected credits
Television and film
- Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central — young Nikki
- Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
- And Also With You — series regular, executive produced by Margaret Cho
- Brain Games — stand-in for Meghan Trainor
Stand-up
- Opened for Arsenio Hall
- Shows with Sebastian Maniscalco
- Hollywood Improv, the Comedy Store
- The C Word: Consent — college touring show
Writing and online
- Sketch writer for Ron Funches, the Funch Bunch
- Intern, Conan — talent and monologue departments
- Co-host, Basic Witches podcast
- Celebrity impressions video, around 4 million views
- Instagram @leahknauer
This kit was produced by Hop For Pop. The interview and quotes are drawn from Hop For Pop × Leah Knauer, recorded 2026. Leah Knauer and their representatives are free to use any part of this document — the biography, the quotes — for booking, press and promotion, with credit to Hop For Pop for the interview material.
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