Esther Ku is smart, funny, adorable, diverse and a comic to watch. Ku was selected as one of the ten best diverse comedians for the 2006 NBC Stand-up for Diversity Showcase, has performed in the hit comedy Shear Madness, the longest-running non-musical play in American theatre history, and is seen on this season's Last Comic Standing.
Esther Ku is the first Ku in her family who didn't need a green card. She was born in Chicago a couple years after her parents immigrated from South Korea as missionaries thinking they were pioneers in "bringing Jesus to America." Ku often wondered why her family traveled so far to bring Jesus to a country that already sells him on endcaps in K-Mart.
At the age of 3, she picked up the violin. Ten minutes later, she put it down and told her parents it was too Asian. So she ventured towards stand-up comedy with an auspicious debut as the emcee of her 8th grade talent show. Growing up in a rowdy house of five kids with a mother who didn't allow her daughters to talk to boys inspired Ku. She began to fill her notebooks with jokes instead of math equations.
Ku officially began her stand-up career in Boston where she shared the stage with Doug Stanhope, Steven Wright, Jonathan Katz, and Teddy Bergeron. She now resides in Brooklyn and travels the country entertaining audiences with her all-American bratty charm. Her delightful demeanor and deadpan observational humor incite hysteria wherever she goes.
