Mike Lebovitz | |
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![]() Lebovitz in 2010 | |
Born | 1979 or 1980 (age 43–44)[1] Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
Years active | 2002-present |
Known for | Comedians You Should Know |
Website | mikelebovitz.net |
Mike Lebovitz is an American stand-up comedian from Chicago now living in New York. He is a co-founding member of the Comedians You Should Know collective,[2] a nationally known group based in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Sean Ely of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Lebovitz "has helped define the stand-up comedy scene in Chicago."[3]
His 2021 solo comedy album, Two Slob Household, released on Stand Up! Records, reached No. 2 on the iTunes comedy chart.[4] Comedians You Should Know's self-titled 2011 group album reached No. 1 on the iTunes comedy chart.[5]
Lebovitz began performing improv sketch comedy in 2002, working with both Improv Olympics and The Second City. He moved into solo stand-up comedy in 2007.[6][7] He is a co-founder, host and producer of Comedians You Should Know, which formed in 2008 in Chicago.[6][8] In 2015, Lebovitz moved to New York,[9] where he started a new offshoot of Comedians You Should Know the following year.[10] (A Los Angeles chapter of CYSK was also formed in 2015.)[11][12]
Lebovitz's comic style is often self-deprecating[13] and was described by the Chicago Tribune as "a giant, lovable ball of energy,"[14] and "focused yet silly" by Cincinnati CityBeat.[8] He tends to avoid politics in favor of observational comedy and stories from his life as a married father of three children.[7][14][15]
Lebovitz was named one of Chicago's best comics in 2014 by Chicago magazine.[1]
In 2015, Lebovitz performed on season 9 of the NBC series Last Comic Standing.[16][7] He also appeared in a 2018 episode of HBO's The Deuce,[17] After After Party,[18] and the 2009 webseries Assisted Living.[19]
Lebovitz won the international competition at the 2013 Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland, an offshoot of the Montreux Jazz Festival.[20] He has performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival,[21] Tig Notaro's Bentzen Ball,[22][23] Montreal's Just For Laughs,[24][25][7] and the Brooklyn Comedy Festival.[26]
Lebovitz's album Two Slob Household was recorded in 2014 in Chicago[3] and released on Stand Up! Records in 2021. It features album-cover artwork by Tom Bunk of Mad Magazine and Garbage Pail Kids.[15] Reviewing it for the publication ChicagoNow, Teme Ring wrote that "Mike Lebovitz proves that the year is just getting better."[17] Devin Keast of the podcast Small Tea gave a positive review of the album, saying "It feels like a party. It's warm, it's fun."[27]
Lebovitz hosts two podcasts: Mike Lebovitz Top Secret Underground Podcast, a solo comedy podcast,[28] and The Comedian and the Philosopher, a podcast about philosophical issues co-hosted with Duncan Gale.[29]
Lebovitz grew up on the south side of Chicago in the Hyde Park neighborhood. His father is a mathematician. He is married with three children and lives in upstate New York.[30] He is half Jewish.[13]