IRENE TU
Irene Tu got into comedy for two simple reasons. “A girl I liked in high school told me I was funny,” she says. “And also, I was a huge fan of Ellen.” The Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian and actor, who “honed her chops” in San Francisco, has come a long way from teen crush compliments and DeGeneres fandom. In March, her first comedy album, We’re Done Now, debuted at #1 on the iTunes comedy charts, and Paste magazine praised her “quick wit, relaxed stage presence, and hilariously off-the-wall observations.” Tu was also named one of Vulture’s “Comedians You Should and Will Know” and The San Francisco Chronicle called her an “artist on the brink of fame.” She’s opened for Patton Oswalt and Taylor Tomlinson and her recent Stand-Up Featuring set is the most-watched reel on Comedy Central’s Stand-Up’s Instagram, with over 2.7 million views. Tu’s secret to success: being her queer self. “I talk a lot about being a woman and LGBTQ+ in my stand-up because that’s how I move through life and it affects how people interact with me,” she says. “I have to address my look at the beginning of my set so people are on board for the rest of what I want to talk about.” A surprising fact about Tu: “I love to drink whole milk,” she confesses. “I’m still waiting for ‘Got Milk?’ to call me to do an ad for them.”
