Jann Karam
A veteran comic who treats everyday annoyances with quiet exasperation.
1 special · 1991
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Jann Karam approaches the microphone with the quiet frustration of someone recounting a mildly irritating phone call. She does not yell or pace. Instead, she stands still and lets the absurdity of an observation do the work, delivering her setups in a breezy, conversational register. When she talks about dating or the maddening quirks of her family, she often tilts her head, adopting a tone of quiet bewilderment. She builds her rhythm on the contrast between the mundane annoyances she describes and the cheerful detachment she uses to pull them apart.
Specials
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VH1 Stand-Up Spotlight: November 1991 episode with Lee Allan, Poppy Champlin & 4 more
A rapid-fire nineties cable television showcase featuring seven working comics.
VH1
On stage
A working veteran of the late-eighties comedy boom, she tours theaters regularly, frequently sharing bills with peers like Dana Carvey. People often recognize her face from prolific sitcom acting, most notably playing the girlfriend who never laughed on a classic episode of Seinfeld. Rather than chasing viral algorithms or pivoting to shock value, she continues to perform the kind of joke-dense observational standup that earned her early spots on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and David Letterman’s desk.
She builds her sets around hyper-specific domestic irritations. She will map out the exact details of shopping for clothes in Hollywood or dissecting a mother’s passive-aggressive compliment. Her bits incorporate subtle act-outs. She slips into original characters for just a few seconds to populate a story before snapping back to her baseline exasperation.
Before moving to Chicago to study at Second City, she began her standup career performing at a Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona. She tested out her first material there, earning a wage of one chimichanga per joke.
At a glance
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