Laurie Kilmartin
A weary late-night writer turning catastrophic life events into pristine jokes.
3 specials · 2001–2024
Start with 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad, the breakout (2016 · 61 min · Seeso)
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Laurie Kilmartin stands behind the mic and goes straight to work. She delivers jokes with a weary, practiced efficiency, using the clipped cadence of a late-night monologue writer. There are no sprawling anecdotes or theatrical act-outs. She sets up a premise, usually something bleak about aging, single motherhood, or the physical deterioration of her parents, and hits the punchline, then immediately moves to the next setup. She looks mildly irritated by the world, treating catastrophic life events like bureaucratic annoyances.
Specials
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A dry, cynical set about grief, aging, and political outrage.
Prime Video · 61 min
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A countdown-structured hour of gallows humor about losing a parent.
Seeso · 61 min
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Premium Blend: David Alan Grier (S5E8) with David Alan Grier, Judah Friedlander & 2 more
Four completely different comedy trajectories share a single 2001 television block.
Comedy Central · 25 min
On stage
Through her long-running podcast with Jackie Kashian, she acts as a kind of union rep for the working road comic. She talks plainly about the unglamorous realities of club gigs and the daily maintenance of a career. On stage, she strips joke writing down to its studs. Peers watch her to see how a professional builds a set without wasting a single syllable.
When she talks about losing her parents, she bypasses sentiment completely, choosing instead to locate the pettiest, most selfish angles of the grieving process. She builds tension simply by stating the most terrible thought in the room in an ordinary speaking voice. Because the jokes arrive so densely, audiences sometimes scramble to keep up, but she rarely pauses to let them catch their breath.
Kilmartin started in the Bay Area in the late eighties and spent eleven years writing for Conan. That daily late-night grind is visible in her rhythm. She does not wait for applause breaks. She just reloads.
Turning points
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Live-Tweeting Her Father's Hospice Journey
Kilmartin used Twitter as an open mic to post real-time gallows humor during her father's 10 days in hospice care, generating widespread attention and establishing the material for her landmark debut special.
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Release of 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad
After nearly three decades in stand-up, Kilmartin released her first hour special on Seeso to widespread critical acclaim, earning spots on year-end best-of lists from Vulture, Paste, and Splitsider.
At a glance
- Born
- , San Jose, California
- On stage
- since 1987
- Style
- dark comedy, one liner, observational, satire
- Breakout
- 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
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Jackie KashianAs Kilmartin's longtime co-host on The Jackie and Laurie Show, Kashian shares a 1980s stand-up lineage, veteran road comic perspective, and deep comedic chemistry.
Podcasts
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The Jackie and Laurie Show · co-host
Two veteran comedy headliners talk about women and comedy, road stories, late-night writing, and the stand-up industry without guests.
Also on screen
- Gutsy
A clip to start with
Laurie Kilmartin On What It's Like To Date As A Single Parent | CONAN on TBS