Sarah Tollemache
Delivers tight punchlines with the cadence of an exhausted sigh.
3 specials · 2020–2024
Start with Voluptuous Boy, the breakout (2020 · YouTube)
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Sarah Tollemache works from a posture of mild defeat. She rarely yells. Instead, she approaches the microphone like someone who just remembered an annoying errand, dropping her voice into a murmur right when the joke lands. A typical bit involves her talking through a mundane situation—shopping at a thrift store, dodging an obligation, answering a basic question—until she isolates the exact moment she chose the laziest possible option. She uses awkward pauses not to build tension, but to let her own bad decisions hang in the room before she sighs and moves to the next thought.
Specials
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YouTube · 45 min
On stage
She is a staple of the New York club circuit, specifically the Comedy Cellar. She operates in that tier of working standups who have the deep respect of their peers, consistently putting up dense, reliable sets without resorting to crowd work to fill a calendar.
Her specials, including Butthole Money, show how well she hides her mechanics. The premises sound like idle complaints, but the word economy is strict. She is particularly good at stripping the romance out of adulthood. She does not pitch herself as a victim or a hero; she frames herself as someone who is simply bad at logistics. She refuses to heighten her reactions to sell a joke. When a bit requires an act-out, she performs it with a half-hearted gesture, making her own lack of effort the actual punchline.
She started in the Houston scene before moving out East. She co-hosts the podcast Lady Journey with Katie Hannigan, bringing the same skeptical, low-energy cadence to a conversational format.
Turning points
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Release of Debut Comedy Album Voluptuous Boy
Tollemache released her debut standup comedy album recorded right before pandemic lockdowns, which reached #1 on iTunes.
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Husband-Wife Comedy Central Roast Battle
Tollemache faced off against her husband Joe List on Comedy Central's Roast Battle, roasting each other as a married couple.
At a glance
- Style
- observational, dark comedy
- Breakout
- Voluptuous Boy
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia, YouTube
Fans also like
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Joe ListAs husband and wife and veteran NYC club comics, they share an anxious, sharp observational sensibility and frequently collaborate across films, podcasts, and roasts.
Podcasts
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Lady Journey · co-host
A female-driven lifestyle podcast exploring fashion, skincare, city survival, and pop culture.
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Vadge · co-host
A weekly comedy podcast co-hosted by Sarah Tollemache.
Also on screen
- You and Your Fucking Coffee
- Pop Meets the Void
- Punching Henry
- Fourth of July
A clip to start with
Onlyfans, having a little boy, mental illness | Sarah Tollemache | Standup Comedy