Iliza Vie Shlesinger (; born ) is an American comedian, actress, television host, executive producer, and screenwriter. She was the 2008 winner of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large grou ...

'' and went on to host the syndicated dating show ''

Excused ''Excused'' is an American dating reality-based competition series that debuted in first-run syndication in the United States and Canada on September 12, 2011. The half-hour series is hosted by comedian Iliza Shlesinger and created by David Garfi ...

'' and the TBS game show ''

Separation Anxiety Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home and/or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment (e.g., a parent, caregiver, ...

''. In 2017, Shlesinger hosted her own late-night talk show called '' Truth & Iliza'' on Freeform. As of 2022, she has released six comedy specials on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. Her sketch comedy show '' The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show'' premiered on Netflix in April 2020.

Early life

Iliza Vie Shlesinger was born in New York City to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She was raised in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, where her family moved when she was a baby. She attended the private Greenhill School in

Addison, Texas Addison is an incorporated town in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. Addison is situated to the immediate north of the city of Dallas, with a 2020 census population of 16,661. Addison and Flower Mound were the only two Texas municipali ...

, where she studied Spanish and participated in the school's improvisation team. Shlesinger performed with

ComedySportz ComedySportz (CSz) is an improvisational comedy organization started in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of local comedians including Dick Chudnow, Bob Orvis, Brian Green, and others. Match format The traditional format of a ComedySportz ...

Dallas, and studied at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

for her freshman year. She also participated in

Semester at Sea Semester at Sea (SaS) is a study-abroad program which was founded in 1963 and managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State University is the current academic sponsor and the program is condu ...

. She transferred to

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, where she majored in film, refined her writing and editing skills, and became a member of one of the campus's comedy sketch groups, Jimmy's Traveling All Stars.

Career

After graduating from college, Shlesinger moved to Los Angeles to pursue

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

. She was one of the most popular members of the Whiteboy Comedy group of standup comedians in Los Angeles, which brought her to the stage at

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1 ...

in Hollywood. In 2007, Shlesinger won Myspace's ''So You Think You're Funny'' contest and has been featured as the G4 network's ''Myspace Girl of the Week''. Her television credits include

E! Network E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUnive ...

's ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

Celebrity 100'',

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

's ''America's Next Top Producer'', Comedy Central Presents Season 14 Episode 18, ''

John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show ''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'' is a stand-up comedy television series that aired on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by British-American comedian John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-America ...

'',

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable s ...

's ''

Comics Unleashed ''Comics Unleashed'' is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company (formerly CF Entertainment) and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and DJ Cobra or sometimes DJ A1 providing music ...

'', and

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

's ''History of a Joke''. She has written for

Heavy.com Heavy is a news aggregation platform based in New York City. It operates through its flagship website, Heavy.com, and Spanish-language platform, AhoraMismo.com. The website specializes in "5 Fast Facts" posts, which aggregate facts about trending ...

and had her own show on GOTV's mobile network. In 2008, Shlesinger became the first woman, and the youngest, winner of

's ''

'', in the series' sixth season. She was twice selected by other comedians to compete in the head-to-head eliminations, winning each time. She appeared in The Last Comic Standing Tour. Shlesinger worked with

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series '' Lewi ...

to contribute to ''Surviving the Holidays'', a

holiday special, and narrated the 2009 documentary ''Imagine It!² The Power of Imagination''. In 2010, she released an on-demand comedy video, ''Man Up and Act Like a Lady'', and an on-demand comedy album, ''iliza LIVE'', on her website, via The ConneXtion. Around the time of these releases, Shlesinger appeared in a business comedy video series for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. Shlesinger hosted ''The Weakly News'' on TheStream.tv from July 2007 to April 2012. She also hosted ''

'', a syndicated American reality-based dating competition series, which ran from 2011 to 2013. She co-starred in the 2013 film ''

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...

''. She began a podcast called ''Truth and Iliza'' in August 2014. Featuring celebrity guests and personal friends, the semi-weekly podcast is a forum for discussing matters which bother her and those on the show, with a punk theme song performed by Being Mean to Pixley. Shlesinger was comic co-host of '' StarTalk Radio Show'' with

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...

for season 7, episode 12 titled ''Cosmic Queries: Galactic Grab Bag'' on May 20, 2016. On July 13, 2016, the ABCdigital original short-form digital comedy series ''Forever 31'', which was created by, written by, executive produced by, and starring Shlesinger was released. A late night show for Shlesinger was placed into development in September 2016 for the cable channel Freeform. '' Truth & Iliza'' began airing on May 2, 2017, and ran for six episodes. On November 7, 2017, Weinstein Books published Shlesinger's book ''Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity'' with an introduction by Mayim Bialik. In December 2017, it was reported Shlesinger was sued by a man who was denied admission to one of her girls-only shows. The initial complaint was dismissed and then refiled as a class action suit.

Netflix

Shlesinger's first comedy album and video, ''War Paint'', was recorded on December 1, 2012, at The Lakewood Theater in Dallas, Texas, and released on

on September 1, 2013. Her second stand-up special, ''Freezing Hot,'' was recorded in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and premiered on Netflix on January 23, 2015. Her third Netflix stand-up special, titled ''Confirmed Kills'', was recorded at

The Vic Theatre The Vic Theatre is a music venue located in Chicago, Illinois. Vic Theatre can easily accommodate 1,400 people or with a seated capacity of 1,000. History Vic Theatre, designed by architect John Eberson, opened in 1912 as the Victoria Theatre. It ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and premiered on Netflix on September 23, 2016. Her fourth Netflix stand-up special, ''Elder Millennial'', was recorded aboard , at the USS ''Hornet'' Sea, Air & Space Museum in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for " tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda Island, but also spans Bay Farm Island and Coast Guard Island, as we ...

on February 23, 2018, and premiered on Netflix on July 24, 2018. Her fifth Netflix stand-up special, ''Unveiled'' was recorded in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

and premiered on Netflix on Nov 19, 2019. Shlesinger also stars in the March 2020 Netflix film ''

Spenser Confidential ''Spenser Confidential'' is a 2020 American action comedy film directed by Peter Berg and with a screenplay written by Sean O'Keefe and Brian Helgeland. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Iliza Shlesinger, Bokeem Woodbine, Do ...

'' and '' The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show'', which premiered April 1, 2020. Shlesinger intentionally hired a diverse team of writers so her sketches would appeal to a racially diverse audience, also intending her comedy was not "just for women." Released on Netflix on January 7, 2021, following its world premiere on September 4, 2020, at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, Shlesinger played Anita Weiss in '' Pieces of a Woman'', the sister to Martha, the main character. She starred, wrote, and executive produced the romantic comedy film '' Good on Paper'', which premiered on Netflix on June 23, 2021. Her sixth stand-up comedy special ''Iliza Shlesinger: Hot Forever'' premiered on Netflix in October 2022.

Personal life

On May 12, 2018, Shlesinger married chef Noah Galuten in a Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles. They had a daughter in 2022.

Works

Comedy specials

Series

Film

References

External links

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Iliza Shlesinger
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shlesinger, Iliza 1983 births Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American screenwriters People from Dallas Comedians from New York City Comedians from Texas Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Texas Actresses from New York City Actresses from Dallas American television actresses American film actresses American sketch comedians American stand-up comedians American television writers American women screenwriters American women comedians American women television writers Jewish American actresses Jewish American female comedians Greenhill School alumni Emerson College alumni University of Kansas alumni American feminists Last Comic Standing winners United Service Organizations entertainers