Esther Ku is a comedian, television personality and actress. Ku was a cast member on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

shows ''

Girl Code ''Girl Code'' is an American comedy television series that premiered on MTV on April 23, 2013. It is a spin-off series to '' Guy Code''. The series features actresses, musicians, stand-up comics—plus a few men—who discuss the sisterhood tha ...

'' and '' Wild 'N Out''. She was a finalist of ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

'', Showtime's AVN Awards Host, SAG Actor, host of ''Ku and the Gang Podcast''.

Early life

Ku was born in Rogers Park neighborhood of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on February 17, 1980, to South Korean

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

. She was raised in nearby

Franklin Park, Illinois Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,467 at the 2020 census, up from 18,333 at the 2010 census. It was named for real estate broker Lesser Franklin who bought acres of the area when it was a ma ...

. She began doing comedy by joking with and about her parents. One of her idols is

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

. During her childhood, her parents were a part of the University Bible Fellowship church, which had a location in

River Grove, Illinois River Grove is a village in Leyden Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,612 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Just as nearby Elmwood Park and Oak Park are named after thei ...

, which is next to Franklin Park. She was giving the name Lil' Esther Ku, being allowed to keep her first name since it was biblical. Ku made a

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series titled "I Grew Up In A Cult" where she talked about her experience and the practices they did. In middle school, a librarian noticed her talent and recommended her to do the talent show that was going on. She attended East Leyden High School where she was a part of school newspaper, where students found her writing humorous. Ku graduated from high school in 1998 attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing.

Career

Ku started her comedy career in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Ku was a featured performer at the New York Underground Comedy Festival and the Boston International Comedy Festival. In 2008, Ku was the only female comedian from New York City to advance to the Las Vegas Semi-Finals of NBC's ''

'', becoming one of the top-ten finalists in Hollywood. Six months later, she was chosen as a finalist in the Hottest Funniest Chick Contest on the

Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

. On July 29, 2015, Ku was a guest on the ''Joe Rogan Experience'' podcast episode #676. In 2017, she was a cast member on next-gen female comedy sketch called ''Sorry Not Sorry'' on Go90.com. On January 28, Ku hosted the 2019

AVN Awards The AVN Awards are List of movie awards, film awards sponsored and presented by the American trade magazine ''AVN (magazine), AVN'' (''Adult Video News'') annually to honor achievements in the global Sex industry, adult entertainment industry. ...

Show for Showtime.

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

was the musical guest, making this the first all-female-hosts line-up ever. Ku opened for Brian Regan in Florida at Hard Rock Live arena on December 8, 2021. She was the host of her own podcast—''Ku and the Gang'', a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

Kool and the Gang Kool may refer to: People * Kool (surname), surname of Dutch origin * Robert "Kool" Bell (born 1950), American bassist and founder of Kool and the Gang * Roger Kool (1954–2005), Singaporean DJ (Roger Kiew) * Kool DJ Herc (born 1955), Jamaica ...

—from 2016 to 2018.

Personal life

Ku lives in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. She worked in Brooklyn,

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

, and

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ku, Esther American film actresses American television actresses American actresses of Korean descent American women comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Living people Actresses from Chicago Comedians from Chicago 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians 1980 births