Marcella Arguello is an American

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...

based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

Early life

Arguello grew up in Modesto, California, where she was active in school theater. By her own description she was a class clown, known especially for her

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

impression. She attended Johansen High School, graduating in 2002. She attended

California State University, Stanislaus California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, Stanislaus County, California. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and is also the only c ...

and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

for three years, intending to become an elementary schoolteacher, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. Her parents emigrated to the United States from

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...

during the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

Career

Arguello has worked 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 ...

comedy clubs all over the U.S. and appears regularly at The Punch Line comedy clubs in Northern California. She has performed at The Ice House, The San Francisco Comedy Festival, Riot LA Comedy Festival, and for American troops overseas. Arguello has opened for

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( , born February 4, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's '' The Eric Andre Show'' ...

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, a ...

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Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

Jessimae Peluso Jessimae Peluso (born September 16, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and television personality. She is best known for being a cast member in the first two seasons of MTV's ''Girl Code''. Biography Jessimae Peluso was born in Syracuse, Ne ...

J. B. Smoove Jerry Angelo Brooks (born December 16, 1965), commonly known by his stage name J. B. Smoove, is an American actor, comedian and writer. After beginning his career in 1995 on ''Def Comedy Jam'', he was a writer and performer on NBC's ''Saturday Ni ...

, and many others. In 2009, she won the Modesto Area Music Award (MAMA) for best comedian. In 2015, Arguello made her national television debut, appearing on ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

''. Since then she has appeared several times on the competitive

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

show ''

@midnight ''@midnight with Chris Hardwick'' (shortened to and formerly exclusively titled ''@midnight'') was an American late night Internet-themed panel game show, hosted by Chris Hardwick, that aired Monday through Thursday nights between October 21, ...

'', "winning the Internet" in March 2016 and again in Jan 2017. Arguello was featured on the

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

comedy series ''Flophouse'', in which

Lance Bangs Lance Bangs (born September 4, 1972) is an American filmmaker and music video director. He has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, Green Day, Arcade Fire, The Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah ...

follows the lives of up-and-coming comedians at underground stand-up events, and in ''The Makings of a Stand-Up Comedian'', a 2014 documentary film. She has also been featured on ''

The Nerdist Podcast ''ID10T with Chris Hardwick'' (formerly ''The Nerdist Podcast'') is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick, once usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typic ...

'', ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

'', and '' The Don Geronimo Show''. Her Twitter account, @marcellacomedy, was named one of the "75 Best Twitter Accounts of 2015" by ''Paste'' magazine, and has been featured on

TIME.com ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

, ''

Brightest Young Things ''Brightest Young Things'', or BYT Media Inc., is an online magazine and event production and marketing agency based in Washington, D.C. and New York City. Founded in 2009 by Svetlana Legetic, a former Architecture Designer from Serbia, ''Bright ...

'',

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

, CNN, and many entertainment websites. Arguello's subjects include race, gender, relationships, and family, among others. At six feet two inches tall, she also jokes about her height ("I love being a very tall woman until someone calls me 'sir' real loud in public"). She is also known for her "signature shock of curly hair". Arguello's influences include

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's '' Insomniac with Dave Attell'', which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comed ...

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series '' Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of ...

Natasha Leggero Natasha Leggero () (born March 26, 1974) is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series '' The 70s House'' in 2005, and as a regular roundtable panelist on Chelsea H ...

, and others. Arguello takes on hecklers at her live shows. When asked what the appropriate retribution for hecklers is, she answered "verbal annihilation." She also does impersonations of Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. On the Lovett or Leave It podcast, Arguello stated that she does not care about animals and that she does not participate in any benefit events for animals.

References

External links

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The Makings of a Stand-Up Comedian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arguello, Marcella American women comedians American stand-up comedians Living people American people of Salvadoran descent People from Modesto, California Comedians from California Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women