Iliza Shlesinger (Born February 22, 1983) is an American comedian, and the sixth season winner of Last Comic Standing. Since her career start in 2007, she has had a rather impressive list of television and web credits
. She is most notable for being both the first female contestant and the youngest contestant to win Last Comic Standing, hosting the syndicated dating show Excused, and for hosting The Weakly News from July 7, 2007 to April 9, 2012. She is currently hosting the game show Separation Anxiety which premiered on TBS on March 8, 2016.
She has three stand up comedy specials to date, all on Netflix.
Associated Tropes:
- Ax-Crazy: She says that most women are normal people and shouldn't be avoided or treated as such unless you're walking down the street near one and she yells out "PURPLE HIPPO!"
- Deconstruction: Many of her bits involve deconstructing societal norms or trends. in Confirmed Kills she has a long bit deconstructing mermaids, which ends with the conclusion that mermaids are basically prostitutes with nasty hair.
- Double Standard: Good-natured version of it, but Iliza has no problem admitting that women can get a little crazy from time to time.
- Elders: Elder Millennial uses this for a few jokes, pointing out that the popular "Kids These Days" generation is actually mostly in their 20s and 30s now.Gather 'round the Snapchat, kids, and I'll tell you about... the landline.
- Genki Girl: Part of her act involves combining an upbeat, energetic, Motor Mouth delivery with biting Black Comedy.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: A major part of her persona, especially in earlier routines. Her party goblin skit in particular centers around the
Chaotic Neutral alternate self that comes out whenever she tastes liquor, and the version of it she does in Freezing Hot begins with her bemoaning that a date only had one drink while they were out(therefore limiting her to only one), then clarifying that she was less upset that he wasn't drinking and more upset that, in her early thirties, she couldn't better handle that situation. - Haute Cuisine Is Weird: In Freezing Hot, she pokes fun at trendy tapas restaurants for food that's "small, not filling, and expensive."
- I Take Offense to That Last One: During the "Bad Gal" bit about confusing and inappropriate sexual messaging on things marketed to women. She insists her Bad Gal eyeliner summons a shoulder devil that whispers weird things to her.Shoulder Devil: You're a bad gal. You wanna give a handjob in an Acura while doing fifty in a thirty zone, no insurance! You're a bad gal!
Iliza: What are you talking about? I have insurance. - Man of a Thousand Voices: In every special, she deploys various imitations and voices to depict different characters. Most common are the Valley Girl voice, the raging creature voice, and the bro voice.
- Mars and Venus Gender Contrast: A frequent topic in her stand up routines.He wasn't necessarily wrong in not asking me (what my middle name was). Men and women communicate so differently I'm surprised we can be in the same room without ripping each other's genitals off, quite frankly. If you went back and you said to him, "why didn't you ask her her middle name?" he'd be like (*deep voice*) "What? At the time she had long hair. I thought she was a mermaid." Like, not even in the same stratosphere! (*Beat*) And what's crazy is that every guy in this room's like, (*deep voice*) "Yeah, right on, mermaid hair, I got it."
- Motor Mouth
- Only One Name: Currently performs simply under "Iliza," saying it just saves time.
- Pants-Free: While hosting The Weakly News
- Pretender Diss: In Elder Millennial:If you ever date a guy that says he’s an alpha, -foot-pop- he’s a beta.
- Running Gag:
- Her Valley Girl imitation always turns into a goat bleating instead.
- The party goblin.
- Snark Knight: Her role while hosting Excused.
