This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Finnish comedian (and ultimate observer) Ismo, performing in The Comedy Works at The Plaza, February 4-5 at 9 p.m. In this episode of Talk About Las Vegas, Ismo talks about his obsession with jokes as a kid and mishearing lyrics; how Finns are more sarcastic than Americans; how he learned English at an early age; why his accent is great for his comedy career, but not so great for daily life; performing in English as opposed to Finnish; why he would like to rant, but finds it hard to rant with an accent; how he’s amazed at his success in America; and why he doesn’t think he will go Hollywood!
Ismo started his comedy career in Finland in 2002 and quickly became one of the top performing comedians in the country. There, he wrote and starred in two seasons of his own sitcom, “Ismo,” and filmed four comedy specials, toured to sold-out crowds fro years and made numerous television appearances.
Since 2005, Ismo also performs stand-up in English, and has made waves both with live shows and online videos around the world. The comedian has toured in more than 25 US states and around the world, including Canada, Australia, UK, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Faroe Islands. He has also gained attention at the biggest comedy festivals including: Just For Laughs in Montreal, Toronto & Sydney, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and International Comedy Festivals of Melbourne and New Zealand.
Ismo made his US debut in 2014 at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood where he won the title of “The Funniest Person in the World.” In December 2015, he relocated from Finland to Los Angeles and now performs regularly at various LA comedy clubs along with headlining across the US.
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