Performers

Vik Pandya

Vik Pandya is a nationally touring stand up comic based in Chicago. Known for his sharp self-deprecation, observational humor on dating, & hilarious crowd work, his comedy album 'Friends With 401(k) Benefits' debuted #1 on iTunes / Top 10 on the Billboard Charts. Vik’s Dry Bar Comedy special ‘No Refunds’ hit Top 10 on the platform, and his Only Fans TV special is now streaming. He’s also a producer at Sofar Sounds, bringing the countries best comedians alongside top musicians to eclectic venues. Listen to his popular podcast ‘The Business of Comedy’ on instagram.

Vik has opened for Trevor Wallace, Roy Wood Jr., & Michelle Wolf and performs regularly at Zanies Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory, & The Improv in Chicago. He's been featured in 22 comedy festivals across the country including: San Francisco’s Sketchfest, NBC's Breakout Fest, & the SLO Comedy Fest.

He's also a regular opener for international acts like Vir Das, Zakir Khan & Atul Khatri. Vik's comedy has appeared in Vulture, the Chicago Sun Times, & the Chicago Tribune.

Follow him on IG / twitter @vikpandya and TikTok @vik_pandya

Asian Takeout

Asian Takeout is Chicago’s newest all-Asian improv team! The team consists of your favorite improvisers and comedians from around Chicago – Philip Guison, Lauren Hugh, Saloni Nahar, Fahim Sheikh, Courtney Sullivan Wu, Abbas Tayebali, Rohan Tripathi, and Emily Zhang! You can catch their show, “Today’s Specials” every 2nd Sunday of every month at Kamehachi Sushi in Old Town!

Instagram: @asiantakeoutimprov

Shawn Shakya

Shawn Shakya often surprises people with his stunning voice and then again with unexpected comedic turns inside of beautiful soulful songs. Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Shawn has lived in Chicago for 1 year, has used a bidet for 5 years, and thinks it’s funny that everyone usually writes these types of bio’s themselves but in third person..

There has never been a more gorgeous voice making comedy music in the entire world. He’s also just like a really good guy and craaazy hot too, but not like in an unapproachable way.

Instagram @shawngetoffmylawn.

Pablo Alto Band

Pablo alto is the synthy escape hatch connecting Sergio Luna's indie-rock stardom, Pulsar Li's childhood piano lessons, Thomas Sullivan's beet farm, and Ben Campbell's amazing hair.  Their aim is to celebrate the diversity of their musical origins and keep the genre-labelers guessing.  Sequencers, drum machines, live drums, synthesizers, classical arrangements, orchestral sounds, and improvisation make frequent appearances in their musical ménage à trois.  Formed in 2023, they continue to embrace the vibrant Chicago music scene today by collaborating with numerous artists, venues, and organizations.

Sonal Aggarwal

Former international street performer turned emcee, Sonal Aggarwal has brought her talents to Chicago as an actor, comedian, producer and movement artist. Her one woman show The Alchemy of Bliss played for a sold out weekend at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and you can see her on Netflix’s Easy as well as the short A Period Piece which debuted at SXSW 2020. She is a regular host of the Moth.

Instagram: @sonalmedia

Ateeq Rehman

Ateeq Rehman is a comic from Chicago, IL (ok fine! He’s from the suburbs but he’d drive into the city a lot!). He can be seen weekly, performing improv with Creamboy and Stir Friday Night, sketch with Best of Annoyance Sketch, and will do standup occasionally if everyone asks nicely. He loves feeding his friends lavish meals with no recipes and watching movies so terrible they are great.

Instagram at @ateeqmr

William Paik

William Paik is a Chicago-based comedian. He has a friendly, relatable and energetic style with observational jokes about sexual development, popular culture, and family relations across cultures. He has performed in Seoul, South Korea on a Fulbright studying Seoul's stand up comedy scene. He’s also performed at the Asian Comedy Festival in New York City, the Milwaukee Comedy festival, and he produces and East of California West of New York at the Lincoln Lodge in Chicago.

Instagram @williampaik8.

The Second City Victor Wong Fellows of 2025

The Victor Wong Fellowship is an intensive program at The Second City that mentors & trains talented Asian / Asian American identifying artists.  Through a generous endowment by Peng Zhao, CEO of Citadel Securities, and his wife, Cherry Chen, the Fellowship focuses on improvisation, sketch comedy writing, acting & musical direction.  This is the inaugural year of the Victor Wong Fellowship, named after The Second City's first Asian American performer, and upon completion of the program, the Fellows will present a showcase event Tuesdays in May 2025. 

https://www.secondcity.com/network/the-second-city-launches-victor-wong-fellowship-for-aapi-voices-in-comedy/

Devin Jeong Wright

Devin Jeong-Wright is a comedian, musician, performer, producer and overall slay-mamas based in Chicago, IL. You can find her performing regularly at the Lincoln Lodge and other comedy clubs like the Annoyance and IO. In their free-time, Jeong-Wright enjoys doing things her parents would NOT want to know about (don’t worry, just regular fun things like partying and hanging out with peeps and living life to the fullest)!