Laughing Matters

Comedian Liz Miele has been honing her comedic skills since age 16.

Liz Miele has been hooked on comedy since watching stand-up routines on TV as a preteen. “It was like the moment a kid eats their first piece of candy,” says the Pennington native. “I didn’t want to do anything else.”

Now 25, Miele first wrote comic material while in high school and, at 16, began taking the stage at any venue where she could find an open microphone. By the time she had graduated, she had been featured in magazines including the New Yorker. At 22, she became the youngest female performer on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. She went on to yuk it up at well-known New York City comedy clubs such as Comix, Laugh Lounge and Carolines, where she made her headlining debut last October. She has also appeared in sketches for Conan O’Brien and Jon Stewart on their respective late-night shows.

In her performances, Miele shares anecdotes about her strict upbringing by veterinarian parents (they own Princeton Animal Hospital and Carnegie Cat Clinic), her love of felines and her obsession with self-help books. “I try to be as honest as possible,” she says. “I like to talk about things that are personal—partly because I think great comedy comes from a unique perspective, and partly because I can’t afford therapy.”

Miele regularly returns to New Jersey to hit the local haunts where she got her start. Upcoming shows include April 16 for the New Hope Rescue Squad in Lambertville; May 14 at Sarcasm in Cherry Hill; and July 20-23 at Uncle Vinnie’s in Point Pleasant.

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