From The Comic's Comic

When Netflix held its first-ever Netflix Is A Joke festival in Los Angeles 2022, stand-up comedian Leslie Liao was working for Netflix in human resources and had to buy tickets to see shows in the festival. For the second Netflix Is A Joke fest in 2024, Liao had just quit her day job, and her former Netflix co-workers paid to see her headline a festival show. In May 2026, she was already booked elsewhere, and celebrating the release of her debut comedy special, Silky Smooth, out now through 800 Pound Gorilla Media. She caught up with me over Zoom to talk about the art of writing hyperlocal comedy routines while performing on the road in far-flung places from Maine to Alberta, how she put aside fears of starting comedy at 30, and what it was like trying to balance her day job at Netflix with her nights and weekends developing her stand-up voice. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get to it!

Above: Slide 5 of my Instagram recap of the 2024 Netflix Is A Joke Fest includes a snapshot of Liao’s headlining set at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetary.

Her debut special, Silky Smooth, is out now via 800 Pound Gorilla Media! As she jokes in the special, “Accept it. This is it. You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna enjoy the show, then you’re gonna go home and swipe and sigh until you pass out.” 

And here’s the full special:

Watch her TV debut from 2023 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which aired a few weeks before her Netflix debut on Verified Stand-Up:. She was still working in HR for Netflix when this aired, which led to her boss finding out about Liao’s moonlighting.

“My employees at Netflix started calling me Hannah Montana,” Liao told me. “Except the secret was out. So it was a nightmare.”

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