Joey Welsh

JOEY WELSH | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Around his 31st birthday, Joey Welsh was in a rut, so he took an improv class at Arcade Comedy Theater. There, his teacher singled him out for his talent, and he took his newfound confidence into his real love: stand-up. “I always like being funny on my own terms,” he says. Nine years later, Welsh is a regular feature comic at the Pittsburgh Improv and otherwise gets on every stage he can, be it at a bar or a VFW. His career as a firefighter, his marriage, his two kids and society at large give him plenty to pull stories — and the occasional rant — from.

Related: Enter to Win VIP Tickets to the National Comedy Center

Amanda Averell

AMANDA AVERELL | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Six months into her comedy career, Amanda Averell started producing shows. She saw that there was an open night on Steel City Improv Theater’s calendar and seized the opportunity. As a queer woman, she wanted to book more diverse shows than were available in 2015, guided by the adage, “if you’re not getting a seat at the table, build your own table.” It’s worked for her ever since, whether in Pittsburgh or on the road, performing or helping fellow comics find their way. “I’ve just wanted to create a safe space,” Averell said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Asher O’Briant

ASHER O’BRIANT | PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

If there’s anything 24-year-old Asher O’Briant wants from himself and his fellow comedians, it’s authenticity. Working from that place is “not only going to be funnier, but then you can sleep soundly at night knowing no one else could tell the same joke,” he says. O’Briant’s own authenticity as a transgender man has led him over the past five years to drag comedy as well as sketch writing and playwriting. He finds that the latter two allow space for a thematic throughline that gives audience members something to both laugh at and take away. They also rely on collaboration, which, for O’Briant, is just as fulfilling.

Related: How Pittsburgh’s Comedy Scene Is Rebuilding Itself

Brittany Alexis

BRITTANY ALEXIS | PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

The first time Brittany Alexis went to Hambone’s in 2017, it was for pasta — and it turned out to be open-mic night. She realized stand-up could be a way to work on her presence in the courtroom, which she’d need if she passed her upcoming bar exam. “Juries shouldn’t be laughing anyway. So, if I bomb, that’s fine,” Alexis says. But when she got onstage the next week, she didn’t bomb. And she was hooked. Now a 32-year-old attorney by day and comic by night, Alexis performs across Pittsburgh, including giving comedic city tours on The Burgh Bus, in addition to teaching stand-up classes and producing shows.

Xazrianna

XAZRIANNA | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

“Most people would say, unfortunately, I’ve been a jackass my whole life,” says 35-year-old comedian Xazrianna. Tired of being told to get serious, she opted to lean into her natural humor instead. During her first stand-up class at Arcade, she says, “I finally felt like I was at home because every rule of writing jokes that we learned, I had already had it in my veins.” She later took classes in improv and sketch; her performances, at times, blend the three forms. Her point, really, is to enjoy her work as a comedian and revel in imagination, whether her own or collaborating with someone else’s.