Comedian Ralph Barbosa has been tapped to host Netflix Is a Joke Fest latest Introducing… comedy series, an elite showcase of up-and-coming comedic talent making their first impressions on a worldwide platform as part of North America’s biggest comedy festival.
Last fall, Barbosa saw his debut Netflix special Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga spend two weeks on the streamer’s Top 10 chart, debuting at #3. Previously, the comic teamed with Gwen La Roka on the Max comedy special, Entre Nos: The Winners 3, additionally seeing his set for the digital series Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring rack up millions of views. Currently, Ralph is impressing millions across the country on his “Super Cool Ass Tour.”
In the latest episode, Ralph introduces the comedy masses to one of the best stand-up comedians traveling the U.S. Sureni Weerasekera.
She jokes about the lineup, she jokes about immigrant parents, sleeping with cops, and being progressive but dumb.
She has performed at San Francisco Sketchfest, Desi Comedy Festival, Oakland Comedy Festival, San Francisco Pride Festival and recently headlined New York Comedy Festival. Sureni is a paid regular at San Francisco Punchline Comedy Club, Cobb’s Comedy Club, Sacramento Punchline Comedy Club, Alameda Comedy Club, and more. She recently opened for Hari Kondabolu, Irene Tu, Lucas Zelnick, and Ashley Gavin. She has worked with Amazon Prime, META, and HBO. Sureni was recently featured on Don’t Tell Comedy. She just completed the 2023-2024 Hot & Funny Tour alongside Sydney Stigerts, a DIY national tour geared towards queer audiences. She’s a regular in with college circuit with KP Comedy.
With an aptitude for writing, Sureni was awarded the 2019 Diversity in Comedy Writing Fellowship at Killing My Lobster SF. She is a recipient of the 2022 Rickshaw Writer’s Room Program which specializes in South Asian storytelling. She was selected for the Unlock Her Potential mentorship program in 2022. She is the creator of “Plant Mom Exposed” and “Medium Roasts,” both of which she wrote, edited, and acted in.
She runs a monthly show called Earth Tones at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY featuring QTBIPIOC comics which regularly sells out.
