The next big name in comedy may just be Toronto's Laura Ramoso
The classically-trained actor happened upon sketch comedy and was immediately smitten
The blow-up of one of the next big names in comedy is nigh upon us, and I have witnessed her.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he cites opportunity, timing, cultural relevance and 10,000 hours of meaningful practice as the key ingredients to success.
The timing and opportunity of her entry into the culture of stand-up and sketch comedy are relevant now, as successful stand-up comedians earn standing ovations, and sketch comedy writers are sometimes — excuse the term — rock stars.
So, who is this next big name? She is Laura Ramoso, a comedian, actor, and writer.
It appears Ramoso exists in a constant state of growth. One day, she is frivolously choosing a university campus — not for its academic reputation or status — but because of its beauty. Next, she is opening for comedic legends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on a portion of their Restless Leg tour in the Eastern US.
Two weeks later, while on the other side of the continent, she is headlining an improv performance. During the Saturday, July 5th edition of the Garden City Improv show in Victoria, British Columbia. Ramoso drew a sellout audience to the Victoria Conference Centre’s main theatre.
The show had the highest attendance in the organization’s history. Garden City Improv sold out the 400-seat theatre at the conference centre, located at the back side of the stately Fairmont Empress Hotel. Everyone showed up as there was not an empty seat in the house. Ushers were placing couples into single seats, rows and aisles apart from each other.
Seven months prior, in November 2024, she sold out the Royal Theatre, a 1,416-seat venue, located just four blocks away. It is a rare occurrence for Victoria, as ticket buyers are known to not show up in this city of almost 400,000. Advance ticket sales are a nightmare of guesswork for event organizers; however, not when your main event’s attraction is Laura Ramoso.
She is drawing sell-out crowds throughout North America.
Who is Laura Ramoso?
Ramoso is a half-German and half-Italian Canadian. Born in Italy, she also lived for several years in China, Cameroon, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam, among other locations. Ramoso graduated from the Theatre Arts Program at the University of Victoria.
“I chose the University of Victoria because I had not yet lived in North America. I saw a photo of the campus and thought it was beautiful, which it is.”
Post-graduation, she twice applied to Juilliard and failed both times. Down but not out, she randomly stumbled upon Second City in Chicago and was intrigued by what they were doing on stage. She also checked out Second City in Toronto.
The confluence of struggling to find her feet in classical theatre, the Covid-19 shutdown and the chance discovery of sketch comedy pushed her online to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Between the platforms, she now has over four million followers.
Some of what caught fire — after stumbling through trials and tribulations with the new media — she found her sketches of her German mother, Italian father, and a series of “Girl who just got back from_________” all took off.
She has added send-ups of Italian and German car rental and airline ticket agents. Her Canadian mother-in-law's impression nails the British Columbia accent perfectly, while imitating her mother-in-law with spooky accuracy.
Ramoso had an audition with Saturday Night Live. While they passed on her, being in the conversation was a lot. And the good news is, SNL does not always get it right. They famously fired Norm Macdonald and passed on Jim Carrey. Maybe it’s a good thing.
Sit up Straight performance
I knew Ramoso was popular, but it was a revelation for me when we rounded the corner and saw the Royal Theatre lineup was around the block.
She did not make us wait long in our chairs before emerging onto a stark stage, set against a black backdrop, wearing a basic white T-shirt and black slacks. All attention was on her energy, not on props or other distractions.
Ramoso's act is not necessarily straight-up, stand-up, but a mix of theatre improv, sketch, and stand-up. She is physical, clever, and quick-witted, and writes the material.
The 29-year-old cleverly wrote the theme of her show centred around a dinner party, which the entire audience was invited to. She also interwove impressions of her German mother, Italian father, and various other characters.
The TikTok and Instagram audience must have been in attendance at the Royal Theatre. The audience could sense the German mother-in-law coming on. The giggles began with the first contortion into character.
Ramoso faced her siblings (even though she is an only child), hoteliers, and deities straight-on in a one-woman faux biography. She slipped in and out of Italian, German, English, Australian and French accents like Robin Williams would, slick and without hesitation.
At one point in her life, she must have had a run-in with a pretentious reader. Aren’t readers supposed to be introspective, quiet, and intellectual, introverts? Little about reading causes anyone to consider pretentiousness.
The contrast seems juxtaposed against what we know of a bookworm curled up alone in the corner of an airport. Perhaps the observational humourist just had to act it out on stage, Stanislavski-like.
She did, and it was the crisis of her act. I laughed so hard that I could not see for the tears.
She began the sketch with a hint of arrogance. Then it grew increasingly outlandish, to the point of her gyrating on the stage toward a sexual-like turning point where she was eating the pages of the book and spitting out fragments, high into the air.
Ramoso started the evening off by inviting the audience to her dinner party and got to know some of the audience members by name. She learned about their vocations and where they lived. Over the following 90 minutes, she recalled all their details and used that information against them, employing a grandmaster's skill in comedy judo.
She received a standing ovation and deserved it.
Garden City Improv
While her one-person show at the Royal Theatre was bringing the audience to its feet, the Garden City Improv theatre games were about spontaneity — almost everything worked, and what did not gain laughter or applause, as improv goes, the actors cut bait and fished for more.
Kevin Matviw, who is a Second City veteran and an award-winning improv actor and comedian, runs Garden City Improv. He hosted the event.
Along for the evening was 25-year theatre sports veteran Andrew Gardner.
Between the three of them, they rotated roles in the game-cum-artistic-theatre show.
I am not sure if Ramoso has put in 10,000 hours of improv and standup comedy yet, but it seems as though she is close to the benchmark. Once she does pass the threshold, as Gladwell hypothesizes, she may become the household name of comedy that I anticipate.
Follow Laura on Instagram, and the next time you see her touring, buy the tickets the moment they go on sale; she sells out everywhere.