It’s hard to believe that in thirteen seasons of America’s Got Talent, a comedian has yet to win the competition and the $1 million dollar grand prize. While the show has crowned ventriloquists, singers, and even a father-and-son dog trainer act (shoutout to Olate Dogs from Season 7) a stand-up has not taken the title. Samuel J. Comroe looks to break that dry-streak. The 30-year-old comedian is one of the ten finalists competing in the two-day finale, so get all the info about this comedian, and the struggles he’s overcome.
1. He was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome when he was a boy. Samuel, a Los Angeles native, was diagnosed with Tourette’s when he was age six. The nervous system disorder manifests with Samuel in the form of facial twitches and blinking. As a boy, while coping with the disorder, he faced constant taunts from bullies, which would help him find his voice in comedy.
“The bullying happened so much that at a certain point I started making fun of the bullies or I’d joke about my own Tourette’s and I’d do self-deprecating humor in front of a group where I was getting bullied,” he told AXS. “I saw other people laughing at that and then they’d laugh at the bullies for making fun of me because I already said the things they were about to say. So, I think through humor and self-deprecation I was able to kind of put them off and let them know I was okay with it and whatever they were saying didn’t affect me.”
2. He got his start thanks to Rodney Dangerfield…sorta… After watching Dave Chappelle do stand-up, Samuel fell in love with comedy. He convinced his principal at Canoga Park High School to let him do a 20-minute set during lunch. Knowing that his dad always wanted to do stand-up, Samuel asked his father to write some jokes for him, and papa Comroe gave his boy a notebook full of them. Turns out, his father gave him a list of gags written by Rodney Dangerfield. However, Samuel was bitten by the comedy bug, and begun pursuing a career.
3. You may have seen him before. Samuel made his television debut on Conan in 2012. He’s also appeared on Real Husbands Of Hollywood, along with Kevin Hart. He also was featured on All Def Digital’s Comedy Originals, and won Ricky Gervais’s comedy competition. Oh, he also have nearly 50k YouTube followers at time of publication.
4. Someone called the cops on him over his act. In August 2014, Samuel was booked to perform at Houston Baptist University. He was asked not to curse during his act and was told he could talk about sex, so long as he wasn’t vulgar about it, according to his website. During a Q&A portion of the night, someone asked him, “how’s sex like with Tourette’s?” Before he could answer, a woman interrupted – “No, you’re not going to answer that question!” – shut the show down and called the cops on him!
5. He’s a dad. Samuel is married to illustrator Alfe Azad. The couple just had a baby girl before his appearance on AGT, so he could use the prize money for diapers, or a blinged-out crib.
The first night of America’s Got Talent two-night finale starts on Sept. 18 at 8 PM ET on NBC.