# Liza Treyger
**Liza Treyger** (born 1987) is a Ukrainian-born American stand-up comedian, actress, and podcast host based in New York. Born in Odessa, then part of the Ukrainian SSR, and raised in Chicago, she made her television debut on NBC's *Last Comic Standing* in 2014 and released her first hour-long special, *Liza Treyger: Night Owl*, on Netflix in January 2025.[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/liza_treyger_night_owl) Her screen work includes a recurring role as Melissa in [Louis C.K.](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-c-k)'s web series *[Horace and Pete](https://www.edgepedia.org/horace-and-pete)* and the role of Jade in the Netflix series *Survival of the Thickest*.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/liza-treyger/) • [4](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/survival-of-the-thickest-cast/) She co-hosts the podcast *That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast* with Kara Klenk and hosts her own podcast, *Enemies*.[5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987, Odessa, then part of the Ukrainian SSR; immigrated to Chicago with her family in 1990[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings) • [6](https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2014/comedian-liza-treyger-is-climbing-to-new-heights/) |
| First TV appearance | NBC's *Last Comic Standing*, 2014[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings) |
| Half-hour specials | Comedy Central's *The Half Hour* (2015) and Netflix's *The Degenerates* (2018)[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings) • [7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger) |
| Debut hour | *Liza Treyger: Night Owl*, Netflix, January 28, 2025, directed by Jeff Tomsic, 62 minutes[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/liza_treyger_night_owl) |
| Notable acting | Melissa in *Horace and Pete* (2016, Metascore 78); Jade in *Survival of the Thickest* (2023)[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/liza-treyger/) • [4](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/survival-of-the-thickest-cast/) |
| Film appearances | *The King of Staten Island* (2020) and Jordan Peele's *Nope* (2022)[5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger) |
| Podcasts | Co-host, *That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast*; host, *Enemies*[5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger) |
## Early life and start in comedy
Treyger was born in Odessa, a Ukrainian port city that was then part of the Soviet Union. Her Jewish family immigrated to Chicago in 1990, granted religious asylum along with other Jewish families; they first landed in Rogers Park and eventually settled in the northern suburb of Skokie.[6](https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2014/comedian-liza-treyger-is-climbing-to-new-heights/) She has drawn on this background in her comedy, telling interviewers that being an outsider taught her to observe closely, and that she was raised on *Access Hollywood*, *Entertainment Tonight*, and *Us Weekly* as a way of understanding American culture.[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger) In a 2019 Edinburgh show she joked about a thyroid problem she attributes to [Chernobyl](https://www.edgepedia.org/chernobyl) and mined her unsentimental upbringing for material about differences from Western-style parenting.[8](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/08/07/43899/liza_treyger%3A_in_the_weeds)
She was the class clown at Niles North High School. Her path through higher education was circuitous: a detour through [Iowa State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/iowa-state-university) ("There were horses on campus; it definitely wasn't my scene"), the music program at Columbia College ("I'm tone-deaf, so that was dumb"), and finally North Park University, where she majored in sociology.[6](https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2014/comedian-liza-treyger-is-climbing-to-new-heights/) In her own account, she started comedy in Chicago in 2009 after a friend invited her to watch an open mic; she went up that night, bombed, and returned the next week.[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger) By her senior year she and fellow stand-ups Lauren Vino and Renee Schultz had started Riot Comedy, a female-run weekly showcase at Chicago Joe's in North Center that became one of the city's most popular.[6](https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2014/comedian-liza-treyger-is-climbing-to-new-heights/)
While building her career she worked as a salon receptionist, waitress, and back-up nanny, and has described the economics of stand-up as volatile, with income and bookings rising and falling from year to year.[9](https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/6126/want-my-job-with-liza-treyger-comedian)
## Television, film, and specials
Treyger's early credits include a first TV set on *Adam Devine's House Party* and a regular panelist spot on E!'s *Chelsea Lately*, which she has called beyond her wildest dreams as a young comic in Chicago.[9](https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/6126/want-my-job-with-liza-treyger-comedian) She released a half-hour special on [Comedy Central](https://www.edgepedia.org/comedy-central)'s *The Half Hour* in 2015 and a half-hour on Netflix as part of *The Degenerates* in 2018.[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings) • [7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger) Her debut comedy album, *Glittercheese*, came out in 2015.[10](https://www.dead-frog.com/comedians/comic/liza-treyger)
Her acting work includes a recurring role as Melissa in Louis C.K.'s web series *Horace and Pete* (2016), which earned a Metascore of 78, appearances on *Late Night with Seth Meyers*, *@midnight*, *Lights Out with David Spade*, *This Is Not Happening*, and HBO's *Pause with Sam Jay*, and film roles in [Judd Apatow](https://www.edgepedia.org/judd-apatow)'s *The King of Staten Island* (2020) and [Jordan Peele](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-peele)'s *Nope* (2022).[3](https://www.metacritic.com/person/liza-treyger/) • [5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger) In Netflix's *Survival of the Thickest*, she plays Jade, Mavis's roommate; *Time* called her a "classic New York weirdo" and "hilarious," and she reprised the role in the show's second season, whose production wrapped in early 2025.[11](https://time.com/6293543/survival-of-the-thickest-review-netflix/) • [12](https://www.wweek.com/arts/comedy/2025/02/12/on-the-heels-of-a-splashy-netflix-special-liza-treyger-to-headline-helium-comedy-club/)
In 2019 she took her hour *In the Weeds* to the Edinburgh Fringe, performing at Underbelly Bristo Square. Chortle's reviewer gave it four of five stars, describing "an ideal slice of seedy late-night comedy, with attitude to spare and a keen self-aware wit"; ThreeWeeks gave it three of five.[8](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/08/07/43899/liza_treyger%3A_in_the_weeds) • [13](https://threeweeksedinburgh.com/article/liza-treyger-in-the-weeds-live-nation-and-avalon-present/)
## Night Owl
*Night Owl*, her first hour-long special, premiered on Netflix on January 28, 2025, directed by Jeff Tomsic with a runtime of 62 minutes.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/liza_treyger_night_owl) Netflix bills it as her debut special, covering "the sheer embarrassment of having immigrant parents" and "the algorithms running her life"; other described topics include the Real Housewives, phone addiction, weed, sex, true crime, and Bravo.[14](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81766092) • [12](https://www.wweek.com/arts/comedy/2025/02/12/on-the-heels-of-a-splashy-netflix-special-liza-treyger-to-headline-helium-comedy-club/)
**Taped on her own terms.** Unlike her earlier tapings, which she compared to "a pageant" because of the teleprompter and ordered set list, she deliberately performed *Night Owl* with no set list, knowing only her opening and closing bits, in a basement setting with an audience eating and drinking. She told *Interview* that she does not perform in theaters, preferring club settings.[7](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger)
Critical response was mixed. Rotten Tomatoes listed a Tomatometer of 55% based on one review, with critic Tara Ariano of *[Cracked](https://www.edgepedia.org/cracked-magazine)* calling it "a remarkably assured début" and awarding a B.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/liza_treyger_night_owl) The aggregate scores collected by AuteurGraph put the special at an average of 57.8 across IMDb (6.4), Rotten Tomatoes (55%), and Metacritic (48).[1](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings)
## Podcasts and performing style
With Kara Klenk she co-hosts *That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast*, which breaks down episodes of *Law & Order: SVU* each week, and she hosts her own podcast, *Enemies*.[5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger) • [15](https://www.earwolf.com/person/liza-treyger/) She has said that podcasts built much of her early following; a fan profiled by the British Comedy Guide in 2019 had discovered her through them.[16](https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/fgwg/liza_treyger/)
Her performing style is conversational and loose. Reviewers of *In the Weeds* described her as fast-talking, freewheeling, and heavy on crowd work, with a gravitational pull toward seedier subject matter handled, in the Wee Review's words, "without ploughing it for cheap laughs."[8](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/08/07/43899/liza_treyger%3A_in_the_weeds) • [17](https://www.theweereview.com/review/liza-treyger-in-the-weeds/) She has said she regularly performs at the Comedy Cellar in New York and the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, and names [Dave Attell](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-attell), Nikki Glaser, Hannibal Buress, and [Tom Segura](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-segura) as comics she has looked up to.[5](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger) • [18](https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/5732/interview-with-liza-treyger)
Trade recognition has followed her rise: she has been named one of *Variety*'s "Top Ten Comics to Watch," *Rolling Stone*'s "Ten Comics to Watch," and Comedy Central's "Comics to Watch."[19](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liza-treyger-on-her-netflix-comedy-special-doing-stand/id1629482392?i=1000702114521)
## References
1. [Liza Treyger Ratings, AuteurGraph](https://auteurgraph.com/person/liza-treyger/ratings)
2. [Liza Treyger: Night Owl, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/liza_treyger_night_owl)
3. [Liza Treyger, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/liza-treyger/)
4. [Meet the 'Survival of the Thickest' Season 2 Cast, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/tv-shows/survival-of-the-thickest-cast/)
5. [Liza Treyger, Netflix Is A Joke Festival](https://www.netflixisajokefest.com/shows/liza-treyger)
6. [You Should Know Comedian Liza Treyger, Chicago Magazine (July 2014)](https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2014/comedian-liza-treyger-is-climbing-to-new-heights/)
7. ["It's the Summer of Labubu": An 11-Minute Cig With Comedian Liza Treyger, Interview Magazine (July 2025)](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/an-11-minute-cig-with-comedian-liza-treyger)
8. [Liza Treyger: In the Weeds, review by Steve Bennett, Chortle (7 August 2019)](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/08/07/43899/liza_treyger%3A_in_the_weeds)
9. [Want my job? with Liza Treyger, comedian, Voice Magazine](https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/6126/want-my-job-with-liza-treyger-comedian)
10. [Liza Treyger, Stand-Up Comedy Database, Dead-Frog](https://www.dead-frog.com/comedians/comic/liza-treyger)
11. [Michelle Buteau's 'Survival of the Thickest' Can't Decide What It's Trying to Be, Time](https://time.com/6293543/survival-of-the-thickest-review-netflix/)
12. [On the Heels of a Splashy Netflix Special, Liza Treyger to Headline Helium Comedy Club, Willamette Week (12 February 2025)](https://www.wweek.com/arts/comedy/2025/02/12/on-the-heels-of-a-splashy-netflix-special-liza-treyger-to-headline-helium-comedy-club/)
13. [Liza Treyger: In The Weeds, ThreeWeeks Edinburgh (20 August 2019)](https://threeweeksedinburgh.com/article/liza-treyger-in-the-weeds-live-nation-and-avalon-present/)
14. [Watch Liza Treyger: Night Owl, Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81766092)
15. [Liza Treyger, Earwolf](https://www.earwolf.com/person/liza-treyger/)
16. [Liza Treyger - First Gig, Worst Gig, British Comedy Guide (30 August 2019)](https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/fgwg/liza_treyger/)
17. [Liza Treyger: In the Weeds, The Wee Review (29 August 2019)](https://www.theweereview.com/review/liza-treyger-in-the-weeds/)
18. [Interview with Liza Treyger, Voice Magazine](https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/5732/interview-with-liza-treyger)
19. [Liza Treyger On Her Netflix Comedy Special, The Back Room with Andy Ostroy (3 April 2025)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liza-treyger-on-her-netflix-comedy-special-doing-stand/id1629482392?i=1000702114521)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › American stand-up comedians, contemporary › Stand-up comedians born 1980 onward › Surnames N to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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