Aria Seymore rose to fame with her Netflix special A Little Deeper in 2023, but the roots of her story stretch back to the small town of Elko, Nevada where she grew up as one of four children in an impoverished household. Seymore’s mother suffered from substance abuse and her father was unable to care for them, resulting in the family being split up and put into foster care when Aria was only four years old. In spite of these challenges, Seymore earned an academic scholarship to attend Stanford University and graduated with honors in 2021. Aria Seymore: The Unlikely Stand-Up Star
Table of Contents
Bio
Born and raised in Miami, Aria has a restless creative mind. She used her talents to cook up her first play at the age of 7. That year she also took on the job of teaching herself how to speak Korean after realizing it was one of the few things that made sense to her mother when they spoke over Skype. At 18, Aria landed a job doing standup for middle school kids about bullying in South Korea, which led to two weeks on tour with the stars from Showtime’s Def Comedy Jam. Aria Seymore: The Unlikely Stand-Up Star
Family
Even before she was born, Aria made history. Her father and mother both had successful careers in stand up comedy, and they were the first black couple to jointly headline at a top comedy club on the West Coast. They both had one request of her when she was born—don’t let her be average.
Aria has been performing ever since she could talk, but it wasn’t until she graduated from Harvard and moved back to Los Angeles that she began pursuing it full time.
Awards
Aria has been nominated for one ALMA Award and has won one. She was nominated for the ALMA Award in 2017. Her win came in 2019 when she won the People’s Choice Award. She also starred in many TV series such as, ‘Murder Calls’ and ‘The Ms.
Net worth
With a single glance, Aria is visibly different. One eye is slightly higher than the other. She can’t always walk unassisted because she was born with cerebral palsy. Yet her quick wit and unflinching candor on stage has made her one of America’s favorite stand-up comedians
sweetest time
It started with a single joke. When I was little, my momma made me call everyone auntie and uncle, Aria tells the audience. I felt like it would be unfair to say one of my family members was better than the other.
How she rose to fame as a comedian
Ari did not set out to be a comedian. She wanted to go into broadcast journalism but ended up with her own standup comedy show when she performed at the final night of a comedy festival in Memphis in 2016. She then started working at Nashville’s comedy club, Zanies, where she got spotted by executives and was given her own standup TV show, ‘The Ms.
Her childhood
Born and raised in the notoriously violent Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Seymore’s childhood included witnessing violence, the loss of her mother to AIDS when she was 10 years old, a near fatal stabbing and being physically attacked by two men. In spite of all this, she refused to allow her environment to define her. After high school, she pursued a career in stand up comedy while maintaining full time employment as an administrative assistant at UCLA’s Chancellor’s Office.
Early career
As a child, Aria spent her time between the U.S. and Hong Kong, where she was born to missionary parents and raised bilingual. After graduating from Princeton in 2010 with a degree in sociology, she worked as an assistant editor at NYU Press until 2013 when she returned to Princeton for a graduate degree in creative writing. After publishing two novels and three poetry collections while still a student, Aria graduated with distinction from the MFA program at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017.
Her stand up comedy style and controversies
Seymore does not shy away from talking about her past, but she does use it to make light of the often very serious topics. For example, in her stand up special Samaritan she made jokes about suicide. She also did a comedy skit for the show Comedy Central’s DRUNK TANK where she recreated a rape trial. While some people were uncomfortable with these bits, many have come out in support of her and applaud the new ways she has been able to open up dialogue around traumatic events.
She also does music
Aria got her start on YouTube, a video channel where she would upload comedy sketches and audio of herself singing. From there, she continued to branch out into music and pursue stand-up comedy as well. After winning Last Comic Standing, Aria had the confidence to continue on her path. That was all I needed at that point, she says. I was like, you know what? If I’m going to be good at anything in life, it’s going to be comedy.
Q.&A.
What was your upbringing like?
What made you want to be a comedian?
How did you start performing stand up comedy?
What other careers have you had in the past that led to becoming a comedian?
Why should I book Aria Seymore?
When it comes to comedic timing, Aria has it in spades. Her raucous and unapologetic show has earned her a huge cult following in Boston, as well as attention from national comedy powerhouses like BET and Netflix. She’s a certified loudmouth with a rebellious streak and an indefatigable thirst for creating scenes—a take no prisoners attitude that’s captured the minds of audiences across the country.
How can I book Aria Seymore for a show?
I have been booking Aria for a number of events and she is a joy to work with. I have seen her perform many times, so trust me when I say she knows how to kill an audience. Some tips for booking: 1) book early because Aria gets booked up quickly! 2) make sure you provide a rider with dates and details about what Aria needs from her accommodation.