Bonar Manalu

Bonar Manalu, born Bonar Hezekiel Juliaman Manalu on July 10, 1993, is an Indonesian stand-up comedian of Batak Toba heritage whose family has roots in Tebing Tinggi; he grew up in Pekanbaru, Riau, and studied accounting at Universitas Riau. He joined the Stand Up Indo Pekanbaru community in 2016 and became one of its leading performers, moving to Jakarta in 2018 to build his career while also working a regular company job, before leaving that job in 2019 to pursue comedy full time. When performing opportunities dried up during the Covid-19 pandemic, he applied to become a personal assistant to comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono, working in that role into 2022, an experience that later fed into his stand-up material. In 2022 he became the first comedian from Pekanbaru to compete on Stand Up Comedy Indonesia, earning an ultimate ticket directly into the finals of the tenth season on Kompas TV after judges gave him the highest scores in the first two shows, before a weaker Show 3 sent him home in 11th place overall. He placed second in a callback round for eliminated finalists, winning four million rupiah, and has continued performing and producing comedy content since, including his own special titled Epic Comeback in 2023.