Leslie Liao

Leslie Liao is an American stand-up comedian. She formerly worked for Netflix in their human resources department while learning to perform stand-up. Born on 11 March 1987 to Chinese immigrant parents and raised in Orange County, California, she originally wanted to be a ballerina from a young age before being drawn to the entertainment industry. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

After college, one of Liao's first jobs was as an assistant producer at Universal Studios in comedy production, and she also volunteered as a talent scout, attending stand-up shows in the evenings. She became motivated to try stand-up after seeing performances she did not like. Taking a calculated approach, she first enrolled in a writing class while beginning to perform at local comedy clubs, and took a position at Netflix in their human resources department. She made her television debut on the Jimmy Fallon Show and was featured in the Netflix comedy showcase Verified Stand-Up, resigning from Netflix in January 2024 with the support of her bosses.

Liao's comedy style focuses on her experience as a single Asian-American woman living in Los Angeles. Brian Logan of The Guardian praised Liao as well suited to performing stand-up, while also saying her set was "neither adventurous nor well crafted" but her "open and engaging manner [made] it a perfectly companionable hour." She was selected as one of the New Faces of Comedy at Montreal's Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in 2023.