Kendall Farrell has a go-to whenever he comes back to Burlington.
“I have a special, special place in my heart for Taco Gordo,” the comedian told Seven Days in a recent phone call. “I was an OG fan back when it was just a taco cart on Church Street, and I’d show up looking ratty as hell after standing at a hotel desk all day.”
Farrell, 33, worked at the Hilton Garden Inn, just upstairs from Vermont Comedy Club — a convenient commute for an up-and-coming standup. As it has for several local comics who’ve since moved on to bigger scenes, the venue played a key role early in Farrell’s career. He won the 2015 Vermont’s Funniest Comedian contest there and was regularly tabbed as a local opener for nationally touring comics booked at the club, such as Michelle Wolf.
At the same time, he hosted weekly and monthly comedy showcases at venues around Burlington, manufacturing precious stage time for himself and other local comics. He honed his craft until he felt ready to take the next step.
In 2017, he left the relative comfort and safety of Burlington for the far more competitive New York City scene. In the years since, Farrell has steadily grinded and just as steadily found success. He’s drawn accolades from the New York Comedy Festival and headlined the Breakout Artist Comedy Series at Carolines on Broadway, as well as opened for the likes of Rachel Feinstein and Matteo Lane.
In August, Farrell went viral on Instagram with a joke about the gender spectrum, part of a recent series of walk-and-talk social media bits in which he riffs on everything from politics to dating. Farrell had long been reluctant to devote much energy to social media. But as other rising comics have found — such as his friend and fellow Vermont expat Tina Friml, who returns to the state this week — Farrell discovered that putting himself out there online pays dividends. And he’s found a way of doing it in Kendall Farrell fashion — which is to say, smart, saucy and a little smarmy.
“It’s so important to figure out how to keep having fun, even when the work is hard,” the Vernon native said. “If you can’t find a way to enjoy it, you’ll get drummed out from sheer fatigue.”
This week, Farrell returns to where it all started. He headlines four shows at Vermont Comedy Club this Thursday to Saturday, October 15 to 17. Then, on Sunday, October 18, he’ll tape his first special at Littlefield in Brooklyn. Farrell chatted with Seven Days about his time in Burlington, what it’s like for Vermonters in the New York scene, and the ups and downs of creating online content.
You’ve been doing standup for more than a decade now. What’s changed from when you first got onstage?
When I started, I was definitely doing it just for fun. And that’s what I love about the Vermont comedy scene: A lot of people do it there for the sheer joy of creative expression. They don’t necessarily have bigger goals; they just want to be funny onstage. I love that. And it’s a great place to cut your teeth. You can get so much stage time in Vermont to develop your craft.
I got some early encouragement that made me think it could be more than that. And I did spend a lot of time debating whether or not to stay in Vermont and just do this for fun or make the move to New York and really go for it.
Having other Vermont comics in New York, like Carmen Lagala, must have made the decision a little easier, yes?
Oh, yeah. There’s so many couches for Vermont comics to stay on in Brooklyn right now. And we’re all really tight — we have an expat group chat; we see each other at open mics all the time. Carmen came first, then me; Anya Volz is down here; Ash Diggs is here; Mike Thomas just moved down. There’s at least 10 or 15 of us here, a lot of mutual support.
I’m so glad that before I moved down, I’d stay on Carmen’s couch or watch her cat for her while she was on the road. I took the time to get the feel for the city before making the move. Because it’s fun but also just so massive.
Open mics in Vermont, they’re fun and supportive. In New York, it’s much more competitive. Comics are going to open mics to hone their hours and dial in material, so you’re seeing a lot of great comics doing really good jokes — it can be intense. But competition breeds innovation; it helps you learn your craft.
What did New York teach you as a comic?
When you first start out at open mics, you’re really just doing an impression of other comics — at least I was. I was writing in the voices of other comedians like Sarah Silverman and Margaret Cho, who are big influences.
But the more you get onstage, you start to shed that and develop your own voice. The main thing is, the joke writing will improve. Having a good sense of humor feels like a quality people are just kind of born with, but joke writing is a tangible skill that you can and will get better at with persistence. My joke writing is much, much better now, and my voice onstage is more coherent.
Making a ton of money for these shitty tech companies while posting my material for free — yeah, I don’t love it.
Kendall Farrell
You’ve been posting material on social media, something you’ve resisted in the past. Do you enjoy creating online content, or is it more a function of the job?
I had, and still have, serious reservations about playing the whole social media game as a comic. Making a ton of money for these shitty tech companies while posting my material for free — yeah, I don’t love it. But you get to the point where you have to accept that one of the only paths to financial success in standup is to grow a large social media following. That’s the way to sell tickets right now, whether I like it or not.
Watching other comics like Tina Friml grow their following on social media has been really instructive. When I asked Tina and other comics about it, the advice they’ve given me is basically, Hey, it’s not really that deep. Just post something every day, as much as you can. So leading up to my special coming out, I’ll be putting out clips and building some hype, hopefully.
What did you make of the recent controversy surrounding popular standup comic and actor Sebastian Maniscalco after he kicked a ton of comics off SiriusXM’s “Raw Comedy” channel, replacing it with a new channel that features dead comics like Bob Hope and Joan Rivers?
That was a big deal, especially for comics like Carmen, who really depend on those royalty checks from SiriusXM. Those checks pay the rent, man. To lose out to the estate of Bob Hope is rough. It was just one more blow to working-class comedians, who are already struggling.
I have some hope. I saw Sebastian posted [asking] for some time to figure it out. I hope he figures it out quickly, because in the meantime a lot of people are trying to figure out how to pay their rent. Sebastian, learn from Ed Sheeran!
Do you still keep up with the Vermont comedy scene?
Oh, hell yes! I love coming back and seeing the talent developing in Vermont. Donavin Andronaco is super funny. I also love Nic Sisk and Zoe Bernstein; they’re great. Vermont is an amazing incubator for new comics; it’s such a supportive place for the arts.
And I tell all of them: Come crash on our couches! Get a feel for New York if you want to make the next step. It can be a grind, a challenge, and you’re going to be performing where the difficulty setting is cranked up to the max. But I’m telling you: As a comic, that’s what you want.
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Comic Callback: Kendall Farrell returns to Vermont Comedy Club for a weekend of shows where he launched his career”
This article appears in October 14 • 2026.
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