Los Angeles has a predatory male comedian problem

Comedians such as Ian Ira Rousso, Billy Myers III, and Corey Holcomb have been an issue with the Los Angeles comedy scene for years.

I am not a comedian. I am a rock critic. I am a games journalist. I write about anime from time to time. Outside of those things, I do enjoy live entertainment, whether it's seeing my favorite local comedians on stage or seeing some live music. When it comes to comedians, I know all too well about the horrid nature of the business. Open mics are normally predator gatherings. Promoters will use their shows to go after female comics. I wanted to shed some light on the horrors of the Los Angeles comedy scene. I originally started working on this over a year ago, but things got in the way.

The New York Failure

In September 2024, Ian Ira Rousso physically assaulted Teresa Lo outside of Fourth Wall because of how he was portrayed in Lo's comedy documentary Breaking The Fourth Wall. While the incident was caught on camera, the city failed Lo. In a text message, Rousso stated he was proud of what happened to Lo and that he was taking a break from comedy.

This story attracted me instantly because I used to hang out with Rousso back in New York City. I first met Rousso back in 2009 at the now-defunct Angels and Kings bar. We used to see each other every week at the Acoustic Monday shows, and we would often run into each other at concerts in the area. Since we had a lot of mutuals, we added each other on Facebook.

I'm not sure exactly when Rousso decided to be a comedian, but I do know what led him to think he was funny. A couple of years after we met, Rousso posted "May the fourth be with you" as a Facebook status to celebrate Star Wars Day. Unbeknownst to me and others, this would lead to a year-long bit where Rousso would rehash the pun every day.

"June the 11th be with you!"

"August the 9th be with you!"

While it got a chuckle for a few days, it quickly became unsettling. After a year of Facebook statuses, I stopped hearing from Rousso. He began a comedy career in New York City before moving to Los Angeles. When the news about the attack on Lo made its way online, several people back in NYC told stories about Rousso being extremely weird. In fact, the reason why Rousso moved to Los Angeles is how poorly he behaved in the NYC comedy scene. I personally know a handful of people from NYC who moved out here with the hopes of running into Rousso.

One thing Rousso stated before making his accounts private following the incident was "There are two sides to every story" and that he was getting his lawyer. I'm pretty sure his lawyer heard the story and immediately backed down. Even if Rousso took this to court, I highly doubt the judge would even give him a chance. Can you imagine if Dave Mustaine physically assaulted Metallica members after his portrayal in the Metallica: Some Kind of Monster documentary?

As expected, a predatory comic like Rousso has his supporters. I spoke about Terry Bu over on Threads when I saw they were doing a show with a female comic I know. Bu has shown support for Rousso and lost gigs because of it. In one Instagram story, Bu stated, "I'm getting lunch with Ian Ira Rousso if anyone wants to catch up with him this weekend. Despite all the legal complication stuff, he doesn't deserve to be treated like a pariah, nor me." The guy who admitted to assaulting a woman over a documentary shouldn't be treated like a pariah? If you are a female comic and see Terry Bu on the lineup, you should have a talk with the promoter about them or simply exit the show. If any female comic Bu performed with got assaulted by Rousso, Bu would still stand by his side.

Kenny Lion is another one of Rousso's supporters. Lion calls himself the legend of the Los Angeles comedy scene, but hardly anyone knows who he is, mainly because he gets banned everywhere. Lion does nothing but talk trash about comedians in the scene. In fact, Lion posted an article throwing slurs at open mic comedians. Lion even wished for Lo to be assaulted again.

Blame Everyone But Yourself

Corey Holcomb made headlines for the wrong reasons months after Rousso in the Los Angeles comedy scene. In December 2024, the Chicago-born comedian physically assaulted fellow comedian Cristina Payne outside of the Hollywood Improv. Months before the incident, Holcomb threatened to punch Payne in the face. While Holcomb continuously denied the assault, footage posted earlier this year showed the comedian landing a vicious punch. What happens when something you've denied becomes public? Well, you blame others. Holcomb pointed the blame at TMZ for costing him gigs after footage of the incident was posted.

What surprised me the most about Holcomb is that he has a family. A grown man assaulting a woman while having a family is absolutely unacceptable. Unfortunately, Holcomb doesn't seem to care at all. In fact, this is a man who referred to his daughter as a "b**ch" on his podcast. In the same podcast episode, he verbally attacked his own wife Maya. Recently, Holcomb has been under fire for disturbing comments about children.

As a black man, I always have to sigh every time a black person gets national attention for doing something horrible. From Raja Jackson assaulting pro wrestler Syko Stu to Kanye West doing anything at this point, I always have to reset the clock whenever black folks in any major profession get press for doing something terrible. So much of this has happened that the clock is somehow deep in the negative.

The Tamagotchi Trainwreck

The last scenario is the reason I decided to return to work on this piece a year after starting it. It involves someone I had extremely high hopes for. It also serves as a cautionary tale as to why comics shouldn't screw around with other comics. I posted a YouTube video about the situation, but I'll give a written rundown here. Because this is something that's going to impact a plethora of comics in the Los Angeles scene, this will be a bit long.

Billy Myers III is the host of the Riff Raff show over at The Comedy Store. This is someone who also uses their show to prey on female comics, including my friend Tiffany Corrada. Hailing from Florida, Tiffany moved to Los Angeles a few years ago to get into stand-up comedy. When I first met Tiffany, I knew she would be an instant target for predators here. She hits up comedy clubs with purple hair, Labubus, and Tamagotchis, which is a completely different contrast from what I'd normally see at The Comedy Store and Flappers. I would often walk Tiffany to her car after shows to prevent any creeps from attempting to follow her. I tried to keep her away from predators, but I failed.

In January, Tiffany had a conversation with me where she talked about having a boyfriend who recently moved in with her. In the same conversation, she stated something happened that ruined her reputation in the comedy scene (which is something you NEVER hear male comics say). A couple of days later, Billy posted a reel about going through his fourth divorce. In my head, I said to myself, "I know Tiffany didn't screw around with Billy." Tiffany has been going to the Riff Raff shows for several months, appeared on the show in July with Reggie Watts, drives Billy around to comedy shows all the time, and records footage at the Riff Raff show and Billy's open mic appearances.

Unfortunately, my suspicion was correct. I attended Audio Graph Beer Co. for a comedy show in February. I started talking to Tiffany about random things. Since she's always with Billy, I asked her if her boyfriend had met him yet. She looked at me and said, "Billy IS the guy I'm seeing." Tiffany told me they started dating in September, which means Billy booked her for his July show as a treat for her. In mid-October, Billy posted a photo of himself hanging out with his then-wife. He gets his fourth divorce soon after. Tiffany proceeded to give a demonic cackle when I said, "He just got his fourth divorce. You did this behind his ex-wife's back." Tiffany looked at me and said, "I don't care. I don't care," and proceeded to laugh even more. The only person who would be so happy to date someone who just announced a divorce IS the reason for the divorce.

Tiffany told me that she and Billy's friends knew the whole time, and that they're cool with it. The only friends they have who'd know about this are the predatory male comics who always attend The Riff Raff show. Ashley Johnson. Cal Matthews. Handren Seavey. Nick Borsellino. Mo Alfy. Mike Gamms. Leo Horta. Mikey Barajas. All of the male comics who get comped for Billy's show knew about this. Some of the staff members at The Comedy Store probably knew about this. The Good Nite definitely knew about this since Billy and Tiffany are always there for open mics. Even if they found out about it after he was divorced, they're not supposed to be okay with it. "I just got a divorce, but I'm dating Tiffany now. You know? The girl who's been driving me around to comedy shows for several months? I booked her in July to get into her pants behind my ex-wife's back! That's cool, right?"

Some of the men who knew about Billy and Tiffany are married. A group of married men was okay with their then-married friend fooling around with someone else. If you're married to or dating someone within Billy's comedian circle, you need to check their emails, DMs, and text messages because they are definitely doing horrible stuff behind your back. All of these men met and hung out with Billy's ex-wife, too. Tiffany met Billy's ex-wife at her show in July and proceeded to fool around with the guy.

Tiffany Corrada went from being an inspiration to younger females wanting to be comedians to being an absolute disappointment. When I told Tiffany how much this would absolutely wreck her reputation, she said nothing bad would happen to her (which is a completely different mindset from our conversation in January). Tiffany forgot that she's a woman, which means she'll get 99.9% of the blame. I know happily married comedy promoters who'll never work with her because they don't want that on the bill. People will buy a ticket just to heckle Tiffany for her actions. I know plenty of women who'll distance themselves from Tiffany because of this. Some of these women were cheated on or knew someone who was. A few of them could've been the other person in an affair and regretted it ever since.

When I said that Tiffany was an inspiration, I meant that. Lots of younger females (both local and online) saw someone who looked like them telling jokes in a male-dominated field and instantly began rooting for her. It gave them hope to dive into comedy. All of those women will be disappointed with her actions. They'll hear the news, say to themselves, "We have to do THAT to get by?," and instantly give up on doing comedy. Tiffany also made it worse for younger female comics currently trying to make it in the scene.

Out of everyone, Tiffany's family will be the most disappointed. Strangely enough, Tiffany tells jokes about her dad having an affair. Doing that while being involved with a married man is peak daddy issues. Comics will have zero problem turning Tiffany's situation into a joke on stage. If her mom found out about this, she would fly out here to decapitate Billy and bring Tiffany back home. I met Tiffany's mother when Tiffany had a birthday show last year, and I feel like I let her down.

While Tiffany gets scorned for this, Billy will just get a high five from the male comics. Billy will tell a joke about hooking up with a comic while being married, and the crowd will give him a high five while calling Tiffany derogatory names. Tiffany could tell a similar joke about hooking up with a married man, and she'll get called those same derogatory names, followed by someone saying, "Sleep with me next." This is something that will follow Tiffany forever. If she continues doing comedy five years from now, people won't go, "That Tiffany Corrada is so funny" or "Tiffany Corrada is such a treat." They'll see her and go, "That's the chick who sleeps with married comics. What comic is she gonna sleep with tonight?" Unfortunately, her actions will lead to her getting confronted by the lowest of the low predatory comics. The ones who'll say, "You did this with Billy, so you're GOING to do this with us."

Just like how Ian Ira Rousso will always be known as a violent comic, there are people who will always see Tiffany as the jezebel of the Los Angeles comedy scene. At Anime Los Angeles in January, Tiffany did her joke about having superpowers. She'd normally say, "What are her superpowers? Being sad?" but at the show, I'm positive I heard her say, "What are her superpowers? Being sad and f**king comics?" in front of 200 people. I legit froze and replayed that line instantly in my head. I’m hoping she said, "Being sad and being a f**king bad comic?" but the syllables didn't add up. It's honestly best for Tiffany to quit comedy, move back home to Florida, and fall off the grid entirely. She moved out here to do comedy and got caught up with the wrong crowd. There's no telling what else Billy and his friends did to her out here.

Billy Myers III knows better than to fool around with another comic. Billy Myers III knows better than to use his show to prey on female comics. Billy Myers III ruined his fourth marriage AND destroyed the life of a young female comic. The sad part is he's still going to hit up open mics and tell jokes about it all. The only joke in this situation is Billy. This walking punchline needs to move out of Tiffany's place and end things with her, move into a friend's spot or hit up a homeless shelter, quit comedy, find God, and get a job. The Los Angeles comedy scene will not be shocked by Billy being a predator. "You mean to tell me someone who books a monthly show where comics do things like spit in each other's mouths and moon the crowd is a bad person?"

What really makes my eyes roll is that Billy has been posting "woe is me" stuff online recently after his fourth divorce. If Billy really felt sorrow, he would've left Tiffany immediately because he knew how badly this would destroy both her comedy career and personal life if it came out. Instead, he chose to continue dating her and proceeded to move in with her. No one should have sympathy for this man. People have seen Billy and Tiffany around and probably thought they were just hanging out. Now, those same people will see them with disgust. By the time Billy turns 50, he's going to have 10 divorces and have the same pathetic friends rooting him on to get more. Billy only knows how to hurt women and collect divorces like Infinity Stones.

I attended the Riff Raff show for several months to check out the show and hang out with Tiffany. I feel horrible that I promoted this show on my site and spent money to support it. Unfortunately, they're doing a third anniversary show on Saturday to celebrate three years of predatory behavior. Will The Comedy Store even care that Billy uses his show to prey on female comics? No, they're probably too busy trying to book a show with Russell Brand.

Billy and Tiffany screwed over a plethora of their comic friends and will upset a bunch more people ESPECIALLY on Tiffany's side. If you're friends with Tiffany and a comic, you're going to be screwed out of shows. Tiffany has a hard time getting shows because of her association with Billy, and that's going to be the same situation for Tiffany's friends. Promoters are not going to want Tiffany potentially coming to their shows, so they're just not going to book her friends. I used to book shows in the past, and that's something I've done quite often when it comes to terrible people.

Nothing about what I’m saying is an accusation. Tiffany could’ve avoided the question about her boyfriend, but I still would’ve had a suspicion about those two. Since he got divorced, Billy obviously needed a new place to stay. He probably told people that his friend is letting him crash or that Tiffany is allowing him to stay at her place. Tiffany told me that her boyfriend moved in with her back in January, so the jig is up.

Tiffany Corrada screwed over all of her comedy friends and hurt a ton of female comics trying to make it here. Tiffany Corrada managed to break the hearts of hundreds of girls who wanted to follow in her footsteps. Tiffany Corrada managed to disappoint her family back home. Tiffany will just look at the massive amount of people she hurt, give off a demonic laughter, and say, "I don't care. I don't care."

Some people reading this will go, "Hey, Terrance. They probably wanted to keep this private." After I was disappointed with her actions, Tiffany blocked me on social media the next day and proceeded to call me a stalker and an incel. If you're going to spread lies about someone, it's probably best not to give them any information you don't want out in the public. As one person said, "Don't tell no lies about me, and I won't tell truths about you." If I didn't care about Tiffany, I would've walked away and let her continue to wreck her life to an extreme level. I’d rather call her out and have a ton of people question her actions than let her put herself in a life-changing (or life-ending) situation.

Also, this was bound to come out anyway because the comedy scene here loves drama, and this couldn't stay private for too long. A comedian who hates Billy (which is most of the L.A. comedy scene) would've found out about it and exposed them on a podcast. Billy or Tiffany would've betrayed someone who knew about it, and that person would've exposed them as revenge.

Start Standing Up, Comics

Again, I am not a comedian, but most of the comics in Los Angeles are cowards. A lot of the comics that I personally know are cowards. They constantly let things happen, go online to say, "There's nothing we can do," and watch as more things go down. I've spent 20 years working in the music industry, so I know a thing or two about dealing with predators. I've gotten musicians kicked out of bands, bands kicked off shows, and had to use a dumpster and a baseball bat to get my point across in one situation. If you see Billy Myers III or Ian Ira Rousso around, you have every right to say, "We don't want you here. Get out." If I run into either person, I'll certainly have a lot more to say.

I'm a big improv and sketch comedy person, and you don't hear anything predatory in that field here in Los Angeles. That's because they got rid of all the predators lurking around years ago in one big sweep. The running gag around here is that there's always at least one predator on every comedy show. Several times, the predator is the person hosting the show. I honestly cannot attend stand-up comedy shows anymore because I know there will be at least one person on stage or in the audience who knew about Billy screwing around with Tiffany.

Comics such as Louis C.K. and Chris D'Elia still get booked at comedy clubs because promoters don't care. When it comes to women, many promoters really show their true colors. A couple of years ago, a female comic I know booked a headlining show at The Nitecap in Burbank. She wanted footage to use for social media, so the club recorded her set. Unfortunately, the last chunk of her set wasn't recorded due to a camera malfunction. While she was seriously concerned about her damaged footage, the promoters told her the only reason comics do shows with her and people come to see her is that they want to sleep with her. After posting about this on her Instagram stories, The Nitecap was flooded with messages about their conversation. They offered her a free show, but the damage was already done.

On the other side of the country, comedian Simran Rye recently spoke out about an incident involving the owner of The Comedy Shop in New York City. As a result, the comedian launched The Edstein Files as a way to showcase predatory comics. It will not shock anyone if Billy Myers III's name is listed on there. He's probably used his Riff Raff show to go after several female comics behind his ex-wife's back.

I honestly don't have a proper closing paragraph for this piece. This has been a hard thing to write about following certain situations. All I know is that I feel for a lot of the younger female comics trying to maneuver through such a toxic environment as stand-up comedy. Hopefully, we'll be in a place where comics won't be afraid to confront others about their problematic behavior instead of agreeing to do a show with them for a drink ticket.