Esther Povitsky (born March 2, 1988), formerly known by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

"Little Esther", is an American actress and comedian. She is the co-creator and star of the comedy series ''Alone Together'' (2018), and starred as Izzy in the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

series ''

Dollface ''Dollface'' is an American comedy television series created by Jordan Weiss that premiered on November 15, 2019, on Hulu. It stars Kat Dennings, Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell, and Esther Povitsky. In January 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a s ...

''. Her debut comedy special, ''Hot for My Name'', premiered on Comedy Central on July 17, 2020.

Early life and education

Esther Povitsky was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois to Mary and Morrie Povitsky. Her father is of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

descent and her mother is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

descent who worked as an

administrative assistant A person responsible for providing various kinds of administrative assistance is called an administrative assistant (admin assistant) or sometimes an administrative support specialist. In most instances it is identical to the modern iteration of t ...

at the Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook. She has one older half-sister from her mother's first marriage. Povitsky was raised in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, where she graduated from

Niles North High School Niles North High School, officially Niles Township High School North, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High Scho ...

in 2006. Following high school, Povitsky attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

and acting. "I was really unhappy at my school," Povitsky recalled. "A lot of people were in sororities and a lot of people drank all the time, and I wasn't into either of those things, so I really did not feel like I fit in." She subsequently studied comedy at

iO Chicago iO, or iO Chicago, (formerly known as "ImprovOlympic") is an improv theater and training center in central Chicago, with a former branch in Los Angeles, called iO West and in Raleigh, North Carolina called iO South. The theater taught and hosted ...

and

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

in Chicago before relocating to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where she took classes with

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniq ...

. In Los Angeles, Povitsky has performed regularly at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

, The Ice House, and

The Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1 ...

Career

2012–2014: Early projects

Povitsky recurred as Maya on the series ''

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' is an American romantic musical comedy-drama television series that premiered on October 12, 2015, on The CW and ran for four seasons, ending on April 5, 2019. The series was created, written, and directed by Rachel Blo ...

'' from 2016 until 2019. Other television appearances include ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Da ...

'', ''Love'', and ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

.'' Povitsky also survived several rounds of 2015's ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large grou ...

'' (season 9). Povitsky was the first female guest to appear on ''

The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer unti ...

'', after which she began podcasting with Deathsquad.tv regularly. She hosted ''Little Esther's Piecast'' and was the former co-host of ''Brode & Esther'' with fellow comedian

Brody Stevens Steven James Brody (May 22, 1970 – February 22, 2019), known professionally as Brody Stevens, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in the Comedy Central reality series '' Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!'', and was known for appearan ...

as well as ''Weird Adults with Little Esther'' and ''Glowing Up'', a makeup and beauty-themed podcast which she co-hosts with writer Caroline Goldfarb. She often appears as a guest on the network's ''Ice House Chronicles''. In 2012, Povitsky turned down an offer from MTV to do a reality show based on her life as a comedian because she felt the series would be too invasive.

2015–present: ''Alone Together'' and ''Hot for My Name''

In 2015, Povitsky wrote, starred in, and produced the short film ''Alone Together''. The short was later adapted into a pilot for Freeform, produced by The Lonely Island. In December 2016, the pilot was picked up to series. In October, 2017, Freeform renewed the series for a second season ahead of its January 2018 debut. The series was canceled after its second season in 2019. On July 17, 2020, Povitsky's debut comedy special, ''Hot for My Name'', was released through Comedy Central.

Fashion brand

Povitsky runs her own fashion brand, "Sleepover by Esther," which she advertises using Instagram. She regularly advertises her brand on the ''Trash Tuesday'' podcast and often features in her Instagram posts modelling her brand's clothing.

Filmography

Film

Television

Comedy specials

Podcasts

References

External links

*
Podcast - Glowing Up

Podcast - Weird Adults with Little Esther
{{DEFAULTSORT:Povitsky, Esther 1988 births Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Illinois American film actresses American people of Finnish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American stand-up comedians American television actresses American women comedians American women podcasters American podcasters Comedians from Illinois People from Decatur, Illinois Living people People from Skokie, Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians