Michael Kosta (September 27, 1979) is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, 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-line joke ...

and former tennis player. In July 2017, he joined ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' as a correspondent. He has also hosted '' The Comment Section'' for the E! Network with producer Joel McHale as well as co-hosting

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

’s ''Crowd Goes Wild''.

Early life

Kosta was born and raised in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, and went to Huron High School before attending the

University of Illinois 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 Univer ...

. He is of Greek descent. After earning a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Speech Communications in 2002, Kosta played tennis on the ITF and ATP tour for two years before being hired as the Assistant Men's Tennis Coach for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. While he was the assistant coach, he began to explore his interest in stand-up comedy and performed at local comedy clubs on the side. In 2005, Kosta began a full-time job as a stand-up comic based in Los Angeles.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Kosta has had major appearances on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', '' Conan'', ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American Late night television, late night Television comedy, comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced ...

'', and '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'' as well as a half-hour

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

special called ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

: Michael Kosta'', in January 2011. He has also made appearances on

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

's ''World's Dumbest','' performed at the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Comedy Festival in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

, and at the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Just for Laughs Festival. Kosta also shot a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

with Comedy Central called ''Overloaded with Michael Kosta'' in fall 2011, but as of October 2012, it has not been broadcast. In 2013, Kosta filmed his own mini-sitcom for network TV under the auspices of FOX's Shortcom Comedy Hour with fellow comedians

Neal Brennan Neal Brennan (born October 19, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster. He is best known for co-creating and co-writing the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) with Dave Chappelle and for his ...

Dov Davidoff Dov Davidoff is an American comedian and actor. In addition to performing regularly in clubs and colleges throughout the country, Davidoff also acted in ''Invincible'' with Mark Wahlberg, and has made guest or recurring appearances on various TV s ...

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

, and

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Ali Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), and ''Don Wong'' (2022). She starred in the film ' ...

. In 2015, Kosta released his first comedy album on Comedy Dynamics Records, Comedy For Attractive People.

TV Hosting

Kosta has hosted several TV shows: * Correspondent on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah *

Fox Sports Detroit Bally Sports Detroit (BSD) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group that operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. It provides coverage of local sports teams in the state of Michigan, primarily focusing on those in Metro ...

show, "CCHA: All Access" won two Michigan Emmys for Outstanding Host in a TV Series (2011) * Backstage host of the 63rd Primetime

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s “Backstage Live,” o
Emmy.com
��s (2011) * Co-host of

Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...

and the Next Day

T.J. Miller Todd Joseph Miller (born June 4, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. In 2008, he made his acting debut in ''Cloverfield'', and from 2010 to 2014, he voiced Tuffnut Thorston in the first two '' How to Train Your Dragon'' films. From 2014 to ...

(T.J. Miller on Hosting Comedy Central's "Mash Up") * Featured comedian on E!’s ''

The Soup Investigates ''The Soup Investigates'' is a comedic news television series on E!. It is a spin-off of ''The Soup''. While ''The Soup'' reports and makes fun of news events during the previous week, its spinoff follows a group of newspeople who inquire around f ...

'', where he led the segment "Spoilers in the Streets" * Catch on NBC (2014) * Co-host of

daytime talk show '

Crowd Goes Wild Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

* Co-producer and host of The Comment Section on The E! Network.

Tennis

Before comedy, Kosta played four years of collegiate tennis at the

from 1998–2002 where he won four Big Ten Championships. After college, he went on to play professional tennis earning a career-high

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...

ranking of No. 864 in singles and No. 336 in doubles. Kosta has also written a book on tennis called ''101 Tips for Winning More Tennis Matches''.

References

External links

Michael Kosta official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosta, Michael Living people People from Ann Arbor, Michigan People from Los Angeles University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni American male comedians Comedians from California 21st-century American comedians 1979 births American people of Greek descent American male tennis players Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis players