Ismo Leikola

Ismo Leikola (born 22 January 1979 in Jyväskylä, Finland), sometimes known just as ISMO, is a Finnish stand-up comedian, musician, author, screenwriter, and Youtuber.[1] In 2014, he was awarded the title of “The Funniest Person in the World” in a contest organized by the comedy club Laugh Factory in the United States.[2] He is also considered to be Finland’s most successful and internationally known stand-up comedian.[3] [4] [5] [6]

Ismo Leikola
Leikola at the Laugh Factory 2014
Born (1979-01-22) 22 January 1979
Jyväskylä, Finland
OccupationStand-up comedian
Years active2002–present
Websiteismo.fun

Leikola is a regular performer at the professional stand-up comedy clubs in Los Angeles, CA and at international comedy festivals. He has created viral videos and toured around the United States, Finland and New Zealand.[7] [8] [9] [10] Leikola has appeared in countless television shows in Finland and also performed on TV in the United States on for example Conan O’Brien’s talk show, “CONAN”. In 2015 a Finnish tv-comedy series was made based on his life.[11] Leikola and his wife have written a book about their life in the United States which is scheduled for release in March 2021 in Finnish.[12]

Comedic career

2002–2013

While studying physics and chemistry at the University of Jyväskylä, Leikola was first introduced to stand-up comedy at the campus bar where he debuted in 2002.[8] The experience inspired him to study stand-up comedy from old VHS cassette tapes containing performances from Eddie Murphy and Eddie Izzard.[13] A year and a half later, he was already performing around Finland.[8] In 2003, he received own his segment on the Hyppönen-Enbuske Experience talk show ” as a “correspondent for the City of Jyväskylä” in which he performed for several years. [14] He started performing in English in 2005 while visiting the UK.[8] [13]

In 2007 and 2008 Leikola performed at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Edinburgh, Scotland.[13]

2014: The funniest person in the world

By May of 2014, Leikola had performed in Scandinavia and Europe, with performances also in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, and Estonia. [15] In the fall of 2014, he gave a performance at the International Comedy Showcase in London. Steve Bennett, the editor-in-chief of the comedy website Chortle, referred Leikola’s performance as #1 of the evening.[16] In October 2014, Leikola won the very first “Funniest Person In The World” competition organized by one the of the biggest comedy clubs in Los Angeles, the Laugh Factory.[17] Jamie Masada, the owner of the Laugh Factory, came up with the idea for the competition in early 2014 after watching Jewish and Muslim comedians performing at his club one night. At first the audience was divided into two camps but during the performances they started intermingling. People who laugh together won’t hurt each other he thought to himself and started organizing a comedy competition with the aim of increasing world peace. He began contacting international comedy festival organizers in order to find the best comedians from each country and then posting their best videos on the clubs website. After the preliminary elimination he had 10 comedians from the United States and 19 comedians from abroad. In October ten of the best comedians were invited to perform at the Laugh Factory and five were then selected for the finals in Las Vegas. The winner was selected based on an online voting system and celebrity guests.[17] Leikola received almost 160,000 online votes. The second runner-up, Saad Haroon from Pakistan received over 59,000 votes.[9] The winner of the competition was awarded $10,000 and a tour across the United States.[17] [11] [6]

2015–

In 2015, Leikola traveled across the United States with his “Funniest Person In The World” tour [11] and also in Finland with his band [11] and performed also in Europe.[18] He then started a nine-part comedy show for the Finnish Elisa Viihde. The show “ISMO” was named after him since he wrote and performed on the show. The comedy show “ISMO” was among five nominated for best Television Comedy Series at the annual Golden Venla (Kultainen Venla) gala hosted by the Finnish Television Academy.[11] In December 2015, Leikola moved to Los Angeles, California together with his wife and began focusing on his career in the United States.[13] [19]

In the spring of 2016 Leikola was touring extensively in New Zealand.[11] In October, he performed on the “Last Call with Carson Daly” -show on NBC.[20]

In 2017, Leikola performed at the “Just for Laughs” comedy festival in Montreal, which is regarded as one of the largest festivals in the industry.[21]

In January 2018, Leikola appeared on Conan O'Brien's talk show “CONAN”. He was the first Finnish comedian to appear on American talk show.[22] A video clip of his performance the show became a viral phenomenon, which boosted his career in the United States. In the video clip, Leikola jokes about the various meanings and interpretations of the English word ass.[23] The clip soon became the most-watched stand-up comedy clip in the history of the program.[22] By August 2019, it had over 70 million Facebook views.[8]

In January 2019 Leikola started to collaborate with the prestigious Merriam-Webster dictionary creating a series of videos for them about the quirks of the English language.[14] [24] In October, he made his appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden".[25] In November 2019 Leikola told that he was performing an estimated 250-300 shows a year.[7] In the United States, he was performing 4-5 times a night during the weekends.[7] He had been performing three years in the United States and also on nine tours in Finland.[7] Leikola has become a prominent figure in many comedy clubs in Los Angeles such as the Laugh Factor and Comedy & Magic Club.[13] [7] In 2019, he competed in the American reality television comedy competition series Bring the Funny, making it to the second round (the "Comedy Clash").

Leikola has performed at many internationally known festivals, such as the Edinburgh Fringe,[26] Just for Laughs[21] and Melbourne International Comedy festival.[27] Leikola has also toured New Zealand twice [28] and number of other countries.[7]

Comedic style

Leikola is unique in how he uses his outsider's point of view to find humor in the most ordinary things. Prior to a career in stand-up comedy, Leikola studied philosophy[7] and natural sciences.[8] His comedy often has philosophical and science-based subtext, and his jokes often end with a silent question mark.[7] Leikola is interested in the great questions of life as well as logic, the absence of logic and the dismantling of concepts.[7] Early on Leikola noticed his fondness for puns and parodies when reading Mad magazines.[13] In his comedy he often analyzes the Finnish and English languages, like in his take on the Finnish multipurpose expression “No Niin”. His Youtube video on this has been watched nearly 1.5 million times by August 2019.[14]

Leikola believes his strength as a comedian derives from his sense for timing and rhythm, both in Finnish and English.[13] Leikola has said that he always admired American comedian George Carlin, who drew inspiration for his comedy from the analysis of language.[14]

Career in writing and music

Leikola has written and co-written sketches and jokes for TV, and a play for theatre. In 2013 Leikola wrote “Saikkua kiitos” (Sick leave, Please) -revue alongside with the actor Kalle Pylvänäinen. The revue toured in different theaters in Finland and received a sequel in 2017 called "Lisää saikkua, kiitos!” (More sick leave, Please!) tour. Leikola composed and wrote lyrics for the music in the revue.[29] He wrote the lyrics for the third part of the revue.[30]

Together with his wife Angelika Leikola, Leikola has written a book (Suo, Kuokka ja Hollywood[31]) about their life in the United States. The book is scheduled for publication in March, 2021 in Finnish.[32] [33] On February 2021 Leikola announced that the couple is writing the English language version of the book which will be its own piece since the Finnish book is not directly translatable due to the differences in culture and language.[34]

Aside from his comedy writings, he also writes occasional columns for several newspapers.

Leikola performs comedic songs with his band “Muusikot”.[35] In 2015, the band members included Richard Murto, who has also played with the rap artist Cheek, Jussi Turunen who has played with Hector and Marko Jansson who has played in Arttu Wiskari’s and Anna Abreu’s bands. [36]

Works

Released DVDs and singles (comedy songs)

Leikola filmed three DVD specials from 2008 to 2016.

  • "Good Gig and Hell of Extras" (2008) - sold platinum.
  • "Ismo Leikola Grows as a Person" (2013) - sold gold right after its release.
  • Pendolino - single (2013)
  • Mitä jos me silti voitetaan - single (featuring Pirjo Heikkilä) 2013
  • Moottoritie on kesken - single (2015)

TV Appearances in the United States

Leikola has appeared in

TV shows in Finland

Some of the television shows Leikola has been in

  • Talk show Hyppönen-Enbuske Experience / later Tuomas & Juuso Experience, performer and writer in show's stand up-section as The Correspondent for the City of Jyväskylä (2003–2006, Nelonen)[14]
  • Act!One – stand up, sketch writing and performing (2004, TV2)[37]
  • Komiikkatehdas (Comic Factory), stand up-comic (2006, TV 2)[14]
  • Suomi Myytävänä (Finland for Sale), co-host, writer, actor (2009, TV 1)[38]
  • Kansallisaarre (National Treasure), host (2010–2011, TV 2)[39]
  • Elixir, losing weight and hosting (2011, Nelonen)[39]
  • Uutisvuoto (Have I Got A News For You), guest panelist (2011, TV 1)[14]
  • Hyvät ja huonot uutiset (The Good and Bad News), guest panelist (2012, Nelonen)[14]
  • Totuus Rakkaudesta (The Truth about Love) (2013, TV 1)[40]
  • Naurun tasapaino (Show Me the Funny Finland) (stand up-competition for beginners), guest star judge in 2013 and 2014 and special performance in the final 2013 (2013–2014, TV2)[41]
  • Rakkauden FAQ (Love FAQ), panelist (2014, Liv TV)[42]
  • Ismo - Self titled comedy series about Leikola's fictional life (2015, Elisa Viihde)[43]
  • Suomen huutokauppakeisari - guest star (2015, Nelonen)[44]

Movies in Finland
  • Bolt the movie, voice actor (2008)[45]
  • Veljeni Vartija (My Brother’s Keeper), as himself (2018) [46]

Gigs around the world

Leikola currently lives in Los Angeles and performs at the comedy clubs there as well as around the US.[7] He has sold out numerous concert halls and theatres across the UK and Finland. He has been gaining attention at the biggest comedy festivals around the world, including Just for Laughs in Montreal,[21] the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007 and 2008 [13] as well as 2018[26] He has toured twice in New Zealand and performed at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.[28][24] In 2018, he debuted his one-man show "Words Apart" at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[27] Over the years Leikola has done more than nine tours in Finland.[7]

Leikola has also performed at many Just for Laughs comedy festivals such as Montreal,[21] Toronto in 2018,[47] Sydney and Bermuda.[24] He lives in Los Angeles and performs at the comedy clubs there as well as around the US.[7]

Recognitions
  • Unanimously elected The Best Stand-Up Comedy Newcomer in Finland in 2003[48]
  • Six times winner of the Audience Favourite Comedian Award (“Vegetable of the Year”) at the largest annual stand-up festival “Tomaatteja!Tomaatteja!” (Tomatoes!Tomatoes!) stand-up festival held in Hämeenlinna, Finland.[49]
  • London Laughing Horse (2008) New Act of the Year, 3rd place.[50]
  • London Comedy Store (2013) in King Kong Show, 2nd place.
  • In October 2014, Leikola won the “Funniest Person in The World” contest hosted by the legendary Los Angeles comedy club, Laugh Factory. The main prize was $10,000 and a tour across the United States. [9][2]
  • In 2015, Leikola was invited to the Finnish Independence Day Reception at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.[18]

Reviews
  • "Leikola is the Scandinavian Mitch Hedberg; an oddball with a few extra twists." **** - The List
  • "An excellent ambassador for stand-up." **** - ThreeWeeks
  • "For a man speaking his second language, Ismo Leikola is uncannily incisive, charismatic and entertaining." **** - The Dubliner
  • "The wonderful Finn, Ismo Leikola bringing the house down with his daft "foreigner abroad" shtick. Even something as apparently obvious as us Brits using pounds for currency and for weight was given unexpected twists. He's got an entertaining off-kilter mind and a gift for comic misunderstanding which probably made him the hit of the night." - Chortle

Personal life

Leikola resides in Los Angeles, California together with his wife.[19]

References
  1. "Ismo Leikola rullaa vessapaperia CCR:n hittibiisin tahtiin – jenkit ylistävät: "Universumin paras video, Grammy tulossa..."". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  2. "Ismo Leikola valittiin maailman hauskimmaksi ihmiseksi: "Nyt nuolaisen oluen"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2014-10-27. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. "Kuuluisa yhdysvaltalaislehti haastatteli Ismo Leikolaa – yksi amerikkalainen tapa hämmentää edelleen ylitse muiden: "Paikallisetkaan eivät tiedä"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. "Finn voted "funniest person in the world"". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  5. "Ismo Leikola palaa Yhdysvalloista - luvassa iso Suomen-kiertue". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  6. "Maailman hauskin koomikko valitaan tänä vuonna Suomessa - kisat kustantavat yli 1,8 miljoonaa euroa". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  7. "Amerikkalaiset hurmannut Ismo Leikola esiintyy tänään Tampereella – Seurasimme Suomen kuuluisimman koomikon yhtä iltaa Los Angelesin tähtitaivaan alla". Aamulehti (in Finnish). 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  8. "Ismo Leikola kertoo Washington Post Express -lehden haastattelussa urastaan Yhdysvalloissa: "Koko Suomi seuraa, mitä teen täällä"". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  9. "Ismo Leikola on maailman hauskin henkilö". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  10. Haura, Ella (2020-04-06). "Ismo Leikola vääntää vitsiä suomalaisille varsin tutusta ongelmasta - video räjähti viraalihitiksi". Voice.fi. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  11. "Ismo Leikolalla menee lujaa: muutto Amerikkaan, kutsu Linnanjuhliin, Venla -ehdokkuus". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  12. "Komiikka | Hollywood-näyttelijä Jamie Lee Curtis fanitti taas Ismo Leikolaa ja kertoi samalla kiinnostavan uutisen: Maailmankuulusta äidistä oli tulla suurlähettiläs Suomeen". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  13. Floyd, Thomas. "Finnish-born comedian Ismo is a man of many words". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  14. "Ismo Leikola pestattiin Yhdysvaltojen arvostetuimman sanakirjan kansikuvapojaksi – Miksi amerikkalaiset hullaantuivat juuri suomalaiskoomikon hassuihin huomioihin?". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  15. "Stand-up | André Wickström ja Ismo Leikola vievät Suomi-stand-upia ulkomaille". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  16. Kammonen, Teemu. "Jättipotti "komiikan euroviisuissa": Ismo Leikolaa hehkutetaan nyt estoitta". Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  17. Steinberg, Don (2014-09-10). "Contest Seeks the Funniest Person in the World". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  18. "Ismo Leikola sai kutsun Linnan juhliin – "Vanhemmat voivat kerrankin olla ylpeitä taiteilijarenttupojastaan"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2015-11-08. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  19. "Amerikkaan muuttanut Ismo Leikola: "Vaimon kanssa kikatellessa syntyy hauskoja juttuja"". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  20. "Ismo Leikola vieraili tunnetussa keskusteluohjelmassa Yhdysvalloissa – heitti härskin vitsin suomeksi". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  21. "Nyt.fi | Ismo Leikola veti Conan O'Brienin ohjelmassa viiden minuutin esityksen – ja se oli pyllystä". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  22. "Nyt.fi | Ismo Leikolan Conan-esiintymistä on katsottu Facebookissa yli 40 miljoonaa kertaa, ja se on ohjelman historian suosituin video". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  23. "Ismo Leikola's bum jokes hit a funny bone in the US". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  24. Desk, BWW News. "ISMO Returns to New Zealand With a New Show". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  25. "Nyt.fi | Ismo Leikola esiintyi James Cordenin show'ssa – Yleisö repesi #metoo-vitseille ja kahvinjuontikuvaukselle". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  26. McCaffrey, Julie (2018-08-15). "The best jokes from Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  27. Carmody, Broede (2018-04-11). "MICF 2018 review: Ismo Leikola a breath of fresh Finnair". The Age. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  28. "The philosophy behind Ismo Leikola, the official 'funniest comedian in the world'". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  29. "Teatteriarvostelu | Mikko Kivinen loistaa sketsikomedian jatko-osassa – Lisää saikkua, kiitos! suomii suomalaista terveydenhuoltoa, lääkäreitä ja potilaita". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  30. "Näyttelijä Mikko Kivinen kuuluu kosteaan sukupolveen: "Jos dokaisin niin kuin ennen, olisin jo haudassa"". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  31. ISBN 9789522348548
  32. "Ismo Leikola päätti pitkän hiljaiselonsa yllätysilmoituksella: yhteinen projekti Angelika-vaimon kanssa!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  33. "Huumori | Kun koronavirus pysäytti keväällä maailman, Ismo Leikola keikkaili Texasissa, jossa ei suostuttu uskomaan uhkaan: Koomikon päässä "muljahti", ja seurauksena on uran seuraava vaihe". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-10-17. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  34. "Ismo Leikola avautuu kirjaprojektinsa etenemisestä – törmäsi viime metreillä häkellyttävään pulmaan: "Käytännössä mahdotonta"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  35. Korpi, Ari. "Kotimaisen viihdeteollisuuden suurin suomalainen vientitoivo harvinaiselle klubikeikalle On the Rocks -rockbaariin". Rumba.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  36. "Ismo Leikola palaa Amerikasta – tiedossa suuri Suomen-kiertue". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  37. "Act!One/ Yle Viihdeohjelmat 2004". vintti.yle.fi. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  38. "Hän on uusi Hyvät ja huonot uutiset -panelisti". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  39. "Ismo Leikola paljastaa podcastissa, mikä saa amerikkalaisyleisön yllättymään kerta toisensa jälkeen – huomasi selkeän eron suomalaisiin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2019-12-13. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  40. "Päivän valinnat 15.2". Keskisuomalainen (in Finnish). 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  41. "Naurun tasapaino: Savolaisuuden ytimessä | Audio Areena". areena.yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  42. "Uudessa sarjassa nauretaan julkkisten kustannuksella". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  43. "K-18! Ismo Leikolalla uutuussarjassa reipas seksikohtaus: "Olihan se kuumottavaa"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  44. "Ismo Leikola yritti vedättää Huutokauppakeisaria – "Kyllä mä sen heti huomasin"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  45. "Disney 48: Bolt | CDON". cdon.fi (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  46. "Ismo Leikolalla yllätysrooli Veljeni vartija -elokuvassa: Juo kaljaa ja valitsee henkivartijaa Cheekille". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  47. "Ismo JFL42, Toronto ON, September 20". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  48. "Vuoden stand up -tulokas haussa". ts.fi (in Finnish). 2005-08-27. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  49. "Ystävät kertovat, miten alkoi Ismo Leikolan ura – Tuomas Enbuske ei lämmennyt: "Minusta hänen huumorinsa oli kömpelöä"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  50. "Laughing Horse New Act of the Year Competition - Past years Winners and runners up". www.laughinghorsecomedy.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
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