Liza Treyger

Liza Treyger was born on August 31, 1987, in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, USSR, which is now Odesa, Ukraine. At the age of three, her family immigrated to the United States as Soviet Jews, settling in Skokie, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. She began her career in the Chicago comedy scene around 2009, performing stand-up comedy and open mic nights. During her final year of college, she co-founded Riot Comedy, a women-run weekly comedy showcase. In 2014, Treyger made her television debut on NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing’ and performed at the inaugural Comedy Exposition standup festival in Chicago. Her early television appearances also included ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ and ‘Chelsea Lately’.

After relocating to New York City, Treyger continued to build her comedic portfolio. In 2015, she recorded a half-hour stand-up special for Comedy Central in Boston. This was followed by her second half-hour special in 2018, which was released as part of ‘The Degenerates’ on Netflix. Her acting career also progressed with a significant recurring role as Melissa in ‘Horace and Pete’ in 2016, a web series featuring Louis C.K., Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, Alan Alda, and Jessica Lange. In 2019, Treyger performed her solo show ‘In the Weeds’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it received positive reviews.

More recently, Treyger has expanded her work into podcasting, co-hosting ‘That’s Messed Up: An SVU Podcast’ with Kara Klenk since November 2020. This podcast led to a twenty-five-city tour in 2022. She has also continued her acting career with roles in major films such as ‘The King of Staten Island’ (2020) and Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’ (2022), where she played a Commercial Makeup Artist. In 2023, she co-starred as Jade in the Netflix series ‘Survival of the Thickest,’ which was renewed for a second season set for release in March 2025. Her first full-hour stand-up special, ‘Night Owl,’ debuted on Netflix in January 2025, receiving critical acclaim from publications such as The New York Times and Vulture.