Esther Povitsky

Esther Povitsky (born March 2, 1988),^[1][2] for a time known by the stage name "Little Esther," is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer. Povitsky, from Chicago, is the co-creator and star of the comedy series Alone Together (2018); she starred as Izzy in the Hulu series Dollface. Her debut comedy special, Hot for My Name, premiered on Comedy Central on July 17, 2020.

Esther Povitsky
Povitsky in 2012
Born	(1988-03-02) March 2, 1988 (age 36) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other names	Little Esther
Education	University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Occupations	Writer actor comedian producer
Years active	2008–present
Known for	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Alone Together
Children	1

Early life and education

Povitsky was born in Chicago^[3] to Mary and Morrie Povitsky.^[4] Her father is of Russian-Jewish descent and her mother is a Christian and of Finnish descent.^[5][6] Her mother worked as an administrative assistant for the Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook.^[7] She has one older half-sister from her mother's first marriage.^[8] Esther grew up in the Chicago suburb of Skokie;^[9] she graduated there from Niles North High School in 2006.

After high school, Esther Povitsky attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for three years before she dropped out to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting.^[10] "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."^[11]

She then studied comedy at iO Chicago and The Second City in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles, where she took classes with The Groundlings.^[12] She has performed regularly at The Comedy Store, The Ice House, and The Improv which are all in southern California .^[13][14]

Career

2012–2014: Early projects

Povitsky had a recurring role, starring as Maya on the series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend from 2016 until 2019. Other television appearances include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Love, and Parks and Recreation. She was in the semifinals of 2015's Last Comic Standing (season 9).^[15]

Povitsky was the first^{[citation needed]} female guest to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience; she began podcasting with Deathsquad.tv regularly after that. She hosted Little Esther's Piecast^[16] and was the former co-host of Brode & Esther with fellow comedian Brody Stevens.^[17] She was the host of Weird Adults with Little Esther^[18] and along with Caroline Goldfarb, co-hosts Glowing Up, a makeup and beauty-themed podcast.^[19] She often appears as a guest on Deathsquad.tv's Ice House Chronicles.^[20]

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.^[21][22]

2015–present: Alone Together and Hot for My Name

Main article: Alone Together (TV series)

In 2015, Povitsky wrote, starred in, and produced the short film Alone Together. Later the short was adapted into a pilot for Freeform and produced by The Lonely Island.^[23] In December 2016, the pilot was picked up to series.^[24] In October 2017, Freeform renewed the series for a second season ahead of its January 2018 debut,^[25] however the series was canceled after its second season in 2019.^[11]

On July 17, 2020, Povitsky's debut comedy special, Hot for My Name, was released through Comedy Central.^[26]

Fashion brand

Povitsky has her own fashion brand, "Sleepover by Esther"; she advertises it on Instagram.^[27] She regularly advertises her brand on the Trash Tuesday podcast and often posts herself on Instagram modeling her brand's clothing.^[27]

Personal life

Povitsky is engaged to comedy writer Dave King;^[28] they welcomed their first child, a daughter, in March 2024.^[29]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2008	The Express: The Ernie Davis Story	Teen Model	Uncredited
2010	April	Val Monroe	Short film
2011	All in All	Nicole	Short film
2011	The Eater	Sandy	Short film
2014	My Daughter's Boyfriend	Sara Martinson	Short film
2015	Alone Together	Esther	Short film
2015	What a Nice Party		Short film
2016	Worst Birthday		Short film
2018	Dude	Alicia
2021	Mark, Mary & Some Other People	Esther
2021	Home Sweet Home Alone	Daisy Breckin
2024	Drugstore June	June	Also co-writer and executive producer
TBA	Lost & Found in Cleveland		Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010–2011	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Little sister / Bristol Palin / Jimmy's Sister	Guest role; 3 episodes
2011	New Girl	Krystal	Episode: "Bells"
2012	Daddy Knows Best	Babysitter	Episode: "The Babysitter"
2013	Parks and Recreation	Julie	Episode: "Swing Vote"
2013	Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!	Herself	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2013	Adam Devine's House Party	Herself	Episode: "Space Jump II"	[30]
2014	Talking Marriage with Ryan Bailey	Herself	Episode: "Comedians in Car Ports"
2014	Esther With Hot Chicks	Herself	Web series (3 episode run for MTV)
2014	Pound House	Phone Girl	Recurring role; 2 episodes
2014	Hope and Randy	Hope	Television mini-series
2014	Key & Peele	Cassie	Episode: "Alien Impostors"
2014	Six Guys One Car	Pawn Shop Girl	Recurring role; 2 episodes
2015	Comics Unleashed	Herself	Guest appearance
2015	Difficult People	Cissy Donato	Episode: "The Children's Menu"
2015	Candidly Nicole	Herself	Episode: "Ex-Girlfriend"
2015–2017	Cocktales with Little Esther	Herself	Web series; host
2015–2016	@midnight	Herself	Guest appearance; 4 episodes	[30]
2016	Workaholics	Jordana	Episode: "Save the Cat"
2016	Lady Dynamite	Kristy Coombs	Episode: "Loaf Coach"
2016	The Amazing Gayl Pile	Jenny	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2016	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Emily	Episode: "Coral Palms: Part 2"	[30]
2016	Not Safe with Nikki Glaser	Herself	Episode: "I'm the Boat"
2016–2018	Love	Alexis	Guest role; 3 episodes
2016–2019	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Maya	Recurring role; 19 episodes
2018	Alone Together	Esther	Main role; 20 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer
2018	The Story of our Times	Candace	Television film
2019	Shrill	Kayla	Episode: "Pencil"
2019–2022	Dollface	Izzy	Main role
2021	iCarly	Brooke	Episode: "iTake a Girls Trip"; also writer
2022	Reboot	Marcy	Episode: "What We Do in the Shadows"

Comedy specials

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2020	Hot for My Name	Premiered on Comedy Central	[26]

Podcasts

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2011–2014	Brode & Esther	Co-hosted with Brody Stevens	[17]
2012–2017	Weird Adults with Little Esther	Interview-style podcast	[31][32]
2017–present	Glowing Up	Beauty and lifestyle-themed podcast; co-hosted with Caroline Goldfarb	[33]
2020–present	My Pleasure (formerly Esther Club)	Solo podcast	[34]
2021–present	Trash Tuesday (formerly Bloodbath)	Co-hosted with Annie Lederman and Khalyla Kuhn	[35]
2021	Edith!	Plays Trudie Grayson

References

1. "Esther Povitsky". DirecTV. AT&T. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020.
2. "Esther Povitsky". Noovie. National CineMedia, LLC. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020.
3. Skiles, Christa (2020). "Five Questions with Esther Povitsky". Dramatics. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020.
4. Swartz, Tracy (June 1, 2020). "Esther Povitsky returns home for new Comedy Central special". Concord Monitor. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
5. Frydburg, Tracy (January 24, 2018). "For a couple of Jewish millennial BFFs, poor and platonic equals funny". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020.
6. Povitsky, Esther (August 17, 2017). "You Had Your First Orgasm to the Pam Anderson Porn?". Guys We F****d (Interview). Interviewed by Fisher, Corinne; Hutchinson, Krystyna. Event occurs at 42:00. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2020 – via Acast.
7. Luc, Karie Angell (April 19, 2016). "Shout Out: Mary Povitsky". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 5, 2021.
8. Oltuski, Romy (July 16, 2020). "Please Pay Attention To Esther Povitsky (Please?)". Elle. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
9. Slefo, George (June 25, 2012). "MTV Buys Pilot From Skokie Native". Patch. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020.
10. Gardner, Tara (November 6, 2019). "Who to Watch: Esther Povitsky". Chicago Splash. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020.
11. Floyd, Thomas (January 16, 2019). "'Alone Together's' Esther Povitsky is happy hitting the stage on her own". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 5, 2020.
12. "Esther Povitsky - LA Casting". Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
13. "Little Esther - Comedian". Improv.com. September 12, 2011. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011.
14. "The Ice House :: Esther Povitsky". Icehousecomedy.com. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
15. "'Last Comic Standing' Season 9 Premiere Recap: Meeting The Comedians". Buddytv.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
16. "Search Results piecast". Deathsquad.tv. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
17. "Brode & Esther". Deathsquad.tv. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
18. "Feral Audio // Weird Adults with Little Esther". Feralaudio.com. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
19. "Feral Audio //Glowing Up with Esther and Caroline". Feralaudio.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
20. "Search Results little esther ice house". Deathsquad.tv. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
21. "Belgian Man Arrested in Los Angeles for Allegedly Stalking Comedian Esther Povitsky". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018.
22. "Pierre Van Lint, Belgian Man, Arrested For Allegedly Stalking Comedian Esther Povitsky". HuffPost. Associated Press. February 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
23. Petski, Denise (July 5, 2016). "Freeform Greenlights 'Alone Together' Comedy Pilot From Lonely Island". Deadline. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
24. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (December 15, 2016). "Freeform Greenlights The Lonely Island's Comedy 'Alone Together'". Variety. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
25. Pedersen, Erik (October 18, 2017). "The Lonely Island's 'Alone Together' Gets Season 2 Renewal Ahead Of January Premiere On Freeform". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
26. Braxton, Greg (July 16, 2020). "She was a rising star of L.A.'s comedy scene. Then COVID-19 halted comedy altogether". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020.
27. Symons, Alex (2023). Women Comedians in the Digital Age (1st ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-003-26868-0. OCLC 1349461077.
28. Oltuski, Romy (July 16, 2020). "Please Pay Attention to Esther Povitsky (Please?)". Elle.com. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
29. Povitsky, Esther (April 7, 2024). "Hard launching our baby girl, Ace King, born 3/30/24 💗🫶🏼♾️". Instagram. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
30. "Esther Povitsky Credits". TV Guide. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
31. "Weird Adults with Little Esther". Stitcher. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018.
32. "Weird Adults with Little Esther". TuneIn. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
33. Manders, Hayden (September 1, 2017). "THE GLOWING UP GIRLS' GUIDE TO FAKING THAT COOL GIRL L.A. GLOW". Nylon. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020.
34. "My Pleasure on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
35. "Trash Tuesday w/ Annie, & Esther, & Khalyla". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

External links

• Esther Povitsky at IMDb
• Podcast - Glowing Up
• Podcast - Weird Adults with Little Esther