Elke Thoms

Elke grew up in Northern Virginia and, as a child, kept a list of restaurants with her opinions on their mac and cheese. When it became clear no one was interested in such a niche food critic, she changed career paths. She is now a comedian and writer based in Los Angeles. She performs stand-up at clubs throughout Los Angeles and nationally at venues including The Comedy Store, The Second City, Laugh Factory, and Flappers Comedy Club. Her festival performances include the Boston Comedy Festival, Laugh After Dark, Boom Chicago Comedy Festival, The Burbank Comedy Festival, and the Laugh Riot Grrrl Festival. She first found her comedic voice in Boston, performing while she was a student at Northeastern University. After graduating, she said, "Thanks, but no thanks" to freezing winters and moved to LA, where she's known to drive an extra 20 minutes to find a Dunkin' Donuts. Elke's plays include ALL MY EXES WALK INTO A BAR, EVERY SYNONYM OF BEAUTIFUL, SHUTTER SPEED, BUYING THE COW and SHORT DISTANCE. Her plays have been produced in Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, and Richmond. Her original pilot IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK was a finalist in the 2020 Flappers TV Pilot Writing Contest. Elke's poetry is featured in City of Notions: An Anthology of Contemporary Boston Poems, the Charles River Journal, and Dostoyevsky Wannabe's Cities Series: Boston Edition. Her poem "Bedroom View" was displayed in Boston City Hall for one year as part of the Mayor's Poetry Program. She's written poems that aren't inspired by her time in Boston, but those don't receive nearly as much attention. Elke graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. At Northeastern, she was Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Arts Magazine, Spectrum, as well as the host, producer, and DJ of her own FM radio show. She still felt she didn't have enough opportunities to talk, so she gave campus tours, which doubled as some of her first stand-up rehearsals.