Phil Hanley: Bio, Comedy Style, and Where to Watch

Who is Phil Hanley?

Phil Hanley was born and raised in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, where he grew up with dyslexia — a condition that shaped his relationship with language, wordplay, and the kind of observational precision that defines his comedy. He published his memoir Spellbound: My Life as a Dyslexic Wordsmith in March 2025, and serves as an ambassador for organizations including Eye to Eye, Dyslexia Canada, and Choose Your Own ADDventure. He now lives in New York City and is a key figure in the NYC comedy scene, with nearly 600,000 Instagram followers and 370,000 on TikTok.

He is a Comedy Cellar regular and has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. He released a Comedy Central half-hour special in 2015. His first hour-long stand-up special Ooh La La was self-released on YouTube in 2022 and has amassed over two million views. He appeared in the Amy Schumer film I Feel Pretty and worked with Schumer on Inside Amy Schumer. Time Out called him a “master of crowdwork.” Vulture described his delivery as having a “cool, collected pacing.” The Georgia Straight described his stage presence as a “nebbishy persona with a misplaced confidence.” His 2026 tour is one of the most active on the North American comedy circuit, with over 70 upcoming dates.

Phil Hanley’s Comedy Style

Hanley’s stand-up is built on two things that rarely coexist at such a high level: meticulous joke writing and spontaneous crowd work. Every interaction with the audience loops back into the prepared material in a way that makes it impossible to tell where the scripted set ends and the improvised riffing begins. The dyslexia backstory is real and present in his comedy — it gives him an unusual relationship with the precision of language that produces jokes that land in unexpected places.

Where to Find Phil Hanley

Ooh La La is free on YouTube. Spellbound is in bookstores. Find tour dates at philhanley.com and follow on Instagram @philhanley.

Phil Hanley has performed at the Comedy Cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Check the current lineup and upcoming shows at comedycellar.com.

Catch Comedy Cellar shows live from New York on Mint Comedy at watch.mintcomedy.com.