Tom Shillue

Tom Shillue’s act simply should not work: Any novice who’s done stand up once knows the stories that make you a star at cocktail parties don’t necessarily make you a star on stage. And yet autobiographical yarns, even those seemingly too mundane to haul out over vodka tonics, are Shillue’s stock-in-trade—and indeed help him soar in front of anonymous crowds.

Updated 10/13/2009