“Stand-up, like life, is finding your voice,” Los Angeles comic Wendy Liebman told the audience at Erma’s Got Talent: The Stand-Up Auditions on Feb. 25.
The contestants proved her right.
After a fierce competition and thoughtful deliberation, the celebrity judges crowned Yuliya Patsay, a sharp-witted storyteller from San Francisco, the 2026 champion. Runners-up honors went to Carolyn Freudenthal of Powhatan, Virginia, and Karen Jaffe of Dayton, Ohio.
During the lively virtual event, a dozen Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop attendees delivered tight, two-minute sets packed with punchlines. By evening’s end, Liebman and fellow judges Joel Madison and Carole Montgomery had their winners — and the audience had plenty to laugh about.
“I loved that everyone talked from the heart. You’re all very comfortable on stage,” said Montgomery, the creative force behind Showtime’s Funny Women of a Certain Age and its sequels.
Confidence mattered, too.
“Confidence is a huge percentage of what carries the day in stand-up,” said Madison, a Peabody Award-winning sitcom writer and stand-up comic who has written for more than a dozen television shows.
Patsay won over judges and audience alike with tales of her heritage. “Technically, I’m half Ukrainian, half Jewish, which is complicated because my Ukrainian body loves pork, but my Jewish soul won’t let me have it unless it’s on sale.”
A writer and comedian, Patsay is the author of Until the Last Pickle and creator of the Substack “Buckle Up, Bubelah.” She regularly competes in story slams, including The Moth — and recently learned she’ll take the stage at a Moth GrandSLAM storytelling competition.
Ironically, she didn’t stick around to hear the results, but she had a good excuse.
“I had no idea I won!” she told the judges later. She had logged off after her set because her mother-in-law was coming over and she needed to “clean the kitchen and start dinner. I think Erma would understand.”
Then she delivered one more punchline: “Can I get a certificate or T-shirt that says, ‘Yes, your mom is funny?’”
Liebman, who’s appeared in specials for HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central and was a semi-finalist on America's Got Talent, praised Patsay’s stage presence. “Ebullient is the one word I’d use,” she said after Patsay’s set.
After Patsay was crowned the winner, she added, “She has the performance and the jokes. She was animated and likable on stage.”
Patsay and the two runners-up will perform at Attendee Stand-Up Comedy Night hosted by Carole Montgomery at the close of the March 26-28 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. The other performers will be chosen either randomly or at Montgomery’s Stand-Up Comedy Boot Camp during the conference.
An audience of more than 250 registered to view Erma’s Got Talent, which was hosted by comedy writer and podcaster Nancy Berk and loosely based on America’s Got Talent. If you missed the free event, you can still register to watch the recording.