Leo Reich

Leo Reich (born 1 August 1998) comedian.

Early life and education Reich grew up in Islington, London, and claims he had the "most liberal upbringing ever." (DNA Films) , and his mother works in education. As a preteen, he experienced social anxiety, finding it more comfortable to interact with people who were older. He attended the private City of London School, where he found it challenging to be queer. He studied at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he performed with the sketch comedy troupe Footlights in 2019. His dissertation was "on the use of recipes in modernist literature."

Comedy career Reich started doing comedy not because others had always found him funny, "but because [he was] a massive comedy fan." Reich discovered stand-up comedy as a teenager through YouTube. Watching James Acaster perform live, Reich found it "exhilarating" to be the subject of one of the jokes, "to be embarrassed in this kind of public way." He was also inspired by Lena Dunham's show Girls, saying that it offered "a kind of dual, third-person perspective on your own life, whilst living it from a first-person perspective." Another influence was Simon Amstell, particularly for the "young, gay, cripplingly self-conscious Jewish" perspective. and Jamie Demetriou.

While still studying at Cambridge, Reich partnered with Emmeline Downie on a two-person show titled Manhunt, which they brought to Edinburgh Fringe. The show is presented as a series of sketches, with Reich and Downie portraying different characters, and has a narrative arc focused on finding romance during a era of dating apps and social media.

In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Reich wrote, acted in, and shot part of a series of comedic performances broadcast on Channel 4. He also spent part of the year uploading comedic videos to Twitter. The cancellation of events such as Edinburgh Fringe, and the necessity to perform on Zoom, gave Reich a pause that was useful to honing his performance style. He performed the show at venues in the United Kingdom as well as New York City. A performance at EartH Hackney, in East London, was recorded for distribution on Max. It was picked up by the streaming service when Nina Rosenstein, who worked for HBO, saw the show at the Greenwich House Theatre in New York. For the production, Reich was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2022 Dave Comedy Awards and the Edinburgh Comedy Awards,

In 2023, Reich was named one of The Times ' "best new British talent."

In February 2025, Channel 4 announced it had commissioned the upcoming comedy series It Gets Worse, written, created and starring Reich.

In July 2025, Reich played the role of Boss Gibbons in Netflix's romantic comedy television series Too Much.

Personal life Reich is queer.

Television appearances Friday Night Live (Channel 4) Late Night Mash (Dave) Comedy Central Live Jonathan Ross Comedy Club (ITV) Late Night with Seth Meyers Richard Osman's House of Games (BBC) Too Much (Netflix)

Stand-up specials TitleReleasedNotes Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?! 16 December 2023 Recorded at Earth Hackney in East London