8 Comedians You Need To Get On Board With RIGHT NOW

Comedian Deon Cole is not a household name -- yet. But that may change now that the Conan mainstay has been given his own show as a platform for his unique perspective on pop culture and current events. In that spirit, here are 8 of the funniest human beings on the planet who are on the cusp of getting the recognition they deserve. Tune in to Deon Cole's Black Box, premiering tonight at 10 PM on TBS.

1. Jimmy Pardo

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You might recognize him from: Last Comic Standing, The Surreal Life, plus guest roles on sitcoms like That '70s Show.

Get on board because: His hilarious and innovative podcast Never Not Funny is going strong in its twelfth (yes, twelfth) season. Jimmy is the opening comic every night at Conan and host of delightful and mischievous side projects like The Nerdist Network's Write Now with Jimmy Pardo.

2. Maria Bamford

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You might recognize her from: A million appearances on a million hip shows, from Arrested Development to The Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. She also has one of the most distinctive voices in show biz, so if you watch cartoons at all you've probably heard her.

Get on board because: She was part of the vaunted Comedians of Comedy tour (along with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Zach Galifianakis) and her newest comedy special, The Special Special Special -- taped in her living room in front of a live audience consisting of just her parents -- is a legitimate must-see.

3. Pete Holmes

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You might recognize him from: VH1's Best Week Ever and its gazillion spinoffs. You definitely know him as the voice of the E-trade Baby. Hopefully you've seen the outstanding Batman parody videos he did for College Humor -- if you haven't, you're in for a treat.

Get on board because: He has one of the two best comedy-nerd podcasts out there (Pete's You Made It Weird is Marc Maron's WTF for people who like themselves). Know what else? He's going to have his own Conan-produced show on TBS this fall because he faaaaancy.

4. Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony

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You might recognize them from: Dave (clown suit, no hat) from bit parts on shows like The Office and Entourage and from commercials. Greg (clown suit, hat) is best known as the author of the self-help mega-hit He's Just Not That Into You, and you might recognize him as the host of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. You'd be wrong, though. That's not him. That's Ty Pennington. But he does get that a lot.

Get on board because: The unbelievably funny tire-fire that is Walking the Room - a starkly honest podcast about the (occasional) successes and (myriad) failures of two hard-working, hard-luck best friends who kind of sometimes hate each other.

5. Mike Birbiglia

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You might recognize him from: This American Life, an episode of Girls, late night talk shows.

Get on board because: He turned a bananas life story -- in ten words: Sleep disorder makes him jump out second story (closed) window -- into a book, an award-winning off-broadway show, an award-winning movie and an album that the Onion A.V. Club called one of the best albums of the decade.

6. Chelsea Peretti

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You might recognize her from: Louie, Kroll Show

Get on board because: She's brilliant, dark and funny-as-balls. When your boring coworkers say, "Oh my god, how funny was Chelsea last night?" they're talking about Handler. When comedians say it, they're talking about Peretti.

7. Kumail Nanjiani

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You might recognize him from: Portlandia, Franklin & Bash... gamers will likely know him from his podcast, "The Indoor Kids"

Get on board because: He's one of the funniest dudes working today plus, like most standup comics, he was raised a fundamentalist Shiite in Pakistan until age 18.

8. Paul F. Tompkins

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You might recognize him from: Best Week Ever, Mr. Show with Bob and David

Get on board because: Paul F is one of those most consistently funny standups working, and he (surprise surprise) has an excellent podcast, the Pod F. Tompkast.

Inspired by Deon Cole's Black Box

Don't miss the premiere episode, Monday, June 10 at 10 PM on TBS.