
Stand-up comics on the verge of breaking out and becoming the next big name offer insights into the motivations behind baring one's soul for a living.

Seaton Smith performs a set loaded with relationship advice and "white positive" jokes; Yedoye Travis also covers race relations while making the argument that the devil is actually white.

The unrestrained Kira Soltanovich talks about her family's wild journey from Communist Russia to modern-day California; classic joke-teller Mike Vecchione has a rapid-fire set.

As an Alaskan Jew, comic Becky Braunstein hilariously tells stories of her life in the Last Frontier; after a life change prompts her to move from Alaska to Portland, Ore., she takes the mainland by storm.