It's hard to be humble when you're the World Champion. For comedian Judah Friedlander, this is a status he has maintained for years during his stand-up sets, but he insists that it's all for the good of the American people.

Gilda's LaughFest kicks off on March 6 with another attempt to break a world record. In the past, people gathered in downtown Grand Rapids with rubber chickens, mustaches, cardboard beaks. This year, the goal is to get the most people wearing sunglasses in the dark.

I love getting mail. I love shopping local. Put the two things together and you'll understand my appreciation for thinking inside the box. Boxed GR is a local, monthly subscription club (similar to Birchbox and BarkBox) where subscribers receive a box filled with products, samples, gift cards and other goodies from businesses in the Grand Rapids area.

Get to know these up-and-coming comics now so you can say you knew them when.

Buddy Wakefield is, admittedly, far from enlightened. But 13 years after shucking a steady corporate gig and all of his worldly possessions for a Honda Civic and a new life as a traveling performance poet, he's working harder than ever to stay in the moment.

Joe Gatto, James Murray, Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano met years ago during their freshman year of high school. Bonding over their shared love of comedy, they dabbled in improv and stand-up throughout high school, before going their separate ways in college. When the foursome met up after college in '99, they agreed the climate was perfect to reignite their act and take it to the next level, creating The Tenderloins.

Nick Thune may have the honor of holding the strangest IMDb credit of all time. Search under his latest movie Johnson, and there he is, credited as the main character's disembodied penis. Thune embraced the role, and went out of his way to make sure he got it right.

Mike Birbiglia likes to tell stories. Personal, hilarious stories. And in order to ensure friends and family who appear in the stories don't get offended, he keeps some safeguards in place.

When most people hear the terms "bipolar" or "OCD," they probably wouldn't think of them as necessarily funny issues. For comedian Maria Bamford, who has publicly acknowledged that she has bipolar disorder and anxiety issues, these topics are pure comedy gold.

Ask most comedians who helped inspire them to pursue comedy and most would likely rattle off names like George Carlin and Chris Farley. Ask Jen Kirkman this question and you get a different answer entirely.