Special Event: Zainab Johnson

Zainab Johnson is playing Helium & Elements Restaurant on Thursday, January 14, 2027. If you recognize her name but can't quite place it, she's a series regular on the Amazon Original Upload, the comedy from Greg Daniels. She's also one of the hosts of Netflix's 100 Humans and starred as Dr. Hanniel in the web series Avant-Guardians.

Her stand-up comes from a specific place: she grew up in Harlem as one of thirteen siblings in a Black Muslim family, and that's where she draws her point of view. Before comedy, she earned degrees in Education and Math and worked as a teacher, so she's come to the stage from a pretty different path than your typical comic.

She's been working the circuit for a while now. Her first late-night stand-up appearance was on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, and she had breakout spots on HBO's All Def Comedy and NBC's Last Comic Standing. She's also played the JFL Comedy Festival in Montreal, first as a "New Face of Comedy" and later as one of Variety's "Top 10 Comics to Watch." These days she's a paid regular at The Comedy Store, The Improv, and Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, as well as the Comedy Cellar in New York City. Her first hourlong special, Hijabs Off, is available to stream on Amazon if you want to get a feel for her set before she rolls into town.

The show is at 7:30 PM on Thursday, January 14, at Helium & Elements Restaurant in St. Louis.