The top up and coming comedians in Toronto come from a city with such wealth of talent on stage every night in the city that the list is difficult to whittle down. My rationale was simple: if you want to get noticed by the big wigs in LA, you have to be able to possess both a killer stand-up act and a great presence on-screen. Therefore, preference has been given to those individuals that have done well across multiple comedic genres.

With that in mind, here's my list of the top five up and coming comedians that will make it big in the next two to five years.

Mark Little
Mark's one of those guys that's so talented it makes you shake your head in disbelief. He's the producer/author of multiple viral videos, won Yuk Yuk's Great Canadian Laugh Off, and is a Just For Laughs regular. Recently, he's been doing shows in the US, and it's only a matter of time before he gets snapped up by an agency with a three storey fountain in their lobby.

Kathleen Phillips
Kathleen is quite simply the most stunning comedic character artist that I've ever seen. Anyone can pull off an impersonation for thirty seconds, but what sets Kathleen apart is her special talent to get inside the head of the make-believe persona she's created and conjure up a nuanced, multifaceted personality. You'll have a chance to see what I mean very soon as she'll be appearing in Sunnyside, a sketch comedy series that just got picked up by CityTV.

K. Trevor Wilson
K. Trevor Wilson is a casual comedic genius on stage. The biggest notch on his bedpost is that he was handpicked to open for Patton Oswalt and Louis freakin CK at Just For Laughs. HANDPICKED. Wowzers. I mean just watch below - he gets an applause break on his first sentence. What's amazing about K Trev is that every line is a punchline, which is a huge testament to his writing ability. It's that kind of consistent, result-oriented delivery that late night talk shows salivate over.

Quinn C. Martin
What sets Quinn apart from most killer comedians and actors is that he has been able to personally attract a following that shows up in droves to each and every event he produces. He received a lot of attention when his Tim Horton's chicken sandwich commercial caught fire, and he continues to get callbacks for significant roles on a regular basis. What's next? Oh, you know, the usual: commercials, touring the US, movies, television...

Chris Locke
Chris Locke's hit stride in recent years, garnering regular appearances on MTV and releasing a stand-up comedy album that immediately shot to the top of the iTunes charts. Since then, he's killed in one club after another in LA and returned to play JFL. What's next? My guess is that Chris will hook up with his partner in crime from back in the day, Nathan Fielder, who struck it rich with his show on The Comedy Network, Nathan For You.

BONUS

Dave Merheje
Dave's quite literally a destroyer of stages. He's touring the States as I write this, and I wouldn't be surprised if he got snapped up by an agent before he had a chance to come back. To my knowledge, Dave hasn't done a ton of acting work, but he's just one of those guys that stand-up comedy producers can't get enough of. In my opinion, his sheer talent on the mic will make him undeniable over the next two years.

Rebecca Kohler
Rebecca has done just about everything you can do as a comic in Canada. She's written for This Hour Has 22 Minutes, performed stand-up for Just for Laughs, and even opened for Norm freakin' MacDonald. With her local options pretty much maxed out, she signed with a US agent and is busy entertaining our neighbours to the south.

About the Author: This is Michael Jagdeo, and I refuse to write about myself in the third-person. My blog, Diary of a Stand-up Comedian, walks you through the up's and down's (they're mostly down's, really) in my quest to become a killer comic in Toronto.