ABOUT

Ophira knew stand-up comedy was for her after being called “funny” at just 16 in her ballet class, an honor sealed by receiving a Miss Personality award. Nothing says: you’re not going to be a dancer! quite like a Miss Personality award from your dance school. More than a decade later, when she finally worked up the nerve to step onstage at a comedy club for the first time, the surprise headliner that night, Robin Williams, singled her out as a highlight on the show and referenced two of her jokes. 

In the early 2000s, she left Canada to pursue comedy in New York, where she also discovered The Moth. That discovery led to her storytelling being featured on The Moth Radio Hour and podcast, both Peabody Award–winning, and to her inclusion in three of their New York Times best-selling books. At the same time, she was rising in the stand-up comedy world, appearing at festivals like Moontower in Austin and Just For Laughs in Montreal, performing on The Late Late Show and Comedy Central, playing herself on an episode of HBO’s Girls, appearing on Sherri! with Sherri Shepherd, and hosting NPR’s breakout live trivia show Ask Me Another, where she played smart, joyful, and slightly ridiculous games with hundreds of celebrities, including Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Awkwafina, Roxane Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, and more.

After surviving breast cancer and later becoming pregnant, Ophira wrote about the experience and told the story with The Moth, as well as in her comedy special Inside Joke for Comedy Dynamics. She went on to produce another top-rated comedy special, Plant-Based Jokes, released by 800 Pound Gorilla Records, and launched the podcast Parenting Is a Joke, where she speaks with fellow stand-up comics, celebrities, and professional funny people about what it is like to raise kids while pursuing a creative career. She is a regular performer at The Comedy Cellar and other New York clubs, and her solo show Leaving a Mark: A Comedy About Scars made its Off-Broadway debut to rave reviews and won the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts. She is currently developing the show for a European tour in spring 2026.

Beyond the stage and screen, Ophira is a trusted leader in storytelling for both corporate and community spaces. She regularly designs and leads storytelling workshops that help teams, creatives, and organizations communicate with clarity, humor, and humanity. She is also a highly sought-after host for major gala fundraisers and live events, known for bringing warmth, intelligence, and effortless control to high-stakes rooms for nonprofits, companies, and mission-driven projects alike.