Age: 51
Hometown: New York, NY
Day Job: Comedian

Voted one of the "Top 10 Comics" by Backstage Magazine in 2004, Michele Balan is a brash, New York stand-up comedian who has performed on Comedy Central as well as in top comedy clubs, theaters, festivals and on cruises all over the country.

Often told she was naturally funny, the Brooklyn native left a high-paying executive position at a computer company to pursue comedy -- even though comedy has never proved as lucrative -- and has been performing ever since.

She got her start as a "female female impersonator," doing lip sync impressions of Bette Midler. Now people tell her she is "like a female George Burns with many one-liners." Balan describes herself as "bi-comical," referencing her universal appeal to both straight and gay audiences. Her career has taken her to top comedy clubs from The Improv in Los Angeles to Caroline's on Broadway in New York, and from the Montreal "Just for Laughs Festival" to the "Dinah Shore Women's Weekend."

Balan has shared the stage with Kathy Najimy, Jennifer Holiday, Taylor Dayne, Harvey Fierstein, Bruce Vilanch and Nell Carter. In 1999, she recorded a CD at The Improv in Los Angeles which features Nell Carter singing a song parody that Balan wrote.

Balan recently recorded the critically-acclaimed DVD "LIVE Just Barely" at the famed Joe's Pub, home to the public theater and performers like Joan Rivers, Earth Kitt and Leslie Gore, for whom she just wrote a comedy segment.