Just a few years ago, KATHLEEN MADIGAN was working as a waitress and journalist in St. Louis, Missouri. Now, Madigan has filmed her own Half Hour comedy special for HBO, and has been honored with the title and recognition few comedians experience, winner of "Best Female Stand-up Comedian" at the American Comedy Awards. She has appeared on the The Late Show with David Letterman, made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show, starred on the Bob Hope's NBC Special "Ladies of Laughter," was a featured performer on HBO's "Women of the Night" and on CBS's "NFL Comedy Jam."

Having no intention of becoming a stand-up comedian. Madigan graduated from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with a degree in journalism. She worked in St. Louis, her hometown, editing in-house corporate publications and writing free-lance feature stories. Almost one year later, Madigan stumbled upon amateur night at the St. Louis Funny Bone Comedy Club. She gave stand-up comedy a try and continued to pound the local pavement looking for stage time.

After building confidence and enough of an act to emcee, the 24 year old quit her journalism job and hit the road booking gigs throughout the Midwest and south.

Mixing an even amount of talent and luck, Madigan's career caught the eye of a major media publication. After a recent gig at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Michael Paskevich of the Las Vegas Review Journal observed, "she's focused and more importantly, a very talented young woman who, at the age of 30 is posed for big time success as one of the brightest new light on the contemporary comedy scene. She's got instantly likeable stage demeanor, strong road-honed timing and excellent and original material." The Los Angeles Times profiled her three times in less than a year noting, "She has a refreshing polished delivery and clever, well written material with an engaging girl-next-door quality."

Working mainly in the United States, Madigan has also performed internationally landing a spot at the highly acclaimed "Montreal Comedy Festival" she tackled Canada, performed in London, England's "Comedy Store" and recently entertained British, American and Canadian audiences in Hong Kong.

She's also branched out from just stand-up comedy appearances. Madigan starred in a national TV commercial for US West and has covered numerous offbeat sporting events for ESPN2's Sports Night.

As for the future… The Las Vegas Review Journal quipped "Catch her now and you'll be able to tell your friends you saw her on the way up." And Madigan's personal goals seem quite certain, "I'd like to make a million dollars, retire, move to Ireland and drink as much Guinness as humanly possible.