Michael Lehrer
Second City improviser and stand-up comedian who performed from his wheelchair about living with ALS as a Kill Tony regular from 2020 to 2022, and who died in January 2023.
Comedy · Podcast (Kill Tony) · Updated Oct 23, 2026
Michael Lehrer was a stand-up and improv comedian who came up at The Second City in Chicago and later became a familiar face on Kill Tony, where he did stand-up from his wheelchair about living with ALS. He was diagnosed in 2017, stepped away for treatment and went back to stand-up in 2019, per PopCulture.com. Kill Tony’s own episode notes list him on 92 episodes from January 2020 to December 2022, next to regulars like Hans Kim and William Montgomery. He died in Portland, Oregon, on January 17, 2023, per Axios.
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Questions people ask
Who is Michael Lehrer?
Michael Lehrer was a stand-up comedian, actor and improviser who worked for years with The Second City in Chicago, starting while he was a student at Columbia College, and later toured with its companies, including in Las Vegas, per PopCulture.com. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2017 and went back to stand-up in 2019, performing from his wheelchair, and became a regular on Kill Tony, the live podcast hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe and Redban. He died in January 2023.
What happened to Michael Lehrer?
Michael Lehrer died on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, in Portland, Oregon, after living with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) since his 2017 diagnosis, per Axios. Axios reported that he had moved from Austin to Portland to end his life under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, and the Chicago Sun-Times quoted his partner and caregiver saying he “died with dignity on his own terms,” per K2 Radio. In a post shortly before, he wrote that his life “led here no matter how I lived it” and called the illness “simply bad luck,” per Axios.
What happened to Michael Lehrer on Kill Tony? Why is he not on the show anymore?
Michael Lehrer stopped appearing on Kill Tony because of his illness and his death, not because of any falling out that we could find on the record. Kill Tony’s own episode notes first credit him on #426 (recorded January 6, 2020) and list him on 92 episodes in all, including #518 (recorded August 2, 2021), which carries his name as the title. The last episode that lists him is #589 with Ron White, released December 26, 2022. He died three weeks later. Press at the time described him as a Kill Tony regular who joked about his diagnosis on stage, including a line asking where the ice bucket challenge money went, per PopCulture.com.
Is Michael Lehrer still alive?
No, Michael Lehrer is no longer alive. Michael Lehrer died on January 17, 2023, in Portland, Oregon, as reported by Axios and the Chicago Sun-Times at the time.
What did Michael Lehrer do before ALS?
Before ALS, Michael Lehrer did improv and sketch with The Second City. He worked on Second City revues while at Columbia College in Chicago, alongside classmates like Aidy Bryant and Tawny Newsome, and later performed with its touring companies and in Las Vegas, per PopCulture.com. K2 Radio reported that he wrote and co-starred in three Second City revues and was picked for the New Faces of Comedy showcase at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal in 2014. Axios noted he was an ensemble member of Second City’s ETC stage, where he got a tattoo on stage during his last show there.
What did Joe Rogan say about Michael Lehrer?
Joe Rogan and Michael Lehrer met through Kill Tony, per K2 Radio, and the show’s episode notes put them in the same cast on #494, #498, #500 and #521 in 2021. After Lehrer died, Rogan wrote on Instagram that “the courage this man had to do stand-up while battling a debilitating disease was insanely impressive,” per K2 Radio, and that “he was a real legend,” per PopCulture.com.
How old was Michael Lehrer? What was his real name?
We could not source a published birthdate for Michael Lehrer, so we do not list one. Press reports at his death in January 2023, including Axios, gave his age as 44. Michael Lehrer was the name he performed under and the one press used; no fuller name was published.
Where is Michael Lehrer from?
Michael Lehrer grew up in Queens, New York, and in Casper, Wyoming, where he graduated from Natrona County High School, per K2 Radio. He built his comedy career in Chicago and was living in Austin, Texas, before he moved to Portland, Oregon, per Axios.
Is this the Michael Lehrer who is an architect, or the doctor?
No, this Michael Lehrer is the comedian, not the architect or a doctor. This entry is about the comedian from Kill Tony and The Second City. Michael B. Lehrer, the Los Angeles architect who leads Lehrer Architects and received the AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal in 2020, is a different person, and so are the physicians who share the name.
Where can I watch Michael Lehrer?
Michael Lehrer’s Kill Tony sets are in the show’s archive on Apple Podcasts and on the Kill Tony YouTube channel, from episode #426 to #589, including #518, which is named for him. A friend posted his last Second City ETC show, the one where he got a tattoo on stage, on YouTube in January 2023.
What is Michael Lehrer’s net worth?
Michael Lehrer did not publish a net worth number, and neither do we.
What about Michael Lehrer’s family or personal life?
Not something we cover.
Who represents Michael Lehrer?
No agency or manager was named for Michael Lehrer in anything we could source. Ames Create did not represent him; we cover him because people still search what happened to him, and the answer is on the record in press and in Kill Tony’s own notes.
Our read
Ames Create does not work with Michael Lehrer. This is our view, from a team that works on creator brands for a living.
The format. A Second City improviser who turned his own diagnosis into the material: stand-up from a wheelchair, aimed straight at ALS and at the room’s discomfort with it. On Kill Tony that meant short sets in front of a crowd that came to see comics take risks, and he took the biggest one available.
Why it travels. A Kill Tony set plus the interview after it is a finished clip, and his ran for three years on one of the biggest comedy podcasts there is. The jokes landed because nobody else could tell them, which is also why people still look him up.
Brand fit. Nobody. He died in January 2023, and this entry is a reference for people asking what happened to him, not a pitch.
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Related creators
| Hans KimAustin stand-up comedian who writes dry one-liners, best known as a Kill Tony regular from 2021 and a member of the show’s Hall of Fame. | Comedy |
| William MontgomeryMemphis-born, Austin-based stand-up comedian who read a new minute of jokes off cards on Kill Tony for more than seven years, and host of The William Montgomery Show podcast. | Comedy |
| Tony HinchcliffeStand-up comedian and roast writer from Youngstown, Ohio, who created and hosts Kill Tony, the weekly live podcast taped at The Comedy Mothership in Austin. | Comedy |
| RedbanAustin-based podcast producer and comedian who started The Joe Rogan Experience with Joe Rogan in 2009, co-hosts Kill Tony with Tony Hinchcliffe and runs the Deathsquad podcast network. | Comedy |
| Kam PattersonOrlando-born stand-up comedian who went from Kill Tony regular to a Saturday Night Live cast member in 2025, and now acts in films. | Comedy |
| JiDionHouston YouTuber who built his name on public pranks and stadium stunts, then deleted them in 2023 and now films livestreamed sting confrontations under the name EDP Watch. | Comedy |
| Jesse SebastianiFounding Nelk Boys member, known online as MTV Jesse, who sold his share of Nelk in 2022 and now makes personal vlogs, skate videos and the Sunday brand. | Comedy |
| Ric DiezStand-up comedian born in Spain and raised in Belgium who tells short, dark one-liners deadpan, best known for winning a Kill Tony golden ticket in 2023 and battling Hans Kim for a regular spot. | Comedy |
Sources: Kill Tony episode notes and Kill Tony on Apple Podcasts; Axios Chicago, January 19, 2023; PopCulture.com, January 19, 2023; K2 Radio, January 2023, citing the Chicago Sun-Times; his last Second City ETC show on YouTube; AIA Los Angeles on the architect Michael B. Lehrer.
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