Upcoming Events
Open Mic Night
New York City
April 27th, 2026
HR Brew Conference
New York City
April 21st, 2026
About Us
‘Funny People (HR Comedy Club)’ was co-founded by Ashley Bendell and Peter Phelan in 2025. They provide a Comedy Club environment for HR & People focused practitioners (only) to have a laugh, do 'open mic' stand-up, share a funny story & network/ build community.
Ashley grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. Peter grew up in Kilkenny, Ireland. Their love of comedy brought them together twenty five years later, in New York City, due to their work at ADP & ValuesCulture.
Welcome to Funny People (HR Comedy Club). Forget about a seat at the table. We all need a microphone!
Meet your Hosts
Ashley Bendell
www.linkedin.com/in/ashleybendell/
Peter Phelan
Media Coverage
HR BREW Article: 12.19.25
‘Ashley Bendell was scrolling through his LinkedIn feed one day in 2024 when he stumbled on a video that stood out from the sea of posts.
The video was of a speaker at an HR industry event. But unlike most speakers at HR industry events, this one was, well, funny. Bendell was struck by his comedic talents, and his impersonations of celebrities and fictional characters as HR pros. (Who could possibly be better equipped to terminate employees than the Terminator himself?)
Bendell connected with the speaker, Peter Phelan, an HR headhunter who founded a consultancy called ValuesCulture. From there, they developed a friendship, and eventual partnership, starting a pop-up HR comedy show called Funny People in March 2025. Their open-mic nights, featuring HR pros, have taken over bars across New York City.’