While a predominant stereotype about Jews is that we are an anxious people, Hannah Berner has made a career out of not taking life too seriously. The half-Italian, half-Jewish pop culture personality has made a name for herself on reality TV, as a stand-up comedian and as a co-host of the podcast “Giggly Squad.” With over 1 million followers on Instagram, it’s clear that not only is this attitude clearly one that resonates with audiences, but it’s one that has made her a star.
So, here are 18 things to know about her.
1. Hannah was born on Aug. 12, 1991 in Brooklyn, New York.
2. She’s a Leo!
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3. She’s Jewish on her dad’s side.
“My grandpa was Jewish but when he was 7, he was a loud mouth and he got punched in the face by a rabbi. So then he denounced all religion, and married a blonde German, so my dad grew up atheist,” she explained on the Off the Cuff podcast in 2022.
4. Hannah has said that her dad is her best friend. Just look at what a cute father-daughter pair they are:
5. She’s half-Italian, half-Jewish and fully a pizza bagel.
@hannah_bernerWhere are my pizza bagel hoes!?!
6. She grew up playing tennis and made news in 2009 for playing on Beacon High School’s boys tennis team. (Her school did not have a girls tennis team at the time.)
“I think that was when I first realized that my purpose on this planet was disrupting male spaces,” Hannah reflected in 2024. “I remember men getting mad and I didn’t feel like I should make myself smaller, but that I should make myself bigger.”
7. Hannah went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named the most valuable player on the tennis team. She quit the sport after graduation, however, opting not to pursue a professional career like she had initially planned to.
8. Hannah started to become a public figure while working as a video producer at Betches. She wrote, produced and sometimes starred in content for the site.
9. Hannah starred on seasons three through five of the Bravo reality show “Summer House.” While initially a favorite among fans, in season five, as Elle puts it: “Clashes with housemates, particularly her former friend Amanda Batula and Amanda’s now-husband, Kyle Cooke, earned her an unfavorable edit and audiences’ ire.”
In 2024, Hannah told the New York Times that she will not return to reality TV.
10. She credits her then-boyfriend and now-husband American-Irish comedian Des Bishop with helping her through that particularly tough moment. “He kept me off my phone and kept my head up,” she recalled later.
11. Hannah and Des met in 2020 and got engaged six months later. They were married in 2022.
12. She’s created multiple podcasts: “Berning in Hell,” “Berner Phone” and, most successfully, “Giggly Squad.” She hosts the latter with her former “Summer House” roommate and current best friend Paige DeSorbo.
13. Hannah is also a stand-up comedian! She started performing stand-up after the first season of “Summer House” aired and has been doing it ever since. “After the intensity of tennis and the competitiveness, standup feels like being at after-school arts and crafts,” she explained.
14. Her first-ever stand-up special “We Ride at Dawn” was released on Netflix in 2024. “im having trouble processing all the love and support because you guys are the fucking best no notes,” Hannah wrote on Instagram after sharing that her special premiered at number two on the Netflix top shows chart.
15. Hannah had a “full-on mental breakdown” two weeks before the taping of her special due to nerves. “I fought my demons for two weeks, and then right before I stepped onstage, a calmness came over me,” she told Elle.
16. Hannah released a book with Paige DeSorbo in April 2025 called “How to Giggle: A Guide to Not Taking Life Too Seriously.” Hannah’s mom, a former middle school teacher helped to edit the book!
17. Hannah is already planning for her next stand-up special, where she might talk about her tennis career and her parents.
18. In an interview with Wonderland Magazine, Hannah says her “next foray” will be into acting.
