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Aarians' comedy and creative work draw on her experiences as an African American growing up in New York. Her mother, an Olympic track and field athlete, died in a tragic car accident, leaving her to be raised by her maternal grandmother from the age of 15 months. While her father, "Bubsy," was very active and a positive influence in her life, she also witnessed him and many of her uncles suffer from the effects of substance and alcohol addiction. "My experiences as a child with no mother informed my work as an artist and helped me find peace in the hidden complexities of human behavior as a therapist."

 

 

Aarian Punter is a member of SAG-AFTRA whose formal name was widely known as Aarian Pope. She has performed on various stages, such as the Apollo Theater, Catch a Rising Star, Caroline's Comedy Club, Boston Comedy, and New York Comedy Clubs, and has appeared on screen as a background actor in several popular award-winning network shows. Aarian wrote and performed original poems as interludes on significant recordings with the Lost Boyz, R&B duo Koffee Brown, and Grammy award-winning vocal artist Anthony Hamilton. She worked as a performance poet and actor in a comedy sketch team, Secret Society, with famed comedians such as Mike Epps and Donnell Rawlings. Aarian performed her poetry through the NACA (National Association of College Activities), performing at over 25 colleges and universities in the United States. ​Several of Aarian's poems appear in anthologies, including Random House's "Bum Rush the Page."

 

 

Aarian Punter hosts a weekly open mic on Tuesdays at Comedy In Harlem, NY. She is a licensed clinical social worker in New York, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, and a wife, living in Harlem with her husband and two children.