At only 28 years old, Ken Flores, an up-and-coming stand-up comedian, has sadly passed away after making appearances on the Netflix is a Daily Joke podcast and performing at the Netflix Is A Joke stand-up festival.
Flores’ family announced his death with a brief statement on Instagram.
The announcement of his passing was shared with the public in a post that respectfully asked for privacy during this difficult time of mourning his sudden loss. The message referred to Flores as a friend, brother, and son, highlighting the deep impact of his departure.
A report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner notes Flores passed away Jan. 28 in his home.
According to TMZ, Flores lost his life due to cardiac arrest. Despite efforts from a friend who called emergency services and administered CPR until help arrived, Flores was unable to be revived and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Reports suggest that leading up to his untimely passing, Flores had been struggling with congestive heart failure but was actively working on improving his health.
Flores’ shocking death comes just as the rising comedian’s career was taking off. He had recently kicked off his first national stand-up tour, where he was set to perform in Tempe, Arizona, next.
The comedian had appeared in several podcasts, including Netflix is a Daily Joke and Bert Kreischer‘s podcast, Bertcast. He also performed at the Netflix is a Joke Fest in 2024.
Born in 1996 in Chicago, the comedian grew up in Humboldt Park before moving to Los Angeles in 2023 to pursue comedy full-time. In an interview with Comedy Gazelle, Flores shared that his career picked up rather quickly after he performed at his very first open mic.
“I’m blessed that it was able to go this way, but I had to do it because I had no other option. I just knew I didn’t want to go back to school. I knew I didn’t want to work a regular job. I put my all into this shit, bro,” he said.
Fans and comedians voiced their support for Flores on Instagram after his passing was announced.
“What a tragic and devastating loss to the world. Ken was a gem and was going to be a star one day,” comedian Neema Naz commented.
Chris D’Elia also shared a tribute to the comedian, writing, “This is terrible. So talented and such a good dude. We will all miss him.”
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=823934954307605&version=v2.8”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));