Chris Rush
Encyclopedia
Chris Rush is an American
stand-up comedian, writer
, actor
, radio personality
and author
. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums along with being a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon Magazine.
and graduated from City College of New York
in 1968. Before becoming a comedian Rush was a molecular biologist, working at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital for two years. He embarked on a professional comedy career following an open mic night at a comedy club
.
. Though raised in the Catholic
faith he left the church when in the seventh grade. He considers himself to be a Taoist and can be seen wearing the Yin and Yang
symbol on his shirt during his performances.
by Ahmet Ertegun
to release his first comedy album First Rush in 1973. In 1974 he appeared in yet another magazine titled Harpoon.
Rush opened for musicians and bands including B.B. King, Meat Loaf
, Talking Heads
and Electric Light Orchestra
while becoming a frequent performer at comedy clubs, theaters and colleges throughout the United States
and Canada
. He performed at such venues as The Bottom Line
, Caroline's
, The Improv
and The Comedy Store. He released his second album Beaming In in 1981. His performances landed him on national television with appearances on Comedy Tonight, Night Flight
and Apt. 2C, a pilot
for HBO starring his mentor
and friend George Carlin
's show Small Doses, titled Food for Thought. It starred Patton Oswalt
and Blaine Capatch
as two bumbling store clerks and Chris as the manager. He was asked to contribute to Tim Allen
's book I'm Not Really Here, which was released in 1996. He released an additional comedy album in 1997. During this time, he made sporadic stand-up comedy appearances. He worked for comic Bob "Wolf" Wohlfeld in the late 1990s on PYX 106 with The Wakin' Up With The Wolf Show, where he was a co-host. Some of his bits were put onto an album released by the show, titled Chris's Head. The relationship ended though when the studio fired Rush in December 1998.
On October 1, 2007 Rush released a 98-page humor book through Andrews McMeel Publishing
, titled Milking The Rhino (Dangerously Funny Lists). The book includes stories and lists in the author's style of humor. Stand-up comedian George Carlin
wrote the foreword
to the book.
In April 2009 Chris launched a one man show
titled, Bliss: An Evening of Laughter with Chris Rush, which was financed by George Carlin before he died in June, 2008.
Show, The Morning Zoo
on WMMR
, Esoterica with Johnny Rizzo on WPKN
, where he does a once a month call in segment talking about recent events, Dr. Demento
, who will sometimes play Chris' comedy routines and he's also appeared on Opie and Anthony
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stand-up comedian, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, radio personality
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums along with being a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon Magazine.
Early life
Rush was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is of Italian descent and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. He attended Brooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
and graduated from City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1968. Before becoming a comedian Rush was a molecular biologist, working at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital for two years. He embarked on a professional comedy career following an open mic night at a comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
.
Personal life
Rush is a conservationist and supporter of GreenpeaceGreenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
. Though raised in the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith he left the church when in the seventh grade. He considers himself to be a Taoist and can be seen wearing the Yin and Yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
symbol on his shirt during his performances.
1970s & 1980s
Chris Rush wrote for National Lampoon Magazine in the early 1970s. making his first appearance in the August 1970 issue. During his time at Lampoon he was involved in another comedy magazine titled Drool, which came out with only one issue in 1972. He left the magazine when he was signed to Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
by Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
to release his first comedy album First Rush in 1973. In 1974 he appeared in yet another magazine titled Harpoon.
Rush opened for musicians and bands including B.B. King, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
and Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
while becoming a frequent performer at comedy clubs, theaters and colleges throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He performed at such venues as The Bottom Line
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, Caroline's
Caroline's
Carolines on Broadway is a venue for stand-up comedy located in Times Square in New York City on Broadway between 49th and 50th Street. It is one of the most established, famous, and recognized stand-up comedy clubs in the United States. Its marketing slogan is "America's Premiere Comedy...
, The Improv
The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the SE corner of 9th Ave. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District...
and The Comedy Store. He released his second album Beaming In in 1981. His performances landed him on national television with appearances on Comedy Tonight, Night Flight
Night Flight (TV series)
Night Flight is a variety show that originated on the USA Network. An eclectic mix of short films, cartoons, B movies, stand up comedy, documentaries, music videos and more, Night Flight was broadcast, in various incarnations, from 1981 to 1996....
and Apt. 2C, a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for HBO starring his mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
and friend George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
1990s & 2000s
In the early to mid 90's Rush was involved in a series of shorts made for Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's show Small Doses, titled Food for Thought. It starred Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...
and Blaine Capatch
Blaine Capatch
Blaine Capatch is an American stand-up comedian and writer who is best known for hosting Season 2 of the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks....
as two bumbling store clerks and Chris as the manager. He was asked to contribute to Tim Allen
Tim Allen
Tim Allen is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his role in the sitcom Home Improvement...
's book I'm Not Really Here, which was released in 1996. He released an additional comedy album in 1997. During this time, he made sporadic stand-up comedy appearances. He worked for comic Bob "Wolf" Wohlfeld in the late 1990s on PYX 106 with The Wakin' Up With The Wolf Show, where he was a co-host. Some of his bits were put onto an album released by the show, titled Chris's Head. The relationship ended though when the studio fired Rush in December 1998.
On October 1, 2007 Rush released a 98-page humor book through Andrews McMeel Publishing
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC is a company which publishes books, calendars, and related toys...
, titled Milking The Rhino (Dangerously Funny Lists). The book includes stories and lists in the author's style of humor. Stand-up comedian George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
wrote the foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
to the book.
In April 2009 Chris launched a one man show
One man show
The term one-man show often referred to comedian, who would stand on stage and entertain an audience. With the advent of feminism, words and phrases such as one-woman show and comedienne have entered the modern-day lexicon....
titled, Bliss: An Evening of Laughter with Chris Rush, which was financed by George Carlin before he died in June, 2008.
Discography
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | First Rush | Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... |
| 1981 | Beaming In | City Sounds |
| 1997 | There's No Bones In Ice Cream | Sundazed Records Sundazed Records Sundazed Records is a record label based in Coxsackie, in the Catskills of New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s.Label founders Bob Irwin and his wife Mary started the label in 1989... |
Television
- Apt. 2C - HBO
- The Bob McLean ShowThe Bob McLean ShowThe Bob McLean Show was a Canadian talk show television series which aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1981.-Premise:CBC Television created this series in 1975 to replace Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date whose host had left the network for another Toronto-based broadcaster...
- Canada AMCanada AMCanada AM is a Canadian breakfast television news show, which has aired on the CTV Television Network since 1972. It is currently hosted by Beverly Thomson and Seamus O'Regan, with Marci Ien reporting from the headline news desk and Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports...
- (Multiple appearances) - Comedy on the Road - A&E NetworkA&E NetworkThe A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
- Comedy Tonight - Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
- Don Kirshner's Rock ConcertDon Kirshner's Rock ConcertDon Kirshner's Rock Concert is a television music variety show that ran during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Don Kirshner and syndicated to television stations...
- Food For Thought/Small Doses - Comedy Central
- Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
- Night FlightNight Flight (TV series)Night Flight is a variety show that originated on the USA Network. An eclectic mix of short films, cartoons, B movies, stand up comedy, documentaries, music videos and more, Night Flight was broadcast, in various incarnations, from 1981 to 1996....
- Rascals Comedy Hour
- Showtime Comedy Club Network - Showtime
- Spotlight Cafe
- Stand-Up Spotlight - VH-1
- The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
Radio
In addition to being a co-host on PYX 106, Rush has been an often guest on The Joey ReynoldsJoey Reynolds
Joey Reynolds is the pseudonym of Joey Pinto, host of the U.S. radio program The Joey Reynolds Show via the WOR Radio Network. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV- in Buffalo at WGR TV 2...
Show, The Morning Zoo
Morning zoo
Morning zoo is a format of morning radio show common to English-language radio broadcasting. The name is derived from the "wackiness and zaniness" of the activities, bits, and overall personality of the show and its hosts...
on WMMR
WMMR
WMMR is an active rock radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting at 93.3 MHz FM. The station is owned by Greater Media....
, Esoterica with Johnny Rizzo on WPKN
WPKN
WPKN is a 100% non-commercial, listener-supported† radio station broadcasting at 89.5 FM in Bridgeport, Connecticut and formerly 88.7 FM in Montauk, New York. Its volunteer programmers present a wide variety of music and public affairs programming including the syndicated weekly radio news magazine...
, where he does a once a month call in segment talking about recent events, Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
, who will sometimes play Chris' comedy routines and he's also appeared on Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
.
External links
- Laugh.com profile
- Facebook fan page
- Youtube channel
- http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&CNT=25+records+per+page&CMD=isbn+9780740768965/Milking The Rhino at Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
] - http://www.wor710.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=3680047Interview with David LettermanDavid LettermanDavid Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, Bill ScheftBill ScheftBill Scheft is an American comedy writer and novelist. He is best known for being a staff writer for David Letterman since 1991, during which time he has been nominated for 15 Emmy awards. He ran a weekly humor column "The Show" in Sports Illustrated from 2002 to 2005...
and Rush]