Jimmy Brogan
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Brogan sometimes credited as Jim Brogan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He has made numerous standup appearances on the talk show circuit including The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
and Late Night with David Letterman
. He was a writer on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 9 years. As an actor he starred in the ABC sitcom Out of the Blue
.
has called Brogan “an absolute master at interacting with the crowd.” and says, “he elevated crowd interaction to a high art.”
Brogan started doing stand-up comedy in New York City in 1975. Within his first year and a half of doing stand-up he was a regular performer at the Improv
, Catch a Rising Star
and the Comic Strip
. Brogan appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 7 times from 1984 to 1992. He also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman
and the Merv Griffin Show.
He hosted Laffathon on Showtime 1980-81, Comic Strip Live
on Fox 1987, You Asked for it Again on the Family Channel 1992. He also hosted The Late Show
on Fox in 1987 after Joan Rivers left the show. From 1992 until 2001 he appeared many times on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno doing stand-up, in written comedy pieces and in remote segments.
He warmed up the studio audiences for sitcoms Taxi
, Cheers
, Newhart
and Seinfeld
as well as talk shows the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman
and Oprah
.
Almost every Sunday for the last 18 years, he has been opening for Jay Leno at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. "Leno calls Brogan every Sunday to ask if they're riding together. 'He picks me up in one of his 80 exotic cars,' Brogan said. 'We ride in a different one every Sunday. This has been a ritual since 1991.'"
called him "L.A.'s premier 'joke scientist' …dissecting, analyzing, adding or subtracting ingredients" in Leno's opening monologue. During the show "Jimmy would sit to one side of the audience while Jay told his jokes. On occasion, Jimmy and Jay would make a bet to see if a certain joke worked or not. If Jimmy won, Jay would walk down the stage, and pay Jimmy. If Jay won, Jimmy would come to the stage and pay off the bet. All this was done while the camera was running."
on ABC as Random the Angel. ABC aired 9 episodes, including the premiere episode which costarred Robin Williams as Mork from Mork and Mindy
.
Brogan also appeared in an episode of Happy Days
entitled Chachi Sells his Soul as Random to cross promote his show Out of the Blue
.
He had guest parts on other TV shows including Just the Ten of Us
and Jerry Seinfeld’s Stand-up Confidential.
Brogan also appeared in three major motion pictures: Punchline
with Tom Hanks and Sally Fields playing the younger clergyman, Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! with Matt Damon as psychiatrist, Dr. Miller and Bridesmaids with Kristin Wiig as the minister at the wedding.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
and Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late 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...
. He was a writer on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 9 years. As an actor he starred in the ABC sitcom Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (1979 TV series)
Out Of The Blue is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork & Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days....
.
Comedian
Brogan is well known in the comedy clubs for his off the cuff adlib-style act. The Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
has called Brogan “an absolute master at interacting with the crowd.” and says, “he elevated crowd interaction to a high art.”
Brogan started doing stand-up comedy in New York City in 1975. Within his first year and a half of doing stand-up he was a regular performer at 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...
, Catch a Rising Star
Catch a Rising Star
Catch a Rising Star is a chain of comedy clubs, founded in New York City in December 1972 and owned by Rick Newman. It has since spread to other areas, such as Las Vegas and New Jersey....
and the Comic Strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
. Brogan appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 7 times from 1984 to 1992. He also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late 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...
and the Merv Griffin Show.
He hosted Laffathon on Showtime 1980-81, Comic Strip Live
Comic Strip Live
The Comic Strip Live is the oldest stand-up comedy showcase club in New York City and the world. Located at 1568 Second Avenue .-Beginnings:...
on Fox 1987, You Asked for it Again on the Family Channel 1992. He also hosted The Late Show
The Late Show (1986 TV series)
The Late Show is an American late-night talk show and the first series broadcast on the then-new Fox Network. Originally hosted by comic actress Joan Rivers, it first aired on October 9, 1986 under the title The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers...
on Fox in 1987 after Joan Rivers left the show. From 1992 until 2001 he appeared many times on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno doing stand-up, in written comedy pieces and in remote segments.
He warmed up the studio audiences for sitcoms Taxi
Taxi (TV series)
Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
, Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
and Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
as well as talk shows the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late 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...
and Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
.
Almost every Sunday for the last 18 years, he has been opening for Jay Leno at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. "Leno calls Brogan every Sunday to ask if they're riding together. 'He picks me up in one of his 80 exotic cars,' Brogan said. 'We ride in a different one every Sunday. This has been a ritual since 1991.'"
Writer
Brogan served as a writer for the opening monologue on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992-2001. The Los Angeles Times MagazineLos Angeles Times Magazine
The Los Angeles Times Magazine is a monthly magazine which supplements the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on the first Sunday of the month...
called him "L.A.'s premier 'joke scientist' …dissecting, analyzing, adding or subtracting ingredients" in Leno's opening monologue. During the show "Jimmy would sit to one side of the audience while Jay told his jokes. On occasion, Jimmy and Jay would make a bet to see if a certain joke worked or not. If Jimmy won, Jay would walk down the stage, and pay Jimmy. If Jay won, Jimmy would come to the stage and pay off the bet. All this was done while the camera was running."
Actor
In 1979, Brogan moved to Los Angeles to star in the sitcom Out of the BlueOut of the Blue (1979 TV series)
Out Of The Blue is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork & Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days....
on ABC as Random the Angel. ABC aired 9 episodes, including the premiere episode which costarred Robin Williams as Mork from Mork and Mindy
Mork and Mindy
Mork & Mindy is an American science fiction sitcom broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC. The series starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-man egg-shaped spaceship. Pam Dawber co-starred as Mindy McConnell, his human friend and roommate...
.
Brogan also appeared in an episode of Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
entitled Chachi Sells his Soul as Random to cross promote his show Out of the Blue
Out of the Blue (1979 TV series)
Out Of The Blue is an American fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork & Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days....
.
He had guest parts on other TV shows including Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...
and Jerry Seinfeld’s Stand-up Confidential.
Brogan also appeared in three major motion pictures: Punchline
Punchline (film)
Punchline is a 1988 American film written and directed by David Seltzer and stars Tom Hanks as a very talented young comic who helps a housewife, played by Sally Field who wants to break into stand-up comedy.-Synopsis:...
with Tom Hanks and Sally Fields playing the younger clergyman, Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! with Matt Damon as psychiatrist, Dr. Miller and Bridesmaids with Kristin Wiig as the minister at the wedding.
External links
- JimBroganonLine.com (official website)
- CleanComedian (official website)