Kevin Bleyer is a multiple Emmy award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, contributor to President Barack Obama's speeches, co-author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller Earth: The Book, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Television writing[link]

After doing commentaries and freelance reporting for NPR's "All Things Considered" and American Public Media's "Marketplace", Bleyer began his television writing career as a writer and producer for Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher from 1996 to 2002.^[1] He then wrote for the critically acclaimed Bravo series Significant Others and created and executive produced the Showtime pilot Nightly, in which he was also featured as an on-air correspondent.^[2] In 2003, Bleyer became a writer and producer on Dennis Miller, a position he held until the show's cancellation in 2005.^[3]

In 2005, Bleyer joined the writing staff of The Daily Show, where he has worked on over 1000 episodes and several specials, earning three Emmys in the process.^[4] He also won a WGA Award in 2010 for his work on the show in 2009.^[5]

Bleyer was also one of several Daily Show writers to write for the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008, when Jon Stewart served as host.^[6]

Political writing and activities[link]

Since 2008, Bleyer has contributed to a number of U.S. President Barack Obama's speeches, including the President's addresses at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in 2012^[7], 2011^[8][9], 2010^[10] and 2009. After the speech in 2010, reporters from several outlets reported erroneously that The Daily Show staff worked on the President's remarks. The White House and Comedy Central clarified that Bleyer worked independently on the speech, in light of accusations of the show being too close to President Barack Obama.^[11][12][13]

Among the first contributors chosen to launch The Huffington Post, Bleyer is a frequent commentator for National Public Radio. He also reported from Iraq as part of The Daily Show's "Operation: Silent Thunder," featuring correspondent Rob Riggle, in 2007.^[14] That same year, he was profiled by Charlie Rose.^[15]

In 2008, Bleyer participated in a mock debate before the United States Congress based on the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which involved multiple sitting Congresspeople.^[16] He also spoke to NPR about his involvement in the strike.^[17]

Bleyer is the author of the upcoming book Me The People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, which will be published by Random House in June of 2012.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Bleyer is the younger brother of sports anchor Keith Bleyer.

Bleyer was raised in Washington and had a role in the movie Twice in a Lifetime as a teenager. He went on to attend Stanford University, where he studied communications and computer engineering and earned a degree in the former in 1994. He also had an internship at New York's Public Theater, where he assisted playwright Anna Deavere Smith and performed dramaturgical duties with playwright Tony Kushner.^[19]

He lives in New York.

References[link]

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Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn, July 2005
Born	(1959-06-06) June 6, 1959 (age 53) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1985–present
Genres	Observational comedy, black comedy, sketch comedy, satire, political satire, news satire
Subject(s)	American politics, current events, race relations, embarrassing hangovers
Influences	Richard Pryor,[1] George Carlin[2]
Influenced	Dave Attell[3]
Notable works and roles	Co-host of Remote Control Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live Host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn

Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.

Early years[link]

Quinn was born in Brooklyn, the son of teachers ^[4] of Irish descent, and was raised in the Park Slope section of the borough. He attended and graduated from John Dewey High School. His natural idiosyncratic mannerisms are trademarks of his stand-up act, headlining at top comedy clubs across the country, including Caroline's Comedy Club in New York City. Before becoming a comedian, Quinn attended Stony Brook University for a year and worked as a bartender. He stopped drinking in the early 1980s after several bad experiences with alcohol, including drunken blackouts and nights spent in jail.^[5]

After quitting bartending, Quinn began his stand-up career in 1984. He first achieved fame in 1987 as co-host of the MTV game show Remote Control, which he did for three years. In 1989, he hosted A&E stand-up showcase Caroline's Comedy Hour, and acted in and wrote the comedic short/music video Going Back to Brooklyn along with Ben Stiller. Much of his early comedy career focused on stand-up and writing for shows like In Living Color. He later co-wrote the story and was an associate producer for the movie Celtic Pride, starring Damon Wayans and Dan Aykroyd.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

In 1995, Quinn was hired by Saturday Night Live as a writer and featured player until 1997–1998 season, when he became a full cast member. He established himself on the show with characters such as "Lenny the Lion" and "Joe Blow", and did the recurring segment "Colin Quinn Explains the New York Times". Quinn took over as host of the Weekend Update segment in January 1998 after Norm Macdonald's firing, and anchored the segment until departing SNL in 2000. Quinn would often comment on the highly publicized media circuses such as Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal and the Microsoft Anti-Trust Trial. At the end of each Weekend Update segment, he would use the catchphrase, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." He was not thrilled about his run on the show, declaring on an episode of Tough Crowd, "I don't miss it."

During his SNL years, Quinn made his Broadway debut in his one-man show, Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake co-written with fellow comedian Lou DiMaggio, and was offered the role of Scott Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery by Mike Myers, which he turned down to make time for his writing projects.^[6] The role was taken by Seth Green.

[edit] Recurring characters on SNL

• Gene, an ex-convict who does menial jobs.
• Joe Blow, a blue-collar worker from Queens who complains about the declining quality of his neighborhood.
• Lenny The Lion, a lion, similar to his Joe Blow character, only he talks about trying to better himself.
• Rolf, a racist who always has second thoughts about his behavior.

Celebrity characters[link]

• Dale Jarrett
• Elvis Costello
• Gerry Adams
• Leon Panetta
• Robert De Niro in the "Joe Pesci Show" sketch where the real Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci make surprise appearances.

[edit] Post-SNL career

After leaving SNL, Quinn had a sketch comedy show on NBC called The Colin Quinn Show in 2002 that lasted for only three episodes.

Quinn became host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central in December 2002. The show immediately followed The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and was one of several attempts to create a companion show for Stewart's program. However, Tough Crowd never managed to keep the majority of its lead-in audience. Although it was renewed through the 2005 television season, Tough Crowd was placed on indefinite hiatus in October 2004, with its "final" episode airing on November 4, 2004. The show featured four comedians (often his friends such as Dave Attell, Jim Norton, and Patrice O'Neal) with Quinn as host, discussing various political issues in conversations that were often heated. Quinn gave many comedians exposure on the show, which ran for roughly 250 episodes over a two-year period. His stand up material was also used in Comedy Central's animated stand up series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. ^[7]

Colin performs regularly at the Comedy Cellar in New York City, where many top comedians perform when not on the road. In 2004, he was named #56 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time. He was also named to the Irish America Magazine list of the "Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year".^[8]

He would later be heard as the "unofficial co-host" on the Nick DiPaolo show on the now-defunct 92.3 Free FM in New York City, airing Monday-Friday from noon to 3pm. Quinn and DiPaolo were originally slated to host the show together on WJFK-FM, but the station decided not to pick up the show. Nick often referred to Quinn as "the joke fairy", due to his propensity for telling a joke and hanging up the phone before getting a response. Quinn is also a regular guest on The Opie & Anthony Show. Recently Quinn has discussed what he refers to as thousands of pages of "manifestos" that he's written since his departure from Tough Crowd, but never elaborated on the contents.

More recently, Quinn played Dickie Bailey, the childhood town rival to Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler's character) in Sandler's movie Grown Ups, released in the summer of 2010.

In 2010, Quinn premiered his one-man show "Colin Quinn Long Story Short" on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, directed by Jerry Seinfeld. Comically channeling the demise of various world empires, Quinn takes a satirical look at the history of the world in 75 minutes. Quinn recorded a special performance of the show that aired on HBO on April 9, 2011. He explores the attitudes, appetites and habits that toppled some of the world's most powerful nations.^[9]

In summer 2011, Quinn toured "Colin Quinn Long Story Short" to Guild Hall in East Hampton, Philadelphia Theatre Company in Philadelphia, and other cities including Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Colin Quinn at the Internet Movie Database
• Colin Quinn on National Public Radio in 2003
• Comedy Cellar - a Comedy Club in New York and one at which Colin always performs.
• SNL Transcripts: Colin Quinn - contains searchable database of almost all of Quinn's SNL works
• ColinQuinn.com - Website for Colin Quinn's Broadway show "Long Story Short" directed by Jerry Seinfeld.
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