Paul Provenza
Provenza reading his book ¡Satiristas! to audience at TAM
Born	(1957-07-31) July 31, 1957 (age 54) Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Nationality	United States

Paul Provenza (born July 31, 1957) is an actor, comedian, filmmaker, and self-professed skeptic currently based in Los Angeles.^[1][2]

Life and career[link]

Early years[link]

Provenza was born and grew up in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx, New York City, and graduated in 1975 from the Bronx High School of Science. In high school, he started performing stand-up comedy, making his stage debut at age 17 at the original The Improv in Manhattan. He continued performing while attending the University of Pennsylvania, taking a year's leave of absence to study in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. While at RADA, he joined a classical repertory theatre group, becoming one of few Americans to perform the role of Romeo on the London stage.^[3] He graduated in 1979 from the University of Pennsylvania, the year it awarded its first Theatre Arts degree. At Penn, he wrote for the Pennsylvania Punch Bowl and was a cast member of the Mask and Wig Club, where he has returned numerous times to perform in the annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival.

Stand up and film work[link]

While working as a standup, Provenza also found work in both theatre and television, appearing on TV shows including Northern Exposure and Empty Nest.^[4] He received critical acclaim for his work on stage, with his performance in the Off-Broadway play Only Kidding! being nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Actor and winning the Theater World Award for Best Actor in a Play.^[3] He was the stand-up comedian opening act for Diana Ross for three years or more.^[5] He was honored with a caricature by the legendary Al Hirschfeld.

Directing[link]

After decades as a stand-up comic and actor, Provenza found a new calling as an interviewer of other stand-ups, culminating in his 2005 directorial debut The Aristocrats (made with Penn Jillette). At the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Provenza held a nightly show at the Underbelly, Talk of the Fest. Held at 11pm each night of the festival, the set up was described by Provenza as that of a "green room for the whole festival". Guests included Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. The show was reprised by Provenza at the 2007 Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, where guests included Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard and members of The Kids in the Hall. In 2010, Showtime picked up the show and on June 12, 2010, The Green Room with Paul Provenza debuted with many of the same festival guest line-ups.

Religion[link]

Provenza was Master of Ceremonies at the 2012 Reason Rally held on the mall in Washington, DC, welcoming a crowd of approximately 25,000.^[6]

Author[link]

In May, 2010, Provenza's book ¡Satiristas!, with photography by Dan Dion was released by Harper-Collins. It features in depth interviews with Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, George Carlin, among others.

Filmography[link]

• Pursuit of Happiness - David Hanley (1987-88)
• The Facts of Life - Casey Clark (1987-88)
• Kids Court - Host (1988)
• Comics Only - Host (1991)
• Empty Nest - Patrick (1992-1993)
• Northern Exposure - Dr. Phillip Capra (1994)
• Phobophilia: The Love of Fear (1995)
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch -Ethan (1996)
• Beggars and Choosers - Parker Meridian (1999-2000)
• The West Wing - Steve Onorato (2000)
• Fixing Frank - Jonathan Baldwin (2002)
• The Aristocrats - producer, director, editor (2005)
• The Green Room with Paul Provenza - Host (2010-present)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Satiristas website
• Paul Provenza at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview on the 7th Avenue Project radio show, discussing the book Satiristas
• Satiristas: Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs & Vulgarians - For Good Reason (audio interview)

Rain Pryor (born July 16, 1969) is an American actress and comedian.

Personal life[link]

Pryor was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Shelley R. (Bonis)^[1] and American comedian Richard Pryor. Rain Pryor's mother was a Jewish go-go dancer and Rain was largely raised with her Jewish maternal grandparents, who taught her about Jewish culture. Her mother was urged by her family to put Rain up for adoption, rather than deal with bringing up a child "in a world that wasn’t ready for biracial children."^[2] Rain was rejected by the African Americans and the Jewish Americans in her life, thus creating a unique voice in her award winning solo show Fried Chicken and Latkes that explores racism in the late '60s and early '70s.^[3] In regard to her background, Pryor has joked that while growing up she felt "proud, but guilty about it."^[4]

Pryor graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1987.

Career[link]

She went on to star in the ABC series Head of the Class in the role of Theola June 'T.J.' Jones. Pryor's role was created from a series of characters she performed at her audition for the producers. Pryor starred for several years as Jackie, the lipstick lesbian drug addict on the Showtime series Rude Awakening and has guest starred on network television series such as The Division and Chicago Hope. She has appeared numerous times on both The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as well as The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Tavis Smiley.

Rain’s stage credits include playing the title role of Billie Holiday in the UK tour of the Billie Holiday Story and the title role of Ella Fitzgerald in the UK premier of Ella, Meet Marilyn. She performed in the Los Angeles productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues with Nora Dunn of Saturday Night Live fame and Charlene Tilton, Joan by Linda Chambers, in which she portrayed Joan of Arc; Cookin' With Gas, with the Groundlings improvisation troupe, The Exonerated with critically acclaimed actor Aidan Quinn and The Who's Tommy at the La Jolla Playhouse.^[5]

Pryor, is also a Jazz/Blues vocalist since 1993, having played to sold-out crowds in Los Angeles, DC, Hong Kong, Scotland and London where she released a live Jazz/Blues performance CD Rain Pryor Live in London. Her live cabaret received four stars and was critically acclaimed "not to be missed."

Pryor created and toured in the award-winning show based on her life, Fried Chicken and Latkes in 2004 and 2005. She appeared in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006.

In 2012, Rain was named the artistic director of Baltimore's Strand Theater.

Author[link]

Harper Collins published her book Jokes My Father Never Taught Me in 2006.

Awards and nominations[link]

• 2008 Marin Services For Women Founders Award (recipient)
• 2007 NAACP Image Award, Best New Author Biography (nomination) - Jokes My Father Never Taught Me, Life, Love & Loss with Richard Pryor
• 2007 African American Literary Awards (nomination) - Jokes My Father Never Taught Me:Life, Love & Loss with Richard Pryor
• 2005 NAACP Theatre Award, Best Female Performer Equity (recipient) - Fried Chicken & Latkes
• 2005 NAACP Best Original Playwright Equity (nominated) - Fried Chicken & Latkes
• 2005 Invisible Theatre's Goldie Klein Guest Artist Award (recipient) - Fried Chicken & Latkes
• 2004 Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Best Solo Performance (nominated)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Rain Pryor at the Internet Movie Database

Greg Proops
Official headshot of Proops
Pseudonym	The Proopster
Birth name	Gregory Everett Proops
Born	(1959-10-03) October 3, 1959 (age 52)[1] Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Nationality	American
Years active	1982–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy Stand-up comedy
Spouse	Jennifer Canaga (February 14, 1990–present)
Notable works and roles	Whose Line Is It Anyway? Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series) Bob the Builder True Jackson, VP Chelsea Lately
Website	http://www.gregproops.com

Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959)^[1] is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He also performed on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show and played Max Madigan on the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP.^[2][3]

Early life[link]

Proops was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in San Carlos, California, a suburb south of San Francisco, attending San Carlos High School.^[4][5] He attended the College of San Mateo and spearheaded the comedy duo "Proops & Brakeman". Later, he took courses in improvisation and acting at San Francisco State University though he never finished college.^[6]

Career[link]

Improv comedy[link]

After college, he joined an improv group with Mike McShane. Both Proops and McShane impressed producers Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, who put them on their show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He frequently instigated jokes and running gags concerning various idiosyncrasies and differences between British English and American English (e.g. "lift" vs. "elevator"), and would frequently banter with Clive Anderson on these matters (among others). He lived in London for four years when he was doing the show and lists McShane and Colin Mochrie as among his best friends.

Proops performing in a nightclub in November 2008

Proops also appeared in every episode of the short-lived Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, where the performers would play improv games (some of which were taken from the show's main influence Whose Line Is It Anyway?) in front of a massive green screen. Later animators would draw on the background and other props.

In April 2011, a new series Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza premiered on GSN featuring Greg along with others from Whose Line is it Anyway?.

In November 2011, Greg did a week on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas with the Lewis Black Comedy Cruise Tour. He performed the entire week of stand-up with other artists, which included a live, one-hour podcast in front of his entire audience.

Film and television[link]

Proops has performed his stand-up act across Britain, mainland Europe and in New Zealand. However, he remains best known for appearances on both the US and UK versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. His other credits include hosting Space Cadets, a mid-1990s science-fiction comedy game show on Channel 4 in the UK, which also featured Craig Charles (Dave Lister from Red Dwarf) and Bill Bailey, and appearances on BBC2's Mock the Week. He appeared as a panelist on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth. Proops also hosted two game shows: VS. in 1999 and Rendez-View in 2001. He was on Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn on a recurring basis. In 2004 he appeared on Drew Carey's Green Screen Show.^[7] He is also a panelist on Chelsea Lately.

In addition to his stand-up and improv acts, Proops has done voice work in various films and TV shows, including the miniseries Stripperella with Pamela Anderson, and in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas alongside co-star Catherine O'Hara. He also provided the voice for the Fode, the Galactic Basic speaking half of the two-headed Pod-Race announcer in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, with Scott Capurro providing the voice for the other, Huttese-speaking half, Beed. Proops provided the voice of Bob in the TV series Bob the Builder for the four seasons of Project Build-It. He has also featured in 2003 film Brother Bear as the voice of one of the Love Bears and also provided the voice as Cryptograf in 2006 film Asterix and the Vikings.

Proops appeared as an extra in the music video for the 1987 song "Into the Night" by Frehley's Comet.

Proops also voiced the film director Quentin Hitchberg in one episode of Dennis and Gnasher.

In 2007 he started his own web show, The Greg Proops Experiment, on online humour site Super Deluxe, which consists of Proops ranting about current events.

In 2008, he was in Cyxork 7.^[8]

On 28 August 2008, Greg returned to his UK improvisation roots as he guest starred on Mock the Week having first appeared as a guest in 2006. He was one of the two guest stars for that week along with Scottish comedian Fred MacAulay.

Proops has a recurring role on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP. He plays Max Madigan, Mad Style's CEO.

Greg appeared on "A Good Opportunity", the season premiere of the second season of the HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords.

He is a frequent guest on Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld which airs on the Fox News Channel at 3 AM EST. He joins the show via satellite. Greg is also a frequent guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He also plays Ben, Illeana Douglas’ agent on her webshow Easy to Assemble.^[9][10]

He hosted a show named Head Games, a Science Channel game show which debuted on Oct. 17th, 2009. As host, he showed clips of somewhat wacky science experiments and asked the contestants to guess the outcome.

Since October, 2010 Greg started hosting an online TV news show called "Odd News" on Yahoo!, where he reports, in less than 4 minutes, odd but real world news in a commentary, satiric style.

Star Wars[link]

Greg has been involved with the Star Wars franchise as well. He played the role of "Fode" in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He would later work with the Expanded Universe, reprising his role as Fode in the video game Star Wars Episode I: Racer and the video game adaptation of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and he guest-starred on two episodes of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars ("The Mandalore Plot" and "Voyage of Temptation") as Tal Merrick. When Greg was in Whose Line Is It Anyway? he occasionally used one of Fode's lines, "I don't care what universe you're from, that's gotta hurt."

Radio/Podcast[link]

Proops in January 2007

Proops hosts a bi-weekly radio program, and a nightclub-atmosphere talk show at the Largo in Hollywood, and played the title role in BBC Radio 4's sci-fi comedy series Seymour the Fractal Cat.

He was a frequent guest on Marc Maron's radio show, The Marc Maron Show.

He presented Bits from Last Week's Radio on BBC Radio 1 from Jan 1995-July 1996.

He did voice work for the BBC Radio 2 series Flight of the Conchords, first broadcast in September 2005.

Greg Proops was also part of the cast for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and movie back in 1993. His name is listed under "Cast" in the original version of the soundtrack's booklet. He provided the vocal work for the Harlequin Demon, the Devil, and the Sax Player.

Greg currently hosts a podcast, The Smartest Man In The World,^[11] in which he talks about current events, celebrity culture, and his personal life in front of a live audience.

Video games[link]

Proops provides voice-over work as Howard “Buckshot” Holmes, a game show announcer along with John DiMaggio for the Nintendo Wii game, MadWorld. Both Dimaggio and Proops play as comical announcers on a brutal game show set in the future. Proops also provided the voice of Fargus, a pyromantic court jester for the PlayStation Pandemonium game series.

Comedy albums[link]

• Back in the UK (1997)
• Houston, We Have a Problem (2007)
• Joke Book (2007)
• Elsewhere (2009)
• Greg Proops Digs In! (2010)

Personal life[link]

Proops married artist Jennifer Canaga on Valentine's Day in 1990. He resides with her in Los Angeles. They have no children. According to an interview featuring Proops, he decided he didn't want any kids when he was twenty-three. He does, however, have nieces and nephews, and he became an uncle when he was eight.

For several years, Greg upheld the idea that he owned an ocelot. However, on March 25, 2009, in a written interview, he stated that he doesn't actually own one:

"Oh, I say I have an ocelot and it’s a joke, but I’ve had so many news programs in this country say, 'So what’s it like, having an ocelot?” And I’ll say, “It’s marvelous just to see them run free. When feeding time comes and they’re mewling, it just warms your heart.' People will really believe anything. You may have noticed this. It’s not just me. Look around."^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greg Proops

• Official website
• Greg Proops at the Internet Movie Database
• The Smartest Man in the World Podcast
• Greg Proops Net

v t e Whose Line Is It Anyway? UK version Host Clive Anderson Regular contestants Chip Esten Stephen Frost Stephen Fry Josie Lawrence Mike McShane Paul Merton Colin Mochrie Greg Proops John Sessions Brad Sherwood Tony Slattery Steve Steen Ryan Stiles Jim Sweeney Sandi Toksvig Caroline Quentin Musicians Colin Sell Richard Vranch Laura Hall Win Meyerson US version Host Drew Carey Regular contestants Wayne Brady Chip Esten Kathy Greenwood Colin Mochrie Greg Proops Brad Sherwood Denny Siegel Ryan Stiles Jeff Davis Musicians Laura Hall Linda Taylor Cece Worrall-Ruben Related topics List of UK episodes List of US episodes List of games Drew Carey's Green Screen Show (List of episodes) Mock the Week Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza (List of episodes)

Richard "Rick" Overton (born August 10, 1954)^[1] is an American screenwriter, actor and comedian. His writing credits include Dennis Miller Live, and his acting credits include Willow and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.

Life and career[link]

Overton was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, the son of Nancy Overton (née Swain), a singer, and Hall Overton, a teacher and music arranger.^[1][2] He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey,^[3] where he attended Dwight Morrow High School.^[4]

Overton made his first onscreen appearance in the 1982 film Young Doctors in Love, followed by a small role in Airplane II: The Sequel later that year. In 1987, he wrote an episode of The New Adventures of Beans Baxter while also appearing in various films and television shows including Willow, Amazing Stories and Million Dollar Mystery.

In 1992, he landed a role in the FOX Network sketch comedy show The Edge. The show ended in 1993. Later that year, Overton appeared in two episodes of Seinfeld and landed a small role in Mrs. Doubtfire. The following year, he won an Emmy for writing an episode of Dennis Miller Live.

In 2005, Overton appeared on Alias and Joan Of Arcadia; in the latter he played God explaining to the title character the meaning of real wealth. He also portrayed both H.G. Wells and Orson Welles in a podcast episode of The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd that same year.

In 2009, Overton appeared in the film A Fork in the Road alongside Jaime King.

Filmography[link]

• Young Doctors in Love (1982)
• Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• Gung Ho (1986)
• Odd Jobs (1986)
• A Fine Mess (1986)
• Modern Girls (1986)
• Million Dollar Mystery (1987)
• Willow (1988)
• Traxx (1988)
• Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
• A Sinful Life (1989)
• Blind Fury (1989)
• The Rocketeer (1991)
• Galaxies Are Colliding (1992)
• Groundhog Day (1993)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
• The High Crusade (1994)
• Married with Children (1996)
• My Giant (1998)
• Devil in the Flesh (1998)
• EDtv (1999)
• Jackpot (2001)
• Extreme Honor (2001)
• Shoot or Be Shot (2002)
• Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
• Trial and Error: The Making of Sequestered (2003)
• Northfork (2003)
• Motocross Kids (2004)
• Serial Killing 4 Dummys (2004)
• Off the Lip (2004)
• Taxi (2004)
• Fat Albert (2004)
• Comedy Hell (2005)
• Blue Sombrero (2005)
• Frostbite (2005)
• A Lot Like Love (2005)
• Keep Your Distance (2005)
• Popstar (2005)
• Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
• Billy Schulz (2006)
• The Last Stand (2006)
• The Tripper (2006)
• The Astronaut Farmer (2006)
• National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2006)
• A Plumm Summer (2007)
• The Metrosexual (2007)
• Jelly (Post-Production, 2008)
• A Fork in the Road (in post-production, 2008)
• Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
• Bad Teacher (2011)

Television[link]

• Remington Steele (1 episode, 1983)
• Help Wanted: Kids (1986)
• Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (1987)
• Double Switch (1987)
• Amazing Stories (1 episode, 1987)
• That's Adequate (1988)
• Encyclopedia Brown (1989) one episode (Buddy Clagett)
• Babes (10 episodes, 1990)
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures (as Rufus, 1992)
• The Edge (7 episodes, 1992–1993)
• Seinfeld (2 episodes, 1993)
• Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (1994)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (2 episodes, 1994–1995)
• Duckman (1 episode, 1995)
• Encino Woman (1996)
• The Single Guy (2 episodes, 1996)
• Married… with Children (2 episodes, 1996)
• Ned and Stacey (1 episode, 1997)
• ER (1 episode, 1997)
• The Weird Al Show (1 episode, 1997)
• Mad About You (2 episodes, 1998)
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1 episode, 1998)
• It's Like, You Know... (2 episodes, 1999)
• Charmed (3 episodes, 2000)
• The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (5 episodes, 2000)
• JAG (1 episode, 2001)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (1 episode, 2001)
• Comic Remix (1 episode, 2002)
• My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star (11 episodes, 2002)
• NYPD Blue (1 episode, 2002)
• According to Jim (1 episode, 2004)
• Six Feet Under (1 episode, 2004)
• Joan of Arcadia (1 episode, 2004)
• Alias (1 episode, 2005)
• Family Plan (2005)
• Lost (1 episode, 2005)
• Van Stone: Tour of Duty (2006)
• Rodney (1 episode, 2006)
• Drive (1 episode, 2007)
• Leverage (3 episodes, 2008–2009)

Video game[link]

• The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005)

Writer[link]

• An Evening at the Improv (1 episode, 1983)
• The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1 episode, 1987)
• Dennis Miller Live (Unknown episodes, 1994)

Awards and nominations[link]

Emmy Awards

• Nominated: Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program, Dennis Miller Live (1997)
• Won: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program, Dennis Miller Live (1996)

Writers Guild of America Award

• Nominated: Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series, Dennis Miller Live (1997)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rick Overton.net
• Rick Overton at the Internet Movie Database
• Rick Overton on MySpace

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (March 2011)

Dave Attell
Attell in December 2009
Born	(1965-01-18) January 18, 1965 (age 47) Queens, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1988–present
Genres	Blue comedy Insult comedy Black comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, everyday life, race relations, recreational drug use, self-deprecation, current events, religion
Influences	Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison, Redd Foxx, Don Rickles,[1] Colin Quinn[2], Richard Jeni[3]
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live (writer, 1993-1994) The Jon Stewart Show (writer, 1993-1995) The Ugly American on The Daily Show Host of Insomniac with Dave Attell Host of The Gong Show with Dave Attell Frank in Pootie Tang

Dave Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell and The Gong Show with Dave Attell.

Stand-up beginning[link]

Born in Queens, New York, to a Jewish family, he grew up in Rockville Centre, New York and now lives in New York City. Attell's initial motivation to perform stand-up comedy is attributed to his indecisiveness as to what he should do after college. In 1987 he graduated from New York University with a degree in communications. Like many other fledgling comedians, he worked menial jobs during the day and put in his time at comedy clubs at night. He worked his first gig at Governor's in Levittown and, according to Attell, "totally bombed".^{[citation needed]} After years of honing his act, he found himself being described as a "comedian's comedian".^{[citation needed]} When working a club, the other comedians, such as Mike Royce (a producer/writer on Everybody Loves Raymond), David Juskow (a performer on TV Funhouse), Kevin Brennan (from Saturday Night Live and HBO's One Night Stand) and Jon Stewart, would come in to watch his act. While the audience didn't always follow his up-front delivery, fellow comedians were refreshed by his originality.^{[citation needed]}

Attell often begins a joke in a relatively tame way, but then gets progressively stranger and ends in an obscene non sequitur. For example: "Sex is not important. What's important is that afterward part. When you're both naked and it's warm and you're watching the sun come up in the windshield. You look in her eyes, you look in her one good eye and help her strap on her leg and you know: you just fucked a pirate."^[4]

Television[link]

Attell's first appearance on television was in 1988 on VH1's Stand-Up Spotlight, which also featured early appearances by Lewis Black, Margaret Cho, Jeff Garlin, Jay Mohr and Wanda Sykes. The show was hosted by Rosie O'Donnell.

Perhaps his biggest break to date was achieved on November 23, 1993 when he made his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. The appearance was seen by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, who then recruited Attell to be a writer, and occasional performer, on SNL. Attell can be seen behind Chris Farley during the famous "Rudy Giuliani Inauguration" sketch. Attell worked on the show for the '93-'94 season.

In 1995, Attell was featured on two HBO specials: alongside up-and-comers Louis C.K., Anthony Clark, Eric Tunney and Dave Chappelle, he was a featured performer on the 1995 Young Comedians Special, hosted by Garry Shandling. He was also given his own 60-minute special on the channel's "HBO Comedy Showcase". Subsequently, Attell was also given an episode of HBO Comedy Half-Hour in 1997.

Also in 1995, Attell appeared as Squiggly Dave on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, kicking-off a long-standing relationship between Attell and Comedy Central. In 1999 the network issued Attell an installment in their ever-popular Comedy Central Presents series.

The same year the network signed him on as a regular commentator on their satirical news show The Daily Show. When he arrived in 1999, the show was just finding its audience after the departure of host Craig Kilborn and the arrival of Jon Stewart, an old friend of Attell's from the New York comedy circuit. The three-year stint gave Attell access to a mass audience on a regular basis (The Daily Show has done much the same for comedians Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Lewis Black and others). Attell's series of commentary on the show was called "The Ugly American."

In 2003, Attell began appearing semi-regularly on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. The show featured many of the performers he works with every day at the underground comedy club the Comedy Cellar and is based on the conversations they would have off-stage at the Olive Tree Cafe, the restaurant above the club. The unscripted show was canceled in November 2004 due to poor ratings and controversial subject matter.

In 2007, Attell appeared in the Michael Addis film, Heckler. Heckler is a comedic feature documentary exploring the increasingly critical world we live in. Attell appeared on Comedy Central's Last Laugh in 2007.

In July 2008, Attell began hosting The Gong Show with Dave Attell for Comedy Central. Like the 1970's version, the show had a rotating panel of celebrity judges grading unusual acts.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Other notable television roles for Attell:

• "Dave" in a couple of the early episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond
• The voice of "Frank Demore" on Crank Yankers
• "Brad Campbell" on Ed
• Himself on Arrested Development

Attell has also been on numerous talk shows, including The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Last Call with Carson Daly. He is also a frequent guest on Opie & Anthony.

In January 2010, he co-hosted the AVN Awards show, along with porn actresses Kirsten Price and Kayden Kross.^[10]

Dave Attell hosts the hit Showtime series Dave's Old Porn where he has a fellow comedian and a retro porn star on as guests. They proceed to watch different porn films from the "Golden Age of Porn" in the 1970's and 1980's. The show has a Mystery Science Theater 3000 quality to it.

On January 21, 2012 Attell was a co-host of the 2012 AVN Awards in Las Vegas along with Adult Film Stars, Bree Olsen and Sunny Leone

Film[link]

Attell played the roles of "Don" in Los Enchiladas! The film was written, produced and directed by his friend, comedian Mitch Hedberg, and co-starred with Hedberg as well as fellow comedians Todd Barry and Marc Maron.

In the short film The Office Party, Attell once again played the role of "Don". The film co-starred ex-Karate Kid/Outsider Ralph Macchio, Jon Stewart, Carol Kane and Tate Donovan. The film was written and directed by Daily Show producer Chiara Edmands.

Pootie Tang saw Attell as the bumbling corporate lackey, "Frank". The film was written and directed by fellow comedian Louis C.K.. It co-starred Lance Crouther, Wanda Sykes and Chris Rock among others.

Attell also played "Efram the Driver" in the Independent feature My Suicidal Sweetheart, written and directed by filmmaking newcomer Michael Parness. The film co-starred Natasha Lyonne, David Krumholtz, Tim Blake Nelson, Lorraine Bracco, David Paymer and Rosanna Arquette.

Also Dave Attell had a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer as well as Scary Movie 4.

Though not a film, the video game Outlaw Golf 2 featured the voice of Attell as the Color Commentator.

He plays the character Barker in the 2008 comedy film Harold.

He voiced the GPS on the Mystery Machine in the 2010 film Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo.

[edit] Insomniac with Dave Attell

Insomniac with Dave Attell was one of Attell's television shows. Described by Attell as "Wild On E! for Ugly People", it featured Attell walking the streets of America's (later the world's) greatest (and some not-so-great) cities late at night, meeting the people in a haze of ecstatic inebriation. The show occasionally went overseas.

The American cities featured on the show were Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin (2 times), Baltimore, Boise, Boston, Charleston (WV), Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City, Key West, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Long Island, Memphis, Miami, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City (4 times), Oakland, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Reno, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City.

The foreign cities featured on the show were Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Montreal, Tijuana, Toronto, and specials that took place in Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.

The most common activity (besides roaming the street aimlessly and visiting bars) was visiting workers on their night shifts. Instead of spending time with gas station attendants, Attell went searching for odd professions to highlight. Among them were crime-scene cleaners, bail bondsmen, cow-milkers, brothel-hookers, bicycle cops, coal miners, and porn overdubbers. Memorable episodes include a visit to Chicago's world-famous The Wieners Circle, where the staff routinely got in cursing matches with their customers, and a visit to a Phoenix nudist camp.

Throughout the run of the show, Attell carried around a one-time-use film camera and took pictures of random events, which would be shown during the end-credits.

Attell has said that he decided to more-or-less end Insomniac because the show had gotten too popular to establish a level of spontaneity. As soon as he would walk into a bar with a camera crew, crowds would surround them, desperate to be on his television show. He has said, though, that people aren't so aware of his show overseas, so he would more than likely do a few specials in other countries.

Present[link]

Attell can be seen touring occasionally. He is a mainstay on the New York comedy circuit and performs several times a week at the Comedy Cellar.^{[citation needed]}

Attell's first one-hour special, Captain Miserable, aired December 8, 2007 on HBO.

In May 2008, Attell announced a casting call on his MySpace page for Comedy Central's relaunch of The Gong Show. Attell was host, along with Greg Fitzsimmons serving as head writer on the series. However, The Gong Show with Dave Attell aired only from July to September 2008.