Colin Quinn

Colin Quinn

Active - 1983 - 2021  |   Born - Jun 6, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, United States  |   Genres - Comedy, Drama, Romance

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Biography by AllMovie

From the early days of MTV's Remote Control to his later success with the topical Comedy Central series Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn, gravelly voiced Brooklynite Colin Quinn has become a staple of the comedy scene thanks to his fearless, tell-it-like-it-is style and everyman attitude. Quinn proved to be a ubiquitous presence in the realm of popular comedians thanks to his stint at Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update desk, numerous film roles, and his marked tenacity (even after having no less that three television series canceled, Quinn still returned to host Tough Crowd). His topical brand of comedy doesn't appeal exclusively to New Yorkers, but to anyone who prefers their politics and current events news spiked with a healthy dose of irreverence. A native of Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, who got his start as a standup comic in the mid-'80s, Quinn made a name for himself with performances at such popular Manhattan comedy clubs as Caroline's and The Comic Strip. He gained a healthy amount of exposure soon thereafter when he joined the cast of MTV's pop-culture game show Remote Control in 1987. Following the cancellation of that show, he took the reigns for the sports comedy series Colin Quinn's Manly World. Though Quinn would appear in such features as Who's the Man? and A Night at the Roxbury during the 1990s, his main focus would remain on television, where he hosted the popular A&E series Caroline's Comedy Hour before stepping in to replace Norm MacDonald as anchor for SNL's popular Weekend Update segment. When his short-lived 2002 series The Colin Quinn Show failed to find an audience, Quinn went back to the drawing board, eventually returning with a winner in the form of Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn. Eschewing the sketch comedy format of the former for a looser, more unpredictable topical approach that found comedians discussing various news stories, the show offered Quinn at his comic best. In the years to come, Quinn would remain an active force in comedy, appearing as a regular guest on the Howard Stern Show, and performing in several successful one-man comedy shows on Broadway, like Long Story Short and Unconstitutional.

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Factsheet

  • Began performing as a stand-up comedian in 1984, after a stint as a bartender.
  • Gave up alcohol at the age of 23.
  • Performed a one-man show on Broadway titled Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake in 1998, while he was on Saturday Night Live.
  • Has been a regular, featured guest on The Howard Stern Show.
  • Performed the one-man show Long Story Short, directed by Jerry Seinfeld, on Broadway. The show was also turned into a 2011 HBO special.
  • Performed in a touring one-man comedy show about politics and American culture called Unconstitutional in 2013.