3,335 articles
Joe Pasquale
Joe Pasquale (Joseph Ellis Pasquale), English comedian born 1961 in Grays, Essex; New Faces runner-up 1987, I'm a Celebrity winner 2004, Prat Pack member, Spamalot King Arthur, subject of Stewart Lee plagiarism routine.
Joe Pera
Joe Pera (born 1988, Buffalo, NY) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor, creator and star of Adult Swim's gentle, 11-minute-episode series Joe Pera Talks With You (2018-2021), the sleep-inducing specials Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep and Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree, and the 2023 YouTube special Slow & Steady.
Joe Wilkinson
Joe Wilkinson (born 1975) is an English deadpan comedian, actor, and writer, of Two Episodes Of MASH, Him & Her's Dan, After Life's Postman Pat, and a fixture of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nestroy (1801–1862) was an Austrian actor, singer, and comic playwright who dominated the Viennese stage for decades; his farce Lumpazivagabundus (1833) is his most performed work.
John Bishop
John Bishop is an English comedian, presenter, and actor and ex-pharmaceutical salesman who began stand-up at 35, broke through via RTÉ's The Panel and an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination, and inspired Bradley Cooper's film Is This Thing On?.
John Byner
John Byner, born John Thomas Biener, is an American comedian and impressionist known for his impressions and for voicing the Ant and the Aardvark cartoons.
John Byrne (playwright)
John Byrne (1940–2023), Scottish playwright, painter, and designer from Paisley; creator of The Slab Boys trilogy and BBC series Tutti Frutti; won Evening Standard and Olivier awards.
John Cardoza
John Cardoza (born 1994, Massachusetts) is an American musical theater actor, Boston Conservatory BFA 2016, known as Younger Noah in Broadway's The Notebook, and for Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge!, Karate Kid, and Heathers; distinct from an older film actor of the same name.
John Clarke (satirist)
John Morrison Clarke (1948–2017), New Zealand-born satirist and comedian; creator of farmer Fred Dagg, half of Clarke and Dawe mock interviews, co-creator of The Games; moved to Australia in 1977.
John Cleese
John Cleese (born 1939) is a British comedian, actor, and writer, a founding member of Monty Python, co-creator and star of Fawlty Towers, star of A Fish Called Wanda, and co-founder of the Video Arts training-film company.
John Crist (comedian)
John Crist (born 1984) is an American stand-up comedian from Lilburn, Georgia, known for clean comedy about evangelical Christian culture, viral sketches, the 2019 harassment allegations and hiatus, and specials including Emotional Support (2025).
John Drew Jr.
John Drew Jr. (1853–1927), American stage actor, son of John Drew and Louisa Lane Drew; leading man in Augustin Daly's company with Ada Rehan, then a Charles Frohman star, uncle of the Barrymores.
John Drew Sr.
John Drew Sr. (1827–1862), Irish-born American stage actor and Philadelphia theater manager, husband of Louisa Lane Drew, father of John Drew Jr., and grandfather of the Barrymores; not the NBA player or pastor John Drew Sheard Sr.
John Dryden
John Dryden (1631–1700), English Restoration poet, playwright, critic, and translator; first poet laureate (1668), author of Absalom and Achitophel, All for Love, and the Virgil translation, called the father of English criticism by Johnson.
John Early (comedian)
John Early (born 1988, Nashville) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker known as Elliott Goss in Search Party, his 2023 HBO special Now More Than Ever with band the Lemon Squares, and his creative partnership with Kate Berlant on 555.
John Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is Shakespeare's comic knight, appearing in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor and mentioned in Henry V. Originally named Oldcastle, he inspired Verdi's opera and the word "Falstaffian."
John Fugelsang
John Fugelsang is an American actor, comedian, and broadcaster, host of SiriusXM's Tell Me Everything, former VH1 host and America's Funniest Home Videos presenter, author of Separation of Church and Hate.
John Gielgud
Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000), English actor and director, one of the twentieth century's great Shakespeareans alongside Olivier and Richardson; famed for Hamlet and Richard II, directed Burton's 1964 Hamlet, and completed an EGOT in 1991.
John Henson (comedian)
John Morris Henson (born 1967, Stamford, Connecticut) is an American comedian and TV host, distinct from Jim Henson's puppeteer son; he hosted E!'s Talk Soup 1995-1999, ABC's Wipeout, and Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship.
John Hodgman
John Hodgman (born 1971, Brookline, Massachusetts) is an American humorist, author of the fake-facts trilogy starting with The Areas of My Expertise, the PC in Apple's Get a Mac ads, a Daily Show correspondent, and host of the Judge John Hodgman podcast.
John Kani
John Kani (Bonisile John Kani), born 1943 in New Brighton, South Africa, is a Tony Award-winning actor, playwright, and director who co-created Sizwe Bansi is Dead and The Island with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, led the Market Theatre, and later played T'Chaka in Black Panther.
John Lahr
John Lahr (born 1941), American theater critic and biographer, son of Bert Lahr; longtime New Yorker senior drama critic, author of Prick Up Your Ears and the NBCC-winning Tennessee Williams biography, and first critic to win a Tony.
John Logan (writer)
John David Logan (born 1961, San Diego) is an American playwright and screenwriter: writer of Gladiator, The Aviator, Skyfall, and Hugo; Tony-winning author of Red; creator of Penny Dreadful and book writer for Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
John Lyly
John Lyly (c. 1554–1606) was an English playwright and prose writer whose Euphues novels created euphuism, and whose court comedies shaped Shakespeare's early comic practice.
John Mulaney
John Mulaney, Chicago-born American stand-up comedian, Emmy-winning SNL writer (Stefon), creator of New in Town, Kid Gorgeous, Baby J, and Netflix's Everybody's Live talk show.
John Oliver
John Oliver, British comedian and host of HBO's Last Week Tonight (2014–present), known for 20-minute researched satirical monologues, FCC-crashing activism, $5 million in pandemic fundraising, 23 Emmy wins, and a contract through 2027.
John Osborne
John Osborne (1929–1994), English playwright born in Fulham, London; author of Look Back in Anger, premiered 1956 at the Royal Court Theatre, which launched the Angry Young Man label and kitchen-sink realism. Also wrote The Entertainer and the Oscar-winning Tom Jones screenplay.
John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley (born 1950), Bronx-born American playwright, screenwriter, and director; Oscar winner for Moonstruck (1987) and Pulitzer and Tony winner for Doubt, a parable (2005).
John Pinette
John Pinette, American stand-up comedian and actor (1962 or 1964 to 2014), known for food-centered clean comedy, the 'Nay-nay' bit, Frank Sinatra and Hairspray, and the Seinfeld finale.
John Proctor Is the Villain
John Proctor Is the Villain is a play by Kimberly Belflower in which Georgia high school girls studying The Crucible question its hero during #MeToo; Broadway 2025, seven Tony nominations, Sadie Sink starring.