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TV Guide has called RICHARD JENI flat-out hilarious" and People Magazine has called him "thrilling to watch." But stand-up comedy is only part of the Richard Jeni story. In the past few years, Jeni has
also made his mark as the star of his own TV series, an actor in feature films, and an award-winning television host.
Jeni burst onto the national scene in 1990 with his first Showtime Special "Richard Jeni: The Boy From New York City." The show received three CABLE ACE Awards (the awards for cable excellence) nominations.
Two years later, he followed up with his second one-hour concert for Showtime, "Richard Jeni: Crazy From The Heat," which was the highest rated stand-up special in Showtime's history. During this period,
Richard was also becoming a favorite guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. After a couple of white-hot stand-up appearances on the show, Johnny moved Richard up to the status of "panel guest." Richard's banter with Johnny got the kind of desk-pounding tears of laughter response from the legendary host that made Richard a fixture on the show. When Jay Leno took over, he kept the working formula of Richard Jeni and The Tonight Show going. During Jay's tenure, Richard has been on the show more than any other stand-up.
In the early 90's, Richard's success on cable and network TV caught the eye of HBO President Chris Albrecht who wooed Richard with an offer for a coveted HBO Comedy Hour, the most prestigious showcase available to today's comedians. The result was "Richard Jeni: Playtpus Man," an unqualified smash that won the CABLE ACE Award for "Best Stand-Up Comedy Special" and formed the basis for his network sticom of the same name. "Platypus Man" ran for one season on the UPN Network in 1995.
Throughout the 90's, awards and accolades continued to pile up and Richard's growing popularity was making him a sold-out attraction in concert venues. A particular thrill was when George Carlin handed Richard the American Comedy Award for "Best Male Stand-up" on ABC TV.
He hosted A&E's "Caroline's Comedy Hour" for two years and the show won the CABLEACE Award for "Best Stand-Up Comedy Show." He hosted the
infotainment series "What A World" for The Learning Channel and was nominated for "Best Magazine Host." He became a popular guest on all the major talk shows while sprinkling in stints as a sardonic and hilarious correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight."
Jeni made his feature film debut co-starring as Jim Carrey's best friend in the blockbuster hit, "The Mask." He followed up with the leading roles in "National Lampoon's Dad's Week Off" and 1998's "Burn, Hollywood, Burn."
Meanwhile, corporate America was tapping Richard's comedy talents to enhance the bottom line. He starred in commercials campaigns for Certs, Arby's, and won a CLIO Award for his work as a writer/performer in a campaign for the Milk Association. In 1998, a Coca-Cola executive in Atlanta heard some of Richard's routines on the radio and was inspired to create "Concession Stand-Up Comedy Starring Richard Jeni," a series of short stand-up pieces that ran during the trailers on over 10,000 movie screens in 1998 and were seen by over 48 million people. Richard currently provides the voice for "Max," the animated character who is the TV and radio spokesman for Office Max.
In 1997/98, Richard returned to HBO for his second Comedy Hour, "Richard Jeni: A Good Catholic Boy." In its premiere outing, the show was the fifth highest rated cable program of the week and a non-stop comedy barrage that Entertainment Tonight said, "left the audience dazzled, breathless and hungry for more." With this fourth special, Richard was now firmly established at the top of his profession and had amassed a body of work that could be matched by only a tiny handful of his contemporaries ? no small trick for a shy kid from Brooklyn. Richard Jeni is a brilliant, hilarious, award-winning comedian.
With regular appearances on The Tonight Show, David Letterman and HBO, he was named Best Male Stand-up Comic by the American Comedy Awards.
“…there ain’t much funnier than Richard Jeni– anywhere…” - Variety
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