Jen Kirkman
Encyclopedia
Jennifer "Jen" Kirkman (born August 28, 1974) is an American
stand-up comedian, television writer and actress, best known for her appearances on E!
's late-night talk show
Chelsea Lately
and the web series Drunk History
. In 2011, she wrote for the NBC
sitcom Perfect Couples
.
. She was also a cast member of VH1
’s short-lived sketch comedy
show Acceptable.TV
, and made regular voice-over appearances on Adult Swim
's Home Movies
and Current TV
’s political satire
cartoon SuperNews
.
Most notably, Kirkman is a staff writer and roundtable regular on E!
’s Chelsea Lately. On June 3, 2010, she announced she would be leaving Chelsea Lately to join the writing staff for Perfect Couples
, a romantic situation comedy
which premiered as a mid-season replacement on NBC
on January 20, 2011. She continued to make occasional roundtable appearances on Chelsea Lately, beginning in late 2010. Perfect Couples was removed from the NBC schedule on March 11, 2011 and Kirkman returned to the writing staff of Chelsea Lately in April 2011.
She has also written two Season 2
Phineas and Ferb
episodes "Backyard Aquarium" and "Chez Platypus".
, California
, at the Hollywood Improv, The Laugh Factory
, Largo
and The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She has performed nationwide with comedians Maria Bamford
, Greg Behrendt
, Mike Birbiglia
and Chelsea Handler
. In 2009 and 2010, she performed as part of the Comedians of Chelsea Lately. She has also made appearances on several American
television shows, including performances on Conan, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson
, Late Friday, Premium Blend
and Special Sauce. She appears regularly with Paul F. Tompkins
on the monthly Pod F. Tompkast podcast
.
In 2006, Kirkman released her debut comedy album
, Self Help. Her second album, Hail to the Freaks, was recorded live in one night at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on December 11, 2010. It was released on May 17, 2011 with a bonus disk of additional material, and reached #13 on the Billboard Comedy Chart.
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly
named Kirkman one of the "Top 12 Rising Stars in Comedy." In May 2010, both MSN and The Huffington Post
named her one of the top comedians to follow on social networking service Twitter
.
and is the youngest of three sisters. She is a longtime vegetarian. On August 21, 2009, she married writer/director Neil Mahoney in a private ceremony at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts
. On the August 25, 2011 episode of Chelsea Lately, Kirkman revealed she was no longer married.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stand-up comedian, television writer and actress, best known for her appearances on E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
's late-night talk show
Late-night talk show
In American television, the late-night talk show is a specific kind of comedy-oriented talk and variety show that airs late at night. Characteristics of the genre include topical monologues in which the host makes fun of the day's news, comedy sketches, celebrity interviews, and musical performances...
Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately
Chelsea Lately is an American late night comedy talk show hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler on E!. The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and is produced by Handler's production company, Borderline Amazing Productions...
and the web series Drunk History
Funny or Die Presents
Funny or Die Presents is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the Will Ferrell & Adam McKay created comedy website Funny or Die. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010...
. In 2011, she wrote for the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples is an American comedy television series that was originally broadcast by NBC. The half-hour romantic comedy was co-created by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri and produced by Universal Media Studios. A sneak preview of the series aired on December 20, 2010, and officially premiered on...
.
Career
Kirkman was a narrator on two episodes of HBO’s Drunk History, which received the jury prize for "Best Short Film" at the 2010 Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. She was also a cast member of VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
’s short-lived sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show Acceptable.TV
Acceptable.TV
Acceptable.TV was a television program from the makers of Channel 101 that first aired on VH1 on March 23, 2007. The final episode of the program aired on May 11, 2007....
, and made regular voice-over appearances on Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
's Home Movies
Home Movies (TV series)
Home Movies is a dialogue-driven American animated series that originally aired from 1999 to 2004. The plot surrounds eight-year-old Brendon Small , who makes films with his friends Melissa Robbins and Jason Penopolis in his spare time...
and Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
’s political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
cartoon SuperNews
Supernews
Supernews may refer to:* SuperNews!, an animated television series* Supernews...
.
Most notably, Kirkman is a staff writer and roundtable regular on E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
’s Chelsea Lately. On June 3, 2010, she announced she would be leaving Chelsea Lately to join the writing staff for Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples
Perfect Couples is an American comedy television series that was originally broadcast by NBC. The half-hour romantic comedy was co-created by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri and produced by Universal Media Studios. A sneak preview of the series aired on December 20, 2010, and officially premiered on...
, a romantic situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
which premiered as a mid-season replacement on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on January 20, 2011. She continued to make occasional roundtable appearances on Chelsea Lately, beginning in late 2010. Perfect Couples was removed from the NBC schedule on March 11, 2011 and Kirkman returned to the writing staff of Chelsea Lately in April 2011.
She has also written two Season 2
Phineas and Ferb (season 2)
The second season of Phineas and Ferb started on Disney XD February 19, 2009, and on Disney Channel March 27, 2009. A preview of the season was on January 23, 2009 on Toon Disney, with the episode "Tip of the Day". The season features two step-brothers on summer vacation trying to make every day...
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
episodes "Backyard Aquarium" and "Chez Platypus".
Stand-up comedy
Kirkman performs stand-up regularly in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, at the Hollywood Improv, The Laugh Factory
The Laugh Factory
The Laugh Factory is a world famous comedy club located at 8001 on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California.-History:In 1979, after a dispute over club owners refusing to pay comedians, a then 16 year old Jamie Masada recognized the need for a new venue for comedians to perform...
, Largo
Largo
-Music:* Largo, a very slow tempo, or a musical piece or movement in such a tempo* Handel's Largo or "Ombra mai fù", an aria from the opera Serse* Hugo Largo, American band from the 1980s* Strong and stately...
and The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She has performed nationwide with comedians Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford is an American stand-up comedian and voice actor. She is best known for her portrayal of her dysfunctional family and self-deprecating comedy involving jokes about depression. Her comedy style draws upon surrealism and incorporates voice impressions that good-naturedly mock various...
, Greg Behrendt
Greg Behrendt
Gregory Behrendt is an American stand-up comedian and author. His work as a script consultant to the HBO sitcom Sex and the City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, paved the way for co-authoring of the New York Times bestseller He's Just Not That into You , later adapted into a film by the same name...
, Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia
-Professional work:Birbiglia has released three albums, including My Secret Public Journal Live, which was named one of the best comedy albums of the decade by the Onion AV Club....
and Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Joy Handler is an American stand-up comedian, humorist, television host, actress, model and best-selling author. She currently hosts a late-night talk show titled, Chelsea Lately on the E! Cable Television Network. In 2009 she won a Bravo A-List Award...
. In 2009 and 2010, she performed as part of the Comedians of Chelsea Lately. She has also made appearances on several American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television shows, including performances on Conan, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
, Late Friday, Premium Blend
Premium Blend
Premium Blend was a television show that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005.The program features a well-known stand up comedian as an emcee who introduces four or five lesser known comedians looking for a big break on television...
and Special Sauce. She appears regularly with Paul F. Tompkins
Paul F. Tompkins
Paul Francis Tompkins , best known as Paul F. Tompkins, is an American actor and comedian.-Life and career:Tompkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a receptionist mother and railway worker father. He started out in stand-up comedy in 1986 at The Comedy Works, Philadelphia, PA, where he...
on the monthly Pod F. Tompkast podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
.
In 2006, Kirkman released her debut comedy album
Comedy album
A comedy album is an audio recording of comedic material from a comedian or group of comedians, usually performed either live or in a studio. Comedy albums may feature skits, humorous songs, and/or live recording of stand-up comedy performances, but the most common type of comedy albums are stand...
, Self Help. Her second album, Hail to the Freaks, was recorded live in one night at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on December 11, 2010. It was released on May 17, 2011 with a bonus disk of additional material, and reached #13 on the Billboard Comedy Chart.
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named Kirkman one of the "Top 12 Rising Stars in Comedy." In May 2010, both MSN and The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
named her one of the top comedians to follow on social networking service Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
Comedy writing
Kirkman has several published essays, which have been included in Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped & Canceled and Bad Sex: We Did It So You Don’t Have To.Personal life
Kirkman was born in Needham, MassachusettsNeedham, Massachusetts
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and is the youngest of three sisters. She is a longtime vegetarian. On August 21, 2009, she married writer/director Neil Mahoney in a private ceremony at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts
Sudbury, Massachusetts
Sudbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, population 17,659. The town was incorporated in 1639, with the original boundaries including what is now Wayland. Wayland split from Sudbury in 1780. When first incorporated, it included and parts of Framingham, Marlborough, Stow...
. On the August 25, 2011 episode of Chelsea Lately, Kirkman revealed she was no longer married.