Paul Provenza
Encyclopedia
Paul Provenza is an actor, comedian and filmmaker, a self-professed skeptic currently based in Los Angeles
.
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. 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.
and Empty Nest
. 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. He was honored with a caricature
by the legendary Al Hirschfeld
.
(made with Penn Jilette). 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.
, Bill Maher
, George Carlin
, among others.
Los 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...
.
Early years
Provenza was born and grew up in the Pelham ParkwayPelham Parkway
The Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
section of the Bronx, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and graduated in 1975 from the Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
. In high school, he started performing stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
, making his stage debut at age 17 at the original The Improv
The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the SE corner of 9th Ave. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. He continued performing while attending the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, taking a year's leave of absence to study in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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. 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
Pennsylvania Punch Bowl
The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl is a humor magazine published by students at the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1899.In answer to a question about his advice for the young, University of Pennsylvania alumnus Ezra Pound refers to the Punch Bowl in a 1962 issue of The Paris Review...
and was a cast member of the Mask and Wig
Mask and Wig
The Mask and Wig Club, founded in 1889 by Clayton Fotterall McMichael, is the oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the United States...
Club, where he has returned numerous times to perform in the annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival.
Stand up and film work
While working as a standup, Provenza also found work in both theatre and television, appearing on TV shows including Northern ExposureNorthern Exposure
Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
and Empty Nest
Empty Nest
Empty Nest is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1988 to 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first three seasons, Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs...
. He received critical acclaim for his work on stage, with his performance in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
play Only Kidding! being nominated for a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Best Actor and winning the Theater World Award for Best Actor in a Play. He was honored with a caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
by the legendary Al Hirschfeld
Al Hirschfeld
Albert "Al" Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his simple black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.-Personal life:Born in St...
.
Directing
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 AristocratsThe Aristocrats (film)
The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...
(made with Penn Jilette). At the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
, 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
Green room
In British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
for the whole festival". Guests included Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
, the creators of South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
. The show was reprised by Provenza at the 2007 Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
comedy festival in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, where guests included Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
, Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
and members of The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...
. In 2010, Showtime picked up the show and on June 12, 2010, The Green Room with Paul Provenza
The Green Room with Paul Provenza
The Green Room with Paul Provenza is a talk show on Showtime, hosted by Paul Provenza. It features a panel of guests, discussing various topics about comedy.-Synopsis:...
debuted with many of the same festival guest line-ups.
Author
In May, 2010, Provenza's book ¡Satiristas!, with photography by Dan Dion was released by Harper-Collins. It features in depth interviews with Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
, George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
, among others.
Filmography
- Pursuit of Happiness - David Hanley (1987-88)
- The Facts of LifeThe Facts of Life (TV series)The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...
- Casey Clark (1987-88) - Kids CourtKids CourtKids Court is a children's television show aired by Nickelodeon. First airing in 1988, it was hosted by actor Paul Provenza. It was created and executive produced by Alan Goodman, Albie Hecht, and Fred Seibert; produced by Chauncey Street Productions, a division of Fred/Alan, Inc., in New York.It...
- Host (1988) - Comics Only - Host (1991)
- Empty Nest - Patrick (1992-1993)
- Northern ExposureNorthern ExposureNorthern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
- Dr. Phillip Capra (1994) - Phobophilia: The Love of Fear (1995)
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch -Ethan (1996)
- Beggars and ChoosersBeggars and Choosers (TV series)Beggars and Choosers is a comedy-drama series broadcast by Showtime. Developed by Peter Lefcourt and Brandon Tartikoff, the series was a comedic, behind-the-scenes look at network television...
- Parker Meridian (1999-2000) - The West Wing - Steve Onorato (2000)
- Fixing Frank - Jonathan Baldwin (2002)
- The AristocratsThe Aristocrats (film)The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...
- producer, director, editor (2005) - The Green Room with Paul ProvenzaThe Green Room with Paul ProvenzaThe Green Room with Paul Provenza is a talk show on Showtime, hosted by Paul Provenza. It features a panel of guests, discussing various topics about comedy.-Synopsis:...
- Host (2010-present)