Dwight York is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and writer originally from Wisconsin. York has released two albums on

Stand Up! Records Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 20 ...

, most recently ''Belongs In a Bar''. Both ''Laughspin'' and ''The Serious Comedy Site'' called his album ''Quickies'' one of the best comedy albums of 2009.

Early life

York was born in

Amery, Wisconsin Amery is a city in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Apple River. It is a part of Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. The population was 2,902 at the 2010 census. The city was named in honor of William Amery, a carpenter who h ...

, and graduated from

Amery High School Amery High School is a public school serving grades 9 through 12 in Amery, Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. Notable people *Annie Lobert, activist and missionary * Gae Magnafici, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly *Dwight York Dwig ...

in 1980. In contrast to the "drifter" persona he puts on when performing comedy, York has said his "family was normal, small-town, churchgoing. They're not crazy." Before becoming a comedian, York worked at a Minnesota factory building windows on an assembly line.

Career

Stand-up comedy

York performed at his first comedy open mic in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in February 1989, after crafting his idiosyncratic performance style beforehand by studying other stand-up comics for nine months by going to shows every night, observing and taking notes. He is known for a comedic style that centers on a relentless barrage of finely honed, sometimes bizarre absurdist one-liners, delivered in character as a possibly psychopathic wild man, described by the

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram The ''Eau Claire Leader-Telegram'' (founded in 1881) is a newspaper published in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, by Adams Publishing Group. It is read throughout Eau Claire County and surrounding counties. As of 2013, the paper has a daily circulation of ...

as "drugged, crazed, and criminal." He has been compared with

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jok ...

Mitch Hedberg Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 30, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non seq ...

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...

Emo Philips Emo Philips (born Philip Soltanec February 7, 1956) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer and producer. His stand-up comedy persona makes use of paraprosdokians spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice. The confused, childlike deli ...

, and

Bobcat Goldthwait Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched voice. ...

. York has performed across the United States. York finished in second place at the 1995 Vail National Comedy Invitational in Colorado. He was a semifinalist at the San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition in 1996 and 1997. He was a semifinalist at the 2009 Great American Comedy Festival. He finished second at the Laughlin Laugh Fest in Laughlin, Nevada in 2014. He performs annually at the

Buffalo Chip Campground The Buffalo Chip Campground is an event venue in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The campground is a place for motorcycle enthusiasts and music festival visitors each year, and has been since its founding in 1981. Host to a 10-day Conc ...

during the

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, and the surrounding Black Hills region of the United States. It began in 1938 by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders and was originally held for stunts and ...

, and has performed at the Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary celebration in Milwaukee, the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, and Chicago Comedy Festival. He became a frequent guest on nationally syndicated radio program ''

The Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere ...

'', and appears on their 2000 compilation CD ''You Guys Rock''.

Colin Quinn Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 20 ...

has called him his favorite underrated comedian.

Albums

York has released two albums on

. ''Belongs In a Bar'' was recorded live in

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Pierce and St. Croix County, Wisconsin, St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is adjacent to the River Falls (town), Wisconsin, Town of River Falls in Pierce County and the Kinnic ...

. It was first released as a video in 2018, and later as an audio album in 2021. Reviewer Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site called the album "brilliant", with jokes that "line up like dominoes." 2009's ''Quickies'' was recorded live in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, and features cover art by

MAD magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...

cartoonist

Mort Drucker Morris "Mort" Drucker (March 22, 1929 – April 9, 2020) was an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a contributor for over five decades in '' Mad'', where he specialized in satires on the leading feature films and televisio ...

. Minneapolis newspaper ''

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'' called it "as densely packed with jokes as a disc can get." Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site named ''Quickies'' one of his top 10 comedy alums of 2009, as did John Celery of ''Laughspin'', who called York "as inventive as he is suggestive". Jake Austen of ''Roctober'' magazine called York's "maximum laughs-per-minute" approach "comedy gold."

Other work

York has written several books. ''The Vile File: Jokes Too Sick For the Stage'' and its followup ''More from the Vile File: 500 Sick Jokes'' compile one-liners from across his career as a comedian. He also published a semi-autobiographical comic novel in 2019, ''What Luck'', about a stand-up comedian wrestling with the difficulties of finding a "lucky break". York has also been published in ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''.

Discography

*Dwight York, ''Belongs In a Bar'' (

, 2018) *Dwight York, ''Quickies'' (

, 2009) *Dwight York, ''Psychotic Criminal Comic'' (Comedy Gallery, 1996)

Books

* ''What Luck'' (2019) *''More from the Vile File: 500 Sick Jokes'' (

-ismist Recordings -ismist Recordings was a Lincoln, Nebraska-based independent record label founded in 1992 by Dan Schlissel. Over the 1990s, -ismist released nearly 80 albums and singles by bands including Killdozer, Season to Risk, and House of Large Sizes. It ...

, 2012) *''The Vile File: Jokes Too Sick for the Stage'' (Trailer House Press, 1999)

References

External links

Official Dwight York websiteDwight York at Stand Up! Records websiteDwight York performs at the 2009 Great American Comedy Festival
* {{DEFAULTSORT:York, Dwight Living people 1960s births Year of birth uncertain American stand-up comedians Comedians from Wisconsin Comedians from Minnesota People from Amery, Wisconsin Entertainers from Minneapolis American male comedians 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Stand Up! Records artists