Jake Johannsen (born July 28, 1960) is an American comedian, writer, and actor.
Early life
Johannsen attended
Iowa State University in the early 1980s, originally majoring in
veterinary medicine, and then later changing to chemical engineering. He left after three years in college and relocated to
San Francisco, California, in order to pursue a career in comedy. Johannsen made his debut at
Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, and by 1986 had won the 11th Annual
San Francisco International Comedy Competition
The San Francisco Comedy Competition (sometimes referred to as the San Francisco International Comedy Competition or The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition) is a stand-up comedy contest held each September in San Francisco, C ...
.
Career
During the 1990s, Johannsen starred in his own
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
comedy special, ''This'll Take About an Hour'', which was listed as one of the Ten Best Television Shows by ''
People Magazine'' in 1992. In 1994, he was nominated as "Best Male Stand-Up Comedian" for the 1994 American Comedy Awards.
According to
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...
, Johannsen was originally wanted for the role of
George Costanza in ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'', but he refused the part.
In 2010, Johannsen starred in his second Comedy Special titled ''I Love You'', which aired on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...
and was directed and produced by
The Aristocrats
"The Aristocrats" is a taboo-defying off-color joke that has been told by numerous stand-up comedians since the vaudeville era . It relates the story of a family trying to get an agent to book their stage act, which is revealed to be remarkably ...
editor
Emery Emery.
Johannsen also was the star headliner of the inaugural Iowa Comedy Festival.
Johannsen performed October 16, 2010, at People's Court in downtown Des Moines to cap off the four-day event.
Johannsen is a favorite of
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
and made the all time record of 46 appearances as the featured Friday night comic on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
''.
Filmography
Film
Television
Personal life
He and his wife, actress Belinda Waymouth, have one child.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johannsen, Jake
1960 births
Living people
American stand-up comedians
People from Iowa City, Iowa
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians