James P. Connolly is an American comedian and tv/radio host known for his frequent guest appearances on ''Larry Charles' Dangerous Word of Comedy'' on Netflix, ''America’s Got Talent'', and on several SiriusXM Comedy Channels. In 2002, Connolly was named Grand Comedy Champion on Next Big Star, a television talent show hosted by

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...

. He is one of the most played comedians on Sirius XM Comedy and a sought after host for Fortune 500 companies and global events.

Early life

James P. Connolly was born and raised in San Mateo,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He graduated from

Aragon High School Aragon High School is a public co-educational high school in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). It is located in San Mateo County, a large suburb just outside San Francisco. The school is accre ...

. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

on a Marine Corps ROTC Scholarship.

Military service

After college, Connolly was stationed at

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

, rising to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and served in

Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. There, his commanding officer, commissioned Connolly to write jokes for an officer's roast, which Connolly credits as the start of his comedy career.

Career

After a short stint as a karaoke DJ in San Diego, Connolly relocated to Los Angeles, California, where he began his comedy career at the World Famous Comedy Store in 1995 and worked as a Tour Guide at Universal Studios. Connolly began his career with a hipster onstage persona before losing the white jacket and the hipster style for a more contemporary look. Connolly has appeared on Comedy Central and HBO. He won Grand Comedy Champion on Ed McMahon's short-lived talent show and has made multiple trips overseas to entertain the troops. He is a go-to for Fortune 500 companies and travels the world for events and meetings. Connolly hosted VH1's "Movie Obsessions" and "Live From Here" on XM Radio for National Lampoon. In October 2013, he recorded the SiriusXM Blue Collar Radio Comedy Concert at SirusXM's

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Studios.

Awards

Connolly was named Grand Comedy Champion on Next Big Star on TV Talent show hosted by Ed McMahon. He was awarded "Best of the Fest" at the San Luis Obispo Comedy Festival and four times in a row at the Burbank Comedy Festival. He was a finalist at the

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 ...

(twice), Comedy Central National Stand Up Comedy Competition and the Boston Comedy Festival (twice).

Discography

* *

Television, film and radio

Television appearances

*Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy (2019) *America's Got Talent (2017) *

Comics Unleashed ''Comics Unleashed'' is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company (formerly CF Entertainment) and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and DJ Cobra or sometimes DJ A1 providing music s ...

(2015) *Bob & Tom TV Show WGN (2008) *An American Thanksgiving with

Bryant Gumbel Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's ''Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted H ...

(2006) *Latino Laugh Festival: The Show –

Si Tv NuvoTV (formerly known as Sí TV) was an American cable television, cable television network. It was launched on February 25, 2004, and catered to the Latino community with exclusively English-language programming. It ended operations on Septembe ...

(2004) *Movie Obsessions (2002) *Next Big Star, w/Host Ed McMahon (2001–2002) *

Jerry Lewis Telethon The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in ...

(1997, 1998) *Comedy Central – "Make Me Laugh" (1997)

Film

*Holding Lucid (2014) *The Act (2004) *Boxing's Been Good to Me (2000)

Radio

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius S ...

Blue Collar Radio Comedy Concert *Audible A Journey from Combat to Comedy *Live From Here *The Dork Forest with

Jackie Kashian Jackie Kashian (born July 20, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian. Early life and career Kashian, who is of Armenian and Irish descent, was born in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised by her father, Elliot, and her stepmother, Nancy, along ...

*The Mother Funny Show by

Kira Soltanovich Kira Soltanovich ( ; born September 15, 1973, in Lviv, Ukraine) is an American comedian, writer, and actress. Soltanovich grew up in San Francisco and started performing stand-up in 1998. After graduating from San Diego State University with a d ...

* Bob and Tom Radio Show

References

External links

* *James P. Connoll
official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, James P. Harvard University alumni American male film actors American stand-up comedians American talk radio hosts 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Living people United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War People from San Mateo, California Comedians from California 20th-century American comedians Year of birth missing (living people)