James Ronald Pardo, Jr. (born July 28, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and host of the long-running comedy
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
''
Never Not Funny
''Never Not Funny'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian Jimmy Pardo, since spring 2006, currently releasing two episodes a week. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Comedian Mike Schmidt appeared as co-host f ...
''. From the show's inception until mid-2015, he performed as the
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
program
''Conan'''s
warm-up comedian
A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...
and cast member, after which he received a general development deal with O'Brien's production company. He last hosted the game show ''
Race to Escape
''Race to Escape'' is an American reality competition television series, produced by Axial Entertainment and Entertainment One Television for the Science Channel. It was originally announced in April 2015.
The escape room themed series, hosted b ...
'' on the Science Channel.
Early life
Pardo was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, and spent his first 8 years living on the south side, eventually moving to the south suburbs of Chicago. He spent his grade school years living in
Hometown, Illinois
Hometown is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,343 at the 2020 census.
History
Joseph E. Merrion developed inexpensive duplex houses in Hometown after World War II, targeting former GIs and their families. Hom ...
. In 1980, his family moved to
Oak Forest, Illinois
Oak Forest is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The city is out south-southwest of downtown Chicago in Bremen Township. Per the 2020 census, the population was 27,478.
History
Human habitation in Oak Forest began during the ea ...
where he attended
Oak Forest High School
Oak Forest High School is a public high school located in Oak Forest, Illinois. It is part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest High School and Bremen High School. It serves most of ...
. In 1986, he moved to
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
to attend the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...
(‘87). He attended for one year, then returned to Chicago to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.
Career
In late 1988, Pardo started performing at open microphones at various venues around Chicago, including "The Roxy", "The Last Laugh" and "The Comedy Cottage". The plethora of successful
comedy clubs
A comedy club is a venue—typically a nightclub, bar, hotel, casino, or restaurant—where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, impressionists, magicians, ventriloquists, ...
in the area at that time meant Pardo started earning money almost immediately, allowing him to quit his day job as a sales rep for
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
. In addition to his comedy CDs ''Uno'', ''Pompous Clown'' and ''Sprezzatura'', in 2007 Pardo appeared on the comedy compilation CD ''
Comedy Death-Ray
''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...
''.
Pardo hosted
GSN's ''
National Lampoon's Funny Money
The following is a list of programs that are currently airing, upcoming, or were formerly broadcast by Game Show Network.
Current programs Original programs
Reruns of ended original programs
Acquired programs
Former programs Former original ...
'' from June to October 2003, and later co-hosted
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
's ''Movies At Our House'' with Rachel Quaintance for 5 seasons.
Pardo was the warm-up comedian for ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late Ni ...
'' after being suggested by head writer Mike Sweeney.
He has returned as the opening act for ''
Conan'', and appeared in a recurring on-air sketch throughout the week of April 11, 2011. In May 2011 he began conducting backstage interviews with celebrity guests for a
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...
called "The Pardo Patrol."
After doing live talk and game shows at such
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...
venues as the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.
Prior t ...
, Jimmy Pardo began the award-winning podcast ''
Never Not Funny
''Never Not Funny'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian Jimmy Pardo, since spring 2006, currently releasing two episodes a week. He and producer/co-host Matt Belknap have appeared in every episode. Comedian Mike Schmidt appeared as co-host f ...
'' at the urging of now-producer Matt Belknap. The show is in its twenty-eighth season and placed Pardo among the founders of comedian podcasting. Pardo has been called a "pioneer" of podcasting. ''Never Not Funny'' primarily features fellow comedians in improvised conversations. Many of his guests have gone on to host their own podcasts, including Doug Benson and Paul Gilmartin.
Pardo hosts an annual 12 hour live telethon charit
fundraiserfor
Smile Train
Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, ...
, an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. To date the annual telethon event has raised over $1.2M USD (4,800 surgeries)
In September 2013, Pardo released a comedy album entitled ''Sprezzatura''.
In 2017, Jimmy Pardo and Matt Belknap launched an additional podcast - Playing Games with Jimmy Pardo
In 2019, Pardo, Matt Belknap, and videographer Eliot Hochberg began releasing the web series ''Jimmy's Records and Tapes'' on YouTube. Episodes feature Pardo talking about what went on in his life during a particular year while highlighting music and trivia regarding said year.
Personal life
Pardo is married to comedy writer Danielle Koenig, daughter of actor
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid 1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in ''Star Trek: The Original S ...
.
They have one son.
References
External links
*
Jimmy Pardo's Website*Jimmy Pardo o
TwitterInterview from June 2008Jimmy Pardo's "Never Not Funny" PodcastMeet Jimmy Pardo: Never Not Having Funon
LAist
Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pardo, Jimmy
1966 births
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
American game show hosts
American podcasters
American stand-up comedians
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
People from Cook County, Illinois
Comedians from Illinois
21st-century American male actors
People from Oak Forest, Illinois
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians