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Jordan Klepper (born March 9, 1979) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, television host, and actor. He began his career as a member of
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...
and Upright Citizens Brigade. From 2014 to 2017, he was a correspondent on ''
The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
''. He started his own satirical program, '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', which was canceled in 2018. He then starred in the 2019 docuseries, '' Klepper'', before returning to ''The Daily Show'' later that year.


Early life

Jordan Klepper was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on March 9, 1979, the son of Betse, a secretary at Loy Norrix High School, and Mark Klepper. Betse and Mark were introduced to each other by Betse's cousin, the actor and comedian
Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/ ...
, who was Mark's roommate at
Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...
. Klepper attended
Kalamazoo Central High School Kalamazoo Central High School is a public high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan serving students from ninth through twelfth grades. It was the first public high school in Michigan. It began operating in 1858 and graduated its first class of five men a ...
and Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, where he was a tennis player and a member of the Mock Trial Team that won Nationals. After graduating from high school, with a ''Frederick W. Heyl and Elsie L. Heyl Science Scholarship Fund'' full-tuition scholarship from
Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...
, in 1997, Klepper double-majored in math and theater at
Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...
and received his degree in 2001. He studied abroad in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
during his time there. While at Kalamazoo College, his sister befriended aspiring actor Steven Yeun and took him to see Klepper's improv show, which inspired Yeun to attend his first acting class.


Career

After graduation, Klepper moved to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, where he performed at
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...
. While there, he also worked for the Big Ten Network as a comedian on the show ''Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate''. He moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 2011, where he began performing as a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade. Klepper debuted on ''
The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...
'' on March 3, 2014, four days after his initial audition. He received consistently positive reviews for his segments on the show, and filled in as the host in October 2016 when Trevor Noah was sick. In April 2017,
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
announced that Klepper would host a new show in the fall, which would follow ''The Daily Show''. A special titled '' Jordan Klepper Solves Guns'' premiered on Comedy Central on June 11, 2017. The new show was titled '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'' and premiered on September 25. The show was canceled in June 2018, with Klepper starting a new docuseries, '' Klepper'', which aired in 2019. He returned to ''The Daily Show'' in December 2019. He also launched a
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 choosin ...
with former Ohio governor
John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...
called ''Kasich & Klepper''.


Influences

Klepper has said that his comedy influences include Trevor Noah,
Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
, and Jon Stewart.


Personal life

Klepper married Laura Grey in 2013. The two met as members of
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...
and Upright Citizens Brigade and later wrote, directed, produced, and starred in short films.


Filmography


Film


Television


Awards


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klepper, Jordan 1979 births 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American non-fiction writers American atheists American comedy writers American male comedians American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American media critics American political commentators American satirists American social commentators American television talk show hosts American television writers Comedians from Michigan Criticism of journalism Kalamazoo College alumni Late night television talk show hosts Living people Male actors from Michigan American male television writers Male feminists People from Kalamazoo, Michigan Upright Citizens Brigade Theater performers Writers from Kalamazoo, Michigan 21st-century American male writers Television producers from Michigan