Tim Slagle (born August 13, 1958) 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 ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

. His material leans towards political

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. He is known for his regular contributions to ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

'' Magazine. He currently lives in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

metropolitan area.

Biography

Slagle was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and adopted by a middle-class family, living in the blue collar area of South Suburban Detroit known as

Downriver Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit, along the western shore of the Detroit River. The place is sometimes referred to as South Detroit. Etymology The name ...

. He was raised in Trenton, Michigan, graduating from Trenton High School in 1976. He briefly attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and eventually dropped out without a degree in 1979 to become a fringe part of the Detroit

Punk scene The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...

in the band Boris Savage and the Primates. In 1979 he started performing at the open mic nights at Mark Ridleys Comedy Castle in north suburban Detroit. As stand-up comedy clubs exploded around the country during the comedy boom of the 1980s, there were plenty of venues looking for comics, and by 1983, Slagle was traveling the country as a professional comic. After three years of living on the road, he settled in Chicago, where he became a regular in the Zanies chain of comedy clubs. Slagle's style of comedy is observational and often ironic. In 1989, Slagle first appeared nationally on the ''

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 w ...

Comedy Club Network'', and again in 1991 on the ''

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Half Hour Comedy Hour''. In 1996, he appeared on-stage in a small theater in Chicago, with comedian Tom Naughton in the ''Slagle Naughton Report''. In 2000 he also produced and starred in a brief run on local

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 ...

television show: ''The Mudslingers Ball'', with

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...

Will Durst Will Durst (born on March 18, 1952) is an American political satirist. He has been called a modern mix of Mort Sahl and Will Rogers. Early life Durst was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went to 14 different schools before graduating from Wau ...

, Jeffrey Jena, and host Mike Lukas. It aired on KSTP channel 5, an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate. He was interviewed and appeared briefly in the documentary '' Michael Moore Hates America'' (2004) Orndorf, Brian (October 25, 2004)
"Review: ''Michael Moore Hates America''"
Filmfodder. Retrieved October 7, 2014. In late 2006, Slagle released his first CD, entitled ''Europa'' 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 ...

. The CD is notable as a best of from Slagle's career and also features a cover by noted illustrator Jack Davis.

Media releases

CDs

* ''Europa'' (2006)

VHS tapes

* ''Awake'' (1993) * ''Nation of Criminals'' (1998) * ''Live'' (2000)

References

External links

Tim Slagle's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slagle, Tim 1958 births Living people American political commentators American satirists American stand-up comedians Writers from Detroit University of Michigan alumni Stand Up! Records artists