Todd Steven Glass (born December 16, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian.

Life and career

Glass was born and raised in the suburbs of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He first began performing stand-up comedy in Philadelphia in 1982 while attending

Conestoga High School Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place. Co ...

. He made his earliest television appearances in the late 80s on A&E's ''

An Evening at the Improv The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s. History Originally, it was a single venue founded in ...

'' and in the early 1990s on several

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 programming ...

stand-up programs. He is Jewish and

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. Glass is perhaps best known for his appearances as a contestant on the second and third seasons of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' and has appeared regularly on programs such as ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'', ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'', ''

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' is a comedic talk show which aired on Comedy Central from 2002 to 2004. The show featured host Colin Quinn and a panel of comedian guests, discussing politics, current events, and social issues. Show history an ...

'', ''

The Dennis Miller Show ''The Dennis Miller Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Dennis Miller. The show launched in January 1992 and was hosted by the former ''Saturday Night Live'' Weekend Update anchor as an attempt b ...

'', ''

Politically Incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

'', ''

Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...

'', ''

Tosh.0 ''Tosh.0'' ( ) is an American television series that aired on Comedy Central from June 4, 2009, to November 24, 2020. The series is hosted and produced by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides satirical commentary on online viral video clips, inter ...

'', ''

Mr. Show with Bob and David ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'', also known as ''Mr. Show'', is an American sketch comedy series starring and hosted by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. It aired on HBO from November 3, 1995, to December 28, 1998. Cross and Odenkirk introduced m ...

'', ''

Preston and Steve ''Preston & Steve'' show is a morning radio, comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at WDRE and then on Y100, both in Philadelphia ...

'' and had his own ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'' special in 2001. He co-hosted the podcast ''Comedy And Everything Else'' with fellow comics Jimmy Dore and Stefané Zamorano, but left the podcast in September 2009. His departure was officially announced on November 28, 2009 episode and Glass has returned as a guest on several episodes since leaving. Todd Glass & Zach Galifianakis

In 2001, Glass released his debut stand-up album called ''Vintage Todd Glass and Other Crap'' and was also featured on the two CD set of the ''

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 ...

'', a compilation album of various stand-up comics performing at the popular ''

'' comedy showcase at 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 ...

in Los Angeles. His album ''Thin Pig'', was released on July 7, 2009 on

Comedy Central Records Comedy Central Records is a record label based in New York and owned by Paramount Global. The label specializes in stand-up comedy albums and is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The label has r ...

. In August 2011, his

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 ...

''The Todd Glass Show'' debuted on

The Nerdist ''ID10T with Chris Hardwick'' (formerly ''The Nerdist Podcast'') is a weekly interview show "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Chris Hardwick, once usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The audio podcasts are typicall ...

podcasting network. He hosts the show along with frequent co-host Eric Ohlsen and a regular lineup of guests and crew including comedians

Rory Scovel Rory J. Scovel (born August 6, 1980) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He released his first stand-up comedy album ''Dilation'' in 2011. He has since released the stand-up specials ''The Charleston Special'' (2015), ''Rory Scovel Tries ...

(and his wife Jordan) and Blake Wexler, audio engineers Katie Levine, Aristotle "Jet Ski" Acevedo, and musicians Lynn Shore and Joe MacKenzie, who write and perform many of the show's various "jingles" and audio cues. Glass also tours regularly.

Personal life

On April 16, 2010, Glass collapsed backstage at a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

comedy club after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. Glass appeared on ''

The Bonnie Hunt Show ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'' is an American syndicated talk show hosted by Bonnie Hunt. It premiered on September 8, 2008. The show's second and final season premiered on September 8, 2009. It was announced on December 7, 2009 that ''The Bonnie Hun ...

'' only nine days later, talking about his recent "brush with death". Glass said he found out he had 100% blockage in his arteries and following an

angioplasty Angioplasty, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atheroscle ...

, declared that he was doing fine. Glass blamed these health problems on bad genetics. Both parents had a history of heart problems; Todd's father had his first heart attack at age 30 and died of a subsequent heart attack at age 46. On December 20, 2012, Glass talked about his heart attack on the '' Adam Carolla Show'', and said that he had lost 30 pounds since the incident. He had also stopped smoking (he previously maintained a "pack-a-month" habit), and that he had started taking the drug

Lipitor Atorvastatin is a statin medication used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and to treat abnormal lipid levels. For the prevention of cardiovascular disease, statins are a first-line treatment. It is taken by mouth. Common ...

to prevent further heart attacks. Glass

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

publicly as gay on January 16, 2012, during an episode of ''

WTF with Marc Maron ''WTF with Marc Maron'' is a weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. The show was launched in September 2009. The show is produced by Maron's former Air America co-worker Brendan McDonald. Background The show's ti ...

''. The information had previously been known to friends and family, and Glass explained that he was worried about coming out publicly, but the recent string of

suicide among LGBT youth Research has found that attempted suicide rates and suicidal ideation among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly higher than among the general population. In the United States, one study has shown the passage of l ...

motivated him to do so.

Discography

Albums

*''Vintage Todd Glass and Other Crap'' (2001) *''Thin Pig'' (2009)

—Digital Album *''Todd Glass Talks About Stuff'' (2013) *''Todd Glass: Act Happy'' (2018)

Compilation appearances

*''

Comedy Death-Ray (album) ''Comedy Death-Ray'' is a two disc CD collection of highlights from the weekly comedy showcase ''Comedy Death-Ray'' (curated by Executive Producers Scott Aukerman and B. J. Porter), released on September 11, 2007, on Comedy Central Records. Dis ...

'' (2007)

Books

* ''The Todd Glass Situation: A Bunch of Lies about My Personal Life and a Bunch of True Stories about My 30-Year Career in Stand-Up Comedy''. Simon & Schuster, 2014. .

References

External links

* *
Todd Glass
on MySpace
The Todd Glass Show Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Todd 1964 births Living people American atheists American male comedians American podcasters American stand-up comedians Jewish American male comedians Last Comic Standing contestants Gay comedians American LGBT actors LGBT Jews LGBT people from Pennsylvania Male actors from Philadelphia 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews