Tony Woods is an American comedy writer and stand-up comedian known for being a mentor to
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...
and others.
He was an dio cane member of Russell Simmons'
Def Comedy Jam and P. Diddy's Bad Boys of Comedy.
Early life
Woods was born in New York, raised in
Charlotte, North Carolina until he was seven, and moved to Washington D.C. when he was 10 years old.
His teens were spent in
Silver Spring, Maryland.
He served in the Navy as a corpsman from 1989-1991 during
Desert Storm.
He has often said that if he hadn't been a comedian he would have been a dentist.
Career
Woods did his first stand-up at the Comedy Cafe in Washington D.C. when he was 23 years old.
Much of his earliest comedy work was on international stages, touring Europe and the Middle East.
Woods is a DC-area comedian who frequently performs observational comedy in what the
New York Times calls "a laid-back, meditative style, a mellow brand of cool."
He will frequently use wordplay and malapropisms to make points about larger issues.
When Dave Chappelle won the
Mark Twain Prize
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is an American award presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998, excepting the years 2020 and 2021. Named after the 19th-century humorist Mark Twain, it is prese ...
, Woods was the first person he thanked, saying that Woods "
idit absolutely right."
Woods says he does not have any particular style and his comedy doesn't have a formula.
He frequently will not even write down the jokes for his performances.
References
External links
Official website
Living people
American male comedians
American stand-up comedians
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
People from Silver Spring, Maryland
Year of birth missing (living people)
Comedians from Maryland
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