Anthony Jeselnik

Anthony Jeselnik is an American comedian, writer, actor, and producer. He is known for his dark comedy style, which emphasizes ironic misdirection, non-sequiturs, biting insults, an arrogant demeanor, and a stage persona that frequently takes amoral stances.

Jeselnik was a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in its first season and hosted Comedy Central Presented in 2009. After releasing his critically acclaimed debut album Shakespeare in 2010, he began writing for the Comedy Central Roasts and moved up to performer in the 2011 roast of Donald Trump. He continued to perform on the roasts of Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr in 2012. In 2013, he hosted his own Comedy Central series for two seasons, The Jeselnik Offensive, and released his second album, Caligula, which doubles as an hour-long stand-up special.

On July 22, 2015, Jeselnik replaced J. B. Smoove as the new host of NBC's Emmy Award-nominated series Last Comic Standing. On Netflix, his second stand-up special, Thoughts and Prayers, premiered in October 2015. In addition, Jeselnik starred in the first season of the NFL Media podcast The Rosenthal & Jeselnik Vanity Project (or RJVP) along with a best friend, Gregg Rosenthal. The second season debuted in 2018 on the Comedy Central Podcast Network under the slightly different name of The Jeselnik & Rosenthal Vanity Project (or JRVP).

Jeselnik's Comedy Central Presents stand-up special premiered in 2009. He was named one of Comedy Central's breakout comedians of the year alongside Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari, Whitney Cummings, Donald Glover, Matt Braunger, T. J. Miller, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jon Lajoie. In 2009, Jeselnik was hired as a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

His dream job, predating stand-up or his first comedy class, was to sit around a table and "throw out jokes with people you respected." However, Jeselnik's pitches would be continually shot down after getting the job as they were too dark. For example, he routinely fought for a single joke regarding obesity each day for a month. Although Fallon liked the mark, he felt uncomfortable performing it as it likely jeopardized his likability with the obese.

During this period, he was a regular at the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, New York City. Jeselnik would work hard each day for the show and then proceed to Comedy Cellar, have a "big stiff drink," and do his act, feeling "miserable." Finally, in March 2010, he approached the show's producers and told them he wanted to leave. "We understand—you want to go by Anthony Jeselnik," they said.

He recorded his debut album, Shakespeare, and in 2010 began writing for the Comedy Central Roasts. Jeselnik, who refers to roasts as "the Super Bowl of comedy," loved roasts during college and always tried to write for them. While Jeselnik was writing for the David Hasselhoff roast, Comedy Central executives took an interest in him and offered him an opportunity to perform on the next roast. Knowing that this would be his "big moment," Jeselnik refers to the Roast of Donald Trump as "one of my favorite moments of my life […] because no one knew who I was, and it just really caught everybody by surprise. And the next day, my life was completely different."

While Jeselnik had previously been headlining clubs, the audience often was unfamiliar with his brand of comedy; after the Trump roast, the crowds got more extensive, and Jeselnik felt more comfortable. Immediately following his performance, the network offered Jeselnik a "three-point deal" in which one receives an hour special, three Comedy Central roasts, and a development deal. Jeselnik performed at two more roasts, the Comedy Central Roasts of Charlie Sheen in 2011 and Roseanne Barr in 2012. In addition, Jeselnik appeared at the Power of Comedy event in November 2012.