Jay Johnston

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
birthdate = 22 October 1968
birthplace = Chicago, Illinois

Jay Johnston (born 22 October 1968) is an American actor and comedian, known for his work as a writer and performer on the 1990s HBO sketch comedy show "Mr. Show".

Johnston attended Columbia College Chicago, where he studied acting and comedy alongside other future "Mr. Show" alumni such as Dino Stamatopoulos, Scott Adsit and Eric Hoffman.

Mr. Show

Jay Johnston's contribution to the "Mr. Show" series were generally of the "evergreen" variety, dealing with more or less universal themes as opposed to the more political/socially satirical material that his fellow writers/performers contributed to the series. As such, Jay was responsible for many of the show's memorable sketches and characters. Johnston often incorporated physical comedy into the show, most notably in the "The Story of Everest" sketch, which features Johnston performing an astounding number of comical pratfalls.
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=TyrM7GxyzGg The Story of Everest]

Current activities

Since the conclusion of "Mr. Show", Johnston has made cameo appearances in a number of comedy TV series and movies including several episodes of the critically acclaimed show "Arrested Development", an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and the Will Ferrell film "".

Johnston can currently be seen on "American Misfits" (2006, on FUEL TV) as the boss, usually during the intros and outros. The show is a half-hour mix of skateboarding and sketches, very much in the mold of the early- to mid-'90s skate videos of STEREO and other companies. Laban Pheidias (formerly of Alien Workshop) is one of the hosts, and Johnston sets up ridiculous ideas which blend into vignettes and skate footage.

Johnston also currently appears in Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program" as "Officer Jay", the love interest of Sarah's sister in the series. Johnston is also involved in voicing, writing and producing the animated series Moral Orel.

External links

* [http://benkharakh.com/jay_johnston In depth interview from November 14th 2007]
* [http://benkharakh.com/jay_johnston2 Interview about Snuz Brothers November 2007]