- Jerry Minor
-
Jerry C. Minor (born October 4, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as Mr. Show, Saturday Night Live, Delocated, Carpoolers and Lucky Louie.
Contents
Life and career
Minor was born in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in Flint, Michigan. He began doing stand-up comedy and writing/performing with sketch comedy groups in Detroit before eventually joining the Second City Detroit's mainstage improv troupe. After writing and performing in three revues, he joined the Second City Chicago for two shows and then one revue at the Second City Toronto. At the time he was the only performer to have belonged to all three of the Second City's touring companies.
Minor joined as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live for one season in 2000–2001. He was let go from the show over the summer hiatus, before the start of the 2001–2002 season, because Lorne Michaels wanted to hire four new cast members, but did not want to go over budget. Minor's best known work at SNL included the recurring sketch Rap Street (which he performed with Horatio Sanz) and his appearances on Weekend Update as Al Sharpton.
In addition to SNL, Minor has appeared regularly on a number of other sketch comedy programs, perhaps the most notable being HBO's Mr. Show, of which he was a cast member during its final season. He was briefly a correspondent on The Daily Show in early 2000, had a recurring role as Officer Carter on Arrested Development and was one of the main cast members of Comedy Central's debate show parody Crossballs in 2004. He worked briefly as a writer and occasional performer on the short-lived FOX sketch series Cedric the Entertainer Presents.
In 2006, Minor was part of the main cast of the HBO series Lucky Louie, on which he played Louis C.K.'s neighbor, Walter. Minor was praised for his Lucky Louie role in a 2006 issue of TV Guide, where he was given a "Cheers" in the magazine's Cheers and Jeers section. Most recently, he was part of the cast of the 2008 ABC sitcom Carpoolers, playing the role of Aubrey and was a featured comedian on Lewis Black's Root of All Evil on Comedy Central. Minor has also gained attention online in 2010, for his memorable appearances as "Cyber Thug" on the Comedy Death-Ray Radio podcast.
For a number of years Minor and comedian Craig Robinson had a comedy act where they performed as musical duo "L. Witherspoon & Chucky", with Minor as smooth singing "L. Witherspoon" and Robinson as "Chucky", the keyboard player and back-up singer. They performed the act on several stand-up shows on Comedy Central as well as on Real Time with Bill Maher and Jimmy Kimmel Live.[1]
Minor has appeared in films such as I Love You, Man, Drillbit Taylor and Beer League, and had a small part in the 2003 movie Melvin Goes to Dinner directed by Bob Odenkirk.
Most recently, Minor made recurring guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Community (TV series), Bob's Burgers, Funny or Die Presents, Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, Jon Benjamin Has a Van, and Eastbound & Down. He also joined the cast of the second season of the Adult Swim live-action series Delocated.
Memorable characters on SNL
- Grand Master Rap, co-host of the old-school rap music program Rap Street on BET.
- Terrell, the catty and effeminate security guard who works with conceited deskclerk Jackie (Maya Rudolph)
- Rasheed Jenkins, a 10-year-old boy who nervously tries to read his school reports on Weekend Update.
- Willy Sluggs, a magician who performs less-than-spectacular magic tricks on his show Willy Sluggs' Eye Poppers
Celebrity impressions
- Cuba Gooding, Jr. (on SNL)
- Jimi Hendrix (on SNL)
- Al Sharpton (on SNL)
- Miss Cleo (on SNL - cut sketch)
- Nipsey Russell (on SNL - cut sketch: shown in 2001 SNL Halloween Special)
- Puff Daddy (on VH1 Divas Live Aretha Franklin special)
- Billy Dee Williams (on Mr. Show DVD audio commentary)
- Bill Cosby (on Lucky Louie)
- Ja Rule (on Jimmy Kimmel Live)
- Chris Tucker (on Primetime Glick and The Martin Short Show)
- Michael Winslow (on SHOWTIME's The Offensive Show pilot)
- Boyd Tinsley (at UCB's The Midnight Show)
- Steve Harvey (at UCB's Comedy Death-Ray)
- Kanye West (at UCB's Comedy Death-Ray)
References
External links
- Jerry Minor at the Internet Movie Database
- Jerry Minor on YouTube
- In depth interview from November 12, 2007
Categories:- 1969 births
- Living people
- African American actors
- American comedians
- American comedy musicians
- American film actors
- American stand-up comedians
- American television actors
- American television writers
- ImprovOlympics
- People from Flint, Michigan
- People from Memphis, Tennessee
- Second City alumni
- Actors from Michigan
- Actors from Tennessee
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.