Paul Mecurio

Paul Mecurio is a Rhode Island-born comedian once featured on "Comedy Central Presents". He was a writer and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is a trained lawyer (graduating from Georgetown University Law Center). After working as a merger and acquisitions attorney, and an investment banker, Mecurio became a stand-up comedian.

Early career

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Mecurio graduated with honors from Georgetown Law School and began his career on Wall Street at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, before becoming an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston. All the while, Paul was honing a second career writing and performing comedy and was hired by Jay Leno to write jokes for "The Tonight Show". In 1995, with Leno's encouragement, Paul moved center stage, leaving Wall Street and starting his career as a stand-up comedian.

The Daily Show

In 1996, Paul was invited to be on the original writing team for Comedy Central's new program, "The Daily Show". In 2001, as a writer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", Mecurio won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement In Writing In A Variety, Music or Comedy Program. For his work on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2000", Paul was honored with a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting (similar to The Pulitzer Prize for Broadcasting). In 2002, Mecurio received his second Emmy nomination for his work on "The Daily Show". He has also been featured in "The Daily Show" segment, “Second Opinion,” in which he skewers the medical profession playing an HMO representative with a less than sympathetic mindset.

tand-Up/TV/Film

A national headliner in comedy clubs across North America and in Europe, Paul has performed at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and has made numerous television appearances, including his own "Half Hour Special For Comedy Central", “The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn”, Comedy Central’s “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn”, NBC’s “Late Friday”, Comedy Central’s “Dr. Katz” and numerous appearances on VH1’s popular clip shows. Mecurio has been a guest on Fox News Channel and makes regular appearances on CNN, CNNfn and MSNBC as a political satirist. Paul had one of his films screened at "The HBO Comedy Arts Festival" in Aspen, Colorado.

Mecurio has a regular segment as "The Image Makeover Guy" on the nationally syndicated radio program, "The Bob and Tom Show". In the segment, he skewers our obsession with image by offering tongue-in-cheek makeover advice to those who have sullied their images in the press.

Mecurio appeared in a guest-starring role opposite John Cleese in the failed ABC sitcom "Wednesday at 9:30", and shot a television pilot set in New York City for famed producer/directors Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana. He can also be seen in the upcoming film drama, "High Art, Low Life", written and directed by Peter Nourjian. Mecurio recently shot the lead role in the independent film "Faux Pix".

Mecurio has written, produced and directed five short films, the latest of which, "Gloves", an off-center dark comedy, was screened at several prestigious film festivals including “The US Comedy Arts Festival” in Aspen, “The Toronto Film Festival”, “The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival” and “The San Sebastian Film Festival” in Spain. Mecurio also worked on the film "American Buffalo", starring Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz based on the award winning David Mamet play of the same name.

On May 21, 2004, Mecurio premiered his own “Comedy Central Presents” half-hour special. Paul was featured as a political satirist in the 2004 Presidential Election coverage by The Daily News, CNN, MSNBC, CNNfn and ESPN2.

ports Central

Mecurio recently shot the television pilot for "Sports Central", in which he starred, co-created and executive produced. Using a news format, "Sports Central" is a witty look at controversial off-the-field issues and athlete misconduct plaguing sports today. [http://www.paulmecurio.com/PRESS/Daily_News.jpg]

Carpooling with Strangers Tour

In December 2007, Mecurio launched a new ongoing contest called Paul Mecurio’s Carpooling with Strangers Tour, offering comedy fans everywhere a chance to get in on the act. Mecurio will hand-pick from the pool of entrants official tour sponsors who will receive four free tickets to one of his upcoming performances nationwide and a post-show meet-and-greet with the comedian. Each winner will also be a featured fan of the week on Mecurio’s official website and MySpace page. For more information, visit [http://www.paulmecurio.com/tour www.paulmecurio.com/tour] .

External links

* [http://www.paulmecurio.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/paulmecurio Official MySpace Page]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580528/ IMDB entry]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sportscentralshow/ Sports Central MySpace Page]
* [http://www.paulmecurio.com/tour Carpooling with Strangers Tour]