Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2000, and he became known for anchoring Weekend Update, the show's news parody segment. Prior to SNL, he was best known as the announcer/sidekick/co-host on MTV's 1980s game show Remote Control. Following his departure from SNL, Quinn went on to host Comedy Central's late-night panel show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, where he and a panel of New York's big names in stand-up comedy discussed and debated news stories of the day. Notable film work includes his role as Dooey in A Night at the Roxbury, Dickey Bailey in the Grown Ups films, and playing Amy Schumer's father in the film Trainwreck. Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, and Dave Attell have cited Quinn as the quintessential "comic's comic" and New York comedian.
Quinn has also become known for his comedic one-man shows that feature his takes on history and growing up in New York City. As of 2020, he has written and starred in seven stage shows: Irish Wake, My Two Cents, Long Story Short, Unconstitutional, The New York Story, Red State Blue State, and The Wrong Side of History, two of which he collaborated on with Seinfeld as director. Long Story Short was filmed as an HBO special that aired on April 9, 2011, and Unconstitutional, The New York Story, and Red State Blue State were released as Netflix specials.
Early life and education Quinn was born on June 6, 1959, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, where he was raised, the son of teachers. He is of Irish descent. Quinn's paternal grandparents arrived from Belfast around 1920.
He attended Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, Long Island, but did not graduate.
Career
Early career Quinn began performing stand-up comedy in 1984. He first achieved fame in 1987 as the sidekick announcer of the MTV game show Remote Control, which lasted five seasons. Quinn also hosted the final episodes of the series in 1990 due to regular host Ken Ober's commitment to the series Parenthood. In 1989, he hosted the A&E stand-up showcase Caroline's Comedy Hour, and wrote and acted in the comedic short/music video "Going Back to Brooklyn" (a parody of LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali") with Ben Stiller. He wrote for In Living Color, and co-wrote and produced the movie Celtic Pride, which starred Damon Wayans and Dan Aykroyd.
Saturday Night Live Quinn was hired as a writer and featured player on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1995 and became a full cast member during the 1997–1998 season. He established himself on the show with recurring characters and segments such as "Lenny the Lion", "Joe Blow", "Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times", and "Weekend Update".
Quinn began hosting "Weekend Update" in January 1998 after Norm Macdonald was fired, and anchored the segment until his departure from SNL in 2000. He commented on a number of highly publicized media circuses, including the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and the Microsoft anti-trust trial.
During his tenure on SNL, Quinn turned down an offer for the role of Scott Evil in fellow cast member Mike Myers's film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Quinn has called the role, which was ultimately played by Seth Green, the only project he has regretted turning down.
Television and film work and stand-up After leaving SNL, Quinn hosted the short-lived The Colin Quinn Show on NBC in the spring of 2002. The show combined sketch comedy and stand-up in a live-to-tape format. Despite mostly positive reviews from critics, it was cancelled after three episodes.
Quinn had greater success with his subsequent show, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, which ran on weekdays on Comedy Central from 2002 to 2004. The show featured a panel of four comedians, with Quinn as host, discussing the social and political issues of the day. The show ran for over 200 episodes.
His stand-up was also used in the animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties.
In 2005, Quinn participated in a USO tour of American military bases around the world, performing stand-up to entertain the troops.
He was the "unofficial co-host" on the Nick DiPaolo show on the now-defunct 92.3 Free FM in New York City, airing Monday–Friday from noon to three. Quinn and DiPaolo were originally slated to host the show together on WJFK-FM, but the station decided not to pick up the show. Quinn was also a regular guest on The Opie & Anthony Show until its run ended in 2014.
Quinn played Dickie Bailey, the childhood rival to Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler's character) in Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013). He also had a recurring role as Hermie on the HBO series Girls.
Quinn wrote and starred in the L/Studio web series Cop Show, which premiered in February 2015. The series stars Quinn as a satirical, pompous version of himself, starring in a New York City-based crime drama. The show's guest stars have included Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Attell, Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Che, Tom Papa, Jim Norton, Pat Cooper, Irina Shayk and Amy Schumer.
Quinn had a supporting role in Amy Schumer's film debut, Trainwreck (2015), as her character's father. He was critically praised for his performance.
One-man shows Quinn made his Broadway debut in 1998 in a one-man show, Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake, co-written with Lou DiMaggio. The show reflected Quinn's upbringing within the Irish-American community of Brooklyn; it was set at a wake in 1976, with Quinn portraying family members and acquaintances who show up for the event.
In 2009, Quinn premiered his second one-man show, My Two Cents, which covers the economic crumbling of the American empire.
In 2010, Quinn premiered his third one-man show Colin Quinn Long Story Short on Broadway, directed by Jerry Seinfeld. The show covered world history from prehistoric times to the present, offering satirical takes on the rise and fall of various world empires. Quinn recorded a special performance of the show that aired on HBO on April 9, 2011. A Brazilian version of the show featuring comedian Bruno Motta has the title 1 Milhao de Anos em 1 Hora ("1 Million Years in 1 Hour").
In 2013, Quinn premiered another one-man show on historical themes, Unconstitutional, which covers the United States Constitution, its creation, and its impact on the American psyche.
Quinn starred in his fifth one-man show, The New York Story, in July and August 2015 at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The show was based upon the experiences chronicled in his book, The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America. It delves into his growing up in the ethnically diverse Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn and how it has changed over the years into its current state. Seinfeld, who directed Long Story Short, returned as director.
In early 2019, Quinn premiered his sixth one-man show, Red State Blue State, at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The show explored contemporary politics in the United States on both sides of the primary political spectrum.Comedian Colin Quinn Calls on the United States to ‘Divorce’ Over Division, Breitbart News
In 2020, Quinn released his second book, Overstated: A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States, and directed the HBO Max comedy special Colin Quinn & Friends: A Parking Lot Comedy Show.
Personal life Quinn stopped drinking in the early 1980s after several bad experiences with alcohol, including blackouts and arrests.Quinn interview, AskMen.com, p. 1
On February 14, 2018, he suffered a heart attack in New York. He recovered a few days later.
On June 8, 2019, Quinn married Late Night with Seth Meyers producer Jen Sochko.
Awards and honors In 2004, Quinn was named No. 56 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time.
He was named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans of the year in 2004 and 2011 by the magazine Irish America.Top 100 - 2011: Colin Quinn, Irish Americawww.irishabroad.com
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1983Rock 'n' Roll Hotel DJAired on HBO1987Three Men and a BabyGift Shop Clerk 1988Crocodile Dundee II Onlooker at Mansion1988Married to the MobHomicide Detective1993Who's the Man?Frankie Flynn 1998A Night at the RoxburyDooey2003Crooked LinesAnnoying Customer2006HomeHimselfDocumentary film2008HaroldReedy2009Paper BoysTV Voiceover2010Grown UpsDickie Bailey2012That's My BoyStrip Club DJ2013Grown Ups 2Dickie Bailey2015TrainwreckGordon2016BootedDebt Collector 2017Sandy WexlerKevin Connors2019Drunk ParentsRyan the Bum #2 2020 Hubie HalloweenJanitor
Television Year Title Role Notes1987–1990Remote ControlSidekick/Announcer and writerAll episodes1988The Cosby ShowDavey Herbeck1 episode19882 Hip 4 TVCo-host with Ahmet ZappaUnknown episodes1989MenBaltimore1 episode1989Caroline's Comedy HourHost2 episodes1989–1990True Blue2 episodes1990Manly WorldAlso writer1992The Ben Stiller Show1 episode1992Gaudy, Bawdy & BlueMulliganTV movie1995The Larry Sanders ShowCully1 episode1996–2000Saturday Night LiveCast Member74 episodes1996The Christmas TreeTomTV movie1997Pulp Comics: Jim BreuerCop1 episode1997Space Ghost Coast to CoastHimself1 episode2002The Colin Quinn Show3 episodes2002–2004Tough Crowd with Colin QuinnHost and writer200+ episodes2003Windy City HeatTalk Show GuestTV movie2004Ring My BellGame Show GuestCW Network2008What About Sal?O'BrienTV short2011CheatDelivery BoyTV short2011The Green Room with Paul ProvenzaHimself1 Episode2013–2017GirlsHermie8 episodes2014The AwesomesJeff Apelstein7 episodes2014–2015Inside Amy SchumerJudge / Elevator Passenger From Hell2 episodes2015The Nightly Show with Larry WilmorePinocchio1 episode2015–2016The Jim Gaffigan ShowHimself2 episodes2019CrashingHimselfEpisode: "The Viewing Party"
Writer Year Title Notes1993In Living ColorTV series (8 episodes)1995–1997Saturday Night LiveTV series (also cast member) (40 episodes)1996Celtic PrideFilm written with Judd Apatow2014–2016Cop Show26 episodes
Comedy specials Year Title Studio Formats 1992 One Night Stand HBO Broadcast/streaming 2011 Long Story Short HBO Broadcast/Blu-ray/DVD/download/streaming 2015 Unconstitutional Netflix DVD/CD/audio & video download/streaming 2016 The New York Story Netflix Streaming 2019 Red State Blue State Netflix/CNN CD/audio download/video streaming 2020 Colin Quinn & Friends: A Parking Lot Comedy Show HBO Max Streaming 2024 Colin Quinn: Our Time Is Up YouTube Streaming 2024 Stamps & Tea YouTube Streaming
Bibliography Year Title Publisher Formats 2015 The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America Grand Central Publishing Print: hardcover/E-book, audiobook: CD/download/streaming 2020 Overstated: A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States St. Martin's Press Print: hardcover/E-book, audiobook: CD/download/streaming
References
External links
in 2003 Colin Quinn at the Comedy Hall of Fame