> OUR COMEDIANS
Click on the comedians names to learn about The Golf Comedy Tour Comedians.
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Tom Dreesen
In Sept 1969, I went on stage for my first time. So in Sept 2009, I will be celebrating my 40th year in Show Business. All my dreams have come true and, as the song goes, "The Best is Yet to Come." I continue to perform on stages all over the world, and I'm as excited about hearing your laughter today as I was the very first time. Medical science has proven that laughing has numerous health benefits, so I wish all of you lots of laughs all your life and urge you to "Keep Laughing, especially at me."
Tom Dreesen's unique and engaging style is tailored to the specific dynamics of each audience and his sense of continuity keeps the evening flowing smoothly and always on time whether he serves as a comedian, master of ceremonies or motivational speaker.
Daily Variety wrote, "Dreesen is one of the most respected comedians of our time".
Frank Sinatra said "Tommy is the "Master," Master of Ceremonies."
As a motivational speaker the L.A. Time's wrote "Dreesen was UPLIFTING, ENTERTAINING, INFORMATIVE AND WELL PREPARED."
A consistent performer in all the main showrooms in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno and Atlantic City and for 13 years toured the nation as the opening act for Frank Sinatra. When not in those venues he's in constant demand from corporations throughout America either as a headliner or working with acts from Bon Jovi to Elton John.
Tom has made over 500 appearances on national television as a standup comedian, including 61 appearances on the Tonight Show. He's a frequent and favorite guest of David Letterman and even hosted the show during David's absence. He's also hosted The Late, Late Show that follows Letterman.
Letterman once said on his show, "You can drop Tom out of a helicopter anywhere in the world and as soon as he hits the ground he'll quickly assess the situation and do a top notch show. He's that talented." Letterman and Dreesen recently performed together for our troops on bases throughout Iraq.
He has written and performs in a one-man play called "Shining Shoes and Sinatra" which opens with him shining shoes in a bar with Sinatra on the jukebox, and ends with him carrying Frank's coffin. Growing up in a suburb on the South side of Chicago, Tom has never forgotten his early, less affluent days. He has come a along way from his hometown of Harvey, Illinois where as a lad he shined shoes and sold newspapers on the corner.
Jackie Flynn
Jackie Flynn has emerged as one of the funniest and most talked about comedians to come out of Boston. Joining the ranks of Steven Wright, Denis Leary, Lenny Clarke and Jay Leno, Jackie has quickly parlayed his success as a stand-up to firmly establish himself in the film and television arena. Early on in his career, Jackie was discovered on stage in Boston by the Farrelly brothers, who have since cast him in back to back roles in "King Pin", "There's Something About Mary", "Me, Myself And Irene" "Shallow Hal" and "Stuck On You", where he played opposite pop-diva Cher. Fans of the hit show "The King Of Queens", will recognize Jackie from his many appearances on
that show, as well as his role along side the likes of Burt Reynolds, NFL Coach Jimmy Johnson and Jerome Bettis as one of the "Men Of The Square Table" in the hugely popular Miller Lite "Man Law" commercials. He is also one of the proud winners of the prestigious San Francisco Comedy Competition, as well as a featured performer at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival gala. Recently he was chosen to perform at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado produced by HBO. Jackie is truly a "comic's comic", whose refreshingly unique brand of sarcastic observational humor puts
him in a class all his own, apart from the many derivative cookie cutter comics plying the airways today. Audiences young and old appreciate his wit and rapid fire "take no prisoners" delivery.
Gary Valentine
Gary Valentine got his start in the world of standup comedy. A 13-year veteran of standup, Valentine traveled the country refining his comedic routine, performing at national clubs and comedy festivals.
After headlining the Montreal Comedy Festival he moved to Los Angeles, appearing on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG KILBORN and THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO.
Valentine's additional television credits include starring in his own half-hour comedy special, COMEDY CENTRAL PRESENTS and co-hosting FX's THE X SHOW. Valentine has guest starred on THE KING OF QUEENS for several years, and is currently a series regular on the hit show, and has co-written several episodes as well.
A native of New York, Valentine now lives in Los Angeles. His birth date is November 22. So, send him a present.
Kevin Nealon
With his unique sense of humor, profound dry wit and likable demeanor, Kevin Nealon has established himself as one of the premiere television, theatrical and stand-up comedians of his generation.
As a cast member of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (1986-1995), Kevin is most recognized for the characters he created, including; 'The Subliminal Man,' 'Hans and Franz,' and anchoring 'Weekend Update.' Kevin's extensive television credits include guest appearances on such award winning shows as, 'The Larry Sander's Show, 'Fat Actress,' 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' and Comedy Central's, 'Crank Yankers.'
Nealon, who made his film debut in the 1987 romantic comedy, 'Roxanne,' with Steve Martin, has gone on to star in over two dozen comedies, including 'Happy Gilmore' and 'The Wedding Singer, both with Adam Sandler, 'Joe Dirt' , 'Anger Management' with Jack Nicholson, 'Daddy Day Care' with Eddie Murphy and 'Grandma's Boy.' He is currently starring as ‘Doug Wilson' in the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe nominated Showtime series, ‘WEEDS'.
Upcoming films this spring include Steve Carell's, ‘Get Smart,' Adam Sandler's, ‘You Don't Mess With The Zohan,' and in January 2009, Twentieth Century Fox's, ‘They Came From Upstairs.'
His first book called, ‘Yes, You're Pregnant but What About Me?', published by HarperCollins will be available in bookstores May 13, 2008.
Kevin also stays busy performing stand-up comedy around the country and can be seen in his own Stand-Up Special in the fall of 2008.
In addition to his acting credits, Kevin is an established and acclaimed writer, garnering him an Emmy nomination for his work on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Nealon has a degree in Marketing from Sacred Heart University and currently resides in Los Angeles, Ca. with his wife and son.
Gary Mule Deer
Gary Mule Deer, whose unique comedy and music have set him apart as one-of-a-kind, has performed on nearly every major concert stage in the U.S. He has made over 350 television appearances, including many on both The Tonight Show and The Late Show With David Letterman. He was one of six comedians, along with Jay Leno, to appear on the very first HBO Comedy special, was the co-host of Don Kirschner's Rock Concert for four years on NBC, and a regular on Make Me Laugh. Included in over 100 appearances on the Nashville Network were two years (1992-93) as a member of the cast of Hee Haw. He is currently featured on the DVDs, Bill Engvall's New All Stars of Country Comedy, Jeff Foxworthy's Comedy Classics, and The World's Greatest Stand-up Comedy Collection hosted by Norm Crosby. He was recently featured on CMT's "Comedy Stage." Gary's most recent appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman was on February 5, 2008.
Gary entertains regularly in Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe and Atlantic City showrooms. For fifteen years he has been touring in concert as special guest with Johnny Mathis in major venues across the country. They've appeared everywhere from the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to Royal Albert Hall in London. Gary also performs often on the Grand Ole Opry. His next appearance will be in May of 2008. During his career Gary has shared the stage with everyone from Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra to Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Brooks & Dunn. He is also a celebrity performer for Royal Caribbean's mega-ships and a favorite at major corporate and golf events. Gary has entertained at the AT&T Pebble Beach (again in 2008), The Phoenix Open, The Kraft Nabisco Championship and The Frank Sinatra, to name just a few.
Bob Goen of Entertainment Tonight has said of Gary Mule Deer, "This guy has got to be the funniest man on the planet." An equally great singer and musician, Gary has a music CD, "Six Days On The Road," with his Duck and Cover Band, comprised of some of Nashville's greatest musicians, including Steve Wariner, Dan Tyminski, Danny Parks, Willie Weeks, David Hungate, Larry Paxton, Randy Hart and Eddie Bayers. The CD includes the music of his strongest influences, especially Johnny Cash. He also has a CD of his comedy and music, "Gary Mule Deer Live." Gary is currently one of the most-played comedians on the Clean Comedy Channels of both Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. Will Ferrell was asked by Dan Patrick at ESPN Magazine... "It's the seventh game, ninth inning of the World Series of Comedy. You have to pick a comedian to be out on the mound." Will's answer was Gary Mule Deer.
Greg Fitzsimmons
2008 has been a very busy year for Greg. Each week he hosts a radio show on Sirius "Howard 101", and appears on VH1's "Best Week Ever". He is also working on 3 several TV projects including a Reality Show with Andy Dick, a prime time Game Show called "Family Funds", and a reality show he sold to FOX.
You may have caught him in the last couple of months on "CSI", or on ABC's "Here Come the Newlyweds", or hosting "The AVN Awards" on Showtime.
As a regular on Letterman, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, and The Tonight Show, Greg continues to sell out clubs and theatres around the country. He recently made his 50th visit to "The Howard Stern Show" has done two Half-Hour Standup Specials for Comedy Central.
His writing credits include four Daytime Emmy Awards for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", HBO's "Lucky Louie", "Cedric the Entertainer Presents", "Politically Incorrect w/ Bill Maher" and "The Man Show".
The Aspen Comedy Arts Festival presented Greg with the "Jury Award for Best Comedian" and an MTV game show he hosted, "Idiot Savants", received a Cable Ace Award.
Rumor has it he also has a wife and 2 kids in Venice Beach, CA.
Wil Shriner
Wil likes to stay busy, do it all and never be bored. On HOOT, he brought together his Florida background, twenty years of comedy, and award winning directing skills to take HOOT from novel to big screen family fare. With his screenplay adaptation of the book, he promised author Carl Hiaasen, producer Jimmy Buffett, and himself that he would stay loyal to the novel. Having attended 10 different schools himself, Wil connected with lead character Roy Eberhardt's desire to fit in. He also has a deep appreciation for the Florida environment and it's preservation because so much has changed since he grew up in South Florida and spent time commuting to school by boat.
Over the years Wil has worn many hats as a director, comedian, actor, writer, producer and host, and has established himself as one of television's hot comedy directors. "Hoot" marks his feature film debut as the screenwriter and director.
Among his many credits and triumphs on the small screen, Shriner won the Humanitas Award for a year 2000 episode of NBC's "Frasier" entitled ‘Something About Dr. Mary' that sensitively dealt with racism. Another of his numerous "Frasier" episodes, ‘The Proposal', earned an Emmy Award for editing in 2002. He just competed an episode of the 2007 season of the Gilmore Girls for the new CW.
Shriner has also directed episodes for the Emmy winner, "Everybody Loves Raymond," as well as the following comedy series; CBS's "Becker" and "Ladies Man", ABC's "My Wife and Kids", "Norm", "Married to the Kelly's", and "Two Guys and a Girl", Fox's "Luis" and the WB's "Raising Dad". In front of the camera, Shriner co-starred opposite Joan Allen in the Academy Award nominated "Peggy Sue Got Married," directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He has also made dozens of appearances on television shows like HBO's "Dream On" and NBC's "Search and Rescue" and "Amazing Stories." As a TV talk-show guest and stand-up comedian, he has made over 50 appearances with David Letterman, Jay Leno, Bill Maher and a dozen appearances with his idol the late Johnny Carson.
Over the years, Shriner has hosted hundreds of hours of television, including his own Emmy-nominated talk show, "The Wil Shriner Show". He was also a regular correspondent and guest host for five years on ABC's popular daytime show, "The Home Show." In addition to hosting live shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, A&E, HGTV and a number of Disney specials.
Wil still performs his stand-up comedy across the country, in numerous nightclubs and at corporate and charity events. He has appeared at dozens of casinos in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Atlantic City and Reno with such diverse talents as=2 0Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, John Denver, Loretta Lynn, Tom Jones, Sam Kinison, The Gatlin Brothers, Neil Sedaka and Jay Leno.
When not in front of or behind the camera, this multi-faceted talent keeps busy working with many E-commerce and high technology companies as a spokesman, producer and comedian. His clientele includes Microsoft, Circui t City, Optika, RCA, Gemstar, Iomega, Engage, WEB-TV, Canon and Caesar's Palace, to name a few. In February 2000, he produced and wrote the Microsoft Windows 2000 launch, the largest product introduction in Microsoft's history. Two years later, he directed and wrote the Bill Gates comedy video shown at all of Mr. Gates' public appearances.
Wil Shriner was born in New York City when his mother and father Herb Shriner, a popular humorist and television personality, gave birth to twins while hosting "Two for the Money," the 1950s game show now seen in reruns on Sony's Game Show Network. His twin brother Kin, has portrayed Scotty Baldwin of "General Hospital" for over three decades. Wil began his college studies at the University of Florida then moved west to attend film school at UCLA. His first job was in production for Max Baer Jr. on the film "Ode to Billy Joe" and for Dick Clark Productions before pursuing work as a stand-up comedian. He loves the challenges of all his careers over the years and only wishes he had more free time for golf, scuba diving, flying and being with his two children.
Jake Johannsen
This guy has been on David Letterman's show 32 times and has 2 HBO specials, a Comedy Central Special and many other credits.
When does a comedian's credit become a helluva lot more than just a credit? Well, one answer to this weird little riddle is when it's Jake Johannsen's "Letterman" credit: He's appeared on the show more than any other younger comic (heck, maybe more than any comic), so many, in fact, that a precise count might be nigh impossible, but certainly upwards of 30 times. There are truly great comedians who've been on "Letterman" fewer than five times--and some who've never been booked on the show--so this is just one measure of what an immensely accomplished, creative, prolific and funny comic Jake is. You want another? Remember when TV Guide published its list of "The 50 Funniest TV Moments Of All Time"? Number 36 was Jake's 1992 hourlong HBO special, "This'll Take About An Hour." Again, this wasn't recognizing the funniest moments of, say, 1992--but of all time. To put this further in context, Numb
Don McMillan
Don McMillan graduated from Stanford University with a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1982. (He has a BSEE from Lehigh University) He went to work for AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked as part of the team that designed the world's first 32-bit Microprocessor. He then moved to the Silicon Valley (San Jose, California) where he worked at VLSI Technology as a computer chip designer. During his 6 years at VLSI he designed more than 50 Standard and ASIC Designs many of which are still out there today.
Ater winning the 16th Annual San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition in 1991, Don turned in his chips for a microphone. He went on to be $100,000 Grand Champion on "Star Search" in 1993. He's had numerous television appearances including "The Tonight Show" on NBC, CNN's "The Larry King Show", MTV's "Half Hour Comedy Hour", and A&E's "Evening at the Improv". Nowadays, you can catch Don headlining comedy clubs from the "Improvisation" to "Catch-A-Rising Star" across the country.
You most likely have seen Don as the star of fifteen national commercials for Budweiser Beer. He plays the Bud delivery guy who mans the "freshness hotline" and protects the world against "skunky" beer. He can also be seen in commercials for 7-11, Franco-American Ravioli, Little Caesar's Pizza, ServiStar Hardware, and United Airlines.
In the movies, Don is currently starring in the award winning independent feature "Don: Plain& Tall". It's the story of an engineer who tosses it all away to become a stand-up comic (sound familiar?). "Don: Plain & Tall" was awarded "Best Feature - Comedy" at the Back East Film Festival. The movie will be showing in other film festivals throughout the year. Don has also appeared in the feature length films: "Air Bud III?World Pup", "Life Without Dick", "Macon County Jail", "Party Crashers", and "Fanatics". Don has guest starred on the TV series "Star Trek: Voyager", "Babylon 5", "City Guys", and "Step by Step". He has also been profiled in both "Entertainment Weekly" and "TV Guide".
Don has not lost contact with his high-tech roots. He has performed over 300 shows for major corporations around the United States including IBM, Apple, Sun Microsystems, and Cisco (See "Corporate Comedy"). Don's corporate show utilizes his unique background to take a lighthearted look at computers, technology, and the high-tech life. His PowerPoint slides are like none you've ever seen. He is the only comedian that references "Avagadro's Number", "DRAM", "XML", and he Beta tests all his jokes.
Tom Papa
Comedian Tom Papa is known throughout the country for his many appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. TV audiences also know Tom as the star of his own sitcom on NBC, "Come to Papa" [March 2004].
Papa grew up in New Jersey and first realized he wanted to be a comedian when, at a very young age, he heard Steve Martin's comedy album, "Let's Get Small". Comedy became an addiction which he perfected in clubs throughout New York City.
After about four years, Papa got his first big break. He was given a half-hour special for Comedy Central and was hand-picked by Jerry Seinfeld as an opening act on his tour which continues to this day.
Now, he says, "I'm in the lucky position of being able to make people laugh for a living." Tom has also appeared in the films "Analyze That", "Comedian" and is landing his voiceover talent to the upcoming animated feature "Bee Movie".
Tom lives in New York and Los Angeles with his wife and family.
Henry Cho
Comedian Henry Cho figures his real life is so much like a sitcom he might as well turn it into one. That's what he's done in a series now in development with CBS-TV/Paramount Studios. Cho's executive producers on the project are Late, Late Show host Craig Ferguson and Jim Hope, who counts The George Lopez Show and Titus among his production credits. This is the first project for Ferguson's newly-formed production company Green Mountain West.
"As creator and producer of the show," says Cho, "I'm looking forward to starring in something that's based on my life and my standup routines."
Cho is particularly proud of the team he's assembled. "Craig Ferguson is unique," Cho says. "Most major TV stars don't go to network meetings. But Craig does. He's 100% involved. His input is invaluable. Because he's also a standup comic, he gets everything I'm trying to do. Jim Hope will co-write the show with me. We've been looking for a project to work on together for the last 17 years. Now we have that opportunity."
Jon Manfrellotti
A versatile actor and stand-up comic, Jon appears regularly in all the top
comedy clubs accross America, including numerous appearances on Showtime and
Comedy Central.
Jon played Ray's best friend "Gianni" on "Everybody Loves Raymond". As well as
many other television credits which include King of Queens, Seinfeld, NYPD BLUE
and LAW AND ORDER.
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