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John Mulaney
Mulaney in a suit
Mulaney in 2014
Born (1982-08-26) August 26, 1982 (age 42)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
  • film
Education Georgetown University (BA)
Genres
Subject(s)
Spouse
Children 2

John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Mulaney became well-known for his writing work on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 2008 to 2013. He helped create many funny sketches and characters, including Stefon, a popular character he made with Bill Hader.

After leaving Saturday Night Live, Mulaney has hosted the show six times. This made him a member of the SNL Five Timers Club in 2022.

Mulaney has released several stand-up comedy specials, including The Top Part (2009), New in Town (2012), The Comeback Kid (2015), Kid Gorgeous (2018), and Baby J (2023). He won two Primetime Emmy Awards for writing Kid Gorgeous and Baby J. He also created a children's musical comedy special for Netflix called John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019).

Mulaney created and starred in the TV show Mulaney (2014–2015). He also performs as George St. Geegland in a comedy team with Nick Kroll. They performed together on television and on Broadway in a show called Oh, Hello on Broadway (2016–2017). Mulaney also works as a writer and actor for the IFC show Documentary Now! (2015–2022). In 2024, he hosted and created the Netflix talk show Everybody's in LA.

Mulaney has appeared in other TV shows like Dickinson (2019), The Bear (2023–), and Poker Face (2025). He has also voiced characters in animated shows and movies. These include Andrew Glouberman in Big Mouth (2017–2025), Peter Porker / Spider-Ham in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Chip in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022), and Big Jack Horner in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022).

Early Life and Education

John Mulaney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 26, 1982. Both of his parents are lawyers. His mother, Ellen Mulaney, is a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. His father, Charles "Chip" Mulaney Jr., is a partner at a law firm. His family has Irish Catholic roots.

Mulaney's parents both went to Georgetown University and Yale Law School. They were at Georgetown and Yale at the same time as future president Bill Clinton. Mulaney has said he met Clinton in 1992. John is the third of five children in his family.

When he was five years old, Mulaney knew he wanted to work in show business after watching the character Ricky Ricardo on the show I Love Lucy. At age seven, he was part of a children's sketch group in Chicago called "The Rugrats". This group gave him a chance to audition for the role of Kevin in the movie Home Alone, but his parents decided against it.

For junior high, he went to St. Clement School. There, instead of writing reports, he and his best friend would perform what they learned as skits. When he was 14, Mulaney acted in a play called Our Town. He also often visited the Museum of Broadcast Communications to watch old episodes of shows like I Love Lucy and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

He graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in 2000. Then, Mulaney went to Georgetown University, where his parents had also studied. He studied English and also took classes in theology. At Georgetown, he joined the school's improv group. There, he met Nick Kroll and Mike Birbiglia. He later joined Birbiglia on his stand-up comedy tour. Mulaney said this helped him get over his stage fright.

Comedy Career Beginnings

Saturday Night Live main stage by Steven Dahlman
The main stage for Saturday Night Live

After finishing college in 2004, Mulaney moved to New York City to start a career in comedy. He got a job as an office assistant at Comedy Central. After a year, he suggested an idea for a funny show called I Love the '30s, which was a parody of I Love the '80s. He developed this idea with fellow comedian Nick Kroll.

Mulaney later auditioned for Saturday Night Live in August 2008. He performed stand-up comedy with funny characters. Mulaney earned a spot on the writing team for Saturday Night Live. He worked there for four seasons, writing jokes for the hosts. He also sometimes appeared on the show's Weekend Update segment. He and SNL actor Bill Hader created the popular SNL character Stefon. Mulaney was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series with the SNL writing team from 2009 to 2012. He won an Emmy in 2011 for writing a song with Justin Timberlake and Seth Meyers.

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Mulaney performing in 2009

While working on SNL, Mulaney also performed as a stand-up comedian. He has been a main performer since 2008. He performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2008. He has appeared on many late-night talk shows, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Mulaney released his first comedy album, The Top Part, in 2009. His stand-up comedy special New in Town came out in 2012. Both were made with Comedy Central.

In 2013, Mulaney created a TV show pilot for NBC called Mulaney. It was based on his own life. NBC did not pick up the show at first, but Fox later ordered a season of six episodes. The show starred Mulaney, Nasim Pedrad, Martin Short, and Elliott Gould. The series was canceled in May 2015. Mulaney said he wanted to make the kind of live-audience sitcoms he watched growing up.

Rising to Stardom

Comics Come Home 2013 (cropped 2)
Mulaney in 2013

Mulaney's third comedy special, The Comeback Kid, was released on Netflix on November 13, 2015. Critics really liked The Comeback Kid. David Sims of The Atlantic magazine said it showed everything that makes Mulaney special, like his great storytelling. During this time, Mulaney also wrote for other TV projects, including Maya & Marty and Documentary Now!. He also acted in supporting roles on shows like Crashing and Portlandia. In 2016, Mulaney was nominated for an Emmy for The Comeback Kid.

In 2015, Mulaney became a writer for the IFC show Documentary Now!. This show makes fun of famous documentary films. Mulaney has written five episodes for the series. His first acting role on the show was in the 2019 episode "Original Cast Album: Co-Op". In this episode, Mulaney played a character based on the famous composer Stephen Sondheim. The episode was very popular and received great reviews.

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Mulaney collaborated with Nick Kroll on Oh, Hello sketch, tour and Broadway show

Mulaney has played the character George St. Geegland, an older man from New York, since the early 2000s. St. Geegland hosts a prank show with his friend Gil Faizon (played by comedian Nick Kroll). The characters became very popular on Kroll's show Kroll Show. Mulaney and Kroll toured the U.S. with a show called Oh, Hello, playing their characters. The show opened on Broadway in September 2016 and finished in January 2017. The Broadway show was filmed and released on Netflix in June 2017.

Mulaney's fourth stand-up comedy tour was called Kid Gorgeous. It started in May 2017 and ended in April 2018. The tour included seven shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in February 2018. One of these shows was filmed for another Netflix special. Kid Gorgeous was highly praised by critics. Steve Greene of IndieWire called it "one of the year's best pieces of writing". At the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, Mulaney won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for Kid Gorgeous.

In 2017, Mulaney was invited to honor David Letterman at The Kennedy Center. Letterman was receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Letterman said, "John Mulaney—this is the future of comedy, ladies and gentlemen." Mulaney also performed stand-up at charity events like Night of Too Many Stars (2017) and Hilarity for Charity (2018).

Mulaney voices a main character, Andrew Glouberman, on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth (2017–2025). His writing partner Nick Kroll co-created the show. Mulaney and Kroll also co-hosted the Independent Spirit Awards in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Mulaney voiced Spider-Ham in the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

30 Rock Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary (52632155330)
Mulaney returned to SNL as a host in 2018, ending up hosting six times

Mulaney has returned to host Saturday Night Live six times. He hosted on April 14, 2018; March 2, 2019; February 29, 2020; October 31, 2020; February 26, 2022; and November 2, 2024. This made him the fourth SNL writer to host the show. As a host, he performed in funny musical sketches like "Diner Lobster" and "Airport Sushi". Mulaney joined Saturday Night Live's Five-Timers Club on February 26, 2022. Other famous comedians like Candice Bergen, Tina Fey, and Steve Martin welcomed him to the club.

In January 2019, Mulaney announced he would tour with Pete Davidson for a series of comedy shows called "Sundays with Pete & John". Mulaney and Davidson became good friends and appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. In December 2019, Mulaney released a children's musical comedy special, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, on Netflix. The special was inspired by classic children's shows like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It features Mulaney and 15 child actors and singers. Famous guests included David Byrne and Jake Gyllenhaal. Critics loved the special, saying it was a great parody and also an excellent children's show. Mulaney was nominated for two Emmy Awards for the special.

Recent Projects

Hudson Theatre (52302264678)
Mulaney returned to Broadway acting in the Simon Rich show All In: Comedy About Love (2024) at the Hudson Theatre.

In May 2021, Mulaney returned to stand-up comedy with new material called John Mulaney: From Scratch. He performed many sold-out shows. Parts of this routine were later used in his 2023 special Baby J. Mulaney honored Robin Williams in the Netflix special The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up. He appeared in this special with other comedians like Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle.

In March 2023, a new Netflix special from Mulaney, titled Baby J, was released on April 25, 2023. The special was filmed in Boston.

In 2023, he appeared as himself in the episode "Borgnine" of the Pete Davidson series Bupkis on Peacock. He also guest starred in the episode "Fishes" in the Hulu series The Bear as Stevie. In April 2024, he announced a six-part series called John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA, which was streamed live on Netflix. The series was well-received, with critics calling it a fun talk show. On September 9, 2024, it was announced that Mulaney would return to Broadway in the play All In: Comedy About Love. He acted alongside Fred Armisen and Richard Kind. In 2025, Mulaney worked as a writer on the NBC television special, Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special, where he also co-hosted and performed in sketches.

Comedy Influences

When asked about the comedians who influenced him, John Mulaney said he "always loved stand-up albums." He grew up listening to comedy albums. He collects stand-up albums. He has mentioned loving albums by Chris Rock, Woody Allen, Nichols and May, and Albert Brooks. He also listened to a lot of Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Conan O'Brien, and Bob Newhart. For his top four comedy albums, Mulaney mentioned Rock's Bring the Pain, Mitch Hedberg's Strategic Grill Locations, Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill, and Dave Atell's Skanks for the Memories... (2003).

Personal Life

Family and Relationships

On July 5, 2014, John Mulaney married multimedia artist Annamarie Tendler. They separated in May 2021 and divorced in January 2022.

In September 2021, Mulaney announced that he and actress Olivia Munn were expecting a child. Their first child, a son, was born on November 24, 2021. Mulaney and Munn married in July 2024 in New York. Their second child, a daughter, was born on September 14, 2024.

Public Appearances

John Mulaney, May 5, 2016
Mulaney performing at a Joining Forces event at Joint Base Andrews in 2016

In 2016, Mulaney performed stand-up comedy at an event honoring the Armed Forces at Joint Base Andrews. This event was called "A Celebration of Service" and was organized by the USO. Other comedians like Jon Stewart and David Letterman also performed. The event was attended by then-President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Filmography

Film

Key
Not yet released Denotes works that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Peter Porker / Spider-Ham Voice, film debut
2019 Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham Voice; short film
2020 Spider-Ham: Back on the Air
2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Chip Voice
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish "Big" Jack Horner Voice
2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Peter Porker / Spider-Ham Voice, archival audio
2027 Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Not yet released Peter Porker / Spider-Ham Voice; In production
TBA Madden Not yet released Trip Hawkins Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2007 Human Giant Various Episode: "24 Hour Marathon"
2008 Best Week Ever Himself 4 episodes
2008–2018 Saturday Night Live Various Writer (94 episodes) and producer (22 episodes)
2009 Important Things with Demetri Martin John Mulaney / Green Beret 2 episodes; also writer
Comedy Central Presents Himself Episode: "John Mulaney"
2010 Ugly Americans Tony Voice; 2 episodes
2013–2015 Kroll Show George St. Geegland 11 episodes
2014–2015 Mulaney John Mulaney 13 episodes; also creator, executive producer, and writer
2015–2016 The Jim Gaffigan Show Himself 4 episodes
2015–2022 Documentary Now! Simon Sawyer Actor (Episode: "Original Cast Album: Co-op")
Also writer (season 1–4); producer (season 1–2)
2016 Lady Dynamite James Earl James Episode: "Pilot"
Comedy Bang! Bang! George St. Geegland Episode: "The Lonely Island Wear Dark Pants and Eyeglasses"
Maya & Marty N/A 6 episodes; Writer
Difficult People Cecil Jellford Episode: "Unplugged"
2017 32nd Independent Spirit Awards Himself (host) Television special
2017–2025 Big Mouth Andrew Glouberman / various Voice; also consulting producer
2018 Portlandia George St. Geegland Episode: "Peter Follows P!nk"
33rd Independent Spirit Awards Himself (host) Television special
Seth Rogen's Hilarity for Charity Himself
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Episode: "A Hooker in the Rain"
Animals Olafur / Mackerel Voice; episode: "Pigeons"
2018–2019 Crashing Himself 2 episodes
2018–2024 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) 6 episodes
2019 Dickinson Henry David Thoreau 2 episodes
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Himself Deep Cut appearance
2019–2022 The Simpsons Warburton Parker Voice; 2 episodes
2020 Late Night with Seth Meyers N/A Writer
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo Himself Episode #1.3
2021 House Hunters: Comedians on Couches Unfiltered Episode: "John Mulaney: Dance Space"
2022 The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up Netflix comedy special
Human Resources Andrew Glouberman Voice; episode: "The Addiction Angel"
2023 Bupkis Himself Episode: "Borgnine"
2023–2025 The Bear Stevie 3 episodes
2024 My Next Guest Needs No Introduction Himself Episode: "John Mulaney"
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA Himself (host) Netflix talk show; 6 episodes
2025 Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special Himself Television special; also writer
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney Himself (host) Netflix talk show
Conan O'Brien: The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Himself Television special
Poker Face Daniel Clyde-Otis Episode: "Whack-A-Mole"

Specials

Year Title Studio Format Ref.
2009 John Mulaney: The Top Part Comedy Central Streaming/LP
2012 John Mulaney: New in Town Comedy Central Streaming/LP/DVD
2015 John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid Netflix Streaming/LP/DVD
2017 Oh, Hello on Broadway Netflix Streaming
2018 John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City Netflix Streaming/LP/DVD
2019 John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch Netflix Streaming/LP
2023 John Mulaney: Baby J Netflix Streaming/LP

Theatre

Year Title Role Playwright Venue Ref.
2015 Oh, Hello Live! On (off) Broadway George St. Geegland John Mulaney & Nick Kroll Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway
2016 Oh, Hello on Broadway Lyceum Theatre, Broadway
2024 All In: Comedy About Love Performer Simon Rich Hudson Theatre, Broadway

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2020 Marvel Contest of Champions Spider-Ham

Discography

Standup specials

  • The Top Part (Comedy Central Records, 2009)
  • New in Town (Comedy Central Records, 2012)
  • The Comeback Kid (Drag City, 2017)
  • John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (Drag City, 2018)
  • John Mulaney: "Baby J" (Drag City, 2023)

Musical

Touring

  • John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous (2017–2018)
  • Sundays with Pete and John (2019)
  • John Mulaney: From Scratch (2021–2023)
  • John Mulaney: In Concert (2024)

Awards and Nominations

John Mulaney has received many awards and nominations for his work in television. In 2009, Mulaney won a Peabody Award with the writers of Saturday Night Live. This was for their funny work on the 2008 United States presidential election. He has been nominated for many Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on Saturday Night Live and Documentary Now!. He won his first Emmy Award in 2011 for co-writing the song "Justin Timberlake Monologue" with Seth Meyers and Justin Timberlake for Saturday Night Live. He won his second Emmy in 2018 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his stand-up special John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: John Mulaney para niños

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