Comedian Anthony Jeselnik to Perform at Largo

Fred Hernandez

Anthony Jeselnik, a comedian hailing from Pittsburgh, will be performing at the Largo on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Like many other comedians in his field, he wears many hats, working as a television host, producer, and actor, having fallen in love with the craft at an early age. Jeselnik would frequently watch “Saturday Night Live” with his parents. He also cites Jack Handey’s “Deep Thoughts” as a major influence in his jokes, and was fascinated by Steven Wright’s deadpan one-liners as a kid. Yet, in spite of his love for comedy at an early age, Anthony had his eyes set on the goal of becoming a brilliant novelist, such as Bret Easton Ellis.

Jeselnik graduated from Tulane University with a major in English and moved to Los Angeles afterward in order to pursue a writing career. After realizing that the life of a novelist was one of many sacrifices, he began to consider other creative writing options. While working at Borders, Jeselnik found a thin book on stand-up that sparked interest in becoming a comedian. He then took a class in stand-up comedy and quickly felt prepared to perform at local open mics.

His stand-up was given the extra push from his day job. After sending in a packet of monologue jokes he had just written from that same day’s newspaper, Jeselnik was hired as a monologue-writer for the “Late Show with Jimmy Fallon.” Jeselnik would write up to 75 jokes a day, improving his skills as a master jokesmith. His biggest hurdle, however, as a monologue-writer was trying to shake off his dark sense of humor in favor of Fallon’s voice. In March 2010, Jeselnik told the show’s producers that he wanted to leave to pursue a stand-up career full-time.

Jeselnik would go on to record debut album “Shakespeare” that same year, along with writing for the Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff. Comedy Central executives liked what Jeselnik brought to the roasts so they offered him a spot to perform on the Roast of Donald Trump. He performed so well that Comedy Central offered Jeselnik a “three-point deal” in which he would tape an hour special, do three Comedy Central roasts, and start a development deal for his own television show.

Jeselnik continued to solidify his title as the prince of darkness in comedy by performing at the Roast of Charlie Sheen in 2011 and the Roast of Roseanne Barr in 2012. In 2013 “The Jeselnik Offensive” premiered as well as his first stand-up hour, “Caligula.” Although “The Jeselnik Offensive” was cancelled after two seasons. Jeselnik is currently touring the country working on his next one-hour special.

Anthony Jeselnik will be performing at the Largo on Nov. 12. Tickets can be purchased here.