Mario Joyner (born October 3, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known as the host of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''Half Hour Comedy Hour'' from 1988 to 1992.

Early life

He was born on October 3, 1961, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. After some time at

Vincennes University Vincennes University (VU) is a public college with its main campus in Vincennes, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. VU was chartered in 1806 as the In ...

, he attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, participating as a track athlete at both schools.

Career

He made his film debut in 1987 in ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

'', and later starred in '' Hangin' with the Homeboys'' and ''

Pootie Tang ''Pootie Tang'' is a 2001 American comedy film written and directed by Louis C.K.. Adapted from a comedy sketch that first appeared on '' The Chris Rock Show''. The character Pootie Tang is a satire of the stereotyped action heroes who appeare ...

''.Berger, John (March 24, 2003)
Oh Joyner.
''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honol ...

'' He is a longtime friend and collaborator of comedians

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

Strauss, Neil (April 7, 2004)
The Confessions of Chris Rock.
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld gained stardom playing a semi-fictionalized version ...

.Cagle, Jess (September 26, 2007)
Jerry Seinfeld Goes Back to Work.
''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' He appeared regularly on ''

The Chris Rock Show ''The Chris Rock Show'' was a weekly, Friday night, late-night talk show featured on HBO. It was created by comedian and namesake Chris Rock and featured various guests. The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program ...

'' and ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi that originally aired on UPN from 2005 to 2006, and then on The CW until 2009. The series is based loosely ...

''. He also guest starred in the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' episodes " The Engagement" and "

The Puerto Rican Day "The Puerto Rican Day" is the 176th episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It aired on May 7, 1998, and was the 20th episode of the ninth and final season. It was the show's second-highest-rated episode of all time, with 38.8 million viewers ...

," playing two different characters, and voiced the character Jackson in the film ''

Bee Movie ''Bee Movie'' is a 2007 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Columbus 81 Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner from a screenplay by the writing team o ...

''. He has opened on national tours for Chris Rock (during his "No Apologies" tour) and for Jerry Seinfeld. He appeared in ''

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee ''Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' is an American television talk show directed and hosted by comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The series premiered on digital network Crackle on July 19, 2012, and has since run on Netflix. As of May 2015, it had been ...

'' with Jerry Seinfeld in July 2019. During the October 12, 2010, episode of ''

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', in an interview with Congressman

Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Mino ...

, Stewart credited Joyner with the joke: "Sort of in the way that murderers get sometimes, like, 'I found Jesus and I'm OK now.' 'Well, when did you find Jesus?' 'Right after you found me.'"

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
"OPERATION:Get Your Funny Back" A short film by Mario Joyner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyner, Mario 1961 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American comedians African-American male comedians African-American stand-up comedians American male comedians American stand-up comedians Comedians from Pittsburgh Living people Male actors from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh alumni Vincennes University alumni