Christopher Paul Anthony Distefano (born August 26, 1984) is an American comedian. Primarily a stand-up comedian, he began his career in entertainment on

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 ...

and

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

's shows '' Guy Code'' and ''

Girl Code ''Girl Code'' is an American comedy television series that premiered on MTV on April 23, 2013. It is a spin-off series to '' Guy Code''. The series features actresses, musicians, stand-up comics—plus a few men—who discuss the sisterhood tha ...

''. His first hour-long standup special, ''Chris Distefano: Size 38 Waist'', was released in 2019 by

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

. His second special, ''Speshy Weshy'', premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in May 2022. Distefano co-hosts ''Hey Babe!'' podcast with Sal Vulcano from ''

Impractical Jokers ''Impractical Jokers'' is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, ''Impractical Jokers'' premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderlo ...

'' and hosts a podcast, ''Chrissy Chaos''.

Early life

Distefano, who is of mostly German descent (he has some Italian and Irish ancestry), grew up in the Ridgewood neighborhood of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

and attended

Archbishop Molloy High School Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a four-year private, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9–12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the D ...

in the Briarwood area of Queens . He went to St. Joseph's College where he played basketball and studied psychology; he graduated in 2006. Distefano was recruited to play for St. Joseph's College Brooklyn's D-III basketball team in 2002. He was the team's lead scorer, and was inducted into the college's Hall of Fame in 2018. Distefano earned a doctorate in physical therapy from

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 2010. He was a pediatric physical therapist until 2013 when he began pursuing his career in comedy full-time.

Career

02 05 2022 BeaconTheatre ChrisDistefanoElevatorShot

Distefano began performing stand-up in August 2009. He hosted the 2010 ''Fencing Masters'' on the SNY network and Elite 8 of the 2011 and 2012 March Madness comedy competitions at the comedy club Carolines on Broadway. He headlined ''Carolines Breakout Artist Series'' and was selected as a finalist in the 2011 NY Comedy Festival. He also performed standup at venues including New York Comedy Club,

Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York City comedians perform; it is sometimes referred to as the "Harvard of comedy clubs". Operations It was founded in 1982 by then-stand-up comedian, and current televisio ...

Gotham Comedy Club Gotham Comedy Club is a venue for stand-up comedy in New York City. The comedy club is located on 208 West 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth avenues in Chelsea, M ...

, Broadway Comedy Club, and the Laugh Lounge. In 2012, Distefano joined the cast

's '' Guy Code'', which was in its second season. In 2013, he joined the cast of ''

''. He appeared in episodes of other MTV shows including ''

Guy Court ''Guy Court'' is an American comedy court show television series and the third spin-off to '' Guy Code''. The series premiered on November 6, 2013, and airs on MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel o ...

'', ''Guy Code vs. Girl Code'', ''Off the Bat'', and '' The Challenge''. He was a frequent guest on the ''

Opie with Jim Norton ''Opie with Jim Norton'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Jim Norton that aired from July 2014 to September 2016. The show was broadcast from New York City and aired weekdays from 7:00 a.m. through 11:00 a. ...

'' show during that time. Distefano performed on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' in June 2013. In 2014, his first half-hour special was released as part of

's '' The Half Hour''. After appearing on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'', Distefano began his first national U.S. tour in September 2015 with ''Monster Energy Outbreak Presents''. He co-starred in the 2015 IFC series ''

Benders The Benders were an Australian jazz band from 1980 to 1985. The group's members included Chris Abrahams on keyboards, Dale Barlow on saxophone, Louis Burdett on drums, Andrew Gander on drums, Jason Morphett on saxophone, and Lloyd Swanton on ...

'' with

Andrew Schulz Andrew Cameron Schulz (born October 30, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. In addition to his stand-up, he is known for his work on MTV2's '' Guy Code'' and its two spinoffs,Ultimate Beastmaster'', which debuted on the streaming service on December 15, 2017. Distefano was in seven television

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

which did not get picked up, including a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

-produced show based on his own life called ''Distefano''. He co-starred in the web series ''Bay Ridge Boys'' alongside fellow comic Yannis Pappas, with whom he co-hosted the weekly history podcast ''History Hyenas'', which was launched in February 2018. Distefano regularly performs and tours globally. In January 2019, his first hour standup special ''Chris Distefano: Size 38 Waist'' premiered on Comedy Central, which included a personal welcome on stage by

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
. Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an America ...

. The special was part of a deal he made with Comedy Central in December 2018, which included the series ''Stupid Questions with Chris Distefano'', and at least two series in development. That also included his weekly podcast ''Stand-Up with Chris Distefano'', launched in April 2019. In February 2022, Distefano sold out his first performance at Beacon Theatre in Manhattan. He then sold out his first two shows at the

Gramercy Theatre The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two ...

a month later, during the shows he recorded his second special, ''Speshy Weshy''. Distefano, an avid sports fan, has hosted episodes of shows including MLB's ''Off The Bat'' and MSG's ''The Brackets''. He was invited by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

to throw the first game pitch in 2021, and he set off the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

' pre-game siren alongside friend and fellow comedian

Andrew Santino Andrew James Santino (born October 16, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for television series and films such as '' Sin City Saints'', '' The Disaster Artist'', ''Mixology'', '' I'm Dying Up Here, Beef'', and '' Dave' ...

in March 2022. In early April, Distefano was featured on '' The Pat McAfee Show'', hosted by

Pat McAfee Patrick Justin McAfee ( ; born May 2, 1987) is an American sports analyst, color commentator, and former professional football punter and kickoff specialist. He is an analyst on '' College GameDay'' and the host of the sports talk show '' Th ...

Personal life

Distefano dated comedian

Carly Aquilino Carly Aquilino (born November 18, 1990) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, television host and television personality. Aquilino was a regular cast member of the ''Girl Code'' comedy series on MTV and was a host of '' Girl Code Live''. She ...

from 2010 to 2014. Distefano has three children with Jasmin Canuelas, whom he has been dating since 2015. They live on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

Filmography

Television

Film

Discography

Comedy specials * ''Size 38 Waist'' (2019) * ''Speshy Weshy'' (2022) Podcasts * ''History Hyenas'' with Yannis Pappas (2018–2021, 2024-present) * ''Stand-Up with Chris Distefano'' (2019) * ''Hey Babe!'' with Sal Vulcano (2020–present) * ''Chrissy Chaos'' (2021–present) * ''Teach Me Daddy'' with Matteo Lane (2024)

References

External links

*
St. Joseph's University Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Distefano, Chris 1984 births Living people 21st-century American comedians American male comedians American men's basketball players American people of German descent American people of Italian descent American people of Irish descent American stand-up comedians Archbishop Molloy High School alumni Basketball players from Brooklyn College men's basketball players in the United States Comedians from Staten Island New York Institute of Technology alumni St. Joseph's University (New York) alumni Television personalities from New York City