Jake Johannsen (born July 28, 1960) is an American comedian, writer, and actor.

Early life

Johannsen attended

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

in the early 1980s, originally majoring in

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, and then later changing to chemical engineering. He left after three years in college and relocated to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, in order to pursue a career in comedy. Johannsen made his debut at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, and by 1986 had won the 11th Annual

San Francisco International Comedy Competition The San Francisco Comedy Competition (sometimes referred to as the San Francisco International Comedy Competition or The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition) is a stand-up comedy contest held each September in San Francisco, C ...

Career

During the 1990s, Johannsen starred in his own HBO comedy special, ''This'll Take About an Hour'', which was listed as one of the Ten Best Television Shows by ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...

'' in 1992. In 1994, he was nominated as "Best Male Stand-Up Comedian" for the 1994 American Comedy Awards. According to

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with Larr ...

, Johannsen was originally wanted for the role of

George Costanza George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic re ...

in ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'', but he refused the part. In 2010, Johannsen starred in his second Comedy Special titled ''I Love You'', which aired on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

and was directed and produced by

The Aristocrats "The Aristocrats" is a taboo-defying off-color joke that has been told by numerous stand-up comedians since the vaudeville era . It relates the story of a family trying to get an agent to book their stage act, which is revealed to be remarkably ...

editor

Emery Emery Emery Emery (born December 25, 1963) is an American comedian, film editor and producer, and outspoken atheist, known for his contribution to numerous comedy-related films and TV shows, his two podcasts, ''Skeptically Yours'', and the award-winnin ...

. Johannsen also was the star headliner of the inaugural Iowa Comedy Festival. Johannsen performed October 16, 2010, at People's Court in downtown Des Moines to cap off the four-day event. Johannsen is a favorite of

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of '' Late Night with David Letterma ...

and made the all time record of 46 appearances as the featured Friday night comic on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''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 c ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

He and his wife, actress Belinda Waymouth, have one child.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johannsen, Jake 1960 births Living people American stand-up comedians People from Iowa City, Iowa 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians