Joanna Firestone (born December 8, 1986) is an American actress, comedian, and television writer. She played Sarah Conner on the television series '' Joe Pera Talks with You''.

Biography

Joanna Firestone was born in 1986 to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents Fred and Marilyn Firestone. She has a brother, Ben Firestone, who works in commercial real estate. She grew up in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. She graduated from Clayton High School and later

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in Connecticut, with a degree in theatre. Firestone is currently based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. She is a childhood friend of pastry chef Claire Saffitz.

Career

Television work

As an actress, Firestone has appeared in the TV programs '' Search Party'', '' The Jim Gaffigan Show'', ''

Broad City ''Broad City'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. It was developed from their independent web series of the same name, which was produced between 2009 and 2011. The sitcom, like the web serie ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'', '' CollegeHumor Originals'', ''

Boy Band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

'', '' The Outs'', '' Night Train with Wyatt Cenac'', ''Animal Agent'', ''

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The Guy, a cannabis courier (played by Sinclair), as he delivers his p ...

'', '' Jon Glaser Loves Gear'', ''Thanksgiving'', '' The Special Without Brett Davis'', '' Shrill'', '' The Great North '' and others. Firestone was a consulting producer on 21 episodes of '' The Chris Gethard Show'' and performed in three episodes of the series. In 2017, Firestone performed stand-up on

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 ...

as part of ''Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents Jo Firestone.'' In the past, Firestone was a writer for ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' and ''The Special Without Brett Davis''. She has also performed on the ''Tonight Show'', portraying U.S. Education Secretary

Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021 ...

, demonstrating products from the New York Toy Fair, and appearing in other sketches opposite host

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

. Firestone portrayed the character Sarah Conner, a band teacher, on '' Joe Pera Talks with You'', which aired during

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. The character's name is an homage to the '' Terminator'' movies. On the show, Firestone's character is a doomsday prepper and Joe Pera's girlfriend. In 2023, Firestone appeared on the show '' What We Do In The Shadows'' as a member on the council of energy vampires. In 2023, she was named the head writer of ''After Midnight'', for which she is also a co-executive producer.

Live performance

With Dylan Marron, Firestone wrote, performed in, and directed ''Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite,'' which received a Capital Fringe Festival Director's Award in 2010. Firestone has performed at the UCB Theater in Manhattan, and around New York City. About stand-up gigs in "cellar clubs," Firestone explained, "Doing comedy in New York, I've been conditioned to thrive in basements. I'm not ready to do a comedy show until I go down a flight of stairs."

Radio and podcasts

Firestone is the host of the program ''Dr. Gameshow'', which originated on

WFMU WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, independent radio, independent community radio station city of license, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by ...

radio and is now a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

on the Maximum Fun network along with co-host Manolo Moreno. She and her father Fred Firestone created the game ''Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers'' (published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

subsidiary Clarkson Potter, 2016). Firestone voice acts in '' The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' podcast. She serves as the producer and senior writer along with

Cole Escola Cole Escola (born November 25, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, singer, and playwright. They are best known for their cabaret work and appearances on the television series '' Difficult People'' (2015–2017), '' At Home with Amy Sedaris'' ...

. In February 2020, Firestone released the first episode of her podcast ''Everyday Decisions''. ''Everyday Decisions'' is a comedy and personal stories podcast where Firestone interviews friends, family, and fellow comedians about the past 24 hours of their day. In March 2020 Firestone went on comedian Mike Recine's podcast ''The Sitdown''. In March 2021, she made a guest appearance on the YouTube channel of her childhood friend Claire Saffitz.

Author

In October 2023, Firestone self-published ''Murder on Sex Island: A Luella van Horn Mystery''.

References

External links

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"Game-loving comic Jo Firestone plays a wild card to make Pick A Choice history"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firestone, Jo 1986 births Living people 21st-century American comedians American stand-up comedians American television actresses American television writers American women comedians American women television writers Comedians from New York City Radio personalities from New York City 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American actresses Comedians from St. Louis Actresses from St. Louis Radio personalities from St. Louis Screenwriters from New York City Screenwriters from Missouri Writers from St. Louis 21st-century American women writers Wesleyan University alumni