Russ Meneve is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

from

Hawthorne, New Jersey Hawthorne is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 19,637, an increase of 846 (+4.5%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census coun ...

who has appeared on multiple shows on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Russ Meneve was born in

. He first began doing comedy at 17 while a student at Hawthorne High School. In 1993, he did his first professional stand up comedy routine. After school, he received a degree in accounting and worked as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

for

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

. After quitting the job, he worked for

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

and as a door-to-door salesman for telephone services. At the same time, he applied for the job of a page at

. Meneve became successful as a salesman and joined his former boss at a new company with a much higher salary but when NBC offered him a part-time job with a much lower salary, he quit as a salesman and worked for NBC as a page.

Career

After joining NBC as a page, Meneve tried out as a comedian in various clubs in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and succeeded in getting stage time at major venues like the "Comedy Cellar", the "Comic Strip" and "Caroline's". By 2004, he was a regular performer at those venues. In 2005, he both appeared as himself and as a writer on ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'' as well as on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

''. He appeared on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'', ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'', ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

'' and '' The Caroline Rhea Show''. He was on "The Ten Funniest New Yorkers You’ve Never Heard Of" list published by ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' and was awarded "The Impact Player of 2005". In 2004, he collaborated with Ted Alexandro and

Tom Shillue Thomas A. Shillue (; born June 13, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and talk-show host from Norwood, Massachusetts. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central and hosted '' Red Eye'' on Fox News. He has b ...

to found the "New York Comedians Coalition" with over 300 other New York based comedians as their members in order to represent the comedians of the city and to negotiate better payment for comedians performing in the clubs. After several meetings with the club owners, the Coalition managed to negotiate a raise for all comics in the city.

Releases

*''Stray Doggie Style'' (2006)

References

External links

Official websiteBiography at Comedy Central
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meneve, Russ Living people American male comedians Year of birth missing (living people) Hawthorne High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Hawthorne, New Jersey 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Comedians from Passaic County, New Jersey