Sal Iacono (born July 5, 1971),Sal Iacono profile at IMDb
/ref> also known as Cousin Sal, is an American comedian, writer, podcaster, and game show host. He is known for his roles on ''

The Man Show ''The Man Show'' is an American sketch comedy television show on Comedy Central that aired from 1999 to 2004. It was created by its two original co-hosts, Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, and their executive producer Daniel Kellison. The pilot ...

'' and the late night television show ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

''. He is

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...

's cousin, hence his nickname Cousin Sal.

Early life

Iacono was born 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 ...

to Fran Iacono and Vincent Iacono. He graduated from Elwood-John Glenn High School in 1989 and attended

SUNY Oswego State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a public university in Oswego, New York. It has a total student population of 6,756 and the campus size is 700 acres. SUNY Oswego offers more than 120 undergraduate, graduate ...

, earning a degree in Public Justice in 1993. He went on to study law at Touro Law Center in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, receiving his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1996. In 1997, Iacono moved from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

to pursue a career in television.

Career

Television writing and hosting

Iacono's first foray into television writing was on the

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

program '' Sports Geniuses'', a sports-themed game show starring

Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian (né Vasgerdsian; '; September 28, 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is the alternative play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major Leagu ...

on which Sal also appeared nightly in a trivia challenge. From there, he joined the writing staff of

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 ...

's ''

'' starring

Adam Carolla Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...

and Iacono's cousin

. In 2002, Iacono joined Kimmel during his weekly prognostication sketches on ''

Fox NFL Sunday ''Fox NFL Sunday'' is an American sports television program broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network. The show debuted on September 4, 1994, and serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL ...

''. Iacono wrote for the puppet show ''

Crank Yankers ''Crank Yankers'' is an American television sketch comedy show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison. It features actual prank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, with on-screen re-enactments by puppets. The sh ...

''. When ''

Win Ben Stein's Money ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' is an American television game show created by Al Burton and Donnie Brainard that aired first-run episodes from July 28, 1997, to January 31, 2003, on Comedy Central. The show features three contestants who compete to an ...

'' co-host Nancy Pimental left the show in 2002, Iacono replaced her, becoming

Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before enter ...

's co-host and comic tormentor. Iacono was the co-host through the rest of the run of the series and was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in the Outstanding Game Show Host category.

''Jimmy Kimmel Live!''

Iacono has been a permanent member of the ''

'' writing staff since 2003. He also appears frequently on the show in comedy sketches. These comedy bits are often shot using a hidden camera, and "Cousin Sal" either helps Jimmy prank their aunt Chippy or he pretends to be a store employee or delivery person who is incredibly inept or annoying. Cousin Sal's victims are invariably dumbfounded or become extremely infuriated, much to the delight of the viewing audience.

WWE

On ''

'' on May 16, 2008, Iacono had a birthday cake delivered to Kimmel on air by his favorite wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper. He and Piper were confronted by Santino Marella, who had the cake thrown on him and was attacked by Iacono. The following Monday, Marella (dressed as Piper) brought Iacono to the ring on ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...

'' to "apologize" to "Cousin Sal". The real Piper entered the ring and Marella got his own apology cake thrown on him and on his way back to the locker room, he challenged Iacono to a wrestling match, which Piper accepted on Iacono's behalf. The match took place at the '' Friday Night SmackDown!'' tapings in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on June 3, 2008. Sal was accompanied to the ring by Kimmel and Piper, and won the match.

Podcasts

Iacono (as Cousin Sal) is a regular guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast, appearing on Sunday nights during the NFL season with Guess the Line for the next weeks NFL games, often defends the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, and talks about sports and sports betting with Bill. Sal also joined the Adam Carolla Podcast on Mondays during the 2010 NFL season to discuss the previous Sunday's NFL action. In May 2017, Iacono became host of the 'Against All Odds' gambling podcast, part of Simmons's Ringer Podcast Network. In July 2020 Iacono debuted a new podcast called ''Extra Points'' with his friend Dave Dameshek as part of a newly formed sports gambling media company of the same name founded by Iacono.

Writing

Along with his appearances on Bill Simmons's podcast, Sal was also a regular columnist on Grantland.com, which was a sports and pop culture website formerly run by Simmons. His book, ''You Can't Lose Them All'' was released in early 2021.

Fox Sports

Sal is an analyst on Fox sports gambling show Fox Bet Live. Its series premier was on September 10, 2018. In 2002, Sal was a guest prognosticator with his cousin Jimmy Kimmel on FOX NFL Sunday. In addition, starting in 2019 for FOX NFL Thursday, Sal will be the prognosticator. Kimmel has also made a guest appearance on it.

Personal life

Iacono lives near

with his wife, Melissa, and three sons.''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' biopage

References

External links

Jimmy Kimmel Live! website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iacono, Sal 1971 births American game show hosts American male comedians American people of Italian descent Living people Comedians from Brooklyn New York (state) lawyers State University of New York at Oswego alumni Touro Law Center alumni 21st-century American comedians Fox Sports 1 people Primetime Emmy Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners Jimmy Kimmel Live!