Al Madrigal

Alessandro Liborio Madrigal (born July 4, 1971) is an American comedian, writer, actor and producer.

He is a co-founder of the All Things Comedy podcast network, alongside Bill Burr.

He rose to fame on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a regular correspondent for five seasons.

Outside of the standup world, he is known for his co-starring roles in the film Night School, Showtime's dark comedy I'm Dying Up Here, NBC's About A Boy, as well as CBS sitcoms Broke, Gary Unmarried and Welcome to The Captain.

He has also performed on Conan and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

He’s currently developing multiple projects for TV within his current deal at CBS Studios.

He appeared in the sports drama The Way Back, starring Ben Affleck and directed by Gavin O'Connor.

He appears in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Morbius as Alberto "Al" Rodriguez.

He is currently a series regular on NBC’s hit comedy Lopez vs. Lopez.

In 2022, Al teamed up with AWA and former Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso to release the comic book Primos.

Madrigal was born in San Francisco, California.

He grew up in San Francisco's Inner Sunset District, where his neighbors included future comedians Mike Pritchard and Margaret Cho.

His father is Mexican (from Tijuana) and his mother is Sicilian.

He attended Ecole Notre Dame Des Victoires, a private Catholic school in San Francisco that emphasizes instruction of French language and culture.

He attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School for the class of 1989.

He then attended the University of San Francisco.

Madrigal worked for 10 years in a human resources staffing agency run by his family, where one of his main responsibilities was firing people.

He often worked humor into the job.

He credits his experiences at the staffing company with preparing him for stand-up comedy: "I was in so many scary situations ... by the time I got on stage, I had no stage fright. Speaking in front of a group was nothing."

In 1998, he decided to pursue a full-time career in comedy.

Madrigal's stand-up comedy is story-based, centering on his personal life, family, and the confusion caused by his multiethnic background.

Early in his comedy career, he was often pigeonholed as a "Latino comic."

Madrigal says he has been criticized as not being Latino enough, such as for not speaking Spanish.

Madrigal began his career in San Francisco's comedy clubs, both as a solo performer and as a member of the sketch group Fresh Robots, which he co-founded.

In 2002, he enjoyed his first major exposure in two comedy festivals: SF Sketchfest, as part of Fresh Robots, and the "New Faces" showcase of the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.

In 2003, Madrigal successfully auditioned for a starring role on The Ortegas, a comedy series for the Fox Network.

The series, which was based on the BBC comedy The Kumars at No. 42, cast Madrigal as the son of a Mexican American family in California who hosts a TV talk show from a studio he operates in the backyard of his parents' home.

However, the network dropped the series from its schedule before broadcasting any of its six filmed episodes.

In 2004, Madrigal won a jury award for best stand-up comedian at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

After winning the award, he signed a talent holding deal with CBS.

Madrigal's Comedy Central Presents half-hour special premiered in July 2005.

In January 2008, Madrigal was cast as a building attendant named Jesús (pronounced "Hey-Soose") in the CBS comedy Welcome to The Captain.

The series was cancelled after five episodes.

He appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on July 8, 2009.

He later appeared on Conan's TBS Show, Conan, on May 10, 2011.

In April 2013, Madrigal's first one-hour special, "Why Is The Rabbit Crying?," also premiered on Comedy Central.

The special was named one of the top 10 comedy specials of 2013 by both Westword and The Village Voice and was praised for "deconstructing stereotypes rather than enforcing them" and "milking incongruity between expectations and reality to hilarious effect."

Madrigal taped his latest stand-up special, "Shrimpin' Ain't Easy" in December 2016 in the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Directed by Neal Brennan, the special premiered on SHOWTIME in 2017.

Madrigal has been a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.