Jim Norton

James Joseph Norton (born 1968 (age 47)) is an American comedian, radio personality, actor, author, and television and podcast host.

Norton had his last drink at New Year's Eve 1985 going into 1986, and has been alcohol and drug free since.

Norton's addictive personality began to direct towards sex after he got sober.

After being sober for around three years, Norton obtained his GED and attended Middlesex County College with the aim of pursuing a Juris Doctor degree and becoming a lawyer, but quit after one month.

He earned a B grade in English and failing grades in Problems and Statistics, Science, and Western Civilization.

At 18, he took up work in a copper company, operating a forklift to unload boxed tubes of copper from trucks, which he remembered as being "awful."

He was fired from the job at age 23.

Norton collected unemployment benefits for several years, pretending to look for work while doing sets in local comedy venues, before he decided to pursue comedy full-time.

Norton wished to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian when he was 12.

He took an interest to comedy after his mother brought home comedy albums from work, and names Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Woody Allen, and Robert Klein as his influences.

After becoming a stand-up comedian in 1990, Norton spent his early years developing his act.

Norton performed his first stand-up routine in April 1990 at an open mic night at Varsity, a pub in Sayreville, New Jersey, when he was 21.

He later described his performance as "awful."

Norton credited Pat Gaynor for putting him on stage that night, and Ward and John Magnuson of Rascals comedy club as being "instrumental" in his early development.

Following his debut, Norton spent five years working on his stand-up traveling to New York, New Jersey, Boston, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida with comedians Jim Florentine and Bob Levy, who were coming up at the same time.

Norton developed an act based on self-deprecating humor, which came naturally to him and gained encouragement when other comedians told him they enjoyed it.

Around ten years into stand-up, Norton felt he had found his voice and felt comfortable enough on stage.

His appearances on The Louie Show caught the attention of comedian Andrew Dice Clay in 1997, who chose Norton to open for him for his shows.

Norton had a breakthrough in 1997 after comedian Andrew Dice Clay noticed his appearance on The Louie Show and asked him to be his opening act on his tours when his original pick cancelled at the last minute.

The two first met at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles where Norton was doing his first gig at the venue, and learned Clay wished to go on stage after him.

In 2000, Norton made his debut on Opie and Anthony and joined the show as a third mic in 2001 which increased his national exposure.

He went on to have a recurring role on the sitcom Lucky Louie and featured as a regular panellist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

Norton went on to open for Clay in the course of the following three years, playing large venues including Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2000.

He gained initial prominence as third mic on the radio show Opie and Anthony, with Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, from 2001 to 2014.

The absence of Opie and Anthony from the airwaves between August 2002 and October 2004 encouraged Norton to write and develop his stand-up act.

Soon after the show's cancellation, he underwent his Yellow Discipline Tour.

Since 2003, Norton has released four comedy albums and seven comedy specials, including three on Epix and one on Netflix.

Since he joined SiriusXM with Opie and Anthony in 2004, Norton hosted Opie with Jim Norton from 2014 to 2016, and The Jim Norton Advice Show.

In 2014, Norton hosted The Jim Norton Show, a talk show on Vice.

He has written two books: Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch and I Hate Your Guts.

James Joseph Norton was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.

His mother was a librarian and his father was a former US marine and army reservist who later worked as a driver for the US postal service.

Norton grew up in North Brunswick, New Jersey with his sister Tracy.

Norton attended North Brunswick High School, from which he dropped out in his senior year.

During this time, at age 13, Norton started to drink heavily, "mostly vodka and grain alcohol" because it got him drunk quicker.

"That feeling of discomfort that was always there, wasn't there when I drank. It was just a way of feeling comfortable ... I was horribly insecure, horribly shy, always feeling ugly and weak."

At 16, Norton started to cut himself with a razor blade in an attempt at "attention-seeking ... It was "notice me!" crap. I was 16, 17, and drunk. I never did that stuff sober."

He then missed some schooling, including his graduation from high school, after his alarmed parents sent him to a rehab facility in Princeton, New Jersey for one month, where he continued to sneak in alcohol but changed his thinking and completed the course at 18.

When he was away, his class had voted him as class clown.

Norton has been the co-host of the podcast UFC Unfiltered with Matt Serra and the morning radio show Jim Norton & Sam Roberts on SiriusXM Radio since 2016, and The Chip Chipperson Podacast since 2017.