Nick Di Paolo

Nicholas Rocco Di Paolo (born January 31, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and podcast host.

He is the host of The Nick Di Paolo Show podcast, and is best known for his appearances as a regular on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, the Comedy Central Roasts, Opie and Anthony, and The Howard Stern Show, as well as recurring roles on Louie and Horace and Pete.

Di Paolo was born to parents Nick and Joan Di Paolo of Danvers, Massachusetts.

In 1980, after graduating from high school, he attended the University of Maine where he was a running back on the university's football team and graduated in 1984 with a major in marketing.

He joined the fraternity Sigma Nu.

His brother also attended the university and did play-by-play commentary for the Maine Black Bears hockey team with Gary Thorne.

After graduating, Di Paolo landed several jobs, including office jobs in marketing and as a door-to-door salesman selling meat and seafood.

During this time, the stand-up comedy scene in the Boston area had picked up and a friend encouraged Di Paolo to go on stage.

Di Paolo was a fan of stand-up and was influenced by watching comedians appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, David Letterman on The Mike Douglas Show, Jay Leno on The Merv Griffin Show, and Robert Klein.

He had wanted to have a go for several years but "didn't have the guts" but his lack of enjoyment as a salesman "led me to the stage".

Di Paolo performed his first routine in the summer of 1986 at an open mic night at Stitches club in Boston, traveling from a family barbecue with "about 22 beers in me".

He recalled his five-minute set went "pretty well" and wanted to pursue it full time, but his salesman job required a temporary relocation to Rhode Island.

In the spring of 1987, he returned to Boston and started to make regular appearances at local open mic nights.

From 1987 to 1992, he worked clubs in the New England area, including the Comedy Vault, the Comedy Connection, and Stitches.

Two years in, he did his first gigs in New York City which included a regular spot at Catch a Rising Star.

He described his act during this early period as "a rapid fire approach, four or five punches attached to every joke".

Upon moving to New York City, Di Paolo's act became more political from reading local newspapers and comparing views of each publication.

In his first year as a stand-up comic, he secured Barry Katz as his manager and performed on over 300 nights.

Di Paolo went on to live in New York City with comedian Louis C.K. as his roommate.

In 1992, Di Paolo relocated to Los Angeles.

While there he developed his stand-up act in local comedy clubs and took on several television and film roles.

He went on to make an early appearance on national television on The Arsenio Hall Show and featured on HBO's Young Comedian's Special, which focused on up and coming comics.

While in Los Angeles, Di Paolo befriended comedian and actor Artie Lange during an audition for a pilot that had Lange play the lead.

Di Paolo's first stand-up album, Born This Way, was released in 1999 and was recorded at The Comedy Store in La Jolla, California.

Its title was suggested by comedian Colin Quinn.

After five years in Los Angeles, Di Paolo had considered returning to New York City when Chris Rock offered him a writing position on The Chris Rock Show which was based in the city.

He accepted, and wrote for two seasons.

In 2001, he and the team of writers were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program.

It was Di Paolo's second Emmy Award nomination.

By 2001, Di Paolo had settled in Queens.

In June 2001, Di Paolo made his first appearance on Late Show with David Letterman and later, filmed promos for the Comedy Central roast of Hugh Hefner.

His appearances on The Howard Stern Show soon after led to comedy gigs nationwide with various staff from the show, including Stuttering John and Artie Lange, which further raised his profile.

From 2002 to 2004, Di Paolo was a regular guest on the Comedy Central show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

He has appeared on several roasts for the network, including The Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson, The Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary, The Comedy Central Roast of Jeff Foxworthy and The Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy.

In 2004, Di Paolo released his second comedy album, Road Rage.

Like his first, it was titled by Quinn.

Also that year, he starred in Shorties Watchin' Shorties, an animated comedy series on Comedy Central, alongside Patrice O'Neal.

They voice two unsupervised babies who comment on television clips, including performances by fellow stand-up comics.

The idea originated from Di Paolo after the network wanted the pair to work together.

He has done several Comics Come Home benefit shows.