Jim Norton (comedian)

Jim Norton
Norton in 2011
Birth name	James Joseph Norton, Jr.
Born	(1968-07-19) July 19, 1968 Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up comedy, radio, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Cringe humor, black comedy, satire, observational comedy. character comedy
Subject(s)	Human sexuality, self-deprecation
Influences	George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein
Notable works and roles	Opie and Anthony Lucky Louie Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld The Jay Leno Show Chelsea Lately Louie

James Joseph "Jim" Norton, Jr. (born July 19, 1968) is an American comedian, radio personality, author, and actor. He is best known as the co-host of Opie with Jim Norton with Gregg "Opie" Hughes on Sirius XM Radio since July 2014, and his time on Opie and Anthony from 2001. Norton was a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He has filmed an HBO stand-up special for the series One Night Stand as well as his special Monster Rain, co-starred in the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie, and had cameos in the films Spider-Man, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Courting Condi.

Norton hosted a four-episode stand-up showcase for HBO titled Down and Dirty with Jim Norton and appeared on The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. He hosted the VICE talk-show The Jim Norton Show. He was also in Jerry Seinfeld's 2002 documentary Comedian.^[1]

Early life

Jim Norton was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.^[2] His mother was a librarian and his father was in the military and worked as a postal worker.^[3] He grew up in North Brunswick,^[4] and graduated from North Brunswick High School, where he was voted the "class clown".^[5] Norton attended Middlesex County College for one semester, where he received "one B and three F's".^[5] He then obtained his GED, after being sober for around three years.^[6]

In his teenage years, Norton became an alcoholic and once attempted suicide by slitting his wrists.^[5] He completed rehab at eighteen, and has been teetotal and drug free since 1986.^[7]

Career

Radio

Norton became a regular guest on Opie and Anthony on WNEW in late 2000 after several guest appearances by himself, and along with Andrew Dice Clay. In 2000, Norton was arrested with Lewis Black and show producer Rick Delgado in connection with a stunt named "Teen Voyeur Bus" involving a transparent bus full of topless women driving through Manhattan streets. This bus rode around Manhattan while being broadcast on the "Opie and Anthony" radio show. Radio station management did not inform the O&A show that the bus' route was also the route that President Clinton was taking that same day.^[8]

On October 9, 2008, it was reported that Norton was being sued by Roy Den Hollander over his treatment during a phone interview on the Opie & Anthony Show.^[9] On August 28, 2009, the New York Post reported that Hollander would drop his suit if Norton would also drop his motion to have Hollander sanctioned for filing a baseless claim, as well as being forced to pay Norton's legal fees.^[10]

On December 2, 2009, when Opie and Anthony hosted former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, an argument between Norton and Ventura erupted while the discussion was on the September 11 attacks (the official account of which Ventura questions) and the "counter-terrorism" measures against illegal immigration. Ventura was arguing against what he claimed was the Border Patrol practice of stopping individuals and asking for ID deep within US borders, claiming that such actions were unconstitutional. At some point, when Norton disagreed with him on this, Ventura suggested that Norton did not believe in the Constitution, to which Norton strongly objected. Soon after, as the argument became more heated, Ventura walked off the air and the two exchanged explicit comments towards each other.^[11]

On May 27, 2010, The Jim Norton Show premiered on Raw Dog Comedy. Norton hosts the program, which features other comedians as well as clips of live stand-up.

Jim Norton debuted an internet based talk show on the video streaming channel VICE in June 2014. Guest include comedians such as Dave Attell, Whitney Cummings, Gilbert Gottfried. Additionally he has had Mike Tyson, Dana White and Freeway Rick Ross.^[12]

On July 3, 2014, Anthony Cumia was fired by SiriusXM, after making a series of tweets following an alleged off-air incident with a black woman on the street. Cumia tweeted that he was punched by the woman while attempting to take a picture in Times Square. The tweets were described by Sirius XM as "racially-charged and hate-filled".^[13] Opie and Norton continued without Cumia and hosted Opie with Jim Norton from July 2014 to September 2016, during which time the channel was renamed Opie Radio.^[14][15] In addition, Norton hosted a weekly advice program known as The Jim Norton Advice Show on SiriusXM.^[16] In January 2016 Amy Schumer was a guest on the show to address the topic of her stealing jokes from other comedians.^[17]

In 2016, Norton attempted to raise money through Indiegogo for an animated project called The Chip Chipperson Show. Norton voices the title character as well as his other creations such as Uncle Paul, Jelly, Edgar Mellencamp, & Ted Scheckler.^[18]

Jim is the current host of the first UFC sponsored podcast UFC Unfiltered with former fighter Matt Serra.^[19]

In October 2016, following the end of Opie with Jim Norton, Norton became the host of Jim Norton & Sam Roberts with former Opie and Anthony intern and producer Sam Roberts.

Television

For two years, Norton was a regular on Comedy Central's Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and he was selected to be among the final twenty contestants for the second season of Last Comic Standing, but had to back out due to contractual obligations.

Norton's first half-hour HBO stand-up special aired on October 21, 2005, as part of the HBO Stand-up Series One Night Stand. In the spring of 2007, Norton filmed his second HBO stand-up special which aired live on October 13, 2007. In 2006, Norton landed the role of Rich on the HBO series Lucky Louie. Rich is a foul-mouthed, perverted, "ill-informed", straight shooting character who lives with his mother and deals pot to high schoolers for a living, departing from the traditionally tamer sitcom model of a supporting character.

In June 2008, Norton appeared in several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell as one of the celebrity judges. Since mid-2007, Norton has been a regular guest on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on the Fox News Channel. On June 21, 2010, Norton guest-hosted Red Eye. Norton has also appeared regularly as a correspondent for The Jay Leno Show as Jim Norton: The Uninvited Guest.^[20] Starting in 2010, Norton began appearing in Louis CK's FX sitcom, Louie.

Stand-up

Norton frequently tours the United States, performing at well-known comedy clubs. In 2004, Norton was voted best comedian and breakthrough performer of the year on the Cringe Humor website, which is dedicated to some prominent New York comedians. Norton frequently performs at Caroline's and the Comedy Cellar. Norton was the best man at Rich Vos' 2005 wedding to Bonnie McFarlane. Dom Irrera has described Norton as one of today's best comedians. He returned to the 2007 tour as well.

Norton's 2012 special, Please Be Offended on Epix.^[21] This was succeeded by the 2013 special American Degenerate. American Degenerate premiered on Netflix on November 21, 2013. Most recently Norton released his special Contextually Inadequate on April 24, 2015 on Epix.

Writing

In February 2007, it was learned on The Opie & Anthony Show that Norton was close to finishing a book believed to be an autobiographical collection of stories, and anecdotes from his childhood and his comedy career. The final title of the book was Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch. The book was released on July 10, 2007.^[22] It reached No. 4 on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction.^[23] The book entered the Amazon.com Top 10 for books on the day it was released, peaking at #7.

Norton's second book I Hate Your Guts came out on November 4, 2008. It reached No. 13 on the New York Times Bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction.^[24]

Film

Norton has had various cameo appearances such as in the 2002 film Spider-Man and the 2008 film Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Norton described the role in Spider-Man as being a quarter-step above being an extra.^[25] He has also appeared in the films Furry Vengeance , Cop Out" and Special Correspondents.

Norton had a pivotal role in the film Courting Condi, counseling Devin Ratray on how to win the heart of Condoleezza Rice.^[26]

Personal life

Jim Norton lives in New York City, ^[2] and is a fan of heavy metal and hard rock including Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and KISS and has his own playlist segment on Ozzy's Boneyard channel on SiriusXm Radio.

Selected works

Albums

DVDs/Specials

Books

Filmography

Actor

Writer

Self

References

External links

• Official website
• Jim Norton at the Internet Movie Database