Biography
Stand-up comedian, writer and actor John Mulaney became as well known for his behind the scenes work as his stage work. Born in Chicago to parents who had attended Yale with Bill and Hillary Clinton (the subject of one of his funniest stand-up routines), Mulaney's comedy career started early: he was only seven years old when he first began performing in a children's sketch group called "The Rugrats." The affinity for all things show business continued through his formative years, with an evolution into improv and stand-up comedy coming later while attending Georgetown University. His first success came behind the camera, when his film "Calvalcade of Personalities" won the Emerging Comics of New York (ECNY) award for best short film in 2006. One year later, he also picked up that same group's award for Best Stand Up. Television writing followed next on his resume including a stint on "Important Things With Demetri Martin" (Comedy Central 2009-2010) and frequent appearances as a panelist on the weekly news roundup "Best Week Ever" (VH1 2004-09). Mulaney was then encouraged to audition for "Saturday Night Live" (NBC 1975- ) by stars Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, and was hired as a staff writer in 2008. Mulaney's best-known creation during his four-year SNL tenure was Stefon, a contributor to Meyers' Weekend Update feature played by Mulaney's co-writer Bill Hader. An immediate fan favorite, Stefon was an entertainment correspondent whose suggestions for family activities became progressively more surreal and inappropriate. The Stefon sketches were particularly notorious for Hader's frequent on-air crack-ups while performing the character, which were caused by Mulaney adding and changing jokes on the cue cards between dress rehearsal and the live broadcast. Mulaney was frequently mentioned as a possible replacement for Meyers at the Weekend Update desk, but he left the show in 2012 to work on an autobiographical sitcom called "Mulaney." Despite being executive produced by Lorne Michaels and co-starring fellow SNL alum Nasim Pedrad, the "Mulaney" pilot was not picked up by NBC for the 2013-14 season. The series was picked up by Fox for the 2014 fall season, with Pedrad, Elliott Gould, Martin Short and Zack Pearlman filling out the cast.
