Murray Valeriano

Murray Valeriano is an American comedian, producer, writer and radio host. Valeriano has written for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Bill Engvall's Here's Your Sign Awards and Ridiculousness.[1] He co-hosted the "Off the Cuff with Bill Engvall" radio show on Sirius/XM and currently hosts and produces the "Roadstories" podcast.[2]

Murray Valeriano
Valeriano
BornMemphis, Tennessee, United States
MediumStand-up, television, film, radio, writer
NationalityAmerican
Years active1997–present
GenresObservational comedy, political humor, alternative comedy
Subject(s)pop culture, personal life,
SpouseMary Zophres (m. 2006)
Websitemurrayvaleriano.com

Early life

Valeriano was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a born-again preacher, and raised in New Jersey.[3]

Valeriano was working as a caterer for a restaurant in California when he decided to pursue a full-time career in comedy.[4]

Career

He moved to California in the early 1990s and worked in an Italian restaurant and heard that Janeane Garofalo quit her day job at the age of 28. Valeriano did the same and first performed at the Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena where he is still a paid regular.[2] His performances there led to his first writing gig on Disney's Omba Mokomba in 1997 and then to MTV's webRIOT in 1999, one of the first shows to combine television and the Internet.[1]

In 2001 he wrote for Farmclub.com, which was executive produced by Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. Valeriano wrote and produced Comedy Central's Thanxgiveaway and Laughs for Life Telethon from 2002 to 2006.[5] In 2005, he executive produced PAX's Cold Turkey for two seasons and won a PRISM Award.[6] He has also written for VH1, E!, Rob Dyrdek's Ridiculousness show on MTV, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Valeriano wrote for Bill Engvall's Here's Your Sign Awards. He's also written for other comedians such as Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert and Dennis Miller. An avid surfer, who once came within two feet of a great white shark, Valeriano started the Comics on Surfari live comedy tour with six other comics in several California cities in 2015.[4] He released his first stand-up album, Rusty Cow, in 2015.

Roadstories

Valeriano took a six-year break from stand-up while focusing on writing but returned after he realized he was selling his best jokes to other performers. He came up with the idea for the Roadstories podcast while sitting around the Melrose Improv in Los Angeles with a bunch of comics. They were all telling stories about awful road gigs, encounters and nightmare travel experiences.[2] Valeriano said, "This is fun, man. I should do something with this."[2] His Roadstories podcast has recorded more than 100 episodes with guests such as Jimmy Pardo, Brian Regan, Chris Hardwick, and Maria Bamford. It was named one of the funniest podcasts of 2013 by USA Today.[7]

Personal life

On March 9, 2006, Valeriano married Academy Award-nominated costume designer Mary Zophres. In 2011, they had a son, Frank, named after Murray's born-again preacher father.[8]

Filmography

Television

Radio
  • Off the Cuff with Bill Engvall
  • Roadstories (podcast)
  • Five O'clock Funnies on KLOS

Discography
  • Rusty Cow (2015)

Awards

PRISM Award for Cold Turkey (2005)

Promomax Gold award for the NBC Upfront Opening – co written by Tina Fey (2010)

Cine Gold Eagle Award for the NBC Upfront Opening – co written by Tina Fey (2010)

Bronze Telly Award for the NBC Upfront Opening – co written by Tina Fey (2010)

References
  1. "Interview with the Super Fun & Funny Murray Valeriano". Serial Optimist. December 7, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  2. "By Waves or By Road: The Comedy of Murray Valeriano | Estoy Merchandise". Estoy Merchandise. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  3. Hot & Delicious: Rocks The Planet (May 13, 2016), Murray Valeriano (stand-up comedian & podcaster) – Hot & Delicious: Rocks The Planet [Episode 77], retrieved June 2, 2016
  4. Lerman, Ali (December 8, 2014). "Murray Valeriano and His Gang of Surfing Comics Paddle into OC". OC Weekly. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  5. "Murray Valeriano". IMDb. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  6. "Pax TV's Cold Turkey Receives Prism Award". www.celebrityspider.com. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  7. "Best of 2013: Whit's favorite podcasts". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  8. FM, Player. "Ep151 – Murray Valeriano Returns! Again!". The Kira Soltanovich Show. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
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