Nick Griffin: Bio, Comedy Style, and Where to Watch

Who is Nick Griffin?

Nick Griffin was born on December 23, 1966, and started doing stand-up at age 20 in 1987 in Kansas City. Three years later he moved to New York, learning his craft doing midnight shows in Greenwich Village. He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he became a staff writer for The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show in 1997 and later head writer for Bobby Slayton and Sue Murphy’s morning radio show. He moved back to New York in 2006 and has been a Comedy Cellar regular ever since, performing there and at Gotham Comedy Club and Stand Up NY.

He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman eleven times — a number that stands as one of the more remarkable records of sustained late-night television presence in comedy. He has also appeared on Conan, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He released a Comedy Central half-hour special. His stand-up special Cheer Up is streaming on Amazon, and his second special Absolutely Wonderful — filmed live at Fat Black Pussycat in New York City and focused on the transition to older age — is free on YouTube. He co-hosts the podcast Scary Monsters with Nick Griffin and Lori Palminteri, which covers their weekly encounters with other humans. He has been doing stand-up for nearly forty years and shows no signs of stopping.

Nick Griffin’s Comedy Style

Griffin is smart, sarcastic, and built for the long game — the kind of comedian who gets better as he gets older because his material is rooted in observation and experience rather than novelty. The eleven Letterman appearances are the benchmark: Letterman was rigorous about who he put on, and Griffin earned every one of them. His specials on aging are funny because they are honest, not because they play into expectations about what older-comic material sounds like.

Where to Find Nick Griffin

Absolutely Wonderful is free on YouTube. Cheer Up is on Amazon. Find tour dates at nickgriffin.net.

Nick Griffin has performed at the Comedy Cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Check the current lineup and upcoming shows at comedycellar.com.

Catch Comedy Cellar shows live from New York on Mint Comedy at watch.mintcomedy.com.