Ted Alexandro: Bio, Comedy Style, and Where to Watch

Who is Ted Alexandro?

Ted Alexandro was born on January 26, 1969, in Bellerose, Queens, attended St. Francis Preparatory School, and majored in music with a concentration in jazz piano at City College of New York. His father was a New York City public school teacher in Brooklyn for thirty years. Time Out New York called him “as firm as bedrock” in the New York comedy scene, which is accurate — he has been performing in these rooms for over thirty years without chasing trends or moving to Los Angeles.

He has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Craig Ferguson, and The View, and has had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central. He has five comedy specials total, with Greatest Hits currently streaming. He has opened for Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, Louis C.K., Lewis Black, Craig Ferguson, Dennis Miller, Joan Rivers, and Jim Gaffigan, including opening for Louis C.K. at Carnegie Hall. He has performed internationally in Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Jakarta, England, Israel, South Africa, Qatar, and the Netherlands, and has appeared three times at Just For Laughs Montreal (1994, 1998, 2005). He was one of the founders of The New York Comedians Coalition, which successfully raised pay for comedians at New York City clubs. He co-created and co-starred in the web comedy series Teachers Lounge alongside Dave Attell, Jim Gaffigan, Lewis Black, Judy Gold, Todd Barry, Jim Norton, and Michael Che, among others. He hosts The Ted Alexandro Show podcast on Patreon. He has been praised as a comic’s comic by Bill Burr, Dave Attell, Todd Barry, and Lewis Black.

Ted Alexandro’s Comedy Style

Alexandro is a New York comedian in the deepest sense — his material is intelligent, politically engaged, and rooted in the city and the culture that produced him. He is the kind of comedian that other comedians cite when they want to demonstrate that the form can be both funny and substantive. The jazz piano background is not irrelevant: his comedy has the structure of improvisation on a solid harmonic foundation, which is to say it sounds loose but the architecture is precise.

Where to Find Ted Alexandro

Greatest Hits is streaming everywhere. Find tour dates and the podcast at tedalexandro.com. Support his work on Patreon at patreon.com/tedalexandro.

Ted Alexandro 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.