Colin Jost

Colin Kelly Jost (/ˈst/; born June 29, 1982)[1][2] is an American comedian, writer, and actor. Jost has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2005, and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers from 2012 to 2015 and later came back as one of the show's head writers in 2017 until 2022 alongside Michael Che.[3][4][5][6][7]

Colin Jost
Jost at Citi Field in 2015
Birth nameColin Kelly Jost
Born (1982-06-29) June 29, 1982
New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium
Alma materHarvard University (BA)
Years active2003–present
Genres
Subject(s)
Spouse
(m. 2020)
Children1
Websitecolinjost.com

Early life

Colin Jost was born and raised in New York City in the Grymes Hill[8] neighborhood of Staten Island, the elder of two sons.[9][10][11] His mother, Kerry J. Kelly, was the chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department,[12] and his father, Daniel A. Jost, is a former teacher at Staten Island Technical High School.[13][14] He has one younger brother, Casey Jost, a writer and a producer of Impractical Jokers; he also had a role in Staten Island Summer.[15][16]

Raised Roman Catholic, he attended Regis High School in Manhattan, where he was the editor of the school newspaper The Owl.[15] He attended Harvard University,[9] majoring in history and literature, with a focus on Russian literature and British literature, and wrote his senior thesis on Vladimir Nabokov. Jost graduated cum laude from Harvard in 2004.

While at Harvard, he was president of the Harvard Lampoon.[10][17] He also won $5,250 on a college edition of Weakest Link, but said he did not think he deserved to win.[18]

Career

After graduation, Jost worked as a reporter and copy editor for the Staten Island Advance. He was then hired as a writer for a short-lived Nickelodeon animated show, Kappa Mikey. After he left that job, he sent in a writing packet to NBC's Saturday Night Live, which gave him a writing position in 2005.[9]

From 2009 to 2012, Jost was SNL's writing supervisor. He was co-head writer from 2012 to 2015, and regained that status from 2017 to 2022.[19][7] He often collaborated with fellow SNL co-head writer Rob Klein.[20] During the summer hiatus following the 2012–2013 season, executive producer Lorne Michaels asked Jost if he could do the Weekend Update feature[9] because co-anchor Seth Meyers would soon be leaving to host Late Night with Seth Meyers. Jost accepted and replaced Meyers on the March 1, 2014, episode.[21] Jost later broke Meyers' record for being the longest anchor in the history of the segment on the October 23, 2021, episode hosted by Jason Sudeikis.[22]

Jost names Norm Macdonald as a primary influence for his Update anchor work. Macdonald's tone was the one Jost grew up with in high school. He also names Tina Fey as an influence.[9] In addition to Weekend Update, Jost made a brief cameo appearance as Ohio Governor John Kasich in a Republican presidential debate sketch.[23] He later portrayed his friend Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries[24][25] and Roger Goodell during the 2021 NFL season.[26]

Jost has worked in multiple roles related to comedy. He has performed as a stand-up comedian, appearing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, TBS, and HBO.[27] He was selected as a "New Face" at the Montréal Just for Laughs festival in 2009,[28] and has since appeared at the Chicago Just for Laughs festival in 2011 and 2012 and the Montréal festival again in 2010 and 2012. Jost has published four "Shouts and Murmurs" pieces in The New Yorker magazine and has also contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Staten Island Advance and Radar.[29] He wrote the screenplay of and played a minor role in the 2015 comedy film Staten Island Summer, and he also had a minor role as Paul in the 2016 romcom feature How to Be Single.[30] In January 2016, Jost opened for comedian Liam McEneaney's album recording at The Bell House in Brooklyn.[31] In late 2018, Jost and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared in an advertising campaign for Izod.[32]

Jost, along with Michael Che, appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents for WrestleMania 35. In the March 4 episode, they got involved in a storyline with wrestler Braun Strowman, which resulted in both Jost and Che becoming participants in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.[33][34] At the event, Jost and Che went under the ring for the majority of the match and then tried to eliminate Strowman while he was trying to do the same to the Hardy Boyz. Jost attempted to calm the situation by using his therapist, but Strowman chokeslammed him and eliminated the two comedians in quick succession, winning the battle royal.[35]

In July 2020, Jost released a memoir entitled A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir.[36] The book was well received and appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.[37]

Personal life

Jost and Scarlett Johansson in 2023

Jost was dormmates with 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg while the two lived in Leverett House at Harvard.[38] In 2015, Jost donated money to Buttigieg's mayoral reelection campaign.[39][40] Subsequently, during Buttigieg's presidential campaign, Jost portrayed Buttigieg in the 45th season of SNL.[38][41]

Jost began a relationship with actress Scarlett Johansson in May 2017.[42] In May 2019, the two were engaged.[43] They married in October 2020, at their New York home.[44] Johansson gave birth to their son in August 2021.[45]

Jost, along with comedian Pete Davidson, has also purchased a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat.[46][47][48]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2015 Staten Island Summer Officer Greg Callahan Also writer
2016 How to Be Single Paul
2021 Tom & Jerry Ben
2021 Coming 2 America Calvin Duke
N/A Worst Man Also writer[49]

Television

Year Series Role Notes
2002 Weakest Link Himself Contestant[50]
2005–present Saturday Night Live Himself, Various Also writer
2006 Kappa Mikey Writer
7 episodes
2017 Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday Himself 3 episodes; also writer
2018 75th Golden Globe Awards Writer
2018 70th Primetime Emmy Awards Himself (host) TV special
2019 WWE Raw Himself Special guest (2 episodes)[51][33][34]
2019 WrestleMania 35 Himself Special guest
2020 Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party Himself Episode: "The Childhood Meals Episode"
2021 RuPaul's Drag Race Himself 1 episode
2022 Impractical Jokers Himself 1 episode
2022 That Damn Michael Che Himself Episode: "Black Mediocrity"
2022 The Kardashians Himself Episode: "Life from New York"

Bibliography

  • "Explaining your Time Warner bill". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 87, no. 7. April 4, 2011. p. 33.
  • "A few more bank security questions". Daily Shouts. The New Yorker. July 13, 2012.
  • "Olympic story lines to watch". Daily Shouts. The New Yorker. July 16, 2012.
  • "Automatic reply". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 88, no. 45. January 28, 2013. p. 30.
  • "I will slap you". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 90, no. 47. February 9, 2015. p. 29.
  • A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir. Crown. ISBN 1101906324.[52]

Awards and honors

Year Award Nominated work Result
2007 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Won
2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
2009 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Won
Peabody Award[53] Saturday Night Live Won
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
2010 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Won
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
2011 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
2012 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
2013 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday Nominated
2014 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (including talk) series[54] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2015 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) – Series[55] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2016 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[56] Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series[57] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2017 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[58] Saturday Night Live Won
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series[59] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2018 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[60] Saturday Night Live Won
Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[60] Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series[61] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2019 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[62] Saturday Night Live Nominated
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series[63] Saturday Night Live Nominated
2020 Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series[64] Saturday Night Live Nominated

References

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