Dwight York (comedian)

Dwight York is an American stand-up comedian and writer originally from Wisconsin.

This article is about Dwight York, the stand-up comedian. For the Nuwaubian criminal, see Dwight York. For the Trinidad and Tobago footballer, see Dwight Yorke. For the Wisconsin politician, see Dwight A. York.
Dwight York
Born1960 or 1961 (age 61–62)[1]
Amery, Wisconsin
OccupationStand-up comedian
Years active1989-present
Websitedwightyork.com

York has released two albums on Stand Up! Records, most recently Belongs In a Bar. Both Laughspin and The Serious Comedy Site called his album Quickies one of the best comedy albums of 2009.[2][3]

Early life

York was born in Amery, Wisconsin, and graduated from Amery High School in 1980. In contrast to the "drifter" persona he puts on when performing comedy, York has said his "family was normal, small-town, churchgoing. They're not crazy."[1] Before becoming a comedian, York worked at a Minnesota factory building windows on an assembly line.[4]

Career

Stand-up comedy

York performed at his first comedy open mic in Minneapolis in February 1989, after crafting his idiosyncratic performance style beforehand by studying other stand-up comics for nine months by going to shows every night, observing and taking notes.[5][6][4]

He is known for a comedic style that centers on a relentless barrage of finely honed, sometimes bizarre absurdist one-liners, delivered in character as a possibly psychopathic wild man, described by the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram as "drugged, crazed, and criminal."[1][7][8][9] He has been compared with Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, George Carlin, Emo Philips, and Bobcat Goldthwait.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

York has performed across the United States.[16] York finished in second place at the 1995 Vail National Comedy Invitational in Colorado.[4] He was a semifinalist at the San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition in 1996 and 1997.[17][12] He was a semifinalist at the 2009 Great American Comedy Festival.[18] He finished second at the Laughlin Laugh Fest in Laughlin, Nevada in 2014.[19] He performs annually at the Buffalo Chip Campground during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,[20][16][21] and has performed at the Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary celebration in Milwaukee,[1] the Edinburgh Fringe, and Chicago Comedy Festival.[1]

He became a frequent guest on nationally syndicated radio program The Bob & Tom Show, and appears on their 2000 compilation CD You Guys Rock.[10][12][13] Colin Quinn has called him his favorite underrated comedian.[19]

Albums

York has released two albums on Stand Up! Records.

Belongs In a Bar was recorded live in River Falls, Wisconsin.[22] It was first released as a video in 2018, and later as an audio album in 2021. Reviewer Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site called the album "brilliant", with jokes that "line up like dominoes."[23]

2009's Quickies was recorded live in Appleton, Wisconsin,[13] and features cover art by MAD magazine cartoonist Mort Drucker.[24] Minneapolis newspaper City Pages called it "as densely packed with jokes as a disc can get."[21] Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site named Quickies one of his top 10 comedy alums of 2009,[3] as did John Celery of Laughspin, who called York "as inventive as he is suggestive".[2] Jake Austen of Roctober magazine called York's "maximum laughs-per-minute" approach "comedy gold."[25]

Other work

York has written several books. The Vile File: Jokes Too Sick For the Stage[1][4] and its followup More from the Vile File: 500 Sick Jokes compile one-liners from across his career as a comedian.[26]

He also published a semi-autobiographical comic novel in 2019, What Luck, about a stand-up comedian wrestling with the difficulties of finding a "lucky break".[27]

York has also been published in Reader's Digest.[4]

Discography

Books
  • What Luck (2019)[27]
  • More from the Vile File: 500 Sick Jokes (-ismist Recordings, 2012)[31]
  • The Vile File: Jokes Too Sick for the Stage (Trailer House Press, 1999)[32]

References
  1. Barsness, Ann (2004-12-23). "Well-placed jokes". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. Celery, John (2009-09-14). "Dwight York: Quickies". Laughspin. Archived from the original on 2016-02-14. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. Richard Lanoie (April 9, 2018). "Top 10 Stand-up Comedy CD 2009". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  4. Coggeshall, Wade (2004-12-01). "All Joke, Lo-Fat". Journal Review. Crawfordsville, Indiana. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  5. Thrasher, Don (April 28, 2012). "Comedian Dwight York uses hope to fuel his engine". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  6. Clark, Eric (2004-09-23). "Comedians converge for laugh-in". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). Cedar Rapids, Iowa. p. 54. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  7. Thrasher, Don (2011-01-28). "Dwight York Just Gets To The Joke". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. p. 54. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  8. Spychalla, Craig (2007-09-15). "Comedy's dirty secret". Portage Daily Register. Portage, Wisconsin. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  9. "Comedy Caravan rolls into Vincennes". Vincennes Sun-Commercial. Vincennes, Indiana. 1999-01-17. p. 44. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  10. Klister, Eric (2006-11-30). "Quick Hits With Eric Klister: Yuks With York". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. p. 74. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  11. Miller, Bryan (February 17, 2009). "MinniHaha: Dwight York at the Joke Joint". City Pages. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  12. "One-liner master Dwight York to perform in Staples". Brainerd Dispatch. Brainerd, Minnesota. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  13. "Yuk It Up For York's New CD". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 2008-02-21. p. 36. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  14. Tanamor, Jason (2006-06-01). "Single-dad-turned-comic at Penguins". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. East Moline, Illinois. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  15. Richard Lanoie (April 9, 2018). "Dwight York – Quickies". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  16. Holtzclaw, Mike (2015-04-10). "Weekend comedy: Rock parodies, In Living Color". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. C7. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  17. Baron, Neil (1997-10-09). "Stand-up competition is worth the sacrifices". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. p. 49. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  18. "Past Headliners". Great American Comedy Festival. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  19. "Quinn-approved funnyman headlines at Dubh Linn". Duluth News Tribune. Duluth, Minnesota. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  20. Tom Barnard (December 17, 2014). "584-1: Dwight York and Cy Amundson". The Tom Barnard Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  21. Miller, Bryan (July 31, 2009). "Dwight York goes to Sturgis". City Pages. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  22. "Dwight York". Dwight York. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  23. Richard Lanoie (May 3, 2021). "Dwight York – Belongs in a Bar". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  24. Matteson, Cory (2013-08-03). "Comedy record producer learned the ropes in Lincoln". Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  25. Austen, Jake (August 2013). "The Stand Up! Records Listener's Guide". Roctober. Chicago.
  26. Wilson, P.F. (July 24, 2013). "Dwight York, The Joke Joint Comedy Club". City Pages. Minneapolis-St. Paul. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  27. Dwight York (27 April 2019). What Luck. Independently Published. ISBN 978-1-09-578562-1.
  28. Quickies at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  29. Psychotic Criminal Comic at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  30. Schwann Spectrum. Stereophile, Incorporated. 1999. ISBN 978-1-57598-065-2.
  31. More from the Vile File: 500 Sick Jokes. Ismist Recordings, Incorporated. 7 August 2012. ISBN 978-0-9858992-0-2.
  32. Dwight York (1999). The Vile File: Jokes Too Sick for the Stage. Trailer House Press.
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