Bonus video: Jimmy Pardo on the darker side of stand-up comedy, regrets and alcoholism
Stand-up comic Jimmy Pardo talks about the early struggles as a young, unknown comic and an atmosphere of alcoholism that the stand-up comedy scene fosters. Shot at Zanies comedy club in Vernon Hills, IL.
Pardo was born in on the south side of Chicago. In 1986, he moved to Pasadena, California to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He attended for one year, then returned to Chicago to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.
In '88, Pardo started performing at open mics at various venues around Chicago, including The Roxy, The Last Laugh and The Comedy Cottage. Since this was in the middle of the comedy boom, clubs were everywhere, needing comics and Pardo started earning money almost immediately, allowing him to quit his day job as a sales rep for MCA Records.
Pardo hosted GSN's National Lampoon's Funny Money from June to October 2003, and later co-hosted AMC's Movies At Our House with Rachel Quaintance for 5 seasons before later acting as the warm-up comedian for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
Pardo hosts the award-winning podcast Never Not Funny with the producer Matt Belknap. He has appeared on other podcasts including The Adam Carolla Podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, and Comedy Death Ray Radio.
He tours nationally and is a regular at LA's UCB Theater. Jimmy's web site is JimmyPardo.com.
Recorded by Scott Markus of SlimPictures.com.