Jim Norton

James Joseph "Jim" Norton, Jr. (born July 19, 1968) is an American comedian, radio personality, author, and actor. He is best known as the co-host of Opie with Jim Norton with Gregg "Opie" Hughes on Sirius XM Radio since July 2014, and his time on Opie and Anthony from 2001. Norton was a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He has filmed an HBO stand-up special for the series One Night Stand as well as his special Monster Rain, co-starred in the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie, and had cameos in the films Spider-Man, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Courting Condi.
Norton hosted a four-episode stand-up showcase for HBO titled Down and Dirty with Jim Norton and appeared on The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. He hosted the VICE talk-show The Jim Norton Show. He was also in Jerry Seinfeld's 2002 documentary Comedian.

Early life

Jim Norton was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. His mother was a librarian and his father was a former marine and army reservist who later worked as a driver for the US postal service.

Norton grew up in North Brunswick, New Jersey, and attended North Brunswick High School. During this time, at age 13, Norton started to drink heavily, "mostly vodka and grain alcohol" because it got him drunk quicker. "That feeling of discomfort that was always there, wasn't there when I drank. It was just a way of feeling comfortable ... I was horribly insecure, horribly shy, always feeling ugly and weak". At 16, Norton started to cut himself with a razor blade in an attempt at "attention-seeking ... It was "notice me!" crap. I was 16, 17, and drunk. I never did that stuff sober". He then missed some schooling, including his graduation from high school, after his alarmed parents sent him to a rehab facility in Princeton, New Jersey for one month, where he continued to sneak in alcohol but changed his thinking and completed the course at 18. When he was away, his class had voted him as class clown. Norton had his last drink at New Year's Eve 1985 going into 1986, and has been teetotal and drug free since. After being sober for around three years, he obtained his GED and attended Middlesex County College for one semester, where he received "one B and three F's".

Career

Stand-up

Norton wished to be a stand-up comedian at age 12. He took an interest to comedy after his mother would bring comedy albums home from her work, and named Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Woody Allen, and Robert Klein as his early favourites. He performed his first stand-up routine in April 1990 at an open mic night at the Varsity pub in Sayreville, New Jersey when he was 21. He later described his performance as "awful". He then spent the following five years working on his stand-up in the New Jersey, Boston, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida areas with fellow comedians Jim Florentine and Bob Levy who were coming up at the same. Around ten years into his stand-up career, Norton felt he found his voice and felt comfortable enough on stage.

After his appearance on The Louie Show in 1997, Norton landed the opportunity to open for comedian Andrew Dice Clay on tour. While Opie and Anthony were off the air from 2002 to 2004, the situation encouraged Norton to write a considerable amount of new material which he recalled improved his performance and writing. He assembled a new, 45-minute act and, in 2003, he released his first comedy album, Yellow Discipline. In April 2005, Norton released his second comedy second album, Trinkets I Own Made from Gorilla Hands. In the same month he filmed a pilot episode for a Comedy Central sitcom named Lucky Louie with comedian Louis C.K., playing as Louie's friend Rich, and filmed his first half-hour HBO comedy special as part of the network's One Night Stand series, at a sold out show after his manager informed him of the chance to perform a showcase in the New York City area.

Norton frequently tours the United States, performing at well-known comedy clubs. In 2004, Norton was voted best comedian and breakthrough performer of the year on the Cringe Humor website, which is dedicated to some prominent New York comedians. Norton frequently performs at Caroline's and the Comedy Cellar. Norton was the best man at Rich Vos' 2005 wedding to Bonnie McFarlane. Dom Irrera has described Norton as one of today's best comedians. He returned to the 2007 tour as well.

Norton's 2012 special, Please Be Offended on Epix. This was succeeded by the 2013 special American Degenerate. American Degenerate premiered on Netflix on November 21, 2013. Most recently Norton released his special Contextually Inadequate on April 24, 2015 on Epix.

Radio

Norton first appeared on the Opie and Anthony radio show on WNEW in late 2000 during his time opening for comedian Andrew Dice Clay on tour. He became a regular guest and sat in with hosts Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia on some shows, which led to him becoming co-host in 2001.

In November 2000, Norton was arrested with Lewis Black and show producer Rick Del Gado in connection with a live segment named the "Teen Voyeur Bus" involving a transparent bus full of topless women driving around Manhattan. It so happened that the bus' route was also the route that the president was also taking that day, but the show was not informed of the news. When the show was cancelled in August 2002, Hughes and Cumia were kept off the air for the remainder of their contracts, until August 2004.

On October 9, 2008, it was reported that Norton was being sued by Roy Den Hollander over his treatment during a phone interview on the Opie & Anthony Show. On August 28, 2009, the New York Post reported that Hollander would drop his suit if Norton would also drop his motion to have Hollander sanctioned for filing a baseless claim, as well as being forced to pay Norton's legal fees.

On December 2, 2009, when Opie and Anthony hosted former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, an argument between Norton and Ventura erupted while the discussion was on the September 11 attacks (the official account of which Ventura questions) and the "counter-terrorism" measures against illegal immigration. Ventura was arguing against what he claimed was the Border Patrol practice of stopping individuals and asking for ID deep within US borders, claiming that such actions were unconstitutional. At some point, when Norton disagreed with him on this, Ventura suggested that Norton did not believe in the Constitution, to which Norton strongly objected. Soon after, as the argument became more heated, Ventura walked off the air and the two exchanged explicit comments towards each other.

On May 27, 2010, The Jim Norton Show premiered on Raw Dog Comedy. Norton hosts the program, which features other comedians as well as clips of live stand-up.

Jim Norton debuted an internet based talk show on the video streaming channel VICE in June 2014. Guest include comedians such as Dave Attell, Whitney Cummings, Gilbert Gottfried. Additionally he has had Mike Tyson, Dana White and Freeway Rick Ross.

On July 3, 2014, Anthony Cumia was fired by SiriusXM, after making a series of tweets following an alleged off-air incident with a black woman on the street. Cumia tweeted that he was punched by the woman while attempting to take a picture in Times Square. The tweets were described by Sirius XM as "racially-charged and hate-filled". Opie and Norton continued without Cumia and hosted Opie with Jim Norton from July 2014 to September 2016, during which time the channel was renamed Opie Radio. In addition, Norton hosted a weekly advice program known as The Jim Norton Advice Show on SiriusXM. In January 2016 Amy Schumer was a guest on the show to address the topic of her stealing jokes from other comedians.

In 2016, Norton attempted to raise money through Indiegogo for an animated project called The Chip Chipperson Show. Norton voices the title character as well as his other creations such as Uncle Paul, Jelly, Edgar Mellencamp, & Ted Scheckler.

Jim is the current host of the first UFC sponsored podcast UFC Unfiltered with former fighter Matt Serra.

In October 2016, following the end of Opie with Jim Norton, Norton became the host of Jim Norton & Sam Roberts with former Opie and Anthony intern and producer Sam Roberts.

Television

In 2004, Norton's regular two-year spot on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn ended after the show was cancelled, and his place on the second season of Last Comic Standing was lost because of a contractual obligation to film around pilot episodes for MTV, something he secured following the success of his One Night Stand special. None of the pilots made it to the air.

Norton's first half-hour HBO special aired on October 21, 2005. His second was filmed in 2007 which aired live on October 13 that year. In 2006, Norton landed the role of Rich on the HBO series Lucky Louie. Rich is a foul-mouthed, perverted, "ill-informed", straight shooting character who lives with his mother and deals pot to high schoolers for a living, departing from the traditionally tamer sitcom model of a supporting character.

In June 2008, Norton appeared in several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell as one of the celebrity judges. Since mid-2007, Norton has been a regular guest on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on the Fox News Channel. On June 21, 2010, Norton guest-hosted Red Eye. Norton has also appeared regularly as a correspondent for The Jay Leno Show as Jim Norton: The Uninvited Guest. Starting in 2010, Norton began appearing in Louis CK's FX sitcom, Louie.

Writing

In February 2007, it was learned on The Opie & Anthony Show that Norton was close to finishing a book believed to be an autobiographical collection of stories, and anecdotes from his childhood and his comedy career. The final title of the book was Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch. The book was released on July 10, 2007. It reached No. 4 on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction. The book entered the Amazon.com Top 10 for books on the day it was released, peaking at #7.

Norton's second book I Hate Your Guts came out on November 4, 2008. It reached No. 13 on the New York Times Bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction.

Film

Norton has had various cameo appearances such as in the 2002 film Spider-Man and the 2008 film Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Norton described the role in Spider-Man as being a quarter-step above being an extra. He has also appeared in the films Furry Vengeance , Cop Out" and Special Correspondents.

Norton had a pivotal role in the film Courting Condi, counseling Devin Ratray on how to win the heart of Condoleezza Rice.

Personal life

Norton lives in New York City, and is a fan of heavy metal and hard rock including Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and KISS and has his own playlist segment on Ozzy's Boneyard channel on SiriusXm Radio.

Selected works

Albums

Year	Title	Notes
2003	Yellow Discipline	Recorded at The Stress Factory in New Brunswick, New Jersey
2005	Trinkets I Own Made from Gorilla Hands	Recorded at The Stress Factory in New Brunswick, New Jersey
2011	Despicable	Recorded at The Stress Factory in New Brunswick, New Jersey
2012	No Baby For You!

DVDs/Specials

Year	Title	Notes
2005	One Night Stand: Jim Norton	30 minute HBO special
2007	Monster Rain	Recorded at The Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C.
2009	Down and Dirty with Jim Norton	Stand-up showcase, hosted by Norton
2012	Please Be Offended	1 hr EPIX special recorded at Ohio Theatre in Cleveland, OH
2013	American Degenerate	1 hr EPIX special recorded in Boston
2015	Contextually Inadequate	1 hr EPIX special recorded in Boston

Books

Year	Title	Notes
2007	Happy Endings: Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch	Foreword by Colin Quinn
2008	I Hate Your Guts	A collection of 35 venomous essays

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Brokers	Homeless Guy
2000	Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story	Dick	Short film
2000	Ed	Ernie	Two episodes
2002	Run Ronnie Run	Police Officer	Uncredited
2002	American Dummy	Eddie Barnum	Short film
2002	Errors, Freaks & Oddities	Paul
2002	Spider-Man	Surly Truck Driver
2002	Rock Bottom	Diesel
2002	'Crooks	Paul	Short film
2003	The Gynecologists	Sheldrake	Short film
2006	Bully	Officer Morrison (Voice)	Video game
2006–07	Lucky Louie	Rich	13 episodes
2008	Zack and Miri Make a Porno	Auditioner
2008	Grand Theft Auto IV	Joseph Kaplan, Chuck Jones from Just or Unjust (voice)	Video game
2008	Courting Condi	Himself
2009	Z Rock	Himself	1 episode
2010	Cop Out	George
2010	Furry Vengeance	Hank
2010	Bored to Death	Jim	Episode: "The Gowanus Canal Has Gonorrhea!"
2010–15	Louie	Jim / Pig	10 episodes
2012	True Bromance	Best Bro
2012	Who Is Tara Thomas?	Himself	Short film
2012	Who Is Tara Thomas?	Himself	Short film
2013–15	Inside Amy Schumer	Various	4 episodes
2014	Teachers Lounge	Head of Security
2015	Deadbeat	Carl	Episode: "The Spank Job"
2015	Benders	Brian Beale	Episode: "Wake 'Em Up"
2015	The Knick	Camera Man	Episode: "Williams and Walker"
2015	Trainwreck	Carriage Driver
2016	Special Correspondents	Rent Boy
2016	Pitching Tents	Mr. Mulligan

Writer

Year	Title	Notes
2005	One Night Stand
2007	Jim Norton: Monster Rain	Stand-up special
2012	Jim Norton: Please Be Offended	Stand-up special
2012	Jim Norton: American Degenerate	Stand-up special

Self

Year	Title	Notes
1998	The Jim Breuer Show	Episode: "Pilot"
1998	White Chicks, Incorporated
2002	Comedian	Documentary
2002	Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
2004	Meet The Creeps Vol. 1
2004	Last Comic Standing	Episode: "Las Vegas Finals: Part 2"
2004–11	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Episode: "Las Vegas Finals: Part 2"
2005	One Night Stand	Episode: "Jim Norton"
2006	Al Franken: God Spoke	Documentary
2006–09	Late Show with David Letterman	2 episodes
2007	Lucky Louie: A Week In The Life	1 episode
2007	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	1 episode
2007	Jim Norton: Monster Rain	Stand-up special
2007–12	Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld
2008	The Gong Show with Dave Attell	2 episodes
2008	Down and Dirty with Jim Norton	4 episodes
2008	The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget
2009	Impaled: Painfully Blunt!	Documentary
2009	The Tragic Side of Comedy	TV Documentary
2009–13	Hannity
2009–14	Chelsea Lately	8 episodes
2010	Just for Laughs	1 episode
2011	That Metal Show	1 episode
2011	Looking for Lenny	Documentary
2011	Dave's Old Porn	Episode: "Jim Norton/Seka"
2011	Imagine	Episode: "The Art of Stand-Up - Part Two"
2012	The Rock & Roll Roast of Zakk Wylde
2012	Jim Norton: Please Be Offended	Stand-up special
2012	Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	1 episode
2012	The Burn with Jeff Ross	1 episode
2012	Love You, Mean It with Whitney Cummings	1 episode
2013	Rock and Roll Roast of Dee Snider
2013	Four Courses with J.B. Smoove
2013	The Jeselnik Offensive	1 episode
2013	Insane Clown Posse Theater	1 episode
2013	Jim Norton: American Degenerate	Stand-up special
2013–14	Kevin Pollak's Chat Show	2 episodes
2014	I Am Road Comic	Documentary
2014	Comedy Underground with Dave Attell	1 episode
2014	The Jim Norton Show	4 episodes
2014	@midnight	1 episode
2015	Misery Loves Comedy	Documentary
2015	Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate	Stand-up special