Chris Rush

Chris Rush
Born (1946-02-11) February 11, 1946[1]
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Medium Stand-up, television, radio
Nationality American
Years active 1970 – 2016
Genres Observational humor, satire, black comedy
Subject(s) Drug use, religion, everyday life, politics, quantum physics, outer space
Influences Shelley Berman,[2] George Carlin,[2] Myron Cohen,[2] Bob Newhart[2]
Influenced Adam Ferrara,[3] Adam Sandler[4]
Website Official website

Chris Rush (born February 11, 1946) is an American comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and author. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums, along with having been a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon magazine.[5]

Biography

Early life

Rush was born in Brooklyn, New York.[6] Rush is of Italian descent and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.[6][7] He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and graduated from City College of New York in 1968 with a degree in Organic chemistry.[8] Before becoming a comedian Rush was a molecular biologist, working at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital for two years.[8] He embarked on a professional comedy career following an open mic night at a comedy club.[2]

Personal life

Rush is a conservationist and supporter of Greenpeace.[9] Though raised in the Catholic faith he left the church when in the seventh grade.[6] He considers himself to be a Taoist and can be seen wearing the Yin and yang symbol on his shirt during his performances.[10]

Career

1970s & 1980s

Chris Rush wrote for National Lampoon Magazine in the early 1970s.[9] making his first appearance in the, August, 1970 issue.[11] During his time at Lampoon he was involved in another comedy magazine titled Drool, which came out with only one issue in 1972.[12] He left the magazine when he was signed to Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegun to release his first comedy album First Rush in 1973.[13] In 1974 he appeared in yet another magazine titled Harpoon.[14]

Rush opened for musicians and bands including B.B. King, Meat Loaf, Talking Heads and Electric Light Orchestra while becoming a frequent performer at comedy clubs, theaters and colleges throughout the United States and Canada. He performed at such venues as The Bottom Line,[15] Caroline's, The Improv and The Comedy Store.[16] In 1979 he was awarded "Best Male Comic" by the Association of Comedy Artists.[17] He released his second album Beaming In in 1981. His performances landed him on national television with appearances on Comedy Tonight, Night Flight and Apt. 2C, a pilot for HBO starring his mentor and friend George Carlin[18]

1990s & 2000s

In the early to mid-1990s, Rush was involved in a series of shorts made for Comedy Central's show Small Doses, titled Food for Thought. It starred Patton Oswalt and Blaine Capatch as two bumbling store clerks and Chris as the manager.[19] He was asked to contribute to Tim Allen's book I'm Not Really Here, which was released in 1996.[20] He released an additional comedy album in 1997. During this time, he made sporadic stand-up comedy appearances. He worked on Bob "Wolf" Wohlfeld's show in the late 1990s on PYX 106 with The Wakin' Up with the Wolf Show, where he was a co-host. Some of his bits were put onto an album released by the show, titled Chris's Head.[21] The relationship ended though when the station decided to fire Rush on December 21, 1998, after apparently speaking to management about Wohlfeld's behavior towards him and others.[22]

On October 1, 2007, Rush released his first book, Milking The Rhino (Dangerously Funny Lists).

In April, 2009 Chris launched a one-man show titled, Bliss: An Evening of Laughter with Chris Rush, which was financed by George Carlin before he died in June, 2008.[23][24]

Discography

Year Album Label
1973 First Rush Atlantic Records
1981 Beaming In City Sounds
1997 There's No Bones in Ice Cream Sundazed Music

Television

Radio

In addition to being a co-host on PYX 106, Rush has been an often guest on The Joey Reynolds Show,[30][31] The Morning Zoo on WMMR, Esoterica with Johnny Rizzo on WPKN, where he does a once a month call in segment talking about recent events,[32] Dr. Demento, who will sometimes play Chris' comedy routines[33] and he's also appeared on Opie and Anthony.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "Vintage Stand-up Comedy: This Day in Comedy, February 11". February 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Natural Humor Medicine: Chris Rush
  3. ↑ Vidiot.com
  4. ↑ Allmusic.com: Adam Sandler
  5. 1 2 3 "Lampooner in town". Lexington Herald-Leader. October 29, 2004. p. 3.
  6. 1 2 3 clip on YouTube
  7. ↑ Second clip on YouTube
  8. 1 2 Righi, Len (May 10, 1991). "Microscope guy' is standing up to scrutiny". The Morning Call. p. D.02.
  9. 1 2 Solimine, Donna (July 25, 1997). "Spirituality with a smile". The Record. p. 31.
  10. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/chrisrushcomedy
  11. ↑ MarksVeryLarge.com
  12. ↑ Sir Real's Underground Comix Classix
  13. ↑ Wamcarts.org
  14. ↑ GusBooks.com
  15. ↑ Bottomlinecabaret.com
  16. ↑ "New York Comedian Rush A Pearl". The News Journal. September 19, 1987. p. 2E.
  17. ↑ "'Ribald' N.Y. comic set for Monday night". Eugene Register-Guard. November 8, 1984. p. 2D.
  18. ↑ "Comedic Anniversary". The Post-Standard. June 23, 1989.
  19. ↑ Third Clip on YouTube
  20. ↑ Google Books
  21. ↑ MadhouseStudios.com
  22. ↑ McGuire, Mark (April 7, 1999). "Wolf loses yet another sidekick". The Times Union. p. D5.
  23. ↑ Theatermania.com: Bliss: An Evening of Laughter with Chris Rush
  24. ↑ Sullivan, James (2010). Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin. Da Capo Press. p. 224. ISBN 0-306-81829-9.
  25. ↑ TVarchive.ca
  26. ↑ "Thursday Evening Highlights". The Dispatch. January 17, 1986. p. 14.
  27. ↑ DonKirshner.com
  28. ↑ Fourth clip on YouTube
  29. ↑ DVDTalk.com
  30. ↑ Chris Rush official site
  31. ↑ WOR710.com
  32. ↑ WPKN archives
  33. ↑ DMDB.com
  34. ↑ Radiosanthony.com

External links

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