Joe Pera

Joe Pera
Born
Joseph Pera

(1988-07-24) July 24, 1988 (age 36)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Alma materIthaca College
Years active2009–present
Comedy career
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
  • film
Genres
Subject(s)

Joseph Pera (born July 24, 1988[1][2]) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and star of Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks with You, which entered development following the success of the 2016 specials Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep, and ran for three seasons.[3]

Early life

Joe Pera was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in the suburb of Amherst.[4][5]

He studied film at Ithaca College, where he competed in and won the college's stand-up competition three times.[6] Pera graduated from Ithaca College in 2010.[7] He moved to New York City to pursue comedy and participated in open mic nights as often as possible.[8]

Career

Known for his slow, "grandfatherly" delivery and his penchant for wearing sweaters, Pera created the Adult Swim Infomercials Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep.[9] This was followed by an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and another stand-alone Adult Swim special titled Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree.[10] Thanks to the success of those programs (all produced by Chestnut Walnut, founded by him and Conner O'Malley),[11] Pera developed a television series for Adult Swim, which premiered on May 20, 2018, titled Joe Pera Talks with You.[8] He appeared on the talk show Conan on March 28, 2017, and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on December 4, 2019.[12][13] In 2021, Joe Pera released a book named A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape which was illustrated by Joe Bennett.[14]

On January 31, 2023, Joe and Chestnut Walnut announced a podcast to help people fall asleep called, Drifting Off With Joe Pera. It is similar to his "Talks You To Sleep" series. Episodes are released on the first Sunday of every month, features a guest interview, a guest musician, and a philosophical monologue on a given topic. On March 3, 2023, Joe made a brief appearance on EHFM's Radio show "No Dancing",[15] where he discussed his thoughts on moving slowly and reflectively and shared a piece of music he was working on. He appears at 31:40. On October 6, 2023, Pera released a 56-minute standup special titled Joe Pera: Slow and Steady on YouTube.[16][17]

Personal life

In a video to his YouTube channel, Pera endorsed Democratic candidate India Walton for mayor of Buffalo, New York in the 2021 election.[18]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2016 5 Doctors Davis
2017 Snowy Bing Bongs Across the North Star Combat Zone Jim
2023 Elemental Fern Grouchwood (voice)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013–14 The Chris Gethard Show Zero Fucks Boyd 4 episodes
2014 New Timers Myron 2 episodes
Pancake Breakfast Critic with Joe Pera Himself 3 episodes; Produced with MTV Other
2016 Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep Short; part of Infomercials
Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree
2017 Conan March 28
2018–21 Joe Pera Talks with You 32 episodes; also creator, executive producer and writer
2019 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert December 4
Late Night with Seth Meyers December 18
2020 Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera Special
F Is for Family Alaquippa Ed (voice) 6 episodes
2022 Search Party Dr. Inane Episode: "Song of Songs"
Bob's Burgers Christopher (voice) Episode: "Ferry on My Wayward Bob and Linda"

YouTube series

Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Perfect Week[19] Himself 7 episode mini-series hosted by JASH with trailer
Pancake Breakfast Critic[20] 3 episode mini-series hosted by MTV
2015 How To Make It in USA[21] 9 episode mini-series co-starring Conner O'Malley
2021 Townsends[22] Appears in 7 episodes
2023 Stavvy's World[23] Episode 21: "Dan Licata and Joe Pera"
2023 Drifting Off with Joe Pera[24] mini-series with co-stars

References

  1. ^ Burke, Jason (February 18, 2014). "Comedians Under 30 To Check Out This Year". Complex. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018. Joe Pera ... Age: 25
  2. ^ Pera, Joe (July 25, 2024). "A Wonderful Birthday Yesterday..." Instagram. Retrieved July 25, 2024. A wonderful birthday yesterday (July 24, 2024), for both me and JLo.
  3. ^ Maas, Tyler (July 7, 2022). "'Joe Pera Talks With You' has been canceled "for now"". Milwaukee Record. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "Interview with Joe Pera: the comedian on the influences behind his adult swim show". 6Park. November 9, 2021. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Amherst resident involved in creation of sitcom". AmherstBee. December 6, 2006. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  6. ^ "Joe Pera". MASS MoCA. June 1, 2016. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  7. ^ Pirani, Steven (November 21, 2013). "Alumnus named finalist in Comedy Central contest". The Ithacan. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2020. With three victories in the Ithaca College Annual Stand-Up Competition during his undergraduate years, Joe Pera '10 ...
  8. ^ a b "Interview with Joe Pera". Texas Travesty. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  9. ^ Quah, Nicholas (February 8, 2023). "Joe Pera, The Sleep King". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Ciemcioch, Mark (December 9, 2016). "Let Joe Pera help you find a Christmas tree". Buffalo News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Peaceful Reflections Of The Apocalypse by Tom Hunt – Animation Film @ Brooklyn Film Festival". Brooklynfilmfestival.org. April 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  12. ^ "Team Coco". teamcoco.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  13. ^ Wright, Megh (December 5, 2019). "Joe Pera and Stephen Colbert Discuss the Soothing Joys of Grocery Shopping". Vulture. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape". us.macmillan.com/. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  15. ^ "Mixcloud". www.mixcloud.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  16. ^ Minsker, Evan (October 7, 2023). "Watch Joe Pera's New Stand-Up Special Slow & Steady". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Pera, Joe (October 6, 2023). "Joe Pera: Slow & Steady". YouTube. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  18. ^ Important phone call to Buffalo (with India Walton), October 19, 2021, retrieved September 10, 2023
  19. ^ "The Perfect Week - YouTube". YouTube.
  20. ^ "The Pancake Breakfast Critic - Joe Pera - YouTube". YouTube.
  21. ^ "How to Make It in USA - YouTube". YouTube.
  22. ^ "Joe Pera Makes a Stool for Our Cabin - Townsends Wilderness Homestead". October 27, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  23. ^ Stavvy's World #21 - Dan Licata and Joe Pera, April 24, 2023, retrieved May 5, 2023
  24. ^ "'Drifting off with Joe Pera' - Sleep Podcast - YouTube". YouTube.