Colin Kelly Jost (/ˈdʒoʊst/; born June 29, 1982)[1][2] is an American comedian, writer, and actor. Jost has been a staff writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2005, and co-anchor of Weekend Update since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers from 2012 to 2015 and later came back as one of the show's head writers in 2017 until 2022, alongside Michael Che.[3][4][5][6][7]
| Colin Jost | |
|---|---|
 Jost at Citi Field in 2015 | |
| Birth name | Colin Kelly Jost |
| Born | June 29, 1982 New York City, U.S. |
| Medium | |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Genres | |
| Subject(s) | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | colinjost |
Early life and education
editJost was born on June 29, 1982, in New York City. He grew up in the Grymes Hill[8] neighborhood of Staten Island.[9][10][11] His mother, Kerry J. Kelly, was the chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department,[12] and his father, Daniel A. Jost, was a teacher at Staten Island Technical High School.[13][14] He has one younger brother, Casey Jost, a writer and a producer of Impractical Jokers; he also had a role in Staten Island Summer.[15][16] Jost was raised Catholic.
Jost attended Regis High School in Manhattan, where he was the editor of the school newspaper The Owl and graduated in 2000.[15] He then studied history and literature at Harvard University.[9] He focused on Russian literature and British literature, and wrote his senior thesis on Vladimir Nabokov. Jost was president of The Harvard Lampoon[10][17] and won $5,250 on a college edition of Weakest Link, but said he did not think he deserved to win.[18] He graduated from Harvard in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude.
Career
editAfter graduation, Jost worked as a reporter and copy editor for the Staten Island Advance. He was then hired as a writer for a short-lived Nickelodeon animated show, Kappa Mikey. After he left that job, he sent in a writing packet to NBC's Saturday Night Live, which gave him a writing position in 2005.[9]
From 2009 to 2012, Jost was SNL's writing supervisor. He was co-head writer from 2012 to 2015, and regained that status from 2017 to 2022.[19][7] He often collaborated with fellow SNL co-head writer Rob Klein.[20] During the summer hiatus following the 2012–2013 season, executive producer Lorne Michaels asked Jost if he could do the Weekend Update feature[9] because co-anchor Seth Meyers would soon be leaving to host Late Night with Seth Meyers. Jost accepted and replaced Meyers on the March 1, 2014, episode.[21] Jost later broke Meyers' record for being the longest-serving anchor in the history of the segment on the October 23, 2021, episode hosted by Jason Sudeikis.[22]
Jost has named Norm Macdonald as a primary influence for his Update anchor work, citing Macdonald's tone as the one he grew up with in high school.[23] He has also named Tina Fey as an influence.[9] In addition to Weekend Update, Jost made a brief cameo appearance as Ohio Governor John Kasich in a Republican presidential debate sketch.[24] He later portrayed his friend Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries[25][26] and Roger Goodell during the 2021 NFL season.[27]
Jost has performed as a stand-up comedian, appearing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, TBS, and HBO.[28] He was selected as a "New Face" at the Montréal Just for Laughs festival in 2009,[29] and has since appeared at the Chicago Just for Laughs festival in 2011 and 2012 and the Montréal festival again in 2010 and 2012. Jost has published four "Shouts and Murmurs" pieces in The New Yorker magazine and has also contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Staten Island Advance and Radar.[30] He wrote the screenplay of and played a minor role in the 2015 comedy film Staten Island Summer, and he also had a minor role as Paul in the 2016 romcom feature How to Be Single.[31] In January 2016, Jost opened for comedian Liam McEneaney's album recording at The Bell House in Brooklyn.[32] In late 2018, Jost and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared in an advertising campaign for Izod.[33]
In September 2018, Jost cohosted the Primetime Emmy Awards, along with Michael Che.[34]
Jost, along with Michael Che, appeared on the March 4, 2019, episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw, where both were announced as special correspondents for WrestleMania 35. In the March 4 episode, they got involved in a storyline with wrestler Braun Strowman, which resulted in both Jost and Che becoming participants in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.[35][36] At the event, Jost and Che went under the ring for the majority of the match and then tried to eliminate Strowman while he was trying to do the same to the Hardy Boyz. Jost attempted to calm the situation by using his therapist, but Strowman chokeslammed him and eliminated the two comedians in quick succession, winning the battle royal.[37]
In July 2020, Jost released a memoir titled A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir.[38] The book was well received and appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.[39]
On April 27, 2024, Jost hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner, an annual gathering of reporters usually entertained by the president and a comedian.[40] In his 20-minute monologue, Jost roasted Trump and Biden, offered support of Biden's "decency," joked about his married life with Scarlett Johansson, and celebrated the free press.[41][42][43]
Jost made a cameo in the 2024 film Fly Me to the Moon, which starred his wife Scarlett Johansson.[44]
On July 31, 2024, it was announced that Jost would be the host of the game show Pop Culture Jeopardy! on Amazon Prime Video.[45]
Personal life
edit
Jost was dormmates with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg while the two lived in Leverett House at Harvard.[46] In 2015, Jost donated money to Buttigieg's mayoral reelection campaign.[47][48] Subsequently, during Buttigieg's presidential campaign, Jost portrayed Buttigieg in the 45th season of SNL.[46][49]
Jost is married to actress Scarlett Johansson, whom he met during one of her many occasions hosting SNL.[50] They began a relationship in May 2017[51] and in May 2019 the two were engaged.[52] They married in October 2020 at their New York home.[53] Johansson gave birth to their son in August 2021.[54]
In 2023, Jost, along with fellow SNL comedian Pete Davidson, purchased a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry boat.[55][56][57]
Jost is an avid surfer, and was sent to Tahiti by NBC Sports for their coverage of the surfing competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[58] However, he would depart before the competition ended due to multiple health issues.[59]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Staten Island Summer | Officer Greg Callahan | Also writer |
| 2016 | How to Be Single | Paul | |
| 2021 | Tom & Jerry | Ben | |
| 2021 | Coming 2 America | Calvin Duke | |
| 2024 | Fly Me To The Moon | Senator Cook | |
| TBA | Worst Man | Also writer[60] |
Television
edit| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Weakest Link | Himself | Contestant[61] |
| 2005–present | Saturday Night Live | Himself, Various | Also writer |
| 2006 | Kappa Mikey | — | Writer 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday | Himself | 3 episodes; also writer |
| 2018 | 75th Golden Globe Awards | — | Writer |
| 2018 | 70th Primetime Emmy Awards | Himself (host) | TV special |
| 2019 | WWE Raw | Himself | Special guest (2 episodes)[62][35][36] |
| 2019 | WrestleMania 35 | Himself | Special guest |
| 2020 | Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party | Himself | Episode: "The Childhood Meals Episode" |
| 2021 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2022 | Impractical Jokers | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2022 | That Damn Michael Che | Himself | Episode: "Black Mediocrity" |
| 2022 | The Kardashians | Himself | Episode: "Life from New York" |
| 2024 | Pop Culture Jeopardy | Host | Amazon Prime Video |
Bibliography
edit- "Explaining your Time Warner bill". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 87, no. 7. April 4, 2011. p. 33.
- "A few more bank security questions". Daily Shouts. The New Yorker. July 13, 2012.
- "Olympic story lines to watch". Daily Shouts. The New Yorker. July 16, 2012.
- "Automatic reply". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 88, no. 45. January 28, 2013. p. 30.
- "I will slap you". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 90, no. 47. February 9, 2015. p. 29.
- A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir. Crown. ISBN 1101906324.[38]
Awards and honors
editReferences
edit- ^ Mandel, Peter; Baher, Cynthia (May 1983). "The Classes". Brown Alumni Monthly. Vol. 83, no. 8. p. 58. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
Darnel A. Jost and his wife. Dr. Kerry Kelly '77 M.D., of Staten Island, N.Y., report the birth of their first child, Colin Kelly Jost, on June 29.
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