John Mulaney | Biography

• By Puja Bhetwal
• Update : September 07, 2021

John Mulaney is an 'Emmy-Award' winning writer, comedian, actor, and producer, best known for his work as a stand-up comedian and writer for 'Saturday Night Live.'

Who is John Mulaney?

John Mulaney began his career at Comedy Central. He worked there for about a year before pitching the concept for a parody of VH1's I Love the '80s. After the new episodes of the shorts aired on the network from 2005 to 2008, he went on to create I Love the '30s for Comedy Central with Nick Kroll and Brian Donovan, bringing him to the attention of other writers/comedians.

In 2008, after auditioning, Mulaney was hired as a writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL). Mulaney received his first 'Emmy Award' in 2011 for co-writing Justin Timberlake's SNL monologue, which aired on May 21, 2011, with Timberlake, Seth Meyers, and Katreese Barnes.

His first comedy album, The Top Part, was filmed at the Punch Line. In March of 2009, Comedy Central Records released the album. New in Town (2012) and The Comeback Kid (2015) are two of his comedy specials.

Early Life and Education

John Mulaney was born on 26 August 1982 in Chicago, Illinois, to Ellen Mulaney, a senior lecturer at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and Charles Mulaney, a lawyer. Mulaney grew up in Lincoln Park and attended St. Clement School before moving to Georgetown after high school.

Mulaney had the talent for wordplay and joke rhythms from a young age. The character Ricky Ricardo from the sitcom I Love Lucy inspired John to pursue a career in show business. It was surprising and shocking for his attorney-parents when he expressed his interest to join the show business. 

After finding him enjoys performing, John's parents encouraged him to pursue his dream. Later, he took English literature at Georgetown University before moving to New York City to pursue a career in comedy.

Early Career

After graduation, in 2004, he got a job as an assistant at Comedy Central's office. After working there for about a year, he pitched the concept for a parody of VH1's I Love the '80s. Collaborating with Nick Kroll and Brian Donovan, Mulaney created I Love the '30s, a Comedy Central series. From 2005 to 2008, new episodes of the shorts were broadcast on the network, bringing him to the attention of other writers/comedians such as Mike Birbiglia and Demetri Martin, who hired him to write for television projects.

'Saturday Night Live'

In 2008, Mulaney auditioned for NBC's comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live (SNL) and was given a place on the writing team. 

Mulaney won his first 'Emmy Award' in 2011 for co-writing Justin Timberlake's Saturday Night Live monologue, along with Seth Meyers and Katreese Barnes. The trio took home the award for 'Best Original Music and Lyrics.' He has also earned seven 'Emmy Award' nominations between 2010 and 2013.

In 2018, Mulaney hosted an episode of the show. After Conan O'Brien and Larry David, Mulaney became the third SNL writer to return as host without previously appearing on the show.

For six seasons, John worked as a comedy writer for Saturday Night Live, creating fan favorites like Bill Hader's Stefon. Though the role came with a lot of pressure, it was something John always enjoyed.

He shared, "I was like a producer of live TV at 25. Once my sketch was picked, I would go around to every department, discussing with them how it would look, the costume, set, everything you were hoping for."

Comedy Album and Specials

During his first week from the SNL show, Mulaney flew to San Francisco and recorded his first comedy album, The Top Part, at the Punch Line. It was released in March 2009 by Comedy Central Records. The album quickly gained a loyal following. Thanks to his long-form tales about his past experiences with alcohol and his fascination with the TV show Law & Order. His other two comedy specials, New in Town (2012) and The Comeback Kid (2015), were also a hit.

Other works

Making their Broadway debuts, in September 2016, Mulaney and Kroll played in the comedy show Oh, Hello.

Mulaney also produced and starred in the Fox sitcom Mulaney, a semi-autobiographical series based on his life. He lent his voice to Andrew Glouberman in the Netflix original animated series Big Mouth. Mulaney made his film debut in 2018 with the Academy Award-winning animated feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which he voiced Peter Porker/Spider-Ham.