Wayne Federman
Federman in 2005
Born	(1959-06-22)June 22, 1959 (age 65) Los Angeles, California, US
Medium	Stand-up,television,film,podcast
Alma mater	New York University
Years active	1983–present
Genres	Observational,musical,self-deprecation,biographical
Subject(s)	Everyday life, musicians and singers, American culture
Notable works and roles	"Dean Weinstock" inCurb Your Enthusiasm; The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle; Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete
Website	Official website

Wayne Federman (born June 22, 1959) is an American comedian, actor, author, writer, comedy historian, producer, and musician. He is noted for numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs, theaters, and on television; his book onThe History of Stand-Up; and supporting comedic acting roles inThe X-Files,The Larry Sanders Show,Curb Your Enthusiasm,Silicon Valley,Legally Blonde,50 First Dates,The 40-Year-Old Virgin, andStep Brothers. He was the head monologue writer for NBC'sLate Night with Jimmy Fallon in its first season. He won a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award for producing the HBO documentaryGeorge Carlin's American Dream.

Federman was born in Los Angeles, one of six children. He grew up inSilver Spring, Maryland, and moved toPlantation, Florida at age 10. He played the drums and at age 14 began performing in a band at local weddings. He taught himselfventriloquism and performed at various school (South Plantation High School) functions as well as local churches and service organizations. He delivered his high school's sports results on Miami radio stationWWOK and made his local television debut onWPLG'sYouth and the Issue debating the death penalty. In 1976, Federman worked as an extra inJohn Frankenheimer'sBlack Sunday, shot at theMiami Orange Bowl.

Federman isJewish.^[1]

In the fall of 1977, Federman was accepted into theTisch School of the Arts atNew York University where he studied with legendary acting coachStella Adler. He performed his own show,Comedy Tonight, at the Eisner and Lubin Auditorium, with future Broadway starDonna Murphy.

After attending NYU, Federman brought his one-man show to the 13th Street Theater. There he performed in rotation withBrother Theodore. He also starred in the theater's long-running production ofSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in which he played six roles. Soon he was performing stand-up comedy at various New York Comedy Clubs, most notably The Comic Strip (now known asComic Strip Live) andCatch a Rising Star. It was during these years that he incorporated music into his act. He closed his sets by playing hard rock tunes fromLed Zeppelin,Jimi Hendrix,Iron Butterfly, andThe Rolling Stones on his electricukulele.

Federman made his national television debut on the syndicated stand-up programComedy Tonight in 1986. He also appeared in two home videos:New Wave Comedy and theDodge Comedy Showcase.

In 1987, Federman moved to Los Angeles and began working atThe Improv, IGBYs,The Laugh Factory, andThe Comedy & Magic Club. He taped a series of televised stand-up performances, includingAn Evening at the Improv,George Schlatter's Comedy Club,CBS Morning Show,2 Drink Minimum,Star Search,Good Times Cafe,The A-List, andMTV ½ Hour Comedy Hour. He toured extensively, performing at over 200 colleges. He co-founded the improvisational group "No Fat Guy" with Marc Raider, Scott LaRose, andSteve Hytner, and later briefly formed a music-comedy team withJordan Brady.

Federman began booking television commercials and appeared in dozens of national spots for clients, including Eureka Vacuums, Holiday Inn, U.S. Navy, Wendy's, Taboo, Eagle cars (withGreg Kinnear), McDonald's, Glad Bags, Sprite, Total Raisin Bran, Ford, U.S. Olympic Team,Suzuki Samurai,Sizzler, Del Monte, U.S. Cellular, Coors, and 7–11. He gained some prominence as the first "not exactly" guy in the long-runningHertz Rent A Car campaign. Federman began landing small television parts onBaywatch,Amen,Dear John,A Different World,Doogie Howser, M.D., andNewsRadio. He had recurring roles onL.A. Law (3 episodes) andLiving Single (3 episodes).

In 1994, Federman made his debut onThe Tonight Show and has subsequently appeared many times on the program. He also appeared onLate Fridays,Comedy Showcase, andPremium Blend. In 2004, he taped his own 1/2-hour stand-up special for the series,Comedy Central Presents.

In 1998, Wayne portrayed Larry Sander's brother Stan onThe Larry Sanders Show, and was later reunited withGarry Shandling onThe X-Files episode "Hollywood A.D.". Written and directed byDavid Duchovny, the creative episode followed "Wayne Federman", a Hollywood producer/writer and college friend of assistant FBI directorWalter Skinner.

Television led Wayne to film roles inJack Frost,Dill Scallion,Legally Blonde,50 First Dates,Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,The 40-Year-Old Virgin,Unaccompanied Minors,Knocked Up,Step Brothers,Funny People, andThe House. He became known for appearing in just one scene in a film and then disappearing; he calls this the "Federman-and-out".^[2]

In 2006, Federman landed the recurring role of "Johnson" on the short-livedCBS sitcomCourting Alex. He co-wrote and starred inMax and Josh, a short film that premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, where it won theVolkswagen Relentless Drive Award.^[3]

From 2007 to 2013, Federman wrote, produced, and hosted an annual holiday variety show entitledA Very Federman Christmas at the Los Angeles nightclubLargo. Guests includedPaul F. Tompkins,Kevin Nealon,Jon Hamm,Dana Gould,Sarah Silverman,Mary Lynn Rajskub,Samm Levine,Margaret Cho,Greg Behrendt,Willie Garson,Paul Williams,Matt Besser,John C. Reilly, andAndrew Daly.

In 1990, while shooting a television commercial campaign for McDonald's (directed byHenry Winkler), Federman recorded a series of tie-in radio commercials. This launched hisvoice-over career. Since then his distinctive voice has been heard on hundreds of radio and television spots. He was the voice of the talking ham and cheese sandwich in the long-running Florida Orange Juice campaign.

He also provided voices for the animated seriesThe Wild Thornberrys,King of the Hill, andAmerican Dad!, as well as the voice of Cartoon Cartoon Friday on theCartoon Network.

In 2007, Federman voiced a series ofLabatt Beer commercials, portraying a fish, a deer, a boulder, and a slab of ice. This ad was eventually pulled and re-edited when viewers complained of the implied vulgarity.

In 2015, Federman voiced a camel (Phil) in aGEICO insurance commercial.

In 2022, Federman voiced a character forGeorge Carlin's American Dream.

In 2000, Federman began co-authoring (withMarshall Terrill) a new, authorized biography ofNBA basketball legendPete Maravich. Working closely with the Maravich family, the book,Maravich, was released on January 3, 2007. It became an Amazon Sports Bestseller.

In 2000, Federman was interviewed for, and served as senior consultant on, the Emmy award-winningCBS Sports documentary,Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich. He was also featured on bothESPNSportsCentury: Pete Maravich and inESPN'sSEC Storied documentary entitledMaravich.

In 2007, Federman edited a highlight montage entitledThe Ultimate Pistol Pete Maravich MIX. This mixture of basketball clips from both Maravich's NCAA and NBA careers was posted on YouTube, Yahoo Video, and Google Video. It garnered over one million hits in its first month and was featured in bothSports Illustrated andDime magazines.

In the 1990s Federman was a founding member of the group Truck Stop Harrys, along with Tudor Sherrard andMatthew Porretta.

Federman co-wrote several songs for the filmDill Scallion and was the music director and keyboardist forMaria Bamford's critically acclaimedThe Special Special Special.

Beginning in 2014, Federman became the piano player and music coordinator forNever Not Funny's annual internet telethon, Pardcast-A-Thon.

In 2009, Federman moved to New York to help launch NBC'sLate Night with Jimmy Fallon. He was the show's head monologue writer in its first season and left in January 2010.

On April 20, 2010, Federman unearthed a long-lost live episode of theGeneral Electric Theater while working on a television retrospective for the Reagan Centennial Celebration. The episode, from December 1954, was noteworthy because it teamedRonald Reagan withJames Dean. Highlights were broadcast on theCBS Evening News,NBC Nightly News, andGood Morning America.

In July 2010, Federman was part of the last comedians to tour and perform for U.S. combat troops throughout Iraq duringOperation Iraqi Freedom.

One of Federman's stand-up jokes aboutWoody Allen ("I’ve come to really admire Woody Allen. It’s been 14 years, and he’s still married to the same daughter.") was voted the No. 4 joke of the year in 2010 by a survey inThe New York Post.

In June 2011, Federman headlined the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain along withJames Hill.

January 2012 saw the launch of the annual Wayne Federman International Film Festival, featuring comedians screening the movies they love. Participants included Paul F. Tompkins,Garry Shandling,Andy Kindler,Kevin Pollak,Margaret Cho,Doug Benson,Zach Galifianakis,Bill Burr,Will Forte,Sacha Baron Cohen,Chris Hardwick,Lauren Lapkus,Kathy Griffin,Dana Gould,Bill Hader,Patton Oswalt,Tig Notaro,Aziz Ansari,Jeff Garlin, andSarah Silverman.

In 2014, Federman appeared with singerKenny Rogers in a national GEICO commercial. In the spot, Rogers sings a portion of his song "The Gambler" during a poker game.

In 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, Federman co-wrote theIndependent Spirit Awards, hosted bySeth Rogen,Andy Samberg,Patton Oswalt, and the team ofFred Armisen andKristen Bell respectively. Federman received threeWriters Guild of America Award nominations and oneEmmy Award nomination for his work.

Federman also wrote on theCreative Arts Emmys (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019),Critics Choice Awards (2016, 2017, 2020), andThe Golden Globes (2017), theDGA Awards (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022), and theSAG Awards (2019).

Federman has guested on over 100 podcasts, includingBattleship Pretension,Comedy Bang! Bang!,The Nerdist Podcast,Never Not Funny,Doug Loves Movies,You Made It Weird,The Adam Corolla Show,Ridiculous History,Sup Doc,FitzDog Radio,The Carson Podcast,Improv4Humans,Kevin Pollak Chat Show,Sklarbro Country,The Joe Rogan Experience,Who Charted, andThe 500 with Josh Adams Meyers.

From March 2015 until December 2017, Federman co-hosted the podcastHuman Conversation with comedianErin McGathy. The two discussed various, oft-delightful, and meandering topics, without the aid of technology.Human Conversation was suspended when Erin McGathy moved to Ireland.

Federman launched a new podcast in September 2018 entitled,The History of Standup. Along with co-host Andrew Steven, the two chronicle the history of stand-up comedy from Vaudeville to Netflix. In 2019 they completed a second season that focused on "venues, scenes, and events." Some guests that have appeared onThe History of Standup includeMargaret Cho,Mike Birbiglia,Tig Notaro,Lily Tomlin,Demetri Martin,Shecky Greene,Judd Apatow,Pete Holmes,Jimmy Pardo, journalist Julie Seabaugh, and comedy historianKliph Nesteroff.

In 2018, Federman co-produced the Emmy-winning HBO documentary,The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. He also produced an award-winning web series with Don Rickles entitled,Dinner With Don, as well asJudd Apatow's 2017 Netflix stand-up special,The Return.

In 2022, Federman produced the two-partHBO documentaryGeorge Carlin's American Dream.

In November 2011, Federman wrote an article documentingRonald Reagan's pivotal role during theSAG strike of 1960 that established residual payments for film actors. It was published inThe Atlantic.

In January 2013, Federman wrote an article onPete Maravich's untimely death in 1987. Entitled "A Miracle Heart" the article was published bySlam Magazine.

In September 2015, Federman wrote a long-form article entitled "From Sullivan to CK: a History of Modern American Standup" forSplitsider magazine.

In 2016 Federman penned two articles forVulture magazine. One, on the enduring impact of comedianRichard Pryor's 1979 concert film - and the other on the many comedy rooms that Federman played over his thirty-plus years performing stand-up comedy.

In 2021 Federman wrote an article forVulture entitled "The Wild Career ofJackie Mason."

The Chronicles of Federman is a three-volume retrospective of rare audio recordings of Wayne Federman's stand-up career (1984–2015). It was produced byAspecialthing Records and released in 2016. The liner notes were written byJudd Apatow.

In the Spring of 2017, Federman began his tenure as an adjunct professor atThe University of Southern California. He teaches level-2 stand-up performance and a critical studies course on the history of stand-up comedy for theUSC School of Dramatic Arts.

• Newsreaders (2014)
• The Neighbors (2013)
• American Dad! (2012)
• The League (2011)
• Running Wilde (2010)
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2009)
• Head Case (2008)
• Heist (2006)
• Courting Alex (2006)
• Cheap Seats (2006)
• King of the Hill (2005)
• Comedy Central Presents (2004)
• Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (2003)
• Oliver Beene (2003)
• The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (2002)
• Late Friday (2001)
• The Sports List (2001)
• D.O.A. (1997) Unaired Christopher Guest HBO Pilot
• Make Me Laugh (1997)
• The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997)
• Don't Quit Your Day Job (1996)
• Almost Home (1993)
• Doogie Howser, M.D. (1993)
• Amen (TV series) (1991)
• Baywatch (1990)
• Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon (1989)
• Comedy Tonight (1986)

• The Chronicles of Federman (2016)Aspecialthing Records

• Uninterrupted: Real Stories of Basketball - Pistol Pete Maravich (2024) VICE
• Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution (2022) A&E
• We Need to Talk About Cosby (2022) SHOWTIME
• The Story of Late Night (2021) CNN
• The History of Comedy (2018) CNN
• SEC Storied Maravich (2018) ESPN
• I Am Battle Comic (2017)
• Comedy Road (2017)
• Reagan: From Movie Star to President (2017) REELZ
• Misery Loves Comedy (2016)
• Being Canadian (2015)
• I Am Road Comic (2014)
• Eat, Drink, Laugh: The Story of The Comic Strip (2013)
• I Am Comic (2009)
• Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich (2001) CBS
• ESPN SportsCentury (2001)

• Federman, Wayne (15 March 2021).The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle (2021). Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US.ISBN 979-8706637026.
• Federman, Wayne; Terrill, Marshall (2008).MARAVICH: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete (2009). Tyndale House Publishers.ISBN 978-1589975354.

• Wayne Federman atIMDb
• Official Website
• Wayne Federman, Faculty, University of Southern California
• Video Clip: A Brief History of Wayne Federman
• Atlantic Article on Ronald Reagan and the 1960 SAG strike
• Federman on Pete Maravich NPR Interview
• CBS NEWS James Dean Ronald Reagan Rare Film
• The History of Stand-Up (podcast)

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