External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
Jacqueline Novak | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 3, 1982 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Occupations |
|
Jacqueline Novak (born September 3, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and published author. Her off-Broadway, one-woman show Get On Your Knees was a New York Times "Critic's Pick.", [1] and her performance was nominated for a 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. [2] In 2024, Get On Your Knees was made into a Netflix special, directed by Natasha Lyonne. [3] [4] for which she received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. [5]
Novak's memoir How to Weep in Public: Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows was published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown, in 2016. [6] She currently co-hosts a weekly wellness/comedy podcast Poog [7] with friend Kate Berlant. Poog was named one of the ten best podcasts of 2021 [8] by Time Magazine, as well one of the 10 best comedy podcasts of 2021 by Vulture. [9]
Novak was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gregory Novak, a retired marketing executive, and Naomi (Wall) Novak. [10] Her mother is Jewish, her father's parents were Christian. [11] She is the youngest of three children. [10] The family moved to Chappaqua, New York when she was two years old. [12] She attended Horace Greeley High School there and then went on to Georgetown University. [13] Novak and John Mulaney were in the same college improv troupe at Georgetown, both cast by Nick Kroll, who himself was cast in that troupe a couple of years earlier by Mike Birbiglia. [14]
After graduating from college, Novak began doing stand-up in the downtown New York City comedy scene, often hosting shows with comic/actor John Early. [15] During this time, she wrote her memoir How to Weep in Public. She put her efforts next on developing a one-person show, which eventually became the hit Off-Broadway performance Get On Your Knees. [15]
Novak has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . [16] She has also been on The Late Late Show with James Corden , [17] HBO's 2 Dope Queens , [16] Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen , [18] and has had her own half-hour stand-up special on Comedy Central's The Half Hour . [19]
Her TV credits include appearances on Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), Animals (HBO), and The Characters (Netflix). [20] She has also written for Broad City (Comedy Central), Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik (Comedy Central), and Soft Focus with Jena Friedman (Adult Swim). [20]
Since 2020, Novak has also co-hosted the comedy wellness podcast "POOG" alongside comedian Kate Berlant. [7]
Get On Your Knees began as a one-woman show Novak presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in 2018. [21] At the time, the show was called How Embarrassing for Her. [22] After the festival, she workshopped it in Los Angeles. [23] Mike Birbiglia and Natasha Lyonne saw the show, and Birbiglia decided to produce it for a six-week Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Manhattan's West Village. [20] Lyonne agreed to present it. [24] [20] John Early was chosen as director. [20] Due to its popularity, the run at Cherry Lane was extended, then moved to the larger Off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre, also in the West Village. [25] Recognized on two New York Times lists, "Best Theater of 2019" [26] and "Best Comedy of 2019", [27] the show was extended several more times. [28]
A U.S. and international tour of the show was scheduled in 2020, but due to COVID-19 it was postponed. [29] The show's tour resumed in 2021 and continued into 2022. [30]
Get On Your Knees was released as a Netflix comedy special directed by Natasha Lyonne on January 23, 2024. [4] She received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for the Netflix special. [31]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
