Joe Toplyn | |
|---|---|
| Education | Harvard University (BA, MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Television writer; producer; author |
| Partner | Sheryl Judd Toplyn (1983–present) |
| Awards | 4 Primetime Emmy Awards (writing) |
| Website | joetoplyn |
Joe Toplyn is an American television writer, producer, and author whose credits include Late Night with David Letterman , The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Late Show with David Letterman , the sketch series In Living Color , and the detective comedy series Monk . [1] [2] He is a four-time Primetime Emmy Award winner for writing on Late Night with David Letterman and has served as head writer or co-head writer on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman. [2] He is also the author of the instructional book Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV and the creator of Witscript, an AI-powered joke-writing system. [3] [4]
Toplyn studied applied physics and computer science at Harvard College, where he joined The Harvard Lampoon and became an editor. [4] [2] He graduated from Harvard with a degree in engineering and later received an MBA from Harvard Business School. [2] Before entering television writing he worked in business roles, including financial analysis at Columbia Pictures. [4]
After several years of working in business, Toplyn joined the writing staff of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman in the 1980s, after being recruited by head writer Jim Downey, a former Lampoon colleague. [1] [4] He spent about six years on the show, rising to head writer, and his work on Late Night earned him four Primetime Emmy Awards for outstanding writing. [1] [2]
After leaving Late Night, Toplyn wrote sketches for the Fox series In Living Color and moved into situation comedies including Doctor Doctor , Charlie Hoover , Hangin' with Mr. Cooper , and The Larry Sanders Show . [4] [5] He served as head writer on the short-lived The Chevy Chase Show and later became co-head writer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and head writer of CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, also working as a producer on the latter. [4] [2] [5] In the 2000s Toplyn joined the writing staff of the USA Network detective comedy Monk , where his credits include writer and co-executive producer. His other television credits include producing and head-writing for the daytime talk series The Caroline Rhea Show .
From the mid-2010s Toplyn has focused increasingly on computational humor. He developed Witscript, a patented software system that generates monologue-style jokes from user prompts and is marketed as subscription software by his company Twenty Lane Media. [1] [4] Toplyn is also the author of Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV: How to Write Monologue Jokes, Desk Pieces, Sketches, Parodies, Audience Pieces, Remotes, and Other Short-Form Comedy, first published in 2014 by Twenty Lane Media. [3]
Toplyn married Sheryl Judd Toplyn in 1983. [6] Together, they have two sons, and reside in Westchester County, New York. [7]