Tom Cotter (comedian)

Last updated
Tom Cotter
Tom Cotter (cropped).jpg
Cotter at Comics Come Home Event in 2013
Birth nameThomas Cotter
Born (1963-06-20) June 20, 1963 (age 60)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Medium Stand-up
Alma mater Denison University
Years active1987–present
SpouseKerri Louise
Children3
Website www.tomcotter.com

Thomas Cotter (born June 20, 1963) is an American comedian who currently resides in Stony Point, New York, known for being the runner-up of the seventh season of America's Got Talent , losing to Olate Dogs. [1] [2]

Contents

Early and personal life

Cotter was raised in the East Side enclave of Providence, Rhode Island as the youngest of six children. His father, Dr. Walter C. Cotter (November 25, 1923 – October 27, 2021), was a World War II navy veteran and later became a well-regarded neurosurgeon. His mother, Barbara Cotter, was a homemaker and managed his father's medical office. Cotter attended the Moses Brown School in Providence, and Denison University for his undergraduate degree.

Cotter is married to Kerri Louise, who is also a stand-up comedian, and the two have three sons. They have worked together on different projects including Two Funny, a reality show on Women's Entertainment network. [3]

Career

He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Last Comic Standing . [4] In 2003, Cotter filmed his own half-hour special for Comedy Central. [1] Cotter has won several comedy competitions. In 1994, he won Seattle's International Stand-Up Comedy Competition. [1] He gained his first success in the Boston comedy scene, where he is still a favorite, and also won the grand prize at the Boston Comedy Festival and was voted Best Stand-Up at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival. [4] Additionally, Cotter has worked in film, theatre, and television productions and, as of 2012, he was working on an idea for a book. [1]

America's Got Talent

In 2012, Cotter appeared on season 7 of NBC's America's Got Talent . He was given a pass to Las Vegas by the show's three judges. He further advanced to the top 48 (quarterfinals) to perform in the live episodes in Newark, New Jersey. [2] On July 10, 2012, he performed a stand-up routine making fun of common clichés and phrases and advanced to the semi-finals. On August 28, 2012, he presented the judges with a list of subjects and asked judge Howie Mandel to pick one. Mandel picked "College", and Cotter then gave a short comedy set on the subject of college and teenagers. He advanced to the final round of six and was the runner-up of the season. On August 21, 2013, Cotter returned to the show to perform on the results show of that night. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrot Top</span> American stand-up comedian and actor (born 1965)

Scott Thompson, known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is widely known for his use of prop comedy.

<i>Last Comic Standing</i> American reality television talent show

Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls. For the first seven seasons, the winner received a cash prize and a television special; for season eight in 2014, the winner won a cash prize, a talent deal with NBC, and a half-hour scripted project developed by Universal Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howie Mandel</span> Canadian actor and comedian (born 1955)

Howard Michael Mandel is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for voicing Gizmo in the 1984 film Gremlins and the 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, playing rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, and creating and starring in the Fox children's cartoon Bobby's World. He has also been a judge on NBC's America's Got Talent since 2010, and Citytv's Canada's Got Talent since 2022. He hosted the American NBC and later CNBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts.

America's Got Talent is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment, and broadcasts on the NBC television network. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after plans for a British edition in 2005 were suspended, following a dispute within the British broadcaster ITV. Production would later resume in 2007, following the success of the first season. Each season is mainly run during the network's summer schedule, and has featured various hosts over the course of the program's history. The current host is Terry Crews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Blue</span> American comedian

Josh Blue is an American comedian. He was voted the Last Comic Standing on NBC's reality show Last Comic Standing during its fourth season, which aired May–August 2006. Blue has cerebral palsy, and much of his self-deprecating humor is centered on this.

Dan Naturman is an American stand-up comedian, who has made numerous appearances on television. His performing style of grouchiness and self-deprecation accompanies his comic content about modern topics such as Internet dating and terrorism. He has appeared on the television series Last Comic Standing and America's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Wills</span> New Zealand prop comic, busker, clown, and mime residing in Las Vegas

Sam Wills is a New Zealand prop comic, busker, clown, and mime artist residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape Face. He was also half of the two-person act Spitroast and sometimes performed under his own name, Sam Wills. He has been featured in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, the World Buskers Festival, and was a finalist on Season 11 of America's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Fator</span> American entertainer

Terry Wayne Fator is an American ventriloquist, impressionist, stand-up comedian, and singer. Born in Dallas, Texas, he developed an interest in ventriloquism from a young age, developing both this and a talent for singing. After initially performing with two bands, Fator eventually conducted solo performances, combining ventriloquism and singing with comedy. He gained national recognition for his talent when he won the second season of America's Got Talent, which helped to boost his career.

Kerri Louise is an American stand-up comedian. Louise was a finalist on the second season of Last Comic Standing and has appeared on television programs such as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and The View. Louise has performed at many of the leading comedy clubs throughout the world, including Caroline's, The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong and The Comic Strip Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grandma Lee</span> American comedian (1934–2020)

Frances Lee Strong, better known by her stage name Grandma Lee, was an American stand-up comedian who was a talent show contestant on America's Got Talent in 2009. She began performing when she was in her 60s and became known for her off-color humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grimm (musician)</span> American singer-songwriter

Michael Joseph Grimm is an American singer-songwriter and winner of the fifth season of America's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray SawChuck</span> Canadian magician

Murray John Sawchuck is a stage illusionist, magician, comedian, actor, and host. Based in Las Vegas, SawChuck has dubbed himself "The 'Dennis the Menace' of Magic," and his shows often consist of a blend of "comical mishaps" that result in illusions and magic tricks. He was featured in the fifth season of America's Got Talent, and is the resident magic historian on Pawn Stars. SawChuck has also appeared as a magic coach on five episodes of the VH1 series Celebracadabra, and has been a guest star on shows such as Reno 911!, Last Comic Standing, Celebrity Blind Date, War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, and Ring of Darkness.

Don McMillan is an American comedian and former engineer based in the San Francisco Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piff the Magic Dragon</span> British magician and comedian

John van der Put is an English magician and comedian, who performs under the stage name Piff the Magic Dragon. A winner of multiple awards from British magic societies, he toured as a supporting act for Mumford and Sons and has appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and America's Got Talent. In June 2019, van der Put was named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch for 2019. Van der Put lives in Las Vegas and has a residency at The Flamingo.

Michael Yo Simmons is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and television host who co-hosted The Insider on CBS, and currently hosts Yo Show on Yahoo! TV. Yo also appears regularly on the comedy panel of Chelsea Lately, as a guest host for The Talk on CBS, and as pop culture commentator on Showbiz Tonight. Michael played football for the University of Arkansas, but his football career was cut short due to multiple concussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olate Dogs</span>

Olate Dogs is an American dog trick act featuring father-and-son trainers Richard and Nicholas Olate. The group won the seventh season (2012) of America's Got Talent, claiming the US$1,000,000 first prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Williamson</span> American stand-up comic and actor

Taylor Williamson is an American stand-up comic and actor. He is known for finishing as the runner-up on the eighth season of America's Got Talent and as a semi-finalist on Last Comic Standing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mat Franco</span> American magician

Mat Franco is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win America's Got Talent, in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on to produce and star in his own primetime TV specials on NBC, Mat Franco’s Got Magic. In 2015 he created and debuted his live stage show in Las Vegas, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly, and he is currently headlining at The LINQ Hotel + Experience at the Mat Franco Theater. In addition to winning "Best Magic Show" at the Best of Vegas Awards, Franco's live production was the top-rated magic show in Las Vegas according to Billboard.com in 2021. Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly was awarded Best Show on the Las Vegas Strip again in 2022.

Gregory Romero "Greg" Wilson,, better known by the stage name The Greg Wilson, is an American stand-up comedian and actor, based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his role as Arno Blount in the 2008 movie The Hottie and the Nottie.

Crystal Powell is an American comedian, actress and singer best known for her roles in Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City on Comedy Central and America's Got Talent on NBC.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Comedians A-Z: Tom Cotter". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  2. 1 2 "America's Got Talent reveals identities of Top 48 seventh-season quarterfinalists", Reality TV World, June 28, 2012
  3. "Two Funny: Cotter and Louise". TV Guide. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  4. 1 2 "Bio Page". Tom Cotter. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  5. "The special guests keep rolling in! Get ready for @train tomorrow night, along with a comedy set from #AGT's own @TomCotterComic!". AGT Twitter. Retrieved 22 August 2013.