J. Chris Newberg
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J. Chris Newberg

New York, New York, United States | SELF

New York, New York, United States | SELF
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"Waiting for Leno to call: Birmingham comic dreams of 'Tonight Show' break From The Detroit News"

J Chris Newberg hasn't been on "The Tonight Show," exactly, but he's been at it twice this month, eating cheese cubes and catching up on his email backstage.

If you're into metaphors, that's a lot like his career. Personally, Newberg is more into short songs and jokes, but still: Once again last week, he was on the precipice of something huge, and then nothing momentous happened and he drove away.

OK, one momentous thing happened. Even though he didn't squeeze onto the broadcast Wednesday, he got paid. When you're living with a succession of friends — "couch surfing," the Birmingham Brother Rice High School alumnus calls it — a check is a noteworthy thing.

It's important to point out that he's not impoverished. He still has a condo in Birmingham, left over from his days owning a process serving business, and he has all the black T-shirts a comedian could need.

Also, he has faith. But cash flow was becoming an issue, so he recently gave up his apartment in Los Angeles … at which point it began raining gigs.

A dating show. A voice-over. A comedy festival in Montreal. Some more bookings for what's now a 91-stop college tour next fall. And the opportunity to sit down with Jay Leno, Howie Mandel and bandleader Rickey Minor — in an offstage lounge.

"I told two jokes, and everyone was cracking up," says Newberg, 42. "I'm thinking, 'They'll all go back to colossal homes, and I'll go back to my friend Eliza's couch."

His day will come, though. He's close, he's unique, and helpfully for a comic, he's funny.

Roasting Piers Morgan

On the way to not winning "America's Got Talent" last year, he conducted a one-man roast of the grumpy Piers Morgan, who had declared that his goal as a judge was to be hated. "Wow," Newberg said. "This show really does make dreams come true."

Newberg also didn't win "Last Comic Standing" in 2006, though of course, neither did 300 million other Americans. But in November, he made it through the annual auditions for "The Tonight Show" — on his 14th try.

Unfortunately, the show hasn't used a first-time stand-up since January.

It almost did on May 10, but an interview with Vinny from "Jersey Shore" ran long and Newberg was bumped. Then his cell phone lit up again at 1 p.m. Wednesday and a producer asked, "Can you be here by 2?"

It's "The Tonight Show." Maybe it's not the cultural force it was when a laugh from Johnny Carson could launch a career, but of course he could be there by 2. He'd have been there by 2 if he was in Omaha.

One of the scheduled guests was singer Bobby Brown, and the show apparently figured it needed a Plan B. Alas, Brown showed up. Newberg had to settle for a private bathroom, a waiter, some more cheese cubes, and a Facebook photo of his name on the door of his dressing room.

Dreams of a teen

He was a teenager in a rock band when he first thought, "Someday, I'm going to be on 'The Tonight Show.'"

He still slings a guitar, but he mostly just fiddles with it or sings a line or two to get in or out of a joke. Like most comedians, he peers at the world with a squint: "I saw a mink wearing a human coat, and I kind of had to respect him for making a statement."

For Leno, his act will have a song at each end with cleaned-up jokes in the middle — 41/2 minutes in front of 4 million people. Pressure, maybe, but it's better than playing for a biker gang, or for 400 college students whose caustic tweets are being projected on a movie screen while he's trying to do his act.

That was just a few days ago in Illinois. He finally pulled one particularly vicious young man out of the crowd. "We'll have a joke-off," Newberg said, and of course he crushed the kid, and he wound up getting a standing ovation and racking up 60 new Twitter followers for @thechrisarmy.

It's a crazy way to almost make a living, but "there's something beautiful," he says, "about achieving something you've tirelessly focused on."

He means both getting laughs in general and get - Detroit News


"'America's Got Talent' Backstage Report: J Chris Newberg on His Piers Morgan Roast by Michael Maloney"

Singer/musician J Chris Newberg, who brilliantly roasted 'America's Got Talent' judge Piers Morgan on Tuesday's Wild Card show, was reminded of an old show biz adage when he failed to advance to the semi-finals in last night's results program.

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

Newberg's act seemed like a shoe-in to continue on in the competition since Morgan's been giving Simon Cowell a run for his money as the reality competition series judge you love to hate the most.

Morgan gave a strike to four different acts on Tuesday's show (including one, not surprisingly, to Newberg) while fellow judges Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel refrained from giving any.

While Morgan himself couldn't help but laugh at a few of the digs, is it possible that Newberg went too far in his opening remark?

Most of Newberg's digs were biting as he poked fun at Morgan for calling skipping "sexy," said he's made "more kids cry than divorce" and remarked that his CNN talk show, 'Piers Morgan Tonight', was seen in more than 100 countries -- and is watched by 100 people.

The performer slammed Morgan so well host Nick Cannon told him that he wanted to hug him. Mandel said he was proud for bringing Newberg back as one of his Wild Card selections. Osbourne was so delighted that she buried her face with laughter during the roast.

Yet Newberg may have gone too far with his first dig in the roast which reminded the audience of reports that attempted to tie the talk show host to that British tabloid phone-hacking scandal.

Why lead with that?

"I did a lot of research," Newberg tells AOL TV. "He had been accused initially and they apologized. They were like, 'our bad.' Honestly, I"m not really concerned with it. I think it's a much bigger deal over [in England.]"

"It was something that was out there," muses Osbourne. "He just did his research and he wrote jokes. I thought he did a great job. You couldn't help but laugh."

Morgan agrees.

"I was [initially] horrified," he says. "But as it went on I found myself spontaneously laughing. It would be churlish to pretend he wasn't being funny. He was, even though I was the target. It was very good material."

Newberg appeared as if he stood a chance of advancing as the results show drew to a close, but he was sent home, leaving the judges to choose between Summerwind Skippers and The Fiddleheads for the final semi-final slot.

Still, the roast-master exits without any gripes or regrets.

"It wasn't frustrating. I got way more out of this than I thought I ever would. I don't have any weirdness. No comic has a chance to win this show ever, not because you're not a good comic but because you're competing with 'flash' and this is television. Comedy will be in a bar or a nightclub."

Newberg's 'AGT' stint makes him a natural to appear on or write for Comedy Central's roast specials.

"I would do that in a second," he says. "That'd be very fun."
Tags: americas got talent, Howie Mandel, j chris newberg, Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne - AOL TV


"J. Chris Newberg owns Piers Morgan in surprise live televised roast on America’s Got Talent 2011"

On Tuesday night's "wild card" round of America's Got Talent for 2011, comedian J. Chris Newberg decided to scrap the guitar and went with his gut, and his gut told him to surprise judge Piers Morgan with a live roast of Piers Morgan!

Newberg hit Morgan right from the start with a first joke about authorizing the hacking of Sir Paul McCartney's phone calls -- News of the World! -- and kept on going. He also hit upon Morgan's dreadful ratings as the replacement for Larry King on CNN. And he even snuck in a dig involving Jay Leno. Later, Newberg told Morgan: "Thank you for giving me a career. Because anybody in this business will tell you, that you're nobody, unless you've been insulted by a nobody on a reality show."

As Morgan himself noted minutes later, "I just got owned."

Here's the full set. Find out if Newberg's stunt helped him advance through to the semifinals. UPDATED: Newberg fell short of the semis, but got the chance to make a gracious exit on Wednesday's show. - The Comic's Comic


"Local comic J. Chris Newberg will to take down Piers Morgan if he returns to America's Got Talent"

J. Chris Newberg, the musical comedian and Oakland County native—his guitar is emblazoned with a “248” decal—was a contestant on America’s Got Talent until last week. Now he wants back on the show, and he’s willing to take down Piers Morgan to make it happen.

Newberg’s stable of comedic songs include “White Trash Girlfriend,” “Shut Up,” and a song about how all these Detroit things (i.e. the zoo) are actually located outside the city.

His pitch is simple: If the people return him to the show, he will use his performance to make fun of Morgan, the guy who replaced Larry King on that network no one watches.

Newberg acknowledges that it’s impossible for a comedian to win the regular summer schedule-filler contest because they compete against adorable kids and people singing with Stevie Nicks. Rather than trying to win, he’ll simply make fun of the smug Brit who may or may not have been an active participant in the News of the World hacking scandal.

“Taking down Piers Morgan will be the most American thing anyone could do,” said Newberg of his plan to roast Morgan for a full 90 seconds.

If you want to see this happen—which you do unless you’re one of those “blame America first, excuse terrorism” French-types—Newberg wants you to support his cause on the America’s Got Talent message board. - MLive,com


"Local comic J. Chris Newberg will to take down Piers Morgan if he returns to America's Got Talent"

J. Chris Newberg, the musical comedian and Oakland County native—his guitar is emblazoned with a “248” decal—was a contestant on America’s Got Talent until last week. Now he wants back on the show, and he’s willing to take down Piers Morgan to make it happen.

Newberg’s stable of comedic songs include “White Trash Girlfriend,” “Shut Up,” and a song about how all these Detroit things (i.e. the zoo) are actually located outside the city.

His pitch is simple: If the people return him to the show, he will use his performance to make fun of Morgan, the guy who replaced Larry King on that network no one watches.

Newberg acknowledges that it’s impossible for a comedian to win the regular summer schedule-filler contest because they compete against adorable kids and people singing with Stevie Nicks. Rather than trying to win, he’ll simply make fun of the smug Brit who may or may not have been an active participant in the News of the World hacking scandal.

“Taking down Piers Morgan will be the most American thing anyone could do,” said Newberg of his plan to roast Morgan for a full 90 seconds.

If you want to see this happen—which you do unless you’re one of those “blame America first, excuse terrorism” French-types—Newberg wants you to support his cause on the America’s Got Talent message board. - MLive,com


"Media & Festival List"

Television:
ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Comedy Central’s Premium Blend
NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Season 4
The World Stands Up - Comedy Central
Fox’s The Sport’s List - Fox Sports
The History Of The Joke - History Channel
Lewis Black Hates the Holidays - History Channel
Last Call with Carson Dailey
Disaster Date – MTV

Film:
Be Funny
The 40 Year Old Virgin That Knocked up Sarah Marshall (out in November)

Comedy Festivals:
Boston Comedy Festival
Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival
Japan, Singapore, China & Australia for the US Service men and Women
International Laugh Festival, Trinidad & Tobago

Comedy Clubs and Venues:
Gotham Comedy Club, NYC
The Improv, LA
Stand Up New York, NY
The Improv, LA
Comedy Store, LA
Comedy & Magic Club, Hermosa Beach
Funny Bone West Virginia
Funny Bone Columbus, OH
Go Banana's Cincinatti, OH
The Comedy Castle - Royal Oak MI
Deja Vu Columbia MO

Video:
Dave Matthews Band Video - You & Me
Awards:
Voted “Best Local Comedian” Real Detroit magazine,
- Sophie K. Entertainment


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio


J Chris Newberg is funny. Ask him. He will disagree, but in a way that is probably humorous. He has performed on Americas Got Talent, but lost to dancers that sparkle. He has also been on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live & Comedy Central. He has toured with Dane Cook and written songs for American Idol. He is in fact the funniest person that you have never heard of. Yet. Cedric The Entertainer agrees saying, He has got an odd sense of humor and he is unique in his point of view. His quirkiness and his own kind of demeanor are things that can go a long way in this business. Talented folks will see it, and the industry will see it. J Chris Newberg also writes jokes, a lot of them. Some of your favorite comedians have used his jokes on SNL, Late Night With David Letterman, Chelsea Lately and The Conan OBrien show. J Chris Newberg is currently developing a show with Howie Mandel for NBC Universal. He doesnt ask you to think. Hell do that for you. Just watch and listen and then tweet your friends and pretend you wrote it. (twitter.com/thechrisarmy) @thechrisarmy