Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, outspoken atheist, political activist, writer and former co-host on Air America Radio's The Majority Report.

Background
Janeane Garofalo is of Italian/Irish descent, the child of Carmine Garofalo and Joan Garofalo. She grew up in various places, including Ontario, California; Madison, New Jersey; and Katy, Texas where she graduated from James E. Taylor High School. While studying history at Providence College, Garofalo entered a comedy talent search sponsored by the Showtime cable network, winning the title of Funniest Person in Rhode Island.

Entertainment career
Comedy
She officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the late 1980s. Her appearance was often in line with very late 1980s style. Her comedy is often self-insulting; she has made fun of popular culture and the pressures on women to be conventional to body image ideals promoted by the media.When in San Francisco, Garofalo was a frequent guest at the San Francisco Comedy Condo.Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations she references for direct quotes during her act, and uses present events to improve the improvised, fully informal aspect of her standup. Garofalo feels she does not tell jokes but makes observations and hopes to get laughs. In her act, she once told of getting mugged and having her notebook stolen. So, if you see two guys bombing at the Funny Bone, that's them.

Television
Her television series debut was on the short-lived The Ben Stiller Show on Fox in 1992, on which she was a cast member alongside longtime friends. A chance meeting on the set of that show led her to be offered the role of Paula on The Larry Sanders Show on HBO, in 1996 and 1997, earning her two Emmy Award nominations.

Films
Garofalo's first critically-acclaimed starring role in film was in 1996 in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, a variation on Cyrano de Bergerac which featured Uma Thurman while Garofalo played a highly intelligent radio host. Initially an independent film, it became a studio movie when Uma Thurman was signed to play the shallow model. The film was a modest hit, but Garofalo detests it to this day, calling it anti-feminist.Based on the success of this film, director Cameron Crowe then offered her the leading lady role in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise if she could lose weight, but after trimming down, she learned that Ren?e Zellweger had won the part instead in what was to become a career-launching smash hit.

Air America Radio
She became a co-host for Air America Radio's new show The Majority Report in late March 2004, alongside Sam Seder. Garofalo once said getting on the radio was an early career goal of hers. A program advertisement: The battle to reclaim America from the forces of darkness continues with hosts Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder. The early days of Air America Radio are chronicled in the documentary Left of the Dial, which includes a debate between Janeane and her conservative father Carmine.

On July 21, 2006 was her last broadcast as co-host of The Majority Report aired. Since then, she has made a few appearances on The Sam Seder Show. She called on October 4 to discuss the Mark Foley scandal and on October 31 she was in studio where she portrayed an evil/crazy Katherine Harris in a Halloween skit. After the 2006 elections, Garofalo has continued to portray Harris on the show in numerous appearances.Garofalo made a series of appearances in April 2007, in New York and Los Angeles with Henry Rollins and former AAR personality Marc Maron.