| Chris Rush | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 11, 1948 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Medium | Stand-up, Television, Radio |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1970 - Present |
| Genres | Observational humor, Satire, Black comedy |
| Subject(s) | Drug use, Religion, Everyday life, Politics, Quantum Physics, Outer Space |
| Influences | Shelley Berman,[1] George Carlin,[1] Myron Cohen,[1] Bob Newhart [1] |
| Influenced | Adam Ferrara,[2] Adam Sandler[3] |
| Website | Official website |
Chris Rush (born February 11, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and author. He is best known for his stand-up routines and albums along with being a writer and editor on the satirical publication National Lampoon Magazine.[4]
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Rush was born in Brooklyn, New York.[5] He is of Italian descent and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.[5][6] He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and graduated from City College of New York in 1968.[7] Before becoming a comedian Rush was a molecular biologist, working at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital for two years.[7] He embarked on a professional comedy career following an open mic night at a comedy club.[1]
Rush is a conservationist and supporter of Greenpeace.[8] Though raised in the Catholic faith he left the church when in the seventh grade.[5] He considers himself to be a Taoist and can be seen wearing the Yin and Yang symbol on his shirt during his performances.[9]
Chris Rush wrote for National Lampoon Magazine in the early 1970s.[8] making his first appearance in the August 1970 issue.[10] During his time at Lampoon he was involved in another comedy magazine titled Drool, which came out with only one issue in 1972.[11] He left the magazine when he was signed to Atlantic Records by Ahmet Ertegun to release his first comedy album First Rush in 1973.[12] In 1974 he appeared in yet another magazine titled Harpoon.[13]
Rush opened for musicians and bands including B.B. King, Meat Loaf, Talking Heads and Electric Light Orchestra while becoming a frequent performer at comedy clubs, theaters and colleges throughout the United States and Canada. He performed at such venues as The Bottom Line,[14] Caroline's, The Improv and The Comedy Store.[15] He released his second album Beaming In in 1981. His performances landed him on national television with appearances on Comedy Tonight, Night Flight and Apt. 2C, a pilot for HBO starring his mentor and friend George Carlin[16]
In the early to mid 90's Rush was involved in a series of shorts made for Comedy Central's show Small Doses, titled Food for Thought. It starred Patton Oswalt and Blaine Capatch as two bumbling store clerks and Chris as the manager.[17] He was asked to contribute to Tim Allen's book I'm Not Really Here, which was released in 1996.[18] He released an additional comedy album in 1997. During this time, he made sporadic stand-up comedy appearances. He worked for comic Bob "Wolf" Wohlfeld in the late 1990s on PYX 106 with The Wakin' Up With The Wolf Show, where he was a co-host. Some of his bits were put onto an album released by the show, titled Chris's Head.[19] The relationship ended though when the studio fired Rush in December 1998.[20]
On October 1, 2007 Rush released a 98-page humor book through Andrews McMeel Publishing, titled Milking The Rhino (Dangerously Funny Lists). The book includes stories and lists in the author's style of humor. Stand-up comedian George Carlin wrote the foreword to the book.
In April 2009 Chris launched a one man show titled, Bliss: An Evening of Laughter with Chris Rush, which was financed by George Carlin before he died in June, 2008.[21][22]
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | First Rush | Atlantic Records |
| 1981 | Beaming In | City Sounds |
| 1997 | There's No Bones In Ice Cream | Sundazed Records |
In addition to being a co-host on PYX 106, Rush has been an often guest on The Joey Reynolds Show,[28][29] The Morning Zoo on WMMR, Esoterica with Johnny Rizzo on WPKN, where he does a once a month call in segment talking about recent events,[30] Dr. Demento, who will sometimes play Chris' comedy routines [31] and he's also appeared on Opie and Anthony.[32]