| T. J. Jagodowski | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 2, 1971 Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Known for | improvisational theatre |
T. J. Jagodowski (b. September 2, 1971, Holyoke, Massachusetts) is an American comedian, actor, and improvisor living in Chicago. He has been a member of The Second City as well as a performer and teacher at iO, formerly known as Improv Olympic. He has appeared in movies such as Stranger Than Fiction, The Ice Harvest, No Sleep Till Madison, and the television show, Prison Break. He is most recognizable from the long running series of improvised Sonic Drive-In commercials featuring himself and Peter Grosz.
The Chicago Improv Festival called him "The best improviser in Chicago". New City Chicago said, "If Miles Davis had pursued comedy instead of music, the results might have looked something like this."[1] Jagodowski performs weekly in Chicago in a variety of improv programs, but most notably in "T.J. and Dave" with David Pasquesi, which the Chicago Reader has described as "an hour of subtle character development, verbal facility, and pantomimic agility that anticipates and plays off the audience's reactions."[2] The duo perform this show monthly at The Barrow Street Theatre in New York City since 2006 and have been performing the show weekly since 2002 in Chicago.[3]
While in college at Syracuse University,[4] a vending machine fell on his leg, breaking multiple bones. He had plates and screws installed in his right leg, though a rampant staph infection took hold.[5] Doctors told him he was one week away from losing the leg to gangrene. T.J. discussed this during a performance of "The Armando Diaz Theatrical Experience and Hootenanny", a weekly show at iO that uses one performer's/guest monologist's stories as inspiration for improvised scenes. T.J. was the monologist that evening and noted while telling the story that he generally hates when other monologist's tell "these kinds of stories".
In 2007, he performed with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. The 2009 South by Southwest Film festival included the documentary “Trust Us, This is All Made Up” directed by Alex Karpovsky, which chronicles a "T.J. and Dave" performance.[6][7]