Jay Johnston

Jay Johnston is an American comedian, best known for his work as a writer and performer on the mid-1990s HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show.

He was responsible for many of the show's memorable sketches and characters, including "The Story of Everest" which features Johnston performing an astounding number of comical pratfalls. Johnston was arguably the only performer on Mr. Show to regularly incorporate physical comedy.

Johnston attended Columbia College of Chicago, where he studied acting and comedy alongside other future Mr. Show alumni such as Dino Stamatopoulos and Scott Adsit.

Johnston was not as politically aware as his other Mr. Show cohorts or as involved in current events. While this led him to sometimes feel ill-equipped as a writer, it in fact allowed Johnston to write sketches about universal ideas rather than timely issues, thus adding to the much sought-after "evergreen" quality of the show's comedy.

Since the conclusion of Mr. Show, Johnston has made cameo appearances in a number of comedy TV series and movies including several episodes of the critically acclaimed show Arrested Development, an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the Will Ferrell film Anchorman. He has yet to receive the level of recognition that most of his fellow Mr. Show performers have, and as such has not participated in any major creative projects. This is baffling to many Mr. Show fans, to whom Johnston's unique approach to comedy will not soon be forgotten.

Johnston can currently be seen on AMERICAN MISFITS (2006, on FUEL) as the boss, usually during the intros and outros. The show is a half-hour mix of skateboarding and skits, very much in the mold of the early to mid 90's skate videos of STEREO and other companies. Laban Pheidias (formerly of Alien Workshop) is one of the hosts, and Johnston sets up ridiculous ideas which blend into viniettes and skate footage.