Jimmy Failla

Early life and beginnings of career

Jimmy Failla is a former New York City cab-driver turned stand up comedian who was named Outstanding Male Comedian of the year at the 2014 New York City Nightlife Awards. He appears regularly on the Kennedy Show on the Fox Business Channel and also makes appearances on Strange Inheritance: Unpacked as well as Redeye on Fox News. He is also serving as the spokesman / mascot for the Flipps Mobile App. In addition, he is the head writer for A-List Comedy, a national comedy service that supplies topical humor and audio sketches to over 200 radio stations a day.

Stand-up

Failla's first professional shows took place at Times Square's Ha! Comedy Club and Caroline's on Broadway. He has since gone on to become a regular at all of the major clubs in the city including his home club, Gotham Comedy Club, as well as Comic Strip Live. He has shared the stage with countless big name comics, including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Jim Gaffigan, and Dave Chappelle.

Snakes in a Cab

Jimmy Failla, along with award winning playwright, Dean Imperial, created the viral YouTube video "Snakes in A Cab," which caused a media frenzy, and was featured in the NY Post, the Huffington Post (March 20, 2014), TMZ (March 19, 2014), TIME (March 19, 2014), and People Magazine, among others. The video got Failla a lot of hate mail from special interest groups, namely the animal rights organization, PETA. The reactions of the passengers are completely unscripted, and were asked to sign a release after the prank took place. The video was made with the best intentions, and was ultimately a tool to promote Failla's first book, titled Follow That Car! A Cabbie's Guide To Conquering Fears, Achieving Dreams, And Finding A Public Restroom.

Television

Failla appears regularly on the Kennedy Show on Fox Business and also makes appearances on Redeye on Fox News as well as Strange Inheritance Unpacked. In addition he has appeared on ESPN's Dream Job (Season 1, Episode 1), The Today Show (October 8, 2008), BBC America's Richard Hammond's Crash Course (October 29, 2012), AXS Television's Gotham Comedy Live (November 15, 2012), and Season 8 of NBC's America's Got Talent (July 2013). Failla's AGT appearance ended in controversy after he asked to be cut from the program in an open letter to producers, a development that became the lead story on Page Six of the NY Post (July 13, 2013). The fallout had to do with an un-aired portion of Failla's first round audition in which Judge Mel B deemed one of his jokes "racist" only to have the crowd stage a revolt on his behalf. Despite Mel's protests, judges Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel voted him on to the Las Vegas round, setting off a wild celebration at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Although that set never aired, it was covered by over 100 news outlets, including TMZ, Perez Hilton, and CBS's The Talk. The incident also resurfaced on the Howard Stern Show later that summer when comic Lisa Lampanelli criticized Mel B and voiced her support of Failla.

Writing

Failla is the head writer for A-List Comedy, a national Comedy service that supplies topical jokes and audio sketches to over 200 radio stations a day. In March 2014, Big Top Press published his first book, Follow That Car! A Cabbie's Guide To Conquering Fears, Achieving Dreams, And Finding A Public Restroom. It was the very first book for Big Top Press, the publishing startup founded by broadcaster Charles Osgood, host of CBS Sunday Morning and The Osgood File. The book was also released as a 48-character audiobook under the directorship of Dean Imperial and the sound editing of Grammy Award Winner Lance Neal. Failla has also written for Maxim Magazine and The Huffington Post's original comedy site, 23/6. In addition, he's served as a resident host at Stupid Ass Questions.com

Radio

In June 2006 he made the first of countless appearances on Sirius XM's Maxim Radio. He's also appeared on The Covino and Rich Show and The Lisa Lampanelli Show on Howard 101.

In September 2010 he began co-hosting a critically acclaimed comedy podcast called The Specialists with international comedy giant Lee Camp and three-time Bunkenheimer Award Winner Kenneth Wood. The show racked over a hundred thousand listeners that fall after gaining a reputation for irreverent 30-second sketches and A-List guests, including Paul Provenza (The Aristocrats) Mo Rocca (CBS) and John Fugelsang (CNN).

In January 2011 the show was rebranded as Off The Meter with Jimmy Failla and they incorporated multi-media star Ophira Eisenberg as another full-time co-host. Eisenberg's tenure lasted six months before leaving to host her own show on NPR, Ask Me Another.

Off The Meter currently broadcasts live on Blog Talk Radio and appears as a podcast on iTunes. The current show lineup features Failla, award winning playwright Dean Imperial, Ken Wood, and semi-frequent contributions from Katie Dolan as well as the aforementioned Mr. Camp. Guests have included everyone from Academy Award Winner George Kennedy to Comedy Central's Chris Gethard. The programming format is geared towards societal elements of New York City, including, but not limited to, subway penis art, celebrity gossip heard in taxis, and a wildly popular advice segment called "Ask A Cabbie".

Calls to the show routinely come from places as far away as Australia and as close as the studio next door, where their neighbors frequently complain about the fracas.