Jon Glaser

Early life

Jon Glaser was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Southfield, Michigan. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he performed in the sketch comedy troupes Comedy Company and Just Kidding with Jon Hein, H. Anthony Lehv and Craig Neuman.

Career

Jon Glaser is a five-time Emmy nominee with the writing staff of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has appeared in the films Pootie Tang, School for Scoundrels, and Be Kind Rewind, and he has guest-starred on comedy programs such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, Wonder Showzen, Bob's Burgers and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He was also a lead voice actor in several animated comedy programs such as Stroker and Hoop, Freak Show, and Lucy the Daughter of The Devil. In 2012, he began a recurring role as Leslie Knope's rival, Councilman Jeremy Jamm in the fifth and sixth seasons of the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.

Glaser is the creator and star of the live-action Adult Swim series Delocated, about "Jon", a man in the witness protection program with his own reality show. The show aired its final episode on March 7, 2013. Glaser's Delocated character, "Jon" was also featured as a DJ on an Adult Swim-themed radio station in the video game Saints Row: The Third. In February 2012, Glaser appeared as the spokesman in a series of Subway commercials playing his Delocated character.

Glaser was a member of the mainstage cast of The Second City during the mid-1990s, performing alongside future Saturday Night Live head writer Adam McKay and cast member Rachel Dratch, as well as future Mr. Show and 30 Rock cast member Scott Adsit. In Second City's award-winning revue Pinata Full of Bees, which was directed by Tom Gianas, Glaser sang about the importance of not betraying a friendship by pretending not to have legs in order to play in a wheelchair basketball league. He also provided musical accompaniment for the show's climax by drumming in a demonic pig mask, and appeared onstage throughout the show to pass judgement on audience members for laughing at jokes he considered socially irresponsible.

Early in his television career, Glaser wrote and occasionally performed on the short-lived sketch comedy programs The Jenny McCarthy Show on MTV and The Dana Carvey Show. He also made one appearance as a correspondent on The Daily Show in 2004. Glaser is also known for his comedic partnership with H. Jon Benjamin. For a number of years they hosted a live sketch show together in New York City called Midnight Pajama Jam, and have also performed stand-up comedy together for many years, often playing characters who bicker and argue with each other while on stage. Glaser created and starred in the Comedy Central web-series Tiny Hands, which has been shown on the channel's short film series Atom TV a number of times. More recently Glaser worked as a contributing writer and occasional performer on the sketch comedy programs Human Giant, Jon Benjamin Has a Van and Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, as well as providing voices in the animated film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. In 2009, Glaser worked as the head writer and segment producer on the HBO sports program Joe Buck Live. Glaser also appeared on the ESPN classic show Cheap Seats, providing such roles as "Beamy" and the "Score Settler".

Glaser is currently a voice actor for the animated version of the cartoon strip Get Your War On and appearing as "Video Cowboy" in ESPN's Mayne Street starring Kenny Mayne. Glaser was also the lead singer in the New York City-based comedy band "Detroit Octane"; they performed their song "Barack Obama-sistible" (sung to the tune of the Robert Palmer song "Simply Irresistible") on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on June 17, 2008. He was also the bass player in "A Matter of Trust", another comedy music project he was involved in with comedians H. Jon Benjamin, Todd Barry and Tom Shillue. The band's gimmick was that they only played the Billy Joel song "A Matter of Trust" over and over again, and refused to play any other songs. They performed as an opening act for The New Pornographers in 2006. He also appeared in seasons 2, 3 and 4 of HBO's Girls as Laird, a recovering addict and neighbor of Lena Dunham's character Hannah. He appears in the film Trainwreck.

Glaser's first published book My Dead Dad Was in ZZ Top, was released on February 8, 2011.

Glaser appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast on April 24, 2015. The episode was recorded live as part of the 2015 Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival in Boston.

Glaser's mini-series for Adult Swim, Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter premiered on December 7, 2015.

Notable characters on Late Night with Conan O'Brien