With more than 20 years as a stand-up comedian—and success in film, TV, radio, podcasts, and on the live stage—Tom Papa is one of the country’s top comedic voices. He is a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and late-night TV shows.
In February 2020, Netflix premiered Papa’s fourth hour-long, stand-up special Tom Papa: You’re Doing Great!, a hilarious rebuttal to our current cultural feeling of dread, in which Papa reminds you that you’re doing OK—and that life isn’t perfect, it never will be, and that’s OK. In May 2020, Papa released his second book, You’re Doing Great!: And Other Reasons To Stay Alive, a collection of essays on how people really live in modern America and what’s truly good and wonderful about our lives. His first book, Your Dad Stole My Rake: And Other Family Dilemmas (St Martin’s Press, 2018) made “Summer Must Read” lists from Parade Magazine to The New York Post.
In the fall of 2018, Tom hosted his own Food Network TV series, Baked, during which he shared his love of baking and explored bakeries throughout the country.
Papa’s third hour-long, stand-up special Human Mule, which had its TV premiere on Epix in 2016, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Hulu, and other major outlets. Papa’s prior two critically-acclaimed, hour-long specials (both of which were directed by Rob Zombie) include Tom Papa: Freaked Out (2013) and Tom Papa Live in New York City (2011).
Papa is host of the hit podcast and SiriusXM weekly, hour-long show Come to Papa, during which he explores the funny side of life. Several times a year, Papa hosts a live Come to Papa radio play. With residencies at Largo in Los Angeles and The Village Underground in NYC, he writes the script for each show and casts top actors and comedians to play the roles or perform stand-up, all backed by a live band. Performers include Matt Damon, Sarah Silverman, Joel McHale, Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, John Mulaney, Kevin Nealon, Kevin Pollack and many more.
Papa was in Rob Zombie’s 2019 film 3 From Hell (sequel to The Devil’s Rejects); and in 2015, guest-starred on The Jim Gaffigan Show on TV Land and on Colin Quinn’s web series Cop Show. In 2014, he appeared alongside Clive Owen in Steven Soderbergh’s Cinemax series The Knick, and in Chris Rock’s film Top Five. In 2013, he appeared with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra, which was directed by Steven Soderbergh and won 11 Emmys.
Papa was also in the hit Comedy Central series Inside Amy Schumer; the Steven Soderbergh film The Informant (starring opposite Matt Damon), Rob Zombie’s animated feature The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (as the voice of El Superbeasto, and starring opposite Paul Giamatti), and the films Analyze That (opposite Robert DeNiro) and Comedian. He was a writer for the DreamWorks animated feature Bee Movie, in which he also had a voiceover role.
Papa was personally chosen by Jerry Seinfeld to host the NBC series The Marriage Ref, which ran for two seasons. Papa had a recurring role opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the CBS series The New Adventures of Old Christine, and starred in his own NBC series Come to Papa.
As a writer, Papa’s credits include the Rob Zombie film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, the Jerry Seinfeld film Bee Movie, and the TV series Red Oaks, The Marriage Ref, and Come to Papa.
When not touring the country, Papa lives in Los Angeles with his wife, two daughters, a cat, and a dog—and spends most of his time writing and baking bread.
