James Joseph Norton (born July 19, 1968)[1][2][3][4][5] is an American comedian, radio personality, actor, author, and television and podcast host.

In 2000, Norton made his debut on Opie and Anthony and joined the show as a third mic in 2001 which increased his national exposure.

He went on to have a recurring role on the sitcom Lucky Louie and featured as a regular panellist on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.

[17] During this time, at age 13, Norton started to drink heavily, "mostly vodka and grain alcohol" because it got him drunk quicker.

[20][21] After being sober for around three years, Norton obtained his GED[22] and attended Middlesex County College with the aim of pursuing a Juris Doctor degree and becoming a lawyer, but quit after one month.

[26][27] Norton performed his first stand-up routine in April 1990 at an open mic night at Varsity, a pub in Sayreville, New Jersey, when he was 21.

"[28] Norton credited Pat Gaynor for putting him on stage that night, and Ward and John Magnuson of Rascals comedy club as being "instrumental" in his early development.

[29] Following his debut, Norton spent five years working on his stand-up traveling to New York, New Jersey, Boston, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida with comedians Jim Florentine and Bob Levy, who were coming up at the same time.

[28][26] Norton developed an act based on self-deprecating humor, which came naturally to him and gained encouragement when other comedians told him they enjoyed it.

[28] Norton had a breakthrough in 1997 after comedian Andrew Dice Clay noticed his appearance on The Louie Show and asked him to be his opening act on his tours when his original pick cancelled at the last minute.

[23][26] The two first met at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles where Norton was doing his first gig at the venue, and learned Clay wished to go on stage after him.

[25] Norton went on to open for Clay in the course of the following three years,[26] playing large venues including Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2000.

[29] The absence of Opie and Anthony from the airwaves between August 2002 and October 2004 encouraged Norton to write and develop his stand-up act.

[33] He released his first, Please Be Offended on the television channel Epix in June 2012, and features Ozzy Osbourne sitting on a toilet introducing Norton.

[18] In October 2008, Norton was sued by New York City attorney Roy Den Hollander over his treatment during a phone interview on Opie and Anthony.

[58] In mid-2016, Norton ended an online crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo for the production of The Chip Chipperson Show, an animated web series based on the same titled character that he does on the radio.

[35] He had received many requests to have the concept animated, and launched the project to have five full episodes made by Big Hug Productions.

[59] In May 2016, Norton became the co-host of UFC Unfiltered, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship audio podcast, with former fighter Matt Serra.

[60] Norton then launched his own weekly audio and video podcast based on his Chip Chipperson character, on the Riotcast network.

[28][31] The two pilots were Camp Cool, filmed in Cancun for MTV Spring Break, also starring Al Shearer about helping men meet women, and Stupid Bets.

[23][24] His manager advised him not to compete in Last Comic Standing as it was a reality show, but he agreed as he was depressed and frustrated with the uncertainty of his career as Opie and Anthony had been cancelled.

Since mid-2007, Norton has been a regular guest on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on Fox News which he later credited as a contributor in boosting turnouts to his comedy shows.

[66] The show featured opening monologues, pre-recorded bits, and guest interviews including co-host Bailey Jay, comedians Dave Attell, Whitney Cummings, and Gilbert Gottfried; and Mike Tyson, Dana White, and "Freeway" Rick Ross.

Though it was not picked up, the show was reworked into a discussion program where he hosts a panel who talk about a single subject for thirty minutes.

[69] In early 2007, Norton announced the near completion of his first book, a collection of stories of his life with anecdotes from his childhood and his comedy career.

4 on The New York Times Best Seller list under hardcover non-fiction,[71] and entered the Amazon.com Top 10 for books the day it was released, peaking at No.

[73] In 2002, Norton appeared on the short film Crooks, a straight to video release about postal workers stealing stamps.

[74] Norton had a pivotal role in the 2008 film Courting Condi, counseling Devin Ratray on how to win the heart of Condoleezza Rice.

[75] Norton starred in the crime film The Irishman as a young Don Rickles who tells jokes to a crowd with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci present.

He landed the part without an audition, and De Niro requested that Norton perform his own material after using jokes from Rickles's act from the 1970s.