Zach Zimmerman
Zach Zimmerman (born 1988 or 1989)[1] is an American comedian and writer.
His work often touches on autobiographical aspects of queer identity and growing up in a Southern Baptist household. His humor writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post and Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern.[2]
Early life
[edit]Zimmerman was born in Roanoke, Virginia, the son of a Southern Baptist preacher and steakhouse manager.[1][3] He graduated from William Fleming High School in 2006.[4]
The first of his family to go to college, he attended Princeton University, where he was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club theater group. He graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion.[5]
Career
[edit]After graduating, Zimmerman moved to Chicago, where he began performing with The Second City, IO Theater, and Peoples Improv Theater and worked at an LGBTQ community center. In 2017, he mounted a comedic walking tour titled "The Twink on the Fire Escape", visiting sites throughout Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood where he went on a series of ill-fated dates.[1]
Later that year, he moved to New York City, working in advertising as well as comedy. His eventual disenchantment with a corporate career inspired him to pursue comedy full time.[5]
In 2019, Zimmerman was named one of Time Out New York's "comedians to watch", alongside Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott.[6] That year, he performed the show Clean Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, detailing aspects of being raised by religious parents and coming out.[7]
In March 2022, a clip from Zimmerman's crowd work at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan went viral on social media when an audience member came out to the friend with whom she attended the show.[8] That October, Zimmerman performed a set on The Late Late Show with James Corden, his late-night debut.[9]
In 2023, Chronicle Books published Zimmerman's Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)?, a collection of essays and humor pieces on his upbringing and personal journey.[5] The book was optioned by Sony Pictures Television.[2]
That year, Zimmerman was included on Vulture's list of "comedians you should and will know", which described his style as "wicked yet warmly generous", and appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.[4][10]
With Jay Jurden, Zimmerman is the host of the biweekly Brooklyn comedy show Pretty Major, presented by Vulture.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Zimmerman lives in Brooklyn.[12] He identifies as a "queer, vegetarian, atheist socialist."[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Forman, Ross (March 15, 2017). "That's a twink on the fire escape – and now a new walking tour in Lakeview tells the tale". GoPride Chicago. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c Hailu, Selome (May 1, 2023). "Sony Pictures Television Options Zach Zimmerman's Comedic Memoir 'Is It Hot in Here?' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Seabaugh, Julie (October 31, 2019). "Nine Shows to Catch at the New York Comedy Festival". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ a b Grimes, Daniel (April 19, 2023). "Roanoke native releasing book ahead of national comedy tour". WDBJ. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c Olsen, Lily (April 26, 2023). "Comedian Zach Zimmerman '10 Is Releasing a Book of 'Chipper Doom'". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ "Six NYC comedians you're about to be obsessed with in 2019". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on November 6, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Hamill, Thomas (August 15, 2019). "Zach Zimmerman @ Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose". The Skinny. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Rude, Mey (March 7, 2022). "Watch Woman Accidentally Come Out to Friend in Hilarious Stand-Up Set". Out. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ McCarthy, Sean L. (October 14, 2022). "Zach Zimmerman on The Late Late Show with James Corden". The Comic's Comic. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Alter, Rebecca; Clark, Anne Victoria; Fox, Jesse David; Frank, Jason P.; Kroeger, Jake; Pandya, Hershal; VanArendonk, Kathryn (October 2, 2023). "The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2023". Vulture. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Wu, Ashley Shannon (May 13, 2024). "Some Pretty Major News: Vulture's Weekly Comedy Show Is Back". Vulture. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- ^ Marfo, Amma (September 30, 2024). "Zach Zimmerman is back to bring audiences down the 'weird alleyways' of his first special". Cambridge Day. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
- 1980s births
- Living people
- 21st-century American comedians
- 21st-century American essayists
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century people from Illinois
- 21st-century people from New York (state)
- 21st-century people from Virginia
- American humorists
- American LGBTQ comedians
- American male comedians
- American male essayists
- American queer men
- American queer writers
- Comedians from Brooklyn
- Comedians from Chicago
- Comedians from Virginia
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe
- Gay comedians
- LGBTQ people from Illinois
- LGBTQ people from New York (state)
- LGBTQ people from Virginia
- The New Yorker people
- Princeton University alumni
- Queer comedians
- The Second City
- The Washington Post people
- Writers from Brooklyn
- Writers from Chicago
- Writers from Roanoke, Virginia