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Stephen Lynch
Stephen playing his guitar
Born	July 28, 1971 (1971-07-28) (age 36) 25px Abington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Medium	Musician, Stand up comedy, television, Broadway
Nationality	American
Years active	1996  – Present
Genres	Musical Stand-up Comedy
Influences	Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Mr. Show, Bill Hicks, Harry Chapin, Gordon Lightfoot
Influenced	Drew Lynch, Mark Teich, Rod Cone
Spouse	Erin Dwight
Website	http://www.stephenlynch.com/
Tony Awards
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 2006 The Wedding Singer (nominee)

Stephen Andrew Lynch (born July 28, 1971), is an American stand-up comedian, musician and Tony Award-nominated actor. Lynch has released one studio album and two live albums along with a live DVD. He appeared on his own Comedy Central Presents special (with another one currently in the works) and starred in the Broadway adaptation of The Wedding Singer.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Early career 1.3 2000 to present 1.4 Family and friends 2 Discography 2.1 Demo 2.2 Studio albums 2.3 Live albums 2.4 Broadway 2.5 Compilation 3 Videography 3.1 Live Show 4 References 5 External links

Lynch was born in Abington, Pennsylvania^[1]. His family later moved to Saginaw, Michigan. While in Michigan, Lynch would perform in community theatre and in musical theatre at his high school. Lynch would stay in Michigan until graduated from Western Michigan University and graduated with a B.A. in drama in 1993. It was at Western Michigan University that he found his talent as a comedic song-writer.

Considering himself a musician first and a comedian second^[2][3][4], Lynch cites singer/songwriters Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell as his childhood inspirations, rather than comics.^[2] The mockumentary This is Spinal Tap was his greatest inspiration, and led him to decide his career path^[5]. The first song that he wrote was a country song titled Beefy Burrito^[6].

After spending his first year out of college with friends in California^[7], Lynch moved to New York City in 1996 with the intention of becoming an actor.^[8] Upon his arrival, a friend at the West Bank Cafe on 42nd Street suggested Lynch play some of the comic songs he had written while attending university for an audience^[9]. He soon found great success in comedy clubs and other venues around the city (notably Catch a Rising Star^[2] and Caroline's^[10]), and became a regular on radio shows such as Opie and Anthony^[2][5]. Lynch spent his early years in New York City doing what he called "totally mindless work" as a temp worker. He quit such temporary jobs permanently, signed with What Are Records? in the year 2000 and the William Morris Agency in 2001^[7]. Over the next few years, he toured colleges, universities and nightclubs around the country, avoiding as much as possible the comedy club crowd, which he has stated is not to his taste. He periodically satisfied his love of the stage by returning to Michigan and doing summer stock.^{[11][12] [13]}

As a result of the duality of his act, Lynch turned heads in the music industry as well as on the comedy circuit. He attracted extra attention usually not available to comics by playing venues more often suited to music than to comedy (eventually graduating to hugely famous locations such as the House of Blues, The Town Hall^[4] and the esteemed Kennedy Center)^[10]. He gained great national exposure with his Comedy Central Presents special in 2000, one of the highest rated in the network's history. He has made appearances on Comedy Central's Premium Blend, The World Comedy Tour and The World Stands Up. He has also made four appearances on Last Call with Carson Daly, and has performed at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada.^[5]

Lynch has opened for comedians Jay Mohr, Jeff Foxworthy, Steven Wright, Bobcat Goldthwait and Lewis Black. In the summer of 2004, he went on a tour co-headlining with Mitch Hedberg. The tour was such a success that they added an extra leg and ran into 2005. This was the last tour of Hedberg's before his death.

He has also appeared in five short films, including The Love Seat in 1999 and The Confetti Brothers in 2001^[11][14][15]. Both films were written and directed by Kirker Butler. The Confetti Brothers, a satire, screened to packed houses at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It continues to play the film festival circuit.^[16]

In April 2006, Lynch starred in the title role of Robbie Hart in the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer, which ran on Broadway from April 27, 2006 through December 31, 2006 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.^[9]. This musical production was based on the 1998 New Line Cinema film The Wedding Singer starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. The musical, Lynch's Broadway debut^[15][9], co-starred two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti in the role of Julia Sullivan, originated by Barrymore in the film. The April 2006 opening followed a successful preview run in Seattle at The 5th Avenue Theatre which ran from January 31-February 19. His performance has earned him nominations for Drama League and Drama Desk awards,^[12] as well as a nomination for the coveted Tony Award.^[17]

In 2007, Lynch returned to the road again to perform his stand-up musical comedy. Lynch is currently touring with comedians such as Bob Saget, Frank Caliendo, Louis C.K., Carlos Mencia and others on the Opie and Anthony Traveling Virus Comedy Tour 2007. During stops in East Lansing, MI , New Brunswick, NJ and Chicago, IL, Lynch ad-libbed the start of a new song titled "Little Gay Robot" and he made a new bowling song for when someone in the crowd tells him to sing it he just sings back "fine you wanna hear the bowling song fine here it is: Why don't you bowl my nuts into your mouth there are you happy asshole there's your fucking bowling song"[2]. His other new songs include "Peanuts," which is based on the Charles Shultz comic strip, several "Diary Entries" where he makes fun of various people throughout history and a little diddy called "I Am Not A Jukebox" telling people how "he's not a fucking jukebox[3]".

It is rumored the Stephen will produce another album consisting of some new songs as well as those he sung on the Traveling Virus Comedy Tour 2007.

Family and friends prove to be an important influence on Lynch's work and career. He married Erin Dwight on a private beach on Lake Michigan^[12] in September 2003, and she is generally the first person to hear his original ideas for songs. He trusts so deeply in her taste that if she does not laugh at the initial concept, he will scrap the idea completely.^[3] Dwight recorded a short film while her husband was away touring, called Lynch and Teich in Brooklyn, to show that she missed him. This was included in the extras on his 2004 concert DVD, Live at the El Rey. She also co-created the cover concept for his latest album, The Craig Machine, with her mother, Kalamazoo photographer Fran Dwight.

Lynch has a younger brother, Drew Lynch, who also writes comedic songs, and they occasionally tour together. Their parents are a former priest and a former nun^[18][7]. Both parents became teachers.^[9] Lynch has stated that religion was not forced upon him growing up, and although he was raised Roman Catholic he no longer attends church. His upbringing included liberalism as well as religion, which is reflected through his father's past as part of a singing duo that attended many peace rallies and antiwar protests during the Vietnam War^[7]. Like his sons, Lynch's father is a stage actor as well as a singer, and musical talent and interest runs in their family. Lynch's earliest work in the theater was performing with his father in local community theater productions in Saginaw as a child. The first live musical he got to see was Man of La Mancha, a community theater production in which his father played the role of the Padre.^[9][12]

As Lynch's repertoire of material includes some duets and also a few songs for three voices, close university pals and fellow comedians Mark Teich (of The Second City) and Rod Cone (of The Rod Cone Situation) are also very frequent guests on his tours, and he rarely tours alone. He has also done shows with former Wedding Singer castmate David Josefsberg.^[19]

As of May 2007 Stephen Lynch resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife.

Album	Album Information
	Half A Man Released: - Label: - Chart Positions: - RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: A demo of Lynch's early material. Currently out of print.

Album	Album Information
	A Little Bit Special Released: October 3, 2000 (U.S.) Label: HaHa & What Are Records? Chart Positions: Top Internet Albums - 7 RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: Debut Album

Album	Album Information
	Superhero Released: January 14, 2003 (U.S.) Label: What Are Records? Chart Positions: - RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: Appeared on Top Internet Albums Chart in 2003
	The Craig Machine Released: October 4, 2005 (U.S.) Label: What Are Records? Chart Positions: Billboard 200 - 129 RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: Recorded in New York City in May 2005

Album	Album Information
	The Wedding Singer Released: June 6, 2006 Label: Sony Chart Positions: - RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Album	Album Information
	Cleanest Hits Released: June 7, 2006 (U.S.) Label: What Are Records? Chart Positions: - RIAA Certification: - Singles: Notes: A clean greatest hits album. Sold at Wal-mart and at showings of The Wedding Singer

Album	Album Information
	Live at the El Rey Released: September 28, 2004 (U.S.) Label: Razor & Tie Chart Positions: - RIAA Certification: Gold (March 2006) Singles: Notes: DVD.

• Review of live performance in Atlantic City
• StephenLynch.com (Official site)
• Stephen Lynch at MySpace
• Official Flickr Photo Page for Stephen Lynch
• Stephen Lynch at the Internet Movie Database
• Stephen Lynch at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lynch-Mob.net (Largest Unofficial Fan Site)