7,723 performances

5,235 stand-up shows + 2,488 radio and television appearances + humor in life when necessary

  • A hilarious chronicler of current events.
    — Las Vegas Sun
  • Bitingly brilliant!
    — Rocky Mountain News
  • A leader in political humor.
    — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • Imaginative and so very funny!
    — New York Post
  • A class act!
    — St. Petersburg Times
  • An agile performer who can turn verbal somersaults and land on his feet.
    — Chicago Sun-Times
  • His political jabs are needle-sharp and his one-liners snappy.
    — Milwaukee Journal
  • With the political climate right now so much like a fruit compote gone completely sour, there is nothing left to do but hee-haw your way to a steady tummy. Carl Wolfson is Alka-Seltzer for the soul, a political satirist with searing insight.
    — Willamette Week
  • Carl Wolfson is on roll – and you can be sure he knows it. You don’t spend 20 years doing stand-up comedy without knowing when you’re entering the zone, that stretch when every little movement ignites peals of laughter, every facial expression gets guffaws and every joke kills, just kills.
    — Fresno Bee
 

Carl began his comedy career on January 14, 1980, at Hollywood’s Comedy Store. Owner Mitzi Shore quickly made him a regular in the Original Room and Main Room – the marquee stage for weekend shows.  

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His first television appearance was in 1981 on The Merv Griffin Show, directed by the talented Dick Carson, Johnny Carson’s brother. Carl was booked a half dozen times on the show, and in 1983, was selected for a weekly spot on Thicke of the Night, co-produced by Alan Thicke and TV legend Fred Silverman.

“The Wolfson Report,” a comedy news segment with doctored images (long before Photoshop!), was a huge success.  When Thicke of the Night was renewed in 1984, Lawrence Christon of the Los Angeles Times praised it as one of the show’s top features.

During the next 25 years, Carl headlined more than 400 comedy clubs nationwide, and in Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City, opened for some of the biggest names in show business. 

Home base was Los Angeles; his favorite stages were the Comedy Store (Hollywood and La Jolla), Improv, Ice House, Igby’s, L.A. Cabaret and Laff Stop (Newport Beach, Claremont, Montclair).

His topical material on politics and pop culture made him a fixture on television as the comedy boom continued through the 1980s and 1990s.  He appeared on An Evening at the Improv, Comic Strip Live, Showtime’s Comedy Club Network, George Schlatter’s Comedy Club, and VH-1 Stand-Up Spotlight.

Carl became one of Joan Rivers’ favorite stand-ups and joined The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers regularly with his funny three-minute films. After Joan and the Fox Network parted ways, Carl accepted a spot on The Late Show Starring Ross Shafer, where his weekly “Carl’s Camera” spoofed newsmakers and celebrities.

In 1985, he was a writer on Rich Little’s HBO special and The Patti LaBelle Show on NBC.

Carl was represented by managers Jodie Knofsky (Feltheimer-Knofsky) and Ben Hill (Nia Managment), and booked by the legendary New York agency, Spotlite Enterprises.

He is a member of SAG/AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America West.

Agency Photo, 1990

Agency Photo, 1990

“My Republican mother told me: ‘We didn’t have homosexuals in the 1950s!’ I said, ‘Mom, somebody put the fins on those Cadillacs! Somebody did those beehive hairdos!’”

 

“A man in Texas chafed at my George Bush material. After the show, he ran up to me and said, ‘You should listen to President Bush like he listens to the country!’ So I did. I tapped his phone without a court order.”

Spotlite’s roster in the late 1980s – a good sampling from a generation of extraordinary comedians! Click on photo for larger image.

A long time ago, in a comedy galaxy far, far away…

 

STAND UP!

YES! Carl still performs stand-up! If you would like to book him for your event – and hear his latest take on the surreal age of Donald Trump – please inquire here.