john poveromo

comedian

In a world pummeled by an onslaught of bad news and social media affronts, nationally touring comedian, cartoonist, writer, entrepreneur, actor, and podcast host John Poveromo provides some much-needed pragmatic optimism. “When someone is going through a hard time, I’m that friend that helps them break down what is actually happening so they can feel a sense of relief. In all my work, I strive to cut through the noise and the drama,” says the Brooklyn-born polymath entertainer.

Case in point: during the height of the pandemic, Poveromo curated the playfully-titled, uplifting and enlightening podcast, Dystopia Tonight, which proved to be his biggest success to date. The fast-growing property is aired live, and has been featured by outlets like CNN, The Daily Beast, and AV Club. To date, Dystopia Tonight has amassed almost 200 episodes with select marquee names that include Pulitzer prize winner Steve Green; film and TV icon Ed Asner; comedians Tommy Chong and Lewis Black; and iconic musicians Steve Van Zandt, Stewart Copeland, and Steve Cropper, among many others.

Poveromo has been a fixture on the national standup comedy scene for 16 years. He’s been seen on FXX’s “Gotham Live,” FoxTv’s “The Q”, VH1, and MTV. Poveromo’s been featured in the NY Times, as a “Young comic to watch,” detailed in The Asbury Park Press as, “Not your run-of-the-mill-standard-issue-garden-variety stand-up.” He has garnered plum exposure through profiles in US Weekly Magazine, TMZ, The LA Times and People Magazine.

Proveromo has nurtured a robust platform that’s also allowed him to work in a myriad of creative contexts. He has written for Newsweek, and his short film, Duppet, which he both co-wrote and starred in, shined light on mental health issues and premiered on Amazon Prime. Poveromo is a sought after guest for a variety of comedy, pop-culture, and political podcasts as well as a favorite and frequent guest on SiriusXM radio’s “Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang.”

Poveromo also wields his platform in service of others. In 2021, he shattered the Guinness Book Of World Records for longest comedy special with a 93-hour charity event that supported the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation and Star Treatments. The landmark event boasted over 300 comedians, including appearances by Rich Vos, Judy Gold, Jessica Kirson, Judah Friedlander, Jamie Kennedy, Jim Vallely, Rick Overton, Big Jay Oakerson. For the 100th episode of Dystopia Tonight, Poveromo organized the multiple sclerosis benefit: “Dystopia Tonight Presents: Stream against MS!,” a star-studded event featuring Everclear’s Art Alexakis, Steve Cropper, Toad The Wet Sprocket’s Glen Phillips, comedians Chris Titus and Tommy Chong, and comedy and film writer Jay Kogen (The Simpsons, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond), among others. Poveromo also organized the benefit shows, "Laugh Instead of Cry," for victims of superstorm Hurricane Sandy, and the televised benefit, “Asbury Band Aid,” to support Jersey Shore musicians during lockdown.

Poveromo has wanted to be a comedian since he can remember. In his sixth grade yearbook there was a “where do you see yourself as an adult?” entry, and there he wrote “comedian and cartoonist.” “I guess I had no intention of making money,” he says with a good-natured laugh. “I think what resonated with me is that I saw that comedians can do anything. Robin Williams was the voice of the bat on FernGully; he was a standup comic; he wrote the foreword to The Far Side Gallery 4 by comic strip artist Gary Larson; and he was an actor. It seemed like being funny was the gateway to do so much.”

Poveromo was further spurred on by the mercurial charisma of the quintessential dinner guest at his grandmother’s house in Brooklyn. This character was either an uncle, a friend, or a neighbor who would pop in for a cameo, entertain everyone with stories and jokes for 10-15 minutes, eat a meal or some cake, and then just disappear into the night without ever taking off their jacket. “That type of guy made an impact on me,” Poveromo affirms. “He shaped my onstage approach—like, ‘I can’t stay long, but I will entertain you and then get out of here.’”

Poveromo possesses a fearless DIY attitude that has enabled him to build a richly varied, integrity-based platform. “I am led by making things as good as they can be—money is never my first thought,” he reveals. This, along with Poveromo’s warmly engaging conversational approach and genuine interest in his guests, has enabled Dystopia Tonight to be such a hit among in-demand guests and listeners alike. Grammy award winning music producer Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt) once remarked: “To be honest, it was more utopia than dystopia! I had so much fun that the hour just flew by. Thank you.”

“I wanted to create content that helped people get through the rough times that were amplified by 24 hours of news and social media breaking us down. It was designed to be the antithesis of the horrible time it was created in—like ‘here is this fascinating guest and someone with an interesting lizard pet’,” he says with a laugh.

Reflecting on the resonance of his work, Poveromo says: “I try to be the same guy onstage as I am offstage—obviously there is always an exaggeration—but I want to connect with that universal question, ‘do I belong here?’ If I can make these 200 people understand me, and I can understand them, and we all come to the conclusion that it’s okay to exist, then I’ve done what I’ve set out to do.”