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Jacqueline Novak

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Jacqueline Novak
Born (1982-09-03) September 3, 1982 (age 42)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Alma materGeorgetown University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian

Jacqueline Novak (born September 3, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and published author. Her off-Broadway, one-woman show Get On Your Knees was a New York Times "Critic's Pick.",[1] and her performance was nominated for a 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.[2] In 2024, Get On Your Knees was made into a Netflix special, directed by Natasha Lyonne.[3][4] for which she received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.[5]

Novak's memoir How to Weep in Public: Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows was published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown, in 2016.[6] She currently co-hosts a weekly wellness/comedy podcast Poog[7] with friend Kate Berlant. Poog was named one of the ten best podcasts of 2021[8] by Time Magazine, as well one of the 10 best comedy podcasts of 2021 by Vulture.[9]

Early life

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Novak was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gregory Novak, a retired marketing executive, and Naomi (Wall) Novak.[10] Her mother is Jewish, her father's parents were Christian.[11] She is the youngest of three children.[10] The family moved to Chappaqua, New York when she was two years old.[12] She attended Horace Greeley High School there and then went on to Georgetown University.[13] Novak and John Mulaney were in the same college improv troupe at Georgetown, both cast by Nick Kroll, who himself was cast in that troupe a couple of years earlier by Mike Birbiglia.[14]

Career

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After graduating from college, Novak began doing stand-up in the downtown New York City comedy scene, often hosting shows with comic/actor John Early.[15] During this time, she wrote her memoir How to Weep in Public. She put her efforts next on developing a one-person show, which eventually became the hit Off-Broadway performance Get On Your Knees.[15]

Novak has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[16] She has also been on The Late Late Show with James Corden,[17] HBO's 2 Dope Queens,[16] Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,[18] and has had her own half-hour stand-up special on Comedy Central's The Half Hour.[19]

Her TV credits include appearances on Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), Animals (HBO), and The Characters (Netflix).[20] She has also written for Broad City (Comedy Central), Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik (Comedy Central), and Soft Focus with Jena Friedman (Adult Swim).[20]

Since 2020, Novak has also co-hosted the comedy wellness podcast "POOG" alongside comedian Kate Berlant.[7]

Get On Your Knees

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Get On Your Knees began as a one-woman show Novak presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in 2018.[21] At the time, the show was called How Embarrassing for Her.[22] After the festival, she workshopped it in Los Angeles.[23] Mike Birbiglia and Natasha Lyonne saw the show, and Birbiglia decided to produce it for a six-week Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Manhattan's West Village.[20] Lyonne agreed to present it.[24][20] John Early was chosen as director.[20] Due to its popularity, the run at Cherry Lane was extended, then moved to the larger Off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre, also in the West Village.[25] Recognized on two New York Times lists, "Best Theater of 2019"[26] and "Best Comedy of 2019",[27] the show was extended several more times.[28]

A U.S. and international tour of the show was scheduled in 2020, but due to COVID-19 it was postponed.[29] The show's tour resumed in 2021 and continued into 2022.[30]

Get On Your Knees was released as a Netflix comedy special directed by Natasha Lyonne on January 23, 2024.[4] She received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for the Netflix special.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Soloski, Alexis (July 23, 2019). "Review: In 'Get on Your Knees,' a Comedian Goes There". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Nominees". Drama Desk Award. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Battan, Carrie (January 15, 2024). "The Anxious Precision of Jacqueline Novak's Comedy". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Maloy, Ashley Fetters (January 22, 2024). "Jacqueline Novak's Netflix special is a manifesto on sex and power". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ Emmys.com [1]
  6. ^ "How to Weep in Public: Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Knight, Ivy (August 20, 2021). "Laughing All the Way to the Wellness Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  8. ^ Dockterman, Eliana (December 2, 2021). "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2021". Time Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  9. ^ James, Becca; Aurora, Akanksha; Hershon, Marc; Marr, Anna; Gularte, Alejandra; Cesiro, Leigh; Jacobs, Noah; Goldstein, Pablo (December 15, 2021). "The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of 2021: Featuring Aack Cast, Las Culturistas, Keeping Records, and more". Vulture. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Novak, Jacqueline (2016). "Acknowledgements". How to Weep in Public: Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows. Crown. p. 243. ISBN 9780804139717.
  11. ^ Novak, Jacqueline (2016). "Night Light Chats with a Half Jewish God". How to Weep in Public: Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows. Crown. p. 53. ISBN 9780804139717.
  12. ^ "Local Event: Chappaqua Library Author Talk: 'How to Weep in Public - Feeble Offerings on Depression from One Who Knows'". Patch.com. August 12, 2016.[dead link]
  13. ^ "2001 Award Winners". georgetown.edu. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  14. ^ Zinoman, Jason (July 4, 2019). "Her Kind of Comedy: Lewd, Vulnerable and Self-Aware". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Jacqueline Novak, the Great Conversationalist". Vulture. July 16, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Jacqueline Novak". IMDb.
  17. ^ "'The Late Late Show' with James Corden: Comic Jacqueline Novak Talks New Show". July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  18. ^ "Jacqueline Novak". apeconcerts.com. February 28, 2020.
  19. ^ "The Half Hour - Jacqueline Novak". Comedy Central. October 7, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d e Evans, Greg (May 29, 2019). "Comedian Jacqueline Novak Sets off Broadway Run with Comedy World on Its Knees". Deadline.com.
  21. ^ Jung, E. Alex (September 6, 2019). "Wherefore Art Thou, Penis?". Vulture. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  22. ^ Morgan, Fergus (August 10, 2018). "Jacqueline Novak: How Embarrassing for Her". Fest Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees".
  24. ^ Lyonne, Natasha; Nechamkin, Sarah (July 31, 2019). "Jacqueline Novak and Natasha Lyonne Talk Blow Jobs and 'Big Boy Stuff'". Interview. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  25. ^ Clement, Olivia (September 6, 2019). "Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees Extends Again Off-Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  26. ^ Brantley, Ben; Green, Jesse; Collins-Hughes, Laura; Soloski, Alexis; Vincentelli, Elisabeth (December 3, 2019). "Best Theater of 2019". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Zinoman, Jason (December 17, 2019). "Best Comedy of 2019". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Clement, Olivia (January 7, 2020). "Jacqueline Novak's Get on Your Knees Extends Again Off-Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  29. ^ Clement, Olivia (March 2, 2020). "Jacqueline Novak's Hit Solo Show, Get on Your Knees, to Tour U.S. And England". Playbill. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  30. ^ "Jacqueline Novak Comes to London Soho Theatre". BroadwayWorld.com.
  31. ^ Emmys.com [2]
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