Johnny Brennan On The New Jerky Boys Album, MTV In The 1990s, Comedy Influences & More
When I think about my primary comedic influences growing up, they were essentially “Weird Al” Yankovic and The Jerky Boys. To this date I am such a big fan of The Jerky Boys — far from the only one, given that Radiohead’s first album’s title is a reference to The Jerky Boys, while Amy Schumer, Paul Feig and Seth McFarlane have all publicly declared their fandom — that I got my wife to agree to include the audio of a Jerky Boys prank phone call during our wedding party. But not everyone realizes the career that Jerky Boys founder Johnny Brennan has had beyond The Jerky Boys, contributing voices to the Fox animated main-stay Family Guy since 2000, as just one of his major project credits.
Back in September, Comedy Dynamics officially announced that it is releasing the first new Jerky Boys album in 20 years on Black Friday 2020. The self-titled album The Jerky Boys consists of brand new content from Brennan, including both new characters alongside beloved characters like Frank Rizzo, Jack Tors, Mike Derucki and Sol Rosenberg. The album will be available on Sirius XM, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, Tidal and all essential audio retailers effective tomorrow, November 27, 2020; 11/27 also brings a livestream party event featuring Brennan at 6:00 PM PST.
On October 27, 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Johnny Brennan via Zoom, as embedded below. We spoke about his work with Comedic Dynamics, the evolution of a hobby into a career, work ethic, MTV, Van Halen and plenty more. Additional information on Brennan and The Jerky Boys can be found online via www.thejerkyboys.com, www.comedydynamics.com, www.instagram.com/jerkyboyjohnny, and www.facebook.com/jerkyboysjohnny.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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