Who is Chris Distefano?
American comedian, actor and screenwriter Christopher Paul Anthony Distefano was born in Brooklyn, New York City USA, on 26 August 1984, making Virgo his zodiac sign. He’s perhaps known best for playing State Island Meathead in the 2019 romantic comedy movie “Ode to Joy”, which starred Martin Freeman and Morena Baccarin, and was directed by Jason Winer. It follows Charlie who’s suffering from a rare neurological disorder which makes him faint whenever he’s ‘too happy’, and the film won two awards.
Education and early life
Chris was raised in New York City solely by his mother, as his father passed away when he was still very young; Chris hasn’t revealed whether or not he has siblings, and this is why most of his fans believe him to be an only child.
He studied at Archbishop Molloy High School, a Catholic school in the Queens borough of New York City; it was during his time there that Chris fell in love with comedy, although he was also passionate about playing basketball and running track.
He matriculated in 2002, and then enrolled at St. Joseph’s College on a basketball scholarship, playing for their D-III team; Chris was the best scorer on the team, and was in 2018 inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame.
He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2006 and then enrolled at New York Institute of Technology, earning his doctorate in physical therapy in 2010; Chris was focused on practicing pediatric physical therapy in the following three years, prior to deciding to pursue acting and comedy.
Stand-up comedy
Chris performed stand-up comedy for the first time in August 2009, and was in 2010 invited to host the comedy show “Fencing Masters” on the SNY Network; in 2011 and 2012, he hosted the March Madness Comedy Competition at Carolines on Broadway, a now-closed comedy club at 750 Seventh Avenue.
Chris headlined the 2011 show “Carolines Breakout Artist Series” and performed at the 2011 New York Comedy Festival; after having gained recognition, he was invited to perform stand-up comedy at various clubs around New York City, such as Broadway Comedy Club, Gotham Comedy Club and Comedy Cellar.
He appeared in the MTV reality comedy show “Guy Comedy” in 2012, and the following year saw him appear in “Girl Code”; Chris then made a guest appearance in a number of other MTV shows, such as “The Challenge”, “Off the Bat” and “Guy Court”, while some of his talks-show appearances were in “Late Night with David Letterman”, “Opie with Jim Norton” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers”.
He embarked on his first US comedy tour in September 2015, then in the following year became focused on appearing in films and TV series.
Chris released his debut stand-up special “Chris Distefano: Size 38 Waist” in January 2019, and in April of the same year began hosting his weekly comedy podcast “Stand-Up with Chris Distefano”.
He sold out his performance at Beacon Theatre in New York City in February 2022.
Acting credits
Chris made his debut film appearance in the 2010 short comedy “Is This Thing On?”, and the following year saw him appear in his first TV series, playing Mugger #1 in the episode “Peter Fonda/Joely Fisher/Annie Potts” of the comedy “Celebrity Close Calls”.
In 2013, he appeared in the episode “Shorts & Skins” of the comedy series “Above Average Presents”, as well as in the short comedy movie “State Island Truffle Hunter”.
Chris starred in the 2014 short drama movie “Breaking In”, which also starred Kareem Farmer and Paul Bomba, and was written and directed by Adepero Oduye; it follows the life of a young black man.
In 2015, Chris portrayed Anthony in all eight episodes of the comedy “Benders”, which starred Lindsey Broad and Andrew Schulz, and was created by Tom Sellitti and Jim Serpico; it follows a group of friends who are all obsessed with their ice hockey team The Chubbys.
Chris played Policeman in the 2021 episode “Policin’” of the comedy series “That Damn Michael Che”, and the following year saw him appear in the episode “MRI” of the popular comedy series “Life & Beth”, which was created by Amy Schumer, who’s also starring in it. The series has been airing since 2022, follows Beth who’s having flashbacks of her teenage years and it won a 2022 ReFrame Stamp for IMDbPro Top 200 Most Popular TV Titles.
Love life and wife
Even though Chris prefers to keep the details of his love life to himself, we still know about two women whom he’s been with. From 2010 through 2014, he was in a relationship with popular American stand-up comedienne, actress and TV show host Carly Aquilino; she’s probably known best for having starred in the comedy show “Girl Code”.
Chris and American fitness instructor Jasmine ‘Jazzy’ Canuelas met at the bar Place to Beach in Brooklyn in 2014, and she gave birth to their daughter Delilah in May of the following year; their second daughter Violette Luna followed in June 2021. Chris and Jazzy exchanged vows sometime in the mid-2010s, but they’ve kept the exact date of the ceremony hidden from media.
Jazzy has a son Tristan from a previous relationship, and it’s believed that Chris has legally adopted him.
There are no other women whom Chris has been with, that his fans know about; he’s married to Jasmine ‘Jazzy’ Distefano as of June 2023, and they have two daughters together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Chris is an Instagram star, as more than 630,000 people are following him on the social media network today, while he’s posted more than 3,000 pictures and videos; most of comedy content.
He works out at the gym nearly every day, thus his muscular body; Chris occasionally gives his fans advice on proper diet and workout plans.
He’s been to many US states, mostly to perform stand-up comedy; Chris has also travelled to several European countries with his wife Jazzy, and his favorite city to visit is London, England.
He’s a dog-lover, and his pet dog has recently died (aged 15).
One of Chris’ favorite actors is Bill Murray, and some of his favorite movies include “What About Bob?”, “Broken Flowers” and “Ghostbusters”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Chris’ age is 38. He has brown hair and eyes, is 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall and weighs around 170lbs (78kgs).
Chris’ net worth’s been estimated at over $3 million, as of June 2023.