John Mulaney is an actor and comedian who was born on August 26, 1982, and attended Georgetown University in 2000.
Before Georgetown
Mulaney was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an Irish catholic family. His mother, who is a professor, and his father, an attorney, both attended Georgetown -- during the same time as president Bill Clinton (SFS'68). Mulaney was passionate about show business since the age of five. At 14, Mulaney played Wally Webb in his school's production of Our Town. After graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep, he enrolled in Georgetown University.
Mulaney at Georgetown
Mulaney majored in English and minored in Theology during his time at Georgetown. During Mulaney's second week at Georgetown, he was cast for Georgetown's Players Improv Troupe, now the Georgetown University Improv Association. Mulaney met Nick Kroll (C'01) through the group, who he would later follow to New York, and stay with, while hitting open-mike nights around town, hoping for his big break.
In an interview with the Washingtonian, a few months before the launch of his hit sitcom Mulaney, Mulaney described the unique experience of being a theater kid at an academic institution like Georgetown. He talked about the lack of funding and the absence of set performance areas. This self-sufficiency helped with later on in his career, with the experience of performing at Lauinger Library helping him feel less embarrassed when performing in public spaces around New York. 1
In an interview with Georgetown College in 2012, Mulaney described the importance of mentorship during his time at Georgetown:
"When I was at Georgetown, I studied screenwriting and playwriting under John Glavin, and that was my first sort of mentor relationship... I looked for those types of mentors when I left Georgetown and went into the world."2
Mulaney returns to Georgetown
After graduation, Mulaney moved to New York City and was hired as an assistant at Comedy Central. He got his big break in 2008 in Saturday Night Live as a writer. He also had his own series, which he wrote and starred, called Mulaney (2014).
Mulaney frequently mentioned his years at Georgetown in his skits. Mulaney describes his jokes being "more often about [his] terrible decisions while [he] was there than, say, jokes about what it is like to have a world-class Jesuit education."3
In 2016. Mulaney returned to campus for an event sponsored by the GU Lecture Fund, to perform a Broadway hit, Oh Hello.
In 2019, Mulaney (C'04), Jiff Gaffigan (B'88), and Mike Birbiglia (C'00) returned to their alma mater for a comedy performance to raise funds for first-generation college students through the Georgetown Scholars Program. The performance, named "Stand up for Georgetown," was quickly sold out, generating $1 million dollars for GSP.
- 1Mettlen, Shane. "Georgetown University: A Breeding Ground for Comics." The Washingtonian, Aug 29, 2014. https://www.washingtonian.com/2014/08/29/georgetown-university-a-breeding-ground-for-comics/
- 2"Alumni Comedians Gaffigan, Birbiglia and Mulaney Raise $1 Million for First-Gen Students." Georgetown University, Jan 16, 2019.https://www.georgetown.edu/news/alumni-comedians-gaffigan-birbiglia-and-mulaney-raise-1-million-for-first-gen-students/
- 3Brigham, Peter. "Clever Comic Stands Up and Delivers." The Hoya, Jan 8, 2012. https://thehoya.com/clever-comic-stands-up-and-delivers/
