Jackie Martling

All Music Guide:

A longtime fixture of radio's Howard Stern Show, comedian Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling was born and raised on Long Island, NY, earning a degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University in 1971. He initially pursued a career in rock & roll with his college band the Pillowcayse, and after relocating to Denver, CO, in 1973, he formed a new group, the Off-Hours Rockers; however, Martling always harbored a love for comedy, and was famed among his friends for a seemingly inexhaustible supply of jokes. After the band dissolved in 1978, he began working comic bits into his solo musical act, eventually trying out his stand-up routine on open-mike night at New York City's Catch a Rising Star. He continued polishing his craft in small clubs, and in 1979 issued his debut LP, What Did You Expect? Martling released two more albums, 1980's Goin' Ape! and 1981's Normal People Are People You Don't Know That Well, sending all three records to then-unknown New York radio personality Howard Stern. By 1986, he was a full-time member of Stern's show, later becoming the program's head writer. Despite call-in listeners' regular admonition "Eff Jackie!," Martling enjoyed sufficient popularity to issue a series of new comedy records, among them Sgt. Pecker, Hot Dogs & Donuts, Snart, and The Very Best of Jackie Martling's Talking Joke Book Cassettes, Vol. 1, and maintained a steady schedule of live dates as well.

Wikipedia:

John Coger "Jackie" Martling, Jr. (born February 14, 1948) is an American comedian, comedy writer and radio personality. He is best known for being a writer on The Howard Stern Show from 1983 to 2001.

Biography

Early life and career

Jackie Martling was born in Mineola, New York, on Long Island. He attended Oyster Bay High School and lived in East Norwich, New York, earning a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan State University in 1971. Martling is of English, French, and Dutch ancestry.

Martling began his show business career as a musician on Long Island, New York, playing with an original music and comedy trio, "The Off Hour Rockers," until the late 1970s, when he began telling jokes on stage solo. Jackie's partners in "The Off Hour Rockers" were Chris Bates on guitar and Herbie Werner on keyboards. In 1979 he segued into performing full time as a standup comedian.

Jackie's breakthrough into major radio came in 1981 when longtime writer/producer of the Rick Dees Morning Show on KIIS-FM, Los Angeles, Dave Lipson, discovered Jackie's "Use Your Finger! (516) 922-WINE" telephone service. Each day's offerings were recorded and aired daily on the Dees morning show, eventually leading to Jackie recording daily joke segments just for Dees' shows. That's when Dees suggested Jackie be referred to on his show as "The Joke Man." This turned out to be one of the most popular bits on Dees' legendary morning show.

Martling has a vast knowledge of jokes. In his standup routine, and during his tenure on The Howard Stern Show, they often played "Stump The Joke Man," where audience members were challenged to start a joke that Martling couldn't provide the punch line to. If they successfully were able to "Stump The Joke Man," they would win a T-shirt. Rarely was Martling stumped.

The Howard Stern Show

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Martling recorded several comedy albums, including "What Did You Expect?!," "Goin' Ape," and "Normal People Are People You Don't Know That Well." Martling mailed the albums to Howard Stern at WNBC-AM when Stern first arrived in New York City in 1982. The records led to his being asked to make a guest appearance on Stern's radio show in February 1983, which led to his eventual hiring as a cast member when the show moved to morning drive on K-Rock in 1986.

Along with Fred Norris, Martling wrote all of the bits and song parodies, many of Howard Stern's punch lines, and most of the material for the infamous "Jackie puppet” for The Howard Stern Show. Billy West, who voiced the puppet, said how surreal it was to sit behind Martling, and viciously attack him with lines Jackie had just written for him. Martling was named head writer for Howard Stern’s TV show which aired on WWOR and also was nationally syndicated 1991-1992.

Martling left the Stern show in March 2001 over a salary disagreement with the show's employer, WXRK. Some consider Martling leaving the show as one of the worst cases of career suicide in entertainment history. Martling's chair on The Howard Stern Show was eventually filled by former MADtv cast member Artie Lange, who has also since left the show. Martling appeared on The Howard Stern Show's last show on terrestrial radio, December 16, 2005.

Martling returned to radio by joining the Howard 100/101 Sirius Radio channels with "Jackie's Joke Hunt." The weekly one-hour show, co-hosted by fellow friar Ian "McKean" Karr, premiered on October 3, 2006, at 7 p.m. EST, and in October 2011 began its sixth year. It continues to air live 7-8pm EST every Tuesday on SiriusXM Howard 101, and replays Thursday nights at 12 midnight EST and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. EST. Martling can also frequently be heard on SiriusXM's Raw Dog Uncensored Comedy 99. On March 13, 2007, Martling made a long-awaited guest appearance on Howard's SiriusXM show. Since that time, Martling has made several additional guest appearances, both in the studio and by phone. In May 2007, the Stern Show aired a two-day salute to Martling on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's Stern 100. The show contained dozens of classic Jackie moments, intercut with new interviews with Martling and others.

During the time Martling served on The Howard Stern Show staff, many fans who called in, other show staff members, and Howard himself frequently would throw out the remark, "F. Jackie,” short for "Fuck Jackie," a reference to the opening line in the chapter about Jackie in Stern's 1995 book, Miss America. Often, many calls to the radio show would end in the expression "F. Jackie." Notably, these were the last two words Howard said at the very end of his final broadcast on terrestrial radio.

Martling expanded on his standup comedy career and has released five joke CDs, three videos, a DVD ("A Safe Distance From Genius"), five joke books, and an iPod app. He also co-created a line of electronic joke products with EB-Excalibur, and his "Mini JokeMaster Jr." keychain is sold through various retailers. In April 2007, he released his first musical CD, "Happy Endings".

Martling has appeared in over 12 films during his career, including the comedy documentary The Aristocrats, "Venus & Vegas", "Mail Order Bride", and White Irish Drinkers. He appeared on the TNT television show Leverage and in August 2007, Jackie filmed the pilot episode for the sitcom "The Pikers" in Los Angeles. He wrote and performed a one-man show, "JokeLand On Broadway," in summer 2010 in New York City.

In October 2008, Martling and former American Idol runner-up Bo Bice entertained U.S. troops in Kuwait and Iraq.[5]

Jackie occasionally appears on SiriusXM's The Opie and Anthony Show and the tri-state area's "The Jim Kerr Rock & Roll Morning Show" on Q-104.

Personal life

Over the years in his standup act and on the air, Martling has recounted wild tales of his partying days on the road and spoke publicly of his fondness for "drinking Marijuana and smoking beer." In December 2005, he announced that he was sober and had not had a drink in five years.

His sobriety, however, does not include marijuana. He recently shot and posted two videos on YouTube that show him smoking the plant, and he is often a guest at events for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Martling is legally separated from wife Nancy Sirianni. He currently resides in Manhattan and in Bayville, New York.

He is a longtime member of the New York Friars' Club. He's actively involved with The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, Inc., The Wounded Warriors and Tuesday's Children.