Eleanor Kerrigan
A gruff South Philly storyteller operating with zero filter or patience.
1 special · 2024
Get an email when there's a new special. You'll need a Google account.
Eleanor Kerrigan commands the stage with the booming, gravelly authority of a regular holding down a stool at a corner bar. She stalks the perimeter, leaning heavy on the mic stand, waving her free hand to brush away the absurdity of whatever she is complaining about. When a joke lands, she doesn’t wait for the audience to finish laughing—she barrels right through the noise to hit them with the tag. Her delivery is conversational, but the conversation feels like an argument she is actively winning.
Specials
On stage
She spent years as a Hollywood comedy fixture before ever grabbing a microphone, waiting tables at the Comedy Store and making headliners laugh in the kitchen. She operates now as a carrier of that specific club’s DNA—loud, uncompromising, and deeply comfortable in a room full of rowdy drunks.
Her material pulls heavily from her life, but she avoids typical childhood nostalgia. Instead, she complains about growing up as one of ten kids in a cramped house, or the indignities of aging as a single woman, with a blunt, irritated shrug. She details bizarre family medical decisions with the exact same tone she uses to mock Los Angeles traffic. She is best when she is thoroughly annoyed, treating the front row like a group of naive friends she has to set straight.
She grew up in South Philadelphia, and the heavy accent never faded. Long before Andrew Dice Clay pushed her into standup, she worked as an actress, including a stint as a professional wrestler on television.
Turning points
-
Release of Debut Special No Country for Old Women
Kerrigan released her debut special through Comedy Store Studios, documenting her journey from waiting tables to headlining and recounting her Philadelphia upbringing.
-
–
From Comedy Store Waitress to Stage Regular
After working as a waitress and making comedians laugh in the club kitchen, Eleanor was convinced by Andrew Dice Clay to transition to performing stand-up comedy.
At a glance
- Style
- storytelling, observational
- Breakout
- No Country for Old Women
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Fans also like
-
Andrew Dice ClayClay pushed Kerrigan to start performing standup, took her on tour, and shares her brassy, unfiltered approach to comedy.
Podcasts
-
The Comedy Store Podcast · co-host
Eleanor Kerrigan and Rick Ingraham interview guests spanning the history of The Comedy Store to discuss its past, present, and future.
-
What's Up, Doc? · co-host
Comedians Eleanor Kerrigan and Jeff Danis review a new documentary each week.
Also on screen
- WOW: Women of Wrestling
- Entourage
- –
- Dice Undisputed
- –
- The Blue Show
- –
- Guttermuckers
A clip to start with
Tattoos Are Awesome, Until You Get Older - Eleanor Kerrigan - Bill Burr Presents: The Ringers