Mark Russell Biography

Mark Russell, long before Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, dared to laugh and sing about the frequently ridiculous political process. He began his career at a little piano bar on Capitol Hill, directly across from the lawmakers. As he puts it, "I started from the bottom and worked my way up." He started off knowing very nothing about politics, but he became an instant hit because he could find humor in any situation. Russell does stand-up comedy while accompanying himself on the piano, continuing to parody the day's news. He extracts amusement from the pomposity of public life with exquisite timing, sparkling eyes, and shock-of-recognition insights into American politics. He keeps his content up to date by reading three or four newspapers every day. As a result, no two concerts are ever the same. Newspapers feed my soul. He mentions it regularly. And it appears like I'll be able to outlast them. Russell, a native of Buffalo, NY, grew up idolizing performers. Fred Allen and Jack Benny, two radio comedians, had audiences clamoring for satire. Anarchy in comic form. Making fun of those in positions of authority. Russell was awestruck. Beginning in fourth grade, he gained the title of a class clown, which he kept all the way until high school. It's impossible to know what the faculty was thinking. Russell then freely confesses, as did many other men at the time, that he opted out of the draught. He accomplished this by enlisting in the Marine Corps. Russell returned home and went uptown to the Shoreham Hotel for a hazardous two-week engagement. It lasted for a period of twenty years. The Marquee Lounge became a gathering spot for politicians to hear Russell's jokes on their day's activities. Russell hosted the Mark Russell Comedy Specials for 30 years on public television, where it was routinely one of the network's top-rated programs. WNED in Buffalo, his sponsored station, put together a retrospective of his 30 years in 2012. Mark Russell's America will premiere on the PBS network this fall. Russell decided to retire two years ago, after more than 50 years on the road, as he put it, "when I was asked to compose a song with the word transvaginal ultrasound in it." Russell felt it was time to come out of his brief retirement after it was discovered that lawmakers were frolicking in the Sea of Galilee. He co-wrote two children's musicals with Tom Isbell and is the lyricist for both. The White House Historical Society commissioned both Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe and Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major, which premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Russell and his wife continue to reside in Washington, DC. He is the father of three children and grandfather of seven grandchildren. And he proceeds to respond to the inquiry, "Do you have any writers?" with Yes, indeed... I have 535 authors on my team. There are 100 senators in the Senate and 435 representatives in the House of Representatives.

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