Brian Finkelstein
"The Triumph of Jules Coletti" is Brian Finkelstein’s debut novel, but storytelling has been his life’s work for more than twenty years.
Since the age of sixteen, Finkelstein has worked many jobs to pay the bills. He’s been a bank teller, subpoena server, skincare salesman, doorman, vending machine repairman, pizza chef, theatre teacher, TV writer, host, and even a comic book writer. He’s optioned screenplays, developed numerous TV pilots, and ghostwritten award speeches for other comedy writers. But no matter what the hustle, he has always been a comedian. The insanity of life—the pain, horror, magic, stupidity, beauty, ridiculousness, kindness and tragedy of it all—is always something he wants to make fun of.
When he was young, he was a fan of Eddie Murphy, Steven Wright, Pryor and Carlin. Also, Bill Cosby and Woody Allen, but, well—you know. Despite his love of stand-up, being one felt too abstract.
Then, when he was twenty-one, he saw Spalding Gray sit at a desk and tell a story about his life. It blew Finkelstein away, and he knew right then that that was what he wanted to do with his. He just didn’t know how. Years later, he wandered into the Nuyorican Café on the Lower East Side and discovered The Moth StorySLAM: a show where anyone can drop their name in a tote bag and get picked to get up on stage and tell a true, first-person, five-minute story. Without any preparation or thought, he put my name in. He was picked, and a few minutes later I jumped on stage and told a story about his life. He won the slam that night—and the next fourteen slams after that.
At the same time, he had also started doing comedy shows at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He did improv, stand-up, and sketch. When he started solo shows about his life, he really found his voice. His shows received great press, and his one-person shows started selling out.
Soon after his 3rd solo show, “First Day Off in a Long Time,” Brian was selected to perform at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, where he met industry folk. After, he moved to LA. In Finkelstein’s first week there, he sold a pilot to FOX. Around the same time, The Moth asked him to help them launch their first StorySLAM outside of New York. He helped by producing, hosting, and telling stories to an ever-growing new audience.
Next, he developed a second pilot with comedian Gabriel Iglesias and then wrote comedy monologues for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. While at Ellen, his writing was nominated for two Emmys.
All the while, he toured six more solo shows around the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. He also continues to host and perform with The Moth. He has had multiple stories on The Moth Radio Hour, and has a story published in The Moth’s first book, 50 True Stories. He also frequently appears on other NPR shows, including Good Food, The Business, and Marketplace.
