Jeff often begins
the first minutes of his show with a unique "flip-chart" explaining
the current state of our society. Any one of his many hysterical and original
charts is filled with absurd graphs, stats and "facts" on a
single topic, ranging from "American history" to "Building
self-esteem" to "The war on drugs". To top his climactic
opening, he brings to light our individual connection to those events
and moreover, how they affect him. His parents once phoned and asked,
"you’re 26 years old now, why are we still paying your rent at the
first of every month?" To which Klinger replies, ‘cause that’s when
it’s due"
Klinger,
who lives in Chicago, IL, grew up in Brooklyn, NY. In 1996,while at the
University of Utah, Jeff entered a comedy competition. It was on that
stage, that Jeff decided he would pursue comedy as his career. Klinger
won the competition and left school. Two years later, Jeff would call
his Chicago home base because of its location and proximity to all the
cities he works.
In
1999, between gigs, Jeff made his first short film titled Thanks Tony!
The 7 minute long satire about the quest for self-esteem went straight
to the film festival circuit. Thanks Tony premiered at the Chicago Comedy
Shorts Film Festival. The overwhelming thrill of watching his own movie
on the big screen drove Klinger home in a fit of joy and he missed the
rest of the evening.
The
following year proved to keep Klinger very busy. In June2000, Jeff appeared
at the Chicago Comedy Festival for his first time. Later that summer,
Jeff taught a stand up comedy class to children at the Village Players
Theater. The kids loved Jeff’s short attention span and began to bond.
Jeff’s class was so successful that he scheduled his next tour such that
he could teach the class again in the spring. Later that year Jeff set
a personal record with a 16-week, non-stop tour.
In
addition to performing, writing, and making films, Klinger expanded his
audience through a number of TV appearances. After appearing on PBS’s
The Cheap Show, Jeff had his first taste of what celebrity might be like.
For next week or so, Klinger had numerous strangers offering comments
such as, " Hey I saw you on the Cheap Show."
Over
the next few months, Jeff would continue to appear on the small screen.
Veteran TV host Ben Hollis asked Jeff to perform as a stand-up on his
new show, Ben Around Town. In what turned out to be a great show, Klinger,
along with friends and fellow comedians Larry Reeb and Owen Smith each
gave interesting interviews to be aired along with their stand-up performances.
It
was the first time Klinger’s flipcharts were seen on T.V.
2001
has only been brighter for the young comedian. He was invited back to
the Chicago Comedy Festival for his second year in a row. Jeff performed
all three nights of the festival and proved to be a favorite with audiences
and industry alike. Klinger also made a return to competitiveness. Currently
he is a semi-finalist in the Comedy Central Laugh Riots Competition.