Vanessa Hollingshead
is an American comedian, writer and actress who has made guest appearances on several US comedy programmes including Comedy Central Presents
, which she has also written for, Live At Jongleurs
and The Jim Breuer Show. She is also an actress and had a small part as a sheriff in the critically-acclaimed 1999 film, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. [1] [2]
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VANESSA HOLLINGSHEAD TICKETS
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Early life
Hollingshead was born in
New York. Her father was
Michael Hollingshead, a British-born researcher into
psychedelic drugs and
hallucinogens, who introduced
Timothy Leary and
Paul McCartney to
LSD.
[3] At the age of five years old, Hollingshead accidentally consumed
LSD after eating a
sugar cube that was
laced with the
drug.
[4] After this event she returned to live with her mother, Sophie, having lived with her father for a year. Hollingshead would later live for two years on a
commune, and a further two years in
London with her father.
Career
After years working as an
office temp, in 1994 Hollingshead performed in an
open mic night at the end of a four-hour long night, claiming at the time "Even
Richard Pryor wouldn't be funny at this point".
[5] Nine months later Hollingshead performed a twelve minute slot at the Comedy Strip on
Second Avenue,
New York. As a result of this performance she was offered a number of development deals and an offer to appear on
The Drew Carey Show
, which she turned down.
In 1996 she appeared on the
Tompkin's Square
show hosted by
Jeffrey Ross in her first
television appearance. Further television appearances followed in 1997 and 1998, on
Live At Jongleurs
and
The Jim Breuer Show
.
Whilst continuing with both live stand-up and television appearances (most notably when writing and appearing in
Comedy Central Presents
in
2004), Hollingshead also appeared in several films. As well as appearing in
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, she appeared with
ventriloquist act
Otto & George and
Breuer again in the 2002 film
American Dummy
, and opposite
Greg Fitzsimmons and
Pete Correale in the 2003 film
The Gynecologists
.
[1]
Hollingshead also runs comedy workshops for aspiring comedians.
[7]
Personal life
Hollingshead was married to Lucien Hold, the
Artistic Director of The Comedy Strip in NewYork, who she had first met when she played there in 1995. Hold died in 2004 from complications arising from
Scleroderma. This led to Hollingshead becoming an active member of The Scleroderma Foundation, an organization which campaigns for
stem-cell research to find a cure.
[8]
References
- Vanessa Hollingshead Filmography at IMDb.com
- Title Unavailable
- Vanessa Hollingshead Biography at NBC
- Vanessa Hollingshead Biography at Goldstar
- Test the dream job with comedian Vanessa Hollingshead in New York City
- Vanessa Hollingshead Filmography at IMDb.com
- Stand Up For The Virgin Comic
- Roster Set For Scleroderma Foundation Comedy Benefit