In this week’s episode of Whiskey Ginger, Andrew Santino sits down with the hilarious comedian Taylor Tomlinson.
Taylor Tomlinson is a sharp and witty stand-up comedian known for her relatable humor and fearless takes on modern life.
Host of the late-night show After Midnight, Taylor blends quick wit with keen observations, delivering jokes that resonate with audiences of all ages. Whether she’s tackling the challenges of adulthood or navigating the absurdities of dating, Taylor’s comedy is both hilarious and refreshingly honest.
Taylor Elyse Tomlinson was born on November 4, 1993, in Orange County, California, to parents Angela Tomlinson, a stay-at-home mom, and Eric Tomlinson, a teacher. Taylor has three younger siblings: Drea, Page, and Brinn. Her mom died of cancer when Taylor was just 8 years old. Her father later remarried.
Taylor grew up in Temecula, California, in a conservative Christian household. She realized early on that she had a gift for comedy. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Tomlinson shared: “My grandma recently told me I was unintentionally funny when I was little. Apparently I cracked up my family.”
Tomlinson took her first comedy class with family-friendly comedian Nazareth at age 16 and began doing comedy shows at churches. At Temecula Valley High School, she studied drama. Tomlinson graduated high school in 2011, then attended California Polytechnic State University for one semester before transferring to Palomar College. After three years of college, she decided to drop out. But her college days offered her the opportunity to perform stand-up more regularly. Bigger stages were soon calling.
One of Taylor Tomlinson’s first professional breaks was an appearance on Last Comic Standing, alongside Michael Palascak, left, and Anthony Jeselnik.
Tomlinson’s religious upbringing shaped her early comedy. “For the first, like, six years—the first half of my career so far—I was squeakyclean,” she told E! News. But by age 22, Tomlinson had switched up her material to less church-friendly content that no longer felt authentic to her. She told E! News, “It was hard to get to that place and accept that not everybody was going to love that,” adding that she had to “get over my own internalized guilt and shame about not being, like, a good Christian. Not being Christian at all, really.”
After leaving college, she landed a gig on Last Comic Standing followed by an appearance on Conan, Conan O’Brien’s late-night show on TBS, when she was 23. That led to a network development deal with ABC Studios for a sitcom, which never made it to air. In 2018, she debuted her comedy on Netflix during a 15-minute set on The Comedy Lineup, a stand-up comedy showcase series that had two seasons on the streaming platform.
To date, Tomlinson has released three comedy specials on Netflix. Her first, titled Quarter-Life Crisis, arrived in 2020. Next came Look At You, which premiered in 2022. Her second special was the first time Tomlinson publicly discussed her experience with bipolar disorder. “I had all this shame because when I was a kid, my parents were like, ‘You don’t get on medication. That’s weak. That’s not good for you,’” Tomlinson told E! News. “So I think I felt weak for needing that.”
Over the years, she has chosen to become more transparent about her bipolar disorder on stage. “I’m a personal comedian, and I talk about what’s going on in my life, and that’s what was going on in my life,” Tomlinson told People. “At first I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to share this.’ And then I’m on the road, and I’m like, ‘Nah, maybe I’ll just try one joke about it.’ And then that works, and you’re like, ‘Okay, well, I do have more to say about it.’”
Tomlinson’s newest special on the streaming platform is Have It All. It released in February 2024. Her current deal with Netflix includes a fourth show, though details about its scheduled release aren’t yet available.
At age 30, Tomlinson became the host of After Midnight on CBS in January 2024. The show is a reboot of Comedy Central’s show @midnight. She is one of the youngest hosts in late-night and currently the only woman hosting a late-night show. Previous female hosts include Joan Rivers, Chelsea Handler, Lilly Singh, Ziwe, Amber Ruffin, and Samantha Bee.
Tomlinson’s After Midnight replaced James Corden’s The Late Late Show and follows The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the 12:37 a.m. spot.
Andrew Santino: Andrew stars in FX’s most-watched comedy series, DAVE alongside LIL’ DICKY. Santino starred in the SHOWTIME series, I’M DYING UP HERE exec produced by Jim Carey and directed by Jonathan Levine. He also appeared in GAME OVER MAN written and produced by THE WORKAHOLICS crew. Previously, Santino was the star of ABC’s comedy MIXOLOGY.
Andrew co-hosts the very popular podcast, BAD FRIENDS, with comedian Bobby Lee. He also has his own solo podcast WHISKEY GINGER and both combined accumulate upwards of a million downloads per week. His SHOWTIME hour-long stand-up special HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE debuted in 2017. His COMEDY CENTRAL HALF HOUR standup special was released alongside his debut album SAY NO MORE on COMEDY CENTRAL RECORDS. Andrew was a regular guest on COMEDY CENTRAL’S @ MIDNIGHT with Chris Hardwick. He made his standup debut on ADAM DEVINE’S HOUSE PARTY and since has performed standup on CONAN and THE MELTDOWN WITH JONAH AND KUMAIL. Santino headlined at Montreal’s JUST FOR LAUGHS COMEDY FESTIVAL as well as SXSW and numerous venues across the country.
Andrew got his start acting and writing on the final season of PUNK’D for MTV and since then he has guest-starred on THIS IS US, ADULT SWIM’S CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, NETFLIX’S ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, HBO’S FAMILY TREE, NBC’s THE OFFICE, FX’s THE LEAGUE and HULU’s DEADBEAT.
