Who is Andrew Santino, and how did a kid from Chicago’s Section 8 housing end up co-hosting one of the biggest comedy podcasts in the country? The short answer: two decades of clubs, cameos, and a stubborn refusal to quit stand-up, even when nobody outside Chicago knew his name yet.
In brief: Andrew James Santino was born on October 16, 1983, in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. He graduated from Naperville North High School in 2002, attended Arizona State University, and started doing stand-up around 2006 or 2007. He’s since acted in “I’m Dying Up Here,” “Dave,” and “Ricky Stanicky,” released three stand-up specials, and built two hit podcasts — Whiskey Ginger and Bad Friends with Bobby Lee — into a full-time career.
What He’s Said About His Life and Career
Santino doesn’t do a lot of formal press. Most of what the public knows about him in his own words comes from podcast tape and the handful of interviews he’s given around his specials. What’s there paints a fairly consistent picture: a guy who credits a hard childhood for his comedic instincts and treats stand-up as the one thing he was never going to walk away from.
Asked in a 2016 interview how he got his start, Santino kept it simple: “I started stand-up in 2006 or 2007, I’ve been doing it ever since, and I don’t think I’ll stop.” That’s the closest thing to an origin story he’s given on the record — no dramatic breakthrough, just a start date and a decision to keep going. He’s described himself in the same conversation as someone who’s “always been funny and unfunny,” which tracks with the self-deprecating persona that runs through his specials.
His childhood shows up in his act more than in interviews. Santino has referenced growing up with a single mother in Section 8 housing on his own podcast, framing it as the root of his blunt, working-class sense of humor rather than something he treats as a sad story. That’s a self-reported detail — Tier 2 sourcing — but it’s consistent across his public appearances and it lines up with reporting on his career.
- Born October 16, 1983, in Chicago, Illinois
- Graduated Naperville North High School, 2002
- Attended Arizona State University
- Began stand-up comedy around 2006–2007
- Moved to Los Angeles to pursue television and film work
The clearest example of Santino speaking candidly on the record came in 2025, during the run-up to his Hulu special “White Noise.” He told Variety that Disney’s executives pushed back hard on his jokes about “Disney adults” before the special could air. “They definitely changed the jokes. I was not stoked about that. We got into a little bit of a war,” he said. He added that Disney felt the material reflected poorly on the brand, since the company owns Hulu.
That’s a rare moment of Santino naming a specific conflict rather than joking around it. He didn’t frame it as a grudge — by his own account, both sides worked out a “happy medium” and the special aired on September 12, 2025, with the jokes intact but softened. No outlet has reported a different version of events, so his account and the reporting line up here.
What This Means to Him, In His Own Words
Santino treats comedy less like a big artistic statement and more like a job he refuses to stop showing up for. His comment about starting stand-up in 2006 and never planning to stop reads as matter-of-fact, not sentimental — comedy is simply what he does, not a dream he’s chasing. The Disney dispute shows a different side: someone willing to push back on a major studio over a joke he thought was fair, even when the studio in question controlled where his special would stream.
Both moments share a thread. Santino doesn’t dress up his career in big language. He started because he liked doing it, and he pushed on the Disney jokes because he didn’t think they were out of bounds. That plain, unbothered tone is consistent with how he talks about his Chicago upbringing too — as background, not baggage.
What Reporters Found That Wasn’t in the Interview
Outside his own commentary, the public record fills in a career that’s steadily widened rather than exploded. Santino’s first credited TV work came through MTV’s “Punk’d” in 2012, followed by a memorable cameo on “The Office” (playing the “Buyer of Andy’s boat” in the episode “The Boat”), as well as small parts on “Arrested Development” and “Children’s Hospital.” He got his first series regular role on ABC’s “Mixology” in 2014, which lasted one season.
2015 marked his first real stand-up milestone: a Comedy Central half-hour special paired with his debut album, “Say No More.” Two years later, he landed the part of Bill Hobbs on Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here,” a Jim Carrey-produced drama about the 1970s Los Angeles comedy scene, and appeared in James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist” and the Netflix action-comedy “Game Over, Man!” His first hour-long special, “Home Field Advantage,” aired on Showtime on June 2, 2017, taped at Chicago’s Vic Theatre in front of his hometown crowd; Comedy Dynamics later put it up for purchase on Amazon and iTunes starting in January 2018.
The podcast side of his career started building not long after. Whiskey Ginger, his solo interview show, began in 2018. In 2020, he teamed up with Bobby Lee to co-host Bad Friends, a show that’s since grown into one of the more-listened-to comedy podcasts on YouTube and audio platforms. That same year, he joined the cast of FX’s “Dave” as Mike, the manager and roommate of the show’s lead character, a role he held through the series’ run into 2023.
His screen work has kept building alongside the podcasts. He appeared in “Me Time” in 2022 and in Netflix’s anthology series “Beef.” His second hour special, “Cheeseburger,” debuted on Netflix in 2023. In 2024, he took a role in “Ricky Stanicky” alongside John Cena and Zac Efron, and that same year, Deadline reported that Hulu had won a bidding war to turn Bad Friends into an animated series, with Santino and Lee attached as co-creators and executive producers through 20th Television Animation.
By 2026, Santino and Lee had added another project to the list — a 10-episode unscripted game show for All Things Comedy, filmed in Lee’s mother’s basement, plus a role for Santino in the film “GOAT.” None of this contradicts what he’s said himself; if anything, the reporting shows a career that expanded quietly, one credit at a time, without a single viral moment driving it.
On the personal side, reporters have found less to go on. A 2016 profile that spent real time with Santino noted he was married. In April 2020, he confirmed his marital status on Whitney Cummings’ podcast. Public records and fan wikis identify his wife as Jessica Michelle Singleton. However, he hasn’t discussed her at length in any recent interviews. That’s not a gap in the reporting — it’s a pattern. Santino talks freely about Chicago, his mother, and his career, and stays quiet about his marriage. The silence itself is the honest answer here, not something worth guessing at.
Where Things Stand in 2026
Santino remains busy across every part of his career at once. Bad Friends still releases weekly with Bobby Lee, Whiskey Ginger continues on its own schedule, and the Hulu animated version of Bad Friends is still in development. His three stand-up specials — “Home Field Advantage,” “Cheeseburger,” and “White Noise” — all remain available to stream. He continues to tour comedy clubs and theaters nationally between podcast tapings and acting work.
More on This Topic: Andrew Santino Net Worth: What the Honest Numbers Actually Show
FAQ
Who is Andrew Santino?
He’s an American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcast host from Chicago, known for “I’m Dying Up Here,” “Dave,” and co-hosting the podcast Bad Friends with Bobby Lee.
When and where was Andrew Santino born?
He was born on October 16, 1983, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the city’s River North neighborhood.
Where did Andrew Santino go to school?
He graduated from Naperville North High School in 2002 and later attended Arizona State University.
When did Andrew Santino start doing stand-up comedy?
By his own account, he started around 2006 or 2007 and has performed steadily since.
What podcasts does Andrew Santino host?
He hosts Whiskey Ginger as a solo interview show and co-hosts Bad Friends with Bobby Lee, which is also being developed into an animated series for Hulu.
Is Andrew Santino married?
Yes, he is married to Jessica Michelle Singleton. He confirmed his marriage on Whitney Cummings’ podcast in 2020, though he actively keeps his wife and personal life out of the public spotlight.
DISCLAIMER: We didn’t call Andrew Santino for this — we called the records. Every detail below was pulled from public archives, published interviews, podcast transcripts, and industry databases. The public trail tells the story. If the man himself ever tells a different version, his version wins.
Sources: Variety, The Independent, Fox News, Wikipedia, One Foot Down, Comedy Dynamics, Rotten Tomatoes
