Dave Attell

David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer, best known as the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell. He was born in the New York City borough of Queens to a Jewish family and raised in Rockville Centre on Long Island. He graduated from South Side High School and, after graduating from New York University in 1987 with a degree in communications, began performing at open-mic nights.

Attell's first television appearance was in 1988 on VH1's Stand-Up Spotlight. On November 23, 1993, he made his first appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, which was seen by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, who recruited him as a writer and occasional performer on SNL for the 1993-94 season. In 1995 he was featured on two HBO specials alongside Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle, and in 1999 the network signed him as a regular commentator on The Daily Show, where his segment was called "The Ugly American" and where he appeared for three years.

In 2001 the series Insomniac with Dave Attell premiered on Comedy Central, which Attell described as "Wild on E! for Ugly People". He later hosted The Gong Show with Dave Attell (2008) and Comedy Underground with Dave Attell (2014), and his special Dave Attell: Captain Miserable aired on HBO in 2007. In 2018 he toured with Jeff Ross on the Bumping Mics Tour, taping a three-part documentary series for Netflix, and in 2024 he released the Netflix comedy special Dave Attell: Hot Cross Buns. He has been sober since the late 2000s.