Tom Cotter

Thomas Cotter is an American comedian known for being the runner-up of the seventh season of America's Got Talent, losing to Olate Dogs. He was raised in the East Side enclave of Providence, Rhode Island, the youngest of six children. His father, Dr. Walter C. Cotter (1923-2021), was a World War II navy veteran who later became a well-regarded neurosurgeon, and his mother, Barbara Cotter, was a homemaker who managed his father's medical office. Cotter attended the Moses Brown School in Providence and Denison University for his undergraduate degree.

Cotter has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Last Comic Standing, and in 2003 filmed his own half-hour special for Comedy Central. He has won several comedy competitions: in 1994 he won Seattle's International Stand-Up Comedy Competition, and he also won the grand prize at the Boston Comedy Festival and was voted Best Stand-Up at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival. He gained his first success in the Boston comedy scene, where he remains a favorite.

In 2012, Cotter appeared on season 7 of NBC's America's Got Talent, advancing through Las Vegas to the live episodes in Newark, New Jersey. He reached the final round of six and was the runner-up of the season, returning to perform on a results show on August 21, 2013. He is married to Kerri Louise, who is also a stand-up comedian, and the two have three sons; they have worked together on projects including Two Funny, a reality show on the Women's Entertainment network.