T. J. Jagodowski

Thomas James Jagodowski (born September 2, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, and improvisational performer who resides in Chicago. He has been a member of The Second City as well as a performer and teacher at iO Theater, formerly known as "Improv Olympic". He has appeared in movies such as Stranger Than Fiction, The Ice Harvest, No Sleep Till Madison, Get Hard and the television show, Prison Break. He is most recognizable from the long-running series of improvised Sonic Drive-In commercials featuring him and Peter Grosz until 2020.

Life and career Jagodowski was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He attended Blessed Sacrament school and graduated as salutatorian of Holyoke Catholic High School in 1988.

While he was in college at Syracuse University,

The Chicago Improv Festival called Jagodowski "The best improviser in Chicago". New City Chicago said, "If Miles Davis had pursued comedy instead of music, the results might have looked something like this."

Jagodowski performs weekly in Chicago in a variety of improv programs, but most notably in "T. J. and Dave" with David Pasquesi, which the Chicago Reader has described as "an hour of subtle character development, verbal facility, and pantomimic agility that anticipates and plays off the audience's reactions." Since 2006, the duo performs this show monthly at The Barrow Street Theatre in New York City, and have been performing the show weekly since 2002 in Chicago. In 2020, it was reported that Sonic's commercials would be going in a different directions, but that the "Two Guys" series would continue to be part of the chain's advertising in some way. Lori Abou Habib, Sonic's Chief Marketing Officer, said that the commercials are "a huge part of our voice, and they’ll be part of our brand going forward." The two actors also appeared together in the 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction.

Jagodowski was a guest on the NPR program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! for the weekend of November 2–3, 2013.

In 2019, the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee honored Jagodowski with the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Award. The John F. Kennedy Award is presented annually to an American of Irish descent who has distinguished themselves in their chosen field. Past winners included Jimmy Breslin, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tom Clancy, David McCullough, Leo Edward O'Neil, Art Rooney, Dan Devine, Tip O'Neill, Dennis Day, Neil Sheehan, as well as John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy.

Filmography

Film Year Film Role 1999 Serious Business Improv Nerd 2001 Soul Survivors ER Doctor 2002 No Sleep 'til Madison Greg 2002 Streetriffs Skeets 2005 The Ice Harvest Officer Tyler 2006 Stranger Than Fiction IRS Co-Worker #4 2009 Club83 Tj 2010 The Moleman of Belmont Avenue Paulie 2012 Close Quarters Patrick 2013 Oz the Great and Powerful Quadling Mayor 2015 Get Hard Chris 2015 Open Tables William Burns 2026 Bulls Ian

Television Year Show Role Notes 2001 What About Joan? Ben Episode: "Mr. Roboto" 2006 Prison Break Pilot 2 episodes 2014 Couch Surferz Gandulf Episode: "Gandulf's Rules" 2016–19 Chicago Fire Rodney Ogle 2 episodes 2016 Easy Bern Episode: "The Fucking Study" 2017 Shrink Yourg 5 episodes 2021 Work in Progress Death Episode: "FTP"2026The BearBar patronEpisode: "Gary"