Tommy Pope

Tommy Pope (né Papa; born November 21, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and actor.

He is best known for his digital content as part of the sketch comedy troupes BirdText and Deer Prom, who were responsible for the web series Real Househusbands of Philadelphia, Comedy Central web series Delco Proper, and Netflix's Tires.

Early life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pope grew up in Drexel Hill, a neighborhood located 8 miles west of Center City, Philadelphia. His father is mixed Italian and Irish descent (50/50), his mother is of Irish descent. He adopted the surname "Pope" as his stage name to avoid being confused with comedian Tom Papa. He made his television debut on AXS TV's stand up series Gotham Comedy Live in 2013 and was a contestant in the eighth season of NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2014.

Pope first met frequent collaborator, John McKeever (co-creator and director of the web series Gilly & Keeves with comedian Shane Gillis) in 2008 while performing stand-up comedy at The Raven Lounge in Philadelphia. Pope, McKeever and Luke Cunningham (writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) formed comedy sketch group BirdText from 2010 to 2014. The group performed a monthly show at Helium Comedy Club and also produced digital content which has been featured on VH1, NPRs Fresh Air, Philadelphia Magazine and National Lampoon. In 2013 Pope appeared in a sketch featuring Steve Martin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Cunningham was writing for the show at the time. As Deer Prom, Pope, McKeever and comedian Tim Butterly created the comedy series Delco Proper for Comedy Central. The series revolves around the lives of three best friends from Philadelphia and Delaware County and the network initially posted a single episode to their website in 2015, followed by three more episodes in 2016.

In 2021, Pope and fellow comedian Chris O'Connor, who share a New York apartment, started the podcast Stuff Island. The podcast features conversations with a different comedian each episode, recorded from their living room.