John Early (born January 21, 1988) is an American comedian, actor and singer. He has appeared on 30 Rock as Jenna Maroney's son and in the independent film Fort Tilden. He starred in Search Party, which aired on TBS and HBO Max from 2016 to 2022.
Early is from Nashville, Tennessee. His father was a Presbyterian minister; his mother, a minister at a church of the Disciples of Christ. He attended the University School of Nashville. He graduated from New York University, where he majored in acting at the Atlantic Acting School.
When he was 11, he became a big fan of Australian actress Toni Collette and ran a fan website devoted to her.
Early tours the country with his stand-up/variety show "Literally Me" and also hosts a monthly variety event, "Showgasm", at Ars Nova in New York City. He was featured on Lauren Lapkus's podcast With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus (Episode 41, August 28, 2015), and in ', which was released on Netflix in 2015. He has made voice appearances on two episodes of Bob's Burgers as brunch blogger Dalton Crespin.
Early frequently collaborates with comedians such as Hamm Samwich and Kate Berlant in a variety of sketch and filmed presentations. In 2016, he wrote and starred in a 30-minute episode of the sketch show '. In 2017, he and Berlant starred in the Vimeo miniseries 555, directed by Andrew DeYoung. He also had a small role as Evan in the 2017 drama Beatriz at Dinner. In 2019, Early appeared in the music video for "Squidward Nose" by Cupcakke. In July 2019, he starred in an episode of Drunk History about Martha Mitchell.
Early appeared in a small skit titled "Credit Card Roulette" in the Netflix comedy program I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson and in the music video for "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift. In 2022, Peacock released a sketch comedy special produced by Early and Berlant, Would It Kill You To Laugh. In 2023, HBO released John Early: Now More Than Ever, a stand-up and musical comedy special, followed in 2024 by the release of the musical covers of 1970s-era songs from the special as his debut album, Now More Than Ever.
Maddie's Secret, Early's debut film as a director, premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Early is gay. He has said he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.