Jon_Lajoie

Jon Lajoie

Jon Lajoie

Canadian comedian, actor, and singer

Jonathan Lajoie (/ləˈʒwɑː/ lə-ZHWAH; born August 21, 1980) is a Canadian comedian, actor, rapper, singer, songwriter, director, record producer, musician and Internet celebrity.[1] He gained fame mostly from his YouTube channel, posting comedic original songs (often as rapper characters, such as "Everyday Normal Guy") and comedy skits. Lajoie is also known for his role as Taco MacArthur on the FXX comedy series The League. Since 2016, he has released indie folk music under the moniker Wolfie's Just Fine, and has also contributed original music to TV shows and films.[2]

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Early life

Lajoie was born in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada and raised on the South Shore of Montreal. His father was Québécois and his mother is English-Canadian, and he is the third of nine children. Lajoie had formative experiences with music while attending a Pentecostal church and taking lessons.[3] He graduated from Dawson College on the Island of Montreal. He completed a professional theatre program in 2002, after which he played in a band in the Montreal area for three years.[4]

Career

Since early 2003, Lajoie has portrayed an English-Canadian musician named Thomas Edison in Radio-Canada's French-Canadian sitcom L'Auberge du chien noir.[5] Lajoie began his career as a comedy musician in 2006. His performances include music, skits, and some comedy. Jon Lajoie has also released four studio albums, the first two featuring comedy music. His third and fourth albums eschewed comedy and were released under the moniker 'Wolfie's Just Fine'.[6]

Lajoie in 2008

Television

Lajoie was cast in the FXX TV show The League as Taco MacArthur, a perpetually stoned and unemployed musician.[7] Throughout the series, Lajoie performed songs written for the show.[8]

He guest-starred as Caleb95 in one episode of the Williams Street original television show NTSF:SD:SUV::. In February 2022, LaJoie was featured in the Canadian edition of Amazon Prime's comedy competition LOL: Last One Laughing alongside Tom Green, Colin Mochrie, and Dave Foley among others.[9]

Comedy Central Presents

Lajoie filmed an episode of Comedy Central Presents on November 7, 2009.[10] It premiered on March 5, 2010.[11] The same special aired uncensored as part of Comedy Central's Secret Stash on June 6 featuring the world premiere of the video for his song "Pop Song".

Film

Lajoie was featured in the 2014 movie Let's Be Cops, as the boss of Damon Wayans, Jr.'s character. He was also featured in Quentin Dupieux's 2013 movie Wrong Cops as Officer Regan.

Music

Lajoie has published several novelty songs that he has made available on websites such as Funny or Die and YouTube. Though he initially hesitated to release a "serious album" due to his reputation as a comedic actor, in 2016, Lajoie released his first project of non-comedic music under the moniker Wolfie's Just Fine (whose name is a reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day).[12][13] The 10 track indie folk album titled I Remembered but Then I Forgot, released on April 8, was produced by Joe Corcoran and mixed by Phil Ek.[3][2] The themes of the album predominantly draw on and recount Lajoie's formative childhood experiences.[3] The song "A New Beginning" was inspired by Lajoie's experience watching his first horror movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, whose music video (directed by Lajoie and Brandon Dermer) is a tribute to the film by way of a shot-for-shot remake of a particularly impactful scene.[14][15]

In 2018, Lajoie followed up with a Wolfie's Just Fine EP titled Perfection, Nevada, which was produced by Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis.[16] Released on June 22, the release explores coming of age themes and features references to nineties films.[17] Lajoie co-directed a music video for the single "Break My Back" featuring actor Xander Berkeley, as well as "Trying to Sleep" which pays homage to the film Tremors.[17][18]

Songwriting for film and TV

LaJoie made his first foray into writing songs for film and television with his contributions to The League, for which he wrote and performed 14 songs over the course of the show.[19]

In 2019, Lajoie wrote five songs for Warner Bros.' The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, including "Catchy Song" (produced by Dillon Francis) and "Not Evil".[20][21]

In 2022, Lajoie wrote three songs for the third episode of The Afterparty, with lyrical contributions by Jack Dolgen.[22][23]

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Discography

Studio albums

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EPs

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Singles

Music videos

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References

  1. [1]
    "Radio-Canada: – – Zone Radio". Radio-canada.ca. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  2. [2]
    Brennan, Collin (April 6, 2016). "Stream: Jon Lajoie's debut album as Wolfie's Just Fine, I Remembered But Then I Forgot". Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  3. [3]
    Saunders, Hilary (April 20, 2016). "Jon Lajoie Does Give a F**k". Paste. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  4. [4]
    Lisa-Marie Glive (September 19, 2008). "The Official Website – About Me". Jonlajoie.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  5. [5]
    "Personnages | L'auberge du chien noir | zone Télévision | Radio-Canada.ca (in French)". Radio-Canada.ca. December 7, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  6. [6]
    "Wolfie's Just Fine". Wolfiesjustfine.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  7. [7]
    Simpson, Peter (September 4, 2009). "Jon Lajoie cancels Canadian tour for big TV gig – The Big Beat". Communities.canada.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  8. [8]
    "NSFW: The Songs of The League". TV.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  9. [9]
    Ho, Rachel (February 18, 2022). "'LOL: Last One Laughing' Proves the Strength of Canadian Comedy". Exclaim. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Want to See a Taping of Comedy Central Presents? | Comedy Central Insider Blog". Ccinsider.comedycentral.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  11. [11]
    "Comedy Central TV Show Schedule – Find when your Favorite Funny Shows are Playing | Comedy Central". Comedycentral.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  12. [12]
    Baltin, Steve (March 23, 2016). "Jon Lajoie Proves Wolfie's Just Fine". Billboard. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  13. [13]
    "A New Beginning: An Interview with Wolfie's Just Fine's Jon Lajoie". PopMatters. May 20, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  14. [14]
    Barkan, Jonathan (June 27, 2016). "NSFW: Wolfie's Just Fine Channel 'Friday the 13th' in "A New Beginning"". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  15. [15]
    Vanderbilt, Mike (July 7, 2016). "Jon Lajoie composes an eerie neo-folk tribute to Friday The 13th: A New Beginning". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  16. [16]
    Griffin, Noemi (June 14, 2018). "Exclusive: Jon Lajoie Shares New Wolfie's Just Fine Track "Save the World", off Forthcoming EP Perfection Nevada". Paste. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  17. [17]
    Papadatos, Markos (June 5, 2018). "Review: Wolfie's Just Fine soars on 'Break My Back' single and video SPECIAL". Digital Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  18. [18]
    Squires, Josh (May 29, 2020). "'Trying to Sleep': Wolfie's Just Fine Pays Tribute to 'Tremors' With New Song from the Graboid's Perspective". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  19. [19]
    "The League (Original Soundtrack)". Tidal. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  20. [20]
    Saxena, Jaya (February 7, 2019). "This "Catchy Song" Is Gonna Get Stuck Inside Your Head—By Design". GQ. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  21. [21]
    Moran, Sarah (February 8, 2019). "Every Song In The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  22. [22]
    Khosla, Proma (January 29, 2022). "'The Afterparty' musical episode just gave us 2022's first TV banger". Mashable. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  23. [23]
    Thomas, Kaitlin (February 21, 2022). "'The Afterparty' could dominate one Emmy category with a hat trick of absolute bangers". GoldDerby. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  24. [24]
    "Jon Lajoie Proves Wolfie's Just Fine". Billboard. March 23, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
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