Jeff was born in St. Petersburg, FL and has resided there his whole life. Jeff worked for five seasons in the front office of the Tampa Bay Rays while he attended the University of South Florida. He was awarded a 2008 American League Championship ring, which was later stolen.
Between the ages of 23-27, Jeff had his first child, began his career in the insurance industry, was promoted numerous times, got married, had back surgery, had his second child, and got separated and eventually divorced. Over the next 7 years, Jeff battled depression as he navigated his insurance career upwards, and in January of 2020, he nearly committed suicide. After some therapy and self-discovery, Jeff focused his career goals on writing and building a life in the world of comedy.
After months of plans and spinning his tires, in February of 2021, Jeff finally recorded and launched the first episode of The Jeff Macolino Podcast and did his first standup comedy open mic. His podcast started with just recording his own voice on his phone, but has now published well over 100 episodes and continues to come out weekly. It has amassed nearly 1,000 perfect reviews on podcast platforms, charted on the comedy podcast charts internationally and is ranked in the top 1% of all podcasts globally.
Jeff performed standup numerous times, both on-stage and virtually, and won a virtual comedy competition. Jeff has continued to write standup material but began to focus more on comedic acting.
Since late 2021, Jeff has been a featured actor on “The Joe Nolfo Show,” a comedy sketch show shot in Pinellas County, FL. This enabled him to play various zany roles weekly and motivated him to find additional acting opportunities.
In late 2022, Jeff landed a leading role in a comedy feature film, “Women Want Everything!” This feature was his first professional acting role, and is scheduled to premiere in March 2023. After this, Jeff booked a supporting role in an episode of a TV Web Series, “Stories of the Paranormal” shot in Kissimmee, FL. Jeff has booked a couple of additional roles that have yet to be announced and continues to look to expand his acting career.
Jeff also works for FL Teams, an independent sports outlet which covers Florida sports. Jeff has released over 70 episodes of “Bolts and Bats in the Bay” which covers the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Rays. He also hosts weekly live shows covering the NFL and other hot sports news, as well as hosting special shows around the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft.
He has made dozens of podcast guest appearances. He has spoken openly about his own struggles with mental health and near-suicide on some of these guest appearances as well as his own podcast. Jeff also has built some following on his YouTube channel, for his series titled “Drunk Jeff Eats.”
Jeff was recently hired as the co-host of a new daily show, The Man Show Live. He continues to write, seek and book acting gigs, and plans to resume doing some occasional standup comedy as well.
Jeff is currently working on writing projects for feature films, television, special audio events and even an off Broadway show. He is working as a narrator for a biography and an audiobook. He is also in talks about several acting roles and will continue to host The Jeff Macolino Podcast, while continuing to contribute to FL Teams, The Man Show Live and The Joe Nolfo Show. And of course, serves as a coach for his son’s flag football team and informal acting coach for his daughter.
HERE’s Jeff’s Original Bio he wrote:
Born and stayed in St. Petersburg, Florida, I’ve always loved where I lived and found it to be my own personal paradise. As I went to USF for college, I worked for the Tampa Bay Rays, and was awarded a 2008 American League Championship ring (which was later stolen). After college, I got and built an impressive career in the insurance industry over the next decade.
I slowly died throughout that decade. There were ups and downs. I got engaged, had my beautiful daughter, got promoted multiple times. Got married. Had back surgery, had my son. Got separated. Tried marijuana for the first time. Accidentally quit my job. Got hired at a new company. Finalized divorce. Got promoted multiple times. Tried to kill myself (didn’t). Wrote first screenplay concept. Quit my job, got a new job, decided that career was an emotional blackhole. Started doing standup comedy and a podcast. Quit job. Started website.
In the end, my “midlife” crisis led me to seek answers. I wanted to find the life I wanted to live, instead of living a life that gave me enough currency to afford to survive. I am a late bloomer for someone trying to do comedy, but that also gives me life experience that I hope to use well to make other people laugh.
My goal is to get some of the cinematic writings of mine to see the screen. But I also have grown to love standup and podcasting as a way to help find my voice and bolster my writing. Comedy is the thing that might be able to save this upside world; and I hope I’m part of the solution.
I was a bit drunk and had eaten a good amount of edibles before I wrote this. So it may seem sappy, but let be do me man!