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Prior to becoming a comedian, Quinn worked as a bartender. He stopped drinking in the early 1980s after several bad experiences while drunk, including nights spent in jail and blackouts that led to him not knowing where he was. In 2004, stand-up Dom Irrera said Quinn used to be a "fat, bloated, alcoholic bartender"; he himself has used the term "blackout drunk" to describe his previous drinking habits.

After leaving bartending, Quinn got his start in stand-up comedy in 1984. Although some people believe Jon Stewart wrote the jokes for Quinn's stand-up act, this is false; Stewart only wrote jokes for a television show Quinn hosted in 1989 called Caroline's Comedy Hour , which aired on the A&E network.

He first achieved fame in 19871987 is a common year starting on Thursday. Events January January 1 Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay. January 3 Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. January 4 An Amtrak train as co-host of the MTVMTV is a cable television network, originally devoted to music videos, especially popular rock music. MTV later became an outlet for a variety of different material aimed at adolescents and young adults. Since 1985, MTV has been owned by Viacom. Its name game showA game show is a radio or television program involving members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. In some shows contestants compete against other pla Remote ControlA remote control is a device used to operate something at a distance. Remote Control was a TV game show that ran on MTV for three seasons from 1987 until 1990. New episodes were made for first-run syndication in 1989. It was hosted by Ken Ober and feature, which also featured performances by Adam SandlerAdam Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer, musician and composer who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. In the late 1980s, Sandler portrayed "Smitty" on The Cosby Show ( 1985- 1989 and Denis LearyDenis Leary (b. August 18, 1957) is an actor/ comedian/ writer/ director whose father immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts from Ireland. He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, where he also taught comedy writing classes for five years after grad. He remained co-host of the show for three years, and in 1989 wrote and performed in the popular comedic short Going Back to Brooklyn along with Ben StillerBen Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and film director. He is possibly best known for his roles in the films Meet the Parents and There's Something About Mary''. Stiller is son of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who are both.

Much of his early comedic career focused on writing in addition to stand-up, including a stint as a writer for the popular show In Living ColorIn Living Color was an American sketch comedy television series which ran on the Fox Television Network from 1990 to 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, produced, and starred in the program. Other members of the Wayans family — Damon, Kim, Marlon, and S.. He also co-wrote the storyline and was an associate producer for the movie Celtic Pride, starring Damon Wayans and Dan Aykroyd.

In 1995, Quinn was hired by Saturday Night Live, working as a writer and featured player until the beginning of the 1998 season, when he became a full cast member. He established himself on the show with characters such as "Lenny the Lion" and "Joe Blow", and as well as the recurring segment "Colin Quinn Explains the New York Times". Quinn took over as host of the " Weekend Update" segment in January, 1998 after the firing of Norm MacDonald; he remained host until his departure from SNL in 2000.

Also during his SNL period, Quinn made his Broadway debut in his acclaimed one-man show, Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake , and was offered the role of Scott Evil in by Mike Myers, though he turned down the role to work on his writing projects.[1]

After leaving SNL, Quinn had a sketch comedy show on NBC called The Colin Quinn Show that lasted for only three episodes in 2002, after being cancelled due to its provocative racial content and mediocre ratings.

Since 2003, Quinn has found success with Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central, which has received solid television ratings and immediately follows The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. "Tough Crowd" has been renewed through the 2005 television season.

In 2004, Comedy Central named Quinn to its list of the " 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time", placing him at #56. He was also named to the Irish America Magazine list of the "Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year".[2]