Tony Hinchcliffe

Tony Hinchcliffe was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, where he grew up on the city's north side with his single mother. He attended Ursuline High School, graduated in 2003, and competed on the school's wrestling team. He is of Italian descent.

Hinchcliffe has described growing up in a tough neighborhood and developing roast-style humor as a defense mechanism. He also recalled being punched in the face on a school bus after insulting someone on his first day of school.

Hinchcliffe moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to pursue comedy and began performing at open mics at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood. He initially worked the phones and cover booth before becoming a paid regular. His performances became associated with insults directed at comics and audience members, as well as dark material about uncomfortable and sensitive subjects.

Comedian Jeff Ross became an important professional influence and mentor to Hinchcliffe, helping him obtain early writing opportunities. Hinchcliffe wrote for The Burn with Jeff Ross and for Comedy Central Roast episodes involving James Franco, Justin Bieber, and Rob Lowe. He also wrote Martha Stewart's material for the Justin Bieber roast and Ann Coulter's set for the Rob Lowe roast.

His television and film work includes appearances in Crashing, The Therapist, 2 Minutes of Fame, Treez, and Suicide Roadtrip. His first one-hour special, One Shot, premiered on Netflix in 2016 and was filmed in a single camera take without edits. He followed it with Making Friends on YouTube in 2020 and later received writing and performance credits on productions including The Roast of Bert Kreischer and The Roast of Kevin Hart.

Hinchcliffe's use of racial and ethnic material has led to major backlash. In 2021, after using an anti-Asian slur and stereotypes during a performance following comedian Peng Dang, he was dropped by his agency, lost endorsements, and was removed from shows connected with Joe Rogan. He defended the performance in an interview, saying that the line was a joke and that comedians should not apologize for jokes.

Since 2013, Hinchcliffe has produced and hosted Kill Tony, a weekly live comedy podcast that began at The Comedy Store. The program gives professional and amateur comedians the opportunity to perform one-minute sets after their names are selected at random from a bucket. Hinchcliffe and a panel of comedians and celebrity guests then discuss and critique each performance.

Brian Redban, associated with the Deathsquad Network and formerly connected with The Joe Rogan Experience, served as a co-host. The show's format permits contestants to address potentially offensive or politically incorrect subjects, reflecting Hinchcliffe's emphasis on roast comedy, crowd work, and dark humor.

In 2020, Hinchcliffe announced that he would relocate to Austin, Texas, where Kill Tony moved first to Antone's Nightclub and then to Vulcan Gas Company. The program later became associated with Joe Rogan's Austin comedy club, Comedy Mothership. On New Year's Eve 2023, Kill Tony held its first live arena show at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

On October 27, 2024, Hinchcliffe performed at Donald Trump's campaign rally at Madison Square Garden. His set included a joke describing Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage," along with jokes about Latinos, Black people, Palestinians, and Jews.

The remarks prompted criticism from politicians and public figures, including Tim Walz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ritchie Torres. The Trump campaign distanced itself from the Puerto Rico comment after the rally.