Cotter was raised in the East Side enclave of Providence, Rhode Island as the youngest of six children. His father, Dr. Walter C. Cotter (November 25, 1923 – October 27, 2021), was a World War II navy veteran and later became a well-regarded neurosurgeon. His mother, Barbara Cotter, was a homemaker and managed his father's medical office. Cotter attended the Moses Brown School in Providence, and Denison University for his undergraduate degree.[3]
Cotter is married to Kerri Louise, who is also a stand-up comedian, and the two have three sons. They have worked together on different projects including Two Funny, a reality show on Women's Entertainment network.[4]
Career
He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Last Comic Standing.[5] In 2003, Cotter filmed his own half-hour special for Comedy Central.[1] Cotter has won several comedy competitions. In 1994, he won Seattle's International Stand-Up Comedy Competition.[1] He gained his first success in the Boston comedy scene, where he is still a favorite, and also won the grand prize at the Boston Comedy Festival and was voted Best Stand-Up at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival.[5] Additionally, Cotter has worked in film, theatre, and television productions and, as of 2012, he was working on an idea for a book.[1]
America's Got Talent
In 2012, Cotter appeared on season 7 of NBC's America's Got Talent. He was given a pass to Las Vegas by the show's three judges. He further advanced to the top 48 (quarterfinals) to perform in the live episodes in Newark, New Jersey.[2] On July 10, 2012, he performed a stand-up routine making fun of common clichés and phrases and advanced to the semi-finals. On August 28, 2012, he presented the judges with a list of subjects and asked judge Howie Mandel to pick one. Mandel picked "College", and Cotter then gave a short comedy set on the subject of college and teenagers. He advanced to the final round of six and was the runner-up of the season. On August 21, 2013, Cotter returned to the show to perform on the results show of that night.[6]
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